April is shaping up to be an incredibly busy (and tasty) month in Shreveport-Bossier. Here are just a few of the many food and wine-related events coming up this month:
Cork Wine Festival has, once again, sold out well in advance. However, if you’d like to learn a bit about wine, tickets are still available for the Cork Wine Festival Riedel Vinum XL Glass Seminar (Saturday, April 6, 12:30 p.m., $50) held immediately before the fest. Seminar participants will learn how glass shape affects bouquet and flavor, and will receive a set of four Riedel Vinum XL wine glasses to keep. Tickets may be purchased here.
Wine Country Bistro and Bottle Shop‘s annual Wine and Swine (Sunday, April 14, 3-6 p.m., $75) is a cook-out featuring Wine Country’s take on outdoor fare as well as a carefully-curated variety of beer and wine offerings. The pork-centric menu at Wine and Swine was remarkable the year that I attended, with a whole hog barbecue as the centerpiece, a charbroiled oyster station and more. This year’s libations include “45 wines, and beers from Abita, New Belgium Brewery, Goose Island Brewery and Shreveport’s very own Great Raft Brewing.”
The always-mysterious Gulf Pig Underground Dinner Club has launched a smaller, more intimate event series called Teche. Tickets to the Spring Teche (Monday, April 15, 6:30 p.m., $55) are available here. All that we know for sure about Teche is that only 20 tickets are available to each meal – yep, that’s intimate.
The 2013 Slow Food North Louisiana Crawfish Boil (Thursday, April 18, 6-8 p.m., $20) is not only a great opportunity to eat crawfish while supporting a worthy cause, it’s a bargain. Just $20 buys you boiled crawfish and soft drinks, and children 12 and under are free. The event will be held at 421 Longleaf Road in Shreveport. Adult beverages are BYOB and guests are encouraged to bring a fun appetizer or dessert “that goes well with our favorite Louisiana crustacean.” Advance tickets are available here. RSVP is requested to slowfoodnla@gmail.com. The Facebook event can be found here.
Last but not least, Holiday in Dixie will host their inaugural Holiday in Dixie BBQ Cook-Off (Saturday, April 20, 3-10 p.m., $10) in the RiverView Park area of Festival Plaza. Featuring competitive BBQ teams preparing chicken, pork ribs, pork and brisket, this event should be a thrifty BBQ connoisseur’s dream come true. Admission is only $10 and, once inside, guests can taste dishes in competition for the People’s Choice Award for only $1 each. Admission includes three tasting tickets. More info here.
