These events get the Edible stamp of approval!

Looking to get a head start on March? Looking for a way to take February out with a bang? We’ve got just the ticket. As always, be sure to stay tuned to our Events Calendar by signing up for our e-newsletter. You’ll get the latest on our new issues and stories, weekly giveaways and what’s going on around the city, right in your inbox.

Good Spirits: You’ve been hearing about it a lot and with good reason; it’s been called one of the best cocktail events in the city. Good Spirits will take place on Tuesday, February 28th from 6 pm to 9 pm at 82 Mercer in SoHo. This year’s line-up is all-star and all it takes to gain access to some incredible food and drinks is a $45 ticket which you can purchase right here. Be sure to get your ticket soon though, because at this point, ultra-limited quantities are available!

A Slice of Brooklyn Pizza Tour: Join the crew at the 92Y on this four and a half tour and plan to feast on Neapolitan-style pizza at Grimaldi’s (without the wait!) and Sicilian-style pizza at L&B Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst. There will also be sightseeing that highlights some of Brooklyn’s famous neighborhoods where movies like The French Connection and Saturday Night Fever were shot. The tour takes place on Sunday, March 4th at 11am. Tickets are $75 and available for purchase here.

Candlelight Friday at Wölffer Estate Vineyards: Should you find yourself out on the North Fork of Long Island on Friday, February 24th from 5pm to 8pm, head over to Wölffer Estate Vineyards for some jazz and wine. Listen to some of New York’s finest musicians without the cover charge. Wines by the glass and cheese and charcuterie plates are available for purchase. Check out the Wölffer Estate Vineyards website for more details and directions.

New York Distilling Co. owner Allan Katz bottles some small-batch booze for NY1.

Readers might recall the piece we did two summers ago on the fledging distillery boom in our borough. (It was called “The Whiskey Rebellion.”) Flash-forward two years and we’ve actually lost count of the number of small-batch, craft-liquor producers that are creating vodka, whiskey, and gin right under our noses, but only one, as far as we know, has its very own bar.

That would be the New York Distilling Company, which settled its still in a 5,000 square-foot Williamsburg warehouse on the corner of Lorimer and Richardson streets last December. Ten months later they’re producing two amazing gins, with a whiskey made from local grain on the way, and serving cocktails at the Shanty, their rustic-modern bar right next door with a glass window for peeking into the production. Its one of the few places we prefer a booth seat to one at the bar: Belly up means your back is turned on Carl, their beautiful  copper still from Germany.

We highlighted both the distillery and The Shanty in our current NY1 segment, where co-owner Allen Katz told about the two unique gins–including one that’s “Navy strength”–they now have on the market. (Watch it here.) You can also taste them both next week at Good Spirits, the Edible seasonal cocktail event that’s taking place next Tuesday. (Buy your tickets right here.)

Win me.

Each week we’re picking one reader of Edible Brooklyn.com or Edible Manhattan.com to win prizes like charcoal grills, Breville kitchen appliances, a Bodum French press or even a year’s subscription to our own magazines. This week’s winner will receive this killer Fyrkat 13.4-inch portable charcoal grill.

Here’s how to enter to win this week’s contest: Tell us about your favorite local food artisan in the comments below before midnight on Friday. Be sure to register with a real email address so we can contact you later if you win. We’ll pick a reader based on what we think is the best response. Extra points for those who lead us to best–ofs we haven’t already tracked down for our online listings.

Last week’s winner is Brian Stitt, who answered our question about your favorite food artisan. Seeing as we’re just about to send our Dairy-themed issue to the printer, we couldn’t resist his reply, about the wonderful ice cream shop Ample Hills Creamery at 623 Vanderbilt Avenue at St. Marks Avenue in Prospect Heights. He writes:

Vegetarians and vegans beware, we’re gearing up for a meat-tacular evening this Wednesday! Carnivores, aspiring butchers and meat molders, plan on joining us at the Brooklyn Brewery on February 22nd from 8 pm to 10 pm as we learn all there is to know about slicing, curing and tying meats.  How to Slice it is the latest installment in our popular How to series that we host with the Brooklyn Brewery.  Check out the line-up of what’s in store:

Fleisher’s Grassfed and Organic Meats is going to be showing us how to tie a roast.

Brooklyn Cured will let us in on the secrets behind stuffing a sausage.

Marlow & Daughters will butcher a bird before our very eyes.

You can count on samples from each lecturer and Brooklyn Brewery beers will also be available for purchase for just $5.  It gets better – the Feed Your Hole truck will be parked outside with Porkys Dogs and SYC Fuk Sliders available for purchase.

Tickets are a steal at just $5 and are just a click away (here).  Whether you’re new to the series or haven’t missed one yet, we hope you’ll join us on Wednesday!

There’s also a Seed Library pop-up shop, where you can buy heirloom seeds like Jenny Lind melons, Sparkler radishes, Evergreen Bunching Scallion, and “Cosmonaut Volkov” tomatoes that have been collected and cultivated in our very own growing zones, each in a pack designed by a different artist.

Those represent just a few of the seeds available from The Seed Library, which is an eight-year-old online seed library with its own farm for growing and collecting open-pollinated seeds, many historically grown in New York and all well-suited to our climate. (Become a member, or check out their 2012 catalog here.) This year the Library is offering more than 60 varieties of locally grown seed and around 140 varieties sourced from other like-minded growers. Now you can check out at least 23 of those right in New York City.

Bring out your inner butcher!

How often do you get a chance to learn how to properly tie a roast? Stuff a sausage? Butcher a bird? Not too often? Never at all? Yup, we didn’t think so.  In our upcoming installment of our popular “How-to” series, we’ve gathered some of the best butchers around to show you how it’s done.  How to Slice it will go down at the Brooklyn Brewery on Wednesday, February 22nd from 8 pm to 10 pm with doors opening at 7:30 pm.

It’s almost like being back in college again, but with beer and tasty samples of meaty goodness.  Fleisher’s Grassfed and Organic Meats is going to be showing us how to properly tie a roast (not that it’s going to run away or anything).  Next up, Brooklyn Cured will demonstrate how to stuff a sausage.  Finally, Marlow & Daughters will explain the art of butchering a bird.

A gathering like this is sure to have several stomachs rumbling, so we’ve taken the liberty of inviting the Feed Your Hole Truck, who will be selling Porkys Dogs and SYC Fuk Sliders just outside of the Brewery.

In case you’re new to our How to series, be sure to check out photos from How to Milk It, How to Roast and How to Bake here.  Tickets to this great event are just $5 and can be purchased here. Beers are an additional $5 each.

Long Island

Once again the wineries, chefs and artists of eastern Long Island is thinking of you and what you’re going to do in the depths of winter. For the next five weekends the East End–and a few points closer to home–are throwing Winterfest, a collaborative,cross-cultural effort to lure you out East. Sure, the Hudson Valley has those foothills, but this semi-agrarian vacation-land shares our very own land mass, and is a short trip up the Sunrise Highway or the LIE from Atlantic Ave. Why not spend a chilly day warming up with local wine? Snuggle up in front of a crackling fireplace at a quiet Hamptons bed-and-breakfast? Listen to jazz with a view of the vineyards? Or find some great deals on true farm-to-table restaurant meals?

How to Slice It: The latest installment in our popular How to series is next week! On Wednesday, February 22nd from 8 pm to 10 pm at the Brooklyn Brewery in Williamsburg, join us for How to Slice It.  Fleisher’s Grassfed and Organic Meats will be on hand to demonstrate how to properly tie a roast, Brooklyn Cured will show us how to stuff a sausage and the folks at Marlow and Daughters will be butchering a bird.  Samples will be provided by each lecturer and the Feed Your Hole Truck will be parked outside with Porkys Dogs and SYC Fuk Sliders for sale.  Tickets are just $5 and can purchased here.  Of course, beer from the brewery will also be available for just $5.

Good Spirits: If your valentine was less than impressed with the last minute box of chocolates you gifted, luckily for you, there’s still time to redeem yourself with a pair of tickets to Good Spirits, our seasonal cocktail event held in conjunction with Edible Manhattan.  On February 28th from 6 pm to 9 pm at 82 Mercer in Manhattan, some of the best restaurants, food artisans and distillers around will be on hand, serving up delicious dishes and scrumptious spirits.  Tickets are just $45 and can be purchased here.  If you’re not already, be sure to sign up for our e-newsletter so you don’t miss out on the sneak peeks we’re giving of what’s on the menu.