Vegantastic
Sunday, October 4, 5-9:30 pm
The Alliance for Animals and the Environment will hold its popular Vegan Chili Cook-Off at the Masonic Center, 301 Wisconsin Ave., with chefs vying for top honors. Eldorado Grill has won for the past three years; other entrants are Ale Asylum, Green Owl Cafe, HopCat, Ladonia Cafe, Liliana’s, Monty’s Blue Plate, Tex Tubb’s and Vintage Brewing. Tickets ($25, available at the door) buy you access to vegan hot dogs, desserts and bowls of all the competing chilis. More at allanimals.org/chili.
Family meal, with strangers
Monday, Oct. 5, 6:30 pm
Family dinner is in full swing! The UW-Madison chapter of Slow Food offers a home-cooked, primarily locally sourced meal every Monday night at 6:30 pm for just $5. Guest chefs range from students to area chefs — Tory Miller of L’Etoile, Joey Dunscombe of the Weary Traveler and Dan Schmitz of Banzo have all cooked, among others. Guest chefs and menus are posted at slowfooduw.com, and pre-ordering your ticket via the website is a great idea; these do sell out. Arrive at 1127 University Ave. by 6:15 pm or risk losing your space!
All the major food groups
Thursday, Oct. 8, 5-8 pm
Cheese, chocolate and craft beer. Not thrown at you randomly, either! The Monona East Side Business Alliance’s networking and pairing event offers12 stations each featuring a craft brew, an artisan cheese and a handmade chocolate, with chocolates from the Chocolate Caper, Chocolaterian and Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier; cheese from Creme de la Coulee and Bleu Mont Dairy among others; and beer from more than nine local craft breweries. Tickets ($35/members $50 non-members) through mononaeastside.com.