Dinner

If you're a big fan, you already knew what was coming in the season finale. But it didn't make it any easier -- or less heartbreaking -- to watch. The majority of the Season 3 "Downton" finale, or the "Christmas special" as its called in the U.K., took place in Scotland, where the whole family (minus Branson) visits the Highlands home of the Dowager's niece, Susan, and her husband, Shrimpy. Most of the trip included bagpipes, hunting, more bagpipes and Scottish reel dancing. But more on that later (and more on O'Brien meeting her Scottish lady's maid doppelganger)

Brooklyn Brewery is on the road. The New York-based brewery is in the middle of an 11-city tour that began in Austin, Texas, before moving on to New Orleans, Nashville, Tenn., and Boston. The traveling event is a benefit for Slow Food USA. It's Baltimore's turn. The Brooklyn Brewery Mash: Adventures in Food, Film, Music, Books and Beer is in Baltimore through Sunday for a week of parties, comedy, concerts, pop-up supper clubs and readings. Among the six days of activities are a few food highlights.

A turkey and ham dinner will be served beginning at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer, 7606 Quarterfield Road in Glen Burnie. After dinner, the Canterbury Ringers Bell Choir presents a concert of holiday music.' Tickets are $8, $15 for couples, $5 for children ages 6-12 and free for children 5 and younger. Call 410-766-8778 for more information.

The Oregon Grille will host a Heavy Seas beer dinner with brewer Hugh Sisson on Wednesday night. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. on the restaurant's popular bluestone patio with an “Exploring Beer Styles from Around the World” tasting and seminar.  Then guests will join Sisson for a four-course dinner featuring pairings with Heavy Seas beers. The menu includes beer cheese soup with prosciutto flakes; pan-fried oysters over baby field greens with shaved Gouda; bacon-wrapped fillet glazed with Peg Leg Stout, served with seasonal ratatouille, and, for dessert, peach Melba crisp topped with Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream.

The dinner on Valentine's Day at the Feast @ 4 East will be its last. Sandy Lawler, the restaurant's chef, who also owns the 4 East Madison Inn, the boutique hotel in Mount Vernon, will stop offering dinner service. Lawler says she will make 4 East available for special events for 25 to 60 people.   The Valentine's menu at Feast @ 4 East includes fresh oysters, a half rack of pistachio-crusted lamb, New England scallops in vanilla cream and, for dessert, red velvet cake, ricotta cheesecake with Grand Marnier and Pavlova, an ethereal meringue confection named for a Russian ballerina.  You can enjoy it all with your own bottle of wine.

The Chocolate Affair is changing locations and switching up its format. This year, the annual Health Care for the Homeless benefit is being held at the Baltimore Waterfront Marriott. The date is Thursday, Feb. 2. At previous editions of this event, guests traveled from station to station, sampling the chocolate creations prepared by Baltimore-area restaurants, caterers and chocolatiers. The station traveling will now be a "dessert extravaganza" that will follow a chocolate-inspired dinner prepared by Carlos Gomez , the former executive chef of the Hotel Hershey.

Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church's Youth Ministry is offering a deal on Nov. 8 that's hard to beat. Carrabba's Italian Grill is preparing a complete dinner at the church hall and selling it at discounted prices. A meal of chicken marsala, penne pomodoro, salad, bread, soda, coffee or iced tea costs $7 for adults and $5 for children younger than 10, if purchased in advance. Tickets at the door are $8 for adults and $6 for children younger than 10. Wine and desserts can be purchased separately.

The Corner BYBO has announced the first dinner of its Gastronaut Society The winning Hampden bistro opened in late winter with a four-square Belgian-influenced menu by Chef Bernard Dehaene. From the start, exotic meats were part of the package. In the early days, you'd have to know to ask about them. Then, in August, Corner BYOB announced the details of an exotic meats club, the Gastronaut Society, with an annual subscription rate of $50. Dehaene and owner Cecile Fenix have now announced the first dinner of the Gastronaut Society.

The Waterfront Kitchen launches a summer Dinner and a Cruise series. The evenings, hosted by the Waterfront Kitchen's wine expert, Jerry Pellegrino, begin with cocktails on the pier next to the restaurant. Guests will then board either the 104-foot pungy schooner Lady Maryland or the 50-foot skipjack Sigsbee for a ninety minute guided cruise down the Patapsco toward the Chesapeake. After the cruise, guests will sit down for a themed, four-course dinner at the restaurant. Here's the schedule.

Frank & Nic's West End Grille is offering something different for Valentine's Day - a beer dinner. Featuring Sam Adams brews, the four-course dinner will be served at 8 p.m. on Feb. 14. The menu begins with a carrot, ginger and crab soup followed by a scotch egg. The main course is veal scallopini with a Boston Lager demi-glace, and the dessert course is hard-cider baked apples with vanilla paired ice cream. A Samuel Adams representative will be on hand to guide the dinner and for beer chats.

Baltimore-made "House of Cards" brought some extra Hollywood star power to the White House Correspondents' Dinner Saturday night in Washington. Here's Kevin Spacey starring in the "House of Nerds" spoof video (above) that topped the event. He's superb. Maryland Congressman Steny Hoyer gets some nice face-time as well in the video. #sigshell { float: left; width: 320px; height: 52px; margin: 20px 0px; display: block; } #sigheadshot{ float: left; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; }

Beginning this Saturday, the Tremont Grand Historic Venue will host a murder mystery dinner on the last Saturday of every month. The interactive mysteries will be staged by Do or Die Mysteries, which has been producing murder mystery events for the past 20 years in the Baltimore-Washington area. The kick-off production is titled Art of Murder , and the story line will change at each event. Reservations are required. Admission includes dinner, the show and non-alcoholic beverages.

"Liver and onions - the poor man's gourmet delight. " - Stevens Bunker, retired Baltimore sea dog The taste sensation of beef liver is like licking a piece of smooth, shiny metal. To the bite, the texture is akin to corduroy - wide wale and brown - and leaves a subtle film across your tongue and the roof of your mouth. Liver and onions - a staple of working-class communities with strong German heritage, and therefore an old favorite in old Baltimore - endures here as a savory snapshot of the way our grandparents ate. "It reminds me of shopping with my Nonnie, my Italian grandmother," said Kathleen Birrane of Dulaney Valley of adventures some 40 years ago at the Pantry Pride in Mount Washington.

Cherry blossoms are the inspiration behind Wednesday night's special Tatami Table Dinner at Pabu. Each monthly Tatami Table Dinner at Pabu is a one-time only dining adventure, guided by chef Jonah Kim, where guests are taken on a culinary journey into a new area of Japanese cuisine. For Wednesday's Sakura Cocktail Dinne r, Kim is preparing a multi-course meal inspired by Washington's celebrated cherry blossoms, or "sakura. " There will also be beverage pairings from Pabu's spring cocktail menu inspired by flowers.

Community United Methodist Church is holding a spaghetti dinner and variety show, Friday, April 12, at 300 Brock Bridge Road. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the show begins at 7:30 p.m., All proceeds go to support church's Youth Mission trip in July. For information, call 301-725-4918.

The Pissaladiere Nicoise, an onion tart studded with black olives and anchovies, is being passed around to the dinner guests while the Navets a la Champenoise, a turnip casserole, and braised stuffed breast of veal finish in the oven. A French Frisee salad with lardons (bacon) and quail eggs will be served, followed by a dessert course of Tarte aux Pommes (apple tart) and Reine de Saba Cake, a chocolatey confection also known as Queen of Sheba Cake. In other words, it's fancy-schmancy.

Mr. Rain's Fun House , the restaurant at the American Visionary Art Museum, is offering a three-course prix fixe dinner every Thursday night for duration of Flick from the Hill, the museum's free outdoor movie series. This Thursday's film is the 1979 gem "Breaking Away. " The "Dinner and a Movie" menu will be available at Mr. Rain's Fun House from 5:30-10 p.m. through Aug. 23. Check out the Flicks from the Hill schedule here. Movies under the stars for every day of the workweek

Artifact Coffee, Amy and Spike Gjerdes' follow-up to their acclaimed Woodberry Kitchen , has been growing on me. In the span of eight days, I had two of my favorite restaurant entrees of the past year at Artifact Coffee. The first night was a 12-hour braised pork shoulder with rigatoni, tossed with roasted turnips in a pesto made from sharp-flavored ramps, the early spring vegetable sometimes called wild garlic. Another night was a sublime stew of chicken, carrots, parsnips and kohlrabi bathed in red wine.

Brandon Dixon, Adam Greene, Brady Orem and Marc Badger all are very good football players. But this group of seniors can do so much more, and they were recognized for those talents Wednesday night. They were selected as regional winners at the 50th Annual Scholar Athlete Awards Dinner at Martin's West. Each received a $4,000 scholarship from The Greater Baltimore Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. The dinner was originally scheduled for March 6, but it was pushed back two weeks because of a storm forecasted forthat night.