Dinner

Thank God for Joan and Don. Without their lunchtime escape from the office, replete with witty, sexy banter, this episode, the worst of the season, would have been pointless. Nothing else quite worked here, in what clearly was a transitional throwaway leading up to the final few episodes this season. I, for one, do not care about Lane's financial issues (though, surely him forging Don's signature on a check to pay debts will come back to bite him). Anything involving Harry is sort of blah, even though his subplot this week brought back and old friend, Paul Kinsey, who has, ahem, gone through some changes.

PABU , the second restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore, is scheduled to open this week. The dinner-only restaurant is the first collaboration between Michael Mina, whose San Francisco-based restaurant group also developed the concept for Wit & Wisdom , the Four Seasons' three-meal restaurant, and Ken Tominaga, owner and chef of Hana Japanese Restaurant in Sonoma County, Calif. PABU is being described as a modern "izakaya," a term that translates, very loosely, as a drinking establishment that serves food.

The Rev. Mike Russell and the parishioners of Elkridge's Grace Episcopal Church have issued their Thanksgiving invitation. They're inviting 150 seniors to a traditional dinner, to take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.Their guests will be elders or elder couples, age 55 and up, who may need a place to celebrate. That may be because the guests' families have moved on, friends have passed away, or the monthly budget may not allow the feast we associate with the holiday."Church response has been terrific," says Mr. Russell, adding that he does not particularly like to watch TV football or the Macy's parade anyhow.

Washington Chuck Berry at the Howard Theatre The legendary Chuck Berry is part of the lineup of performers celebrating the reopening of Washington's historic Howard Theatre. The Howard began a $29 million renovation in 2010 and reopened this month. The 100-year-old theater opened in 1910 and was a showcase for black artists, including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Marvin Gaye. The renovated theater includes supper club-style seating for 650 that can be converted to standing room for more than 1,000.

This episode begins with Emily meeting for “girl talk” with her best “gal pals.” She mentions that all her friends are the mothers of her daughter's playmates. Can't Emily form meaning relationships by herself? While she hangs out at the park these friends that are twice her age, the guys indulge in a pool party reminiscent of a Schmitts Gay commercial . Only two of the 19 bachelors have chest hair! Ryan Gets the First Date Card Sarah: Ryan “Fluff Head” spent a lot of time getting ready for the date - except he forgot to comb his hair.

A turkey and ham dinner will be served beginning at 5:30 p.m. today 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 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.

Are you ready for Sunday night's two-hour "Mad Men" season premiere? Take a look at our photo gallery of cocktails and dishes inspired by the airless, joyless overproduced television show. We found recipes for classic dishes from Danny's, The Chesapeake and the Harvey House and other Baltimore restaurants that flourished in the 1960s. And read David Zurawik's hilarious post on the momentous televison event. Tonight is the Drink Like a Mad Men Party at the Creative Alliance, featuring classic cocktails crafted by Doug Atwell of Rye. The party will include appetizers and hors d'ouevres that were popular during the 1960s, as well as music and visuals from the same era. Atwell will be talking about some of those classic cocktails Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on WBAL radio 1090.

Geisha is one of the few restaurants I can think of that looks better during the daytime than at night. Geisha's dining rooms are below ground level, down a flight of stairs from its entrance on Charles Street, and at night you can feel a little sad in them, as though you've been confined to the basement while adults are having a party upstairs. By day, though, the room's rusts, cherries and ambers resolve themselves handsomely along clean midcentury lines, and the ambience feels more intentional, like an executive dining room.

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.

Dublin United Methodist Church will hold a spaghetti with meat sauce, all-you-can-eat salad bar, garlic bread, dessert and beverage dinner in the Fellowship Hall from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Saturday. Adults are $10, children 5 to 10 are $5 and children under 5 are free. Coming events Yard sale at Dublin United Methodist Church June 9. Vacation Bible School July 16 to 20. Summer Fun Camp at the Wilson Ministry Center from June 18 to Aug. 17 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

It's Titanic time. As the world pauses to remember the great calamity of April 14-15, 1912, two area restaurants are re-creating the last meal — or at least some aspects of it — for the 100th anniversary. Langermann's in Canton is offering a special Titanic dinner Thursday through Saturday night. And in Annapolis, the Flying Dog Brewery is teaming with the Rockfish on Saturday night for a "Ghosts of the Titanic" beer dinner. There will be Titanic dinners all over the world this weekend, and most of them will be informed by "Last Dinner On the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner," an attempt to re-create the 10-course meal served to first-class passengers on the ship's last night.

It's Titanic time. As the world pauses to remember the great calamity of April 14, 1912, two area restaurants are recreating the last meal - or aspects of it - for the upcoming 100th anniversary. Langermann's in Canton is offering a special Titanic dinner April 12-14. And in Annapolis, the Flying Dog Brewery is teaming with the Rockfish on April 14 for a Ghosts of the Titanic beer dinner. For Langermann's, the dinners are a return engagement of the one it produced for New Year's Eve. For that dinner, chef Neil Langermann pared down the staggering 10-course meal to a manageable five.

Jason Hisley, the lead pasry chef and designer at Flavor Cupcakery in Bel Air, will appear as a contestant on the April 12 episode of the Food Network's "Sweet Genius. "  In "Puzzled Genius," Hisley and his opponents are asked to use pink lemonade a flamingo-desired dessert in one challenge, tackle a "favorite childhood puzzle" for inspiration in another and, finally, working with "Sweet Genius" host Ron Ben-Israel, make cakes with jackfruit and galangal. Hisley is a Food Network veteran.

On a recent, unseasonably warm Thursday night, Federal Hill was jumping with people out on dates - out for happy hour, out for dinner. But Spoons, the laid-back coffee shop that's been a Cross Street fixture since 1999, was quiet, with just a few tables filled. With a menu featuring an intriguingly global mix of comfort foods and service that's friendly and prompt, Spoons is worthy of a little more bustle at dinner time. But, please, not too much more bustle. When the restaurant's owners, Shane Anderson, John Allen, Bernard Kayes and Deborah Cogan, decided last fall to add dinner to Spoons' repertoire, they recognized that the mellow atmosphere offered a welcome alternative to many of Federal Hill's more manic spots.

Are you ready for Sunday night's two-hour "Mad Men" season premiere? Take a look at our photo gallery of cocktails and dishes inspired by the airless, joyless overproduced television show. We found recipes for classic dishes from Danny's, The Chesapeake and the Harvey House and other Baltimore restaurants that flourished in the 1960s. And read David Zurawik's hilarious post on the momentous televison event. Tonight is the Drink Like a Mad Men Party at the Creative Alliance, featuring classic cocktails crafted by Doug Atwell of Rye. The party will include appetizers and hors d'ouevres that were popular during the 1960s, as well as music and visuals from the same era. Atwell will be talking about some of those classic cocktails Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on WBAL radio 1090.

Meet your anglers. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will host its second Bounty of the Bay event, a five-course dinner celebrating the state's seafood and watermen, on Feb. 28 at the Boatyard Bar & Grill in Annapolis. The event is designed in part to give the public a chance to bring watermen, the public and DNR staff to the same table. Here's a video from the first Bounty of the Bay dinner, which was held last March. "We want to remind people that even during the winter months the bay continues to provide us with ample fishing opportunities and plenty of amazing seafood options," said Steve Vilnit, the DNR's fisheries marketing director.

Although winter in these parts hasn't been a terrible hardship this year, it's still pleasant to anticipate more moderate temperatures when you can put away the winter Crocs and start looking for your sandals. And who can blame you if you jump the proverbial gun and invite friends in for a petite soiree with a springtime theme. To celebrate the onset of a purportedly milder season, we present this simple - emphasis on simple - seasonal dinner for eight. Begin with goat cheese triangles used as a "garnish" on a salad of spring greens.

The winners at Wednesday's 49th Annual Scholar Athlete Awards Dinner all found plenty of success both on and off the football field. The achievements of Hereford's David Eldridge, Severn's Brian Bieman, W.E.B. DuBois' De'Andre Taylor and John Carroll's Jonathan Galarraga earned them $4,000 each scholarships from the Greater Baltimore Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. These scholarships are given in five regional areas annually, but this year there were six winners as Judd Ziegler (Middletown)