You don’t have to travel to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras. The Family Care Center’s annual fund-raiser offers Cajun food and dancing at 6 p.m. Feb. 2 at The Red Mile Clubhouse on Red Mile Road.
Louisiana native Matt Falcone, owner of Bayou Bluegrass Catering, will prepare Cajun turkey with creole mayonnaise, Cajun-fried alligator with voodoo sauce, fresh crawfish, smoked beef brisket with barbecue sauce, braised Cajun cabbage, collard greens, Louisiana red beans and rice, chicken and sausage gumbo, catfish strips fried in corn bread batter, jambalaya, king cake, New Orleans bread pudding and pralines.
There will be a live auction, plus dancing to the music of Swing Street. The cost is $100 a person, $175 a couple, $800 for a table of 10 or $650 for a table of eight. Call the Family Care Center at (859) 288-4062.
Would you care to dance, too?
In the mood to dance? Stop by the Woodford Inn, 140 Park Street in Versailles, on Friday to kick up your heels with The Shining Band, which will perform from 7 to 10 p.m. This weekend’s specials are crispy Parmesan chicken on Friday and pork loin skewers on Saturday.
Owner John Lauderdale said the inn is dropping brunch on Sundays and serving a breakfast menu from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call (859) 873-1877 or visit www.woodfordinn.com.
A new Sunday brunch
Jack and Maddy’s Pub and Patio, 821 Chevy Chase Place, is serving brunch on Sundays. The menu features French toast, quiche, steak and eggs, and eggs Benedict. Hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call (859) 266-0832 or visit www.jackandmaddys.com. The restaurant now serves daily specials such a skewered barbecued shrimp on chipotle cheese grits.
Buffalo’s on the buffet
Sandstone Arches restaurant at Hemlock Lodge at Natural Bridge State Park is serving a buffalo buffet at its Appalachian Heritage night on Saturday. The buffet, from 5 to 8 p.m., is $15.95. Call (606) 663-2214. The park is in Slade.
Good enough to eat
Edible flowers are on the menu for the January chef series dinner at Azur. Wines will be provided by Southern Wines & Spirits for the Jan. 30 event. Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. The cost is $55. Call (859) 296-1007 or visit www.azurrestaurant.com. Azur is in Beaumont Centre.
Tapas with a side of poetry
Tapas Tuesday returns to Holly Hill Inn in Midway on Jan. 29. Entertainment for the evening will feature four Kentucky poets: Lynnell Edwards, Erin Keane and Ben Lesousky of Louisville, and David Harrity of Nicholasville. Readings will be 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Tapas are small plates of food that are shared among friends. Food ranges from spicy to light and includes soups and meats, chilled or hot. Vegetarian options are available. The cost will be $5 to $10 a plate.
Edwards is the author of two poetry collections, The Highwayman’s Wife and The Farmer’s Daughter. Keane is the author of The Gravity Soundtrack, a full-length collection of poems, and The One-Hit Wonders, a chapbook of poems about and inspired by rock ’n’ roll.
Harrity’s chapbook, Morning and What Has Come Since, was recently nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Lesousky is a chef at Seviche, a Latin restaurant in Louisville. In 2006, he was awarded a fellowship from The English-Speaking Union to study modernism at Cambridge University in England. His chapbook, It So Happens, came out in 2007.
Holly Hill Inn is at 426 North Winter Street. Call (859) 846-4732 or visit www.hollyhillinn.com.
A Kentucky lineup
Ed Valente, executive chef at Spindletop Hall, is preparing an all-Kentucky dinner for the annual meeting of Partners for Family Farms. The dinner, which is open to the public, will be at 5 p.m. Jan. 27 at Spindletop. The menu includes braised Kentucky short ribs of beef, winter vegetables, and mushroom bread pudding. Tickets are $30. Call (859) 559-7895.
