Chocolate, Whiskey and Doughnuts! Seventeen Tastiest Events in Denver, October 14-16

No Broncos game this weekend? No problem. There are plenty of winning events to fill the football-shaped hole in in your heart — and stomach. From chocolate and coffee to whiskey and doughnuts, all of your tastiest vices are represented on this weekend's culinary calendar. And you can also get a free lunch today! Keep reading for all the delicious details. 

Friday, October 14 

James Beard Award-winning chef Jennifer Jasinski and hundreds of volunteers will cook up nearly 2,000 pounds of fresh, thrown-away produce provided by We Don’t Waste for Feeding the 5000, a free lunch at Skyline Park today. You can grab lunch and enjoy other activities while helping to raise awareness of food-waste issues in Denver and around the world, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. Get all the details at feedingthe5000usa.org. 

Chef Riley Chandler's Pop-up Tour rolls into Denver today, with chefs cooking up a multi-course meal with only local ingredients, which they'll serve tableside. Both the menu and the location will be revealed when you sign up; get tickets ($75 or $125 for the chef's table) and more information at rileychandlerpc.com.  

The Wildlife Experience at University of Colorado South Denver will be showing The Lost Boys at today's Movie and a Martini. Your $28 ticket gets you two drinks, hors d’oeuvres, popcorn, access to the museum exhibits and the feature presentation. Movie trivia starts at 5:30 p.m. Grab tickets here. 

Seventh Wonder will host an evening of food, entertainment, music and more, all to support children's rights and education in Cambodia. You can take part in the festivities from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Posner Center for International Development. Tickets are $35, free for children under twelve, and can be purchased here.

Keep reading for many more tasty events.
Saturday, October 15 

Urban Party Adventure,  a costumed bar crawl and scavenger hunt with a Crazy Hats & Fancy Shoes theme, kicks off at 1 p.m. today. You and a team of three to four people will receive a custom checklist when you check in at Ale House at Amato's; you have three hours to complete the itinerary before returning for an awards ceremony and drinks. The LoHi neighborhood crawl is $20 per person or $80 for a team of five; 1$ of your admission will be donated to the Heavenly Hats Foundation. Grab tickets and get all the details here. 

Choctoberfest will bring 75,000 chocolate samples, beer, wine, cider, spirits, coffees and more to the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds today. In addition to the plethora of chocolate and chocolate-centric samples, there will be a chocolate-pudding-eating contest, chocolate aerial apple bobbing, a Gene Wilder/Willie Wonka look-alike contest, live music and more entertainment. You can indulge from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. General admission tickets are $5, and tasting tickets are $10 for twelve; grab yours and get all the chocolatey details at chocolatefests.org. 

The Union Station Farmers' Market and Union Station’s Terminal Bar will kick off their Market Mixology series with a cocktail tasting at the Terminal Bar’s Plaza Beer Garden from noon to 1 p.m. today. Participating restaurants include the Terminal Bar, Mercantile dining + Provisions, Stoic & Genuine, Next Door Union Station, the Squeaky Bean, Jax Fish House Denver and Beast & Bottle. Each restaurant will choose a farm and a market ingredient to highlight, and each cocktail will be featured at its respective restaurant today through October 22, the date for the final Union Stations Farmers' Market of the season. For more information, visit bcfm.org. 

Start your day off with a buzz at the Grand Coffee Bazaar from 9 a.m. to noon at RedLine Art Gallery. More than a dozen local coffee roasters will be on hand, and there will be brunch cocktails, collaboration coffee beers, brunch food and more. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at twoparts.com.  

Indulge in two of your tastiest vices at Whiskey Throwdown & Doughnut Showdown today. The now semi-annual event will feature cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, wine, vodka, beer, games, food trucks, giveaways, live art and, of course, plenty of whiskey and doughnuts. There will be two tastings at Cluster Studios — from 2:30 to 5 p.m. and 5:30 to 8 p.m. — and tickets to each tasting are $45, or $30 for a "sugar only" ticket, which excludes alcohol. VIP tickets are $115 and will get you into both tastings. You can purchase tickets and learn more here. Proceeds will benefit Minds Matter of Denver.

Join Groundwork Denver for a Harvest Celebration from 2 to 6 p.m. today at Sister Gardens. You can enjoy farm-to-table food cooked up by local chefs, live music, beer from Goldspot Brewing Company and Upslope Brewery, pumpkin carving, face painting, a pie-baking contest and more. Visit Ground Work's Facebook page for more information. 

Drink 4 Pink will be raising money for the fight against breast cancer. It starts at 11 a.m. at Lodo's Bar & Grill; find out more here.

Don't miss a chance to meet artists Barbara Ciurej and Lindsay Lochman, creators of Processed View, an unusual photography project that re-creates natural landmarks with food! At the opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight, they'll be joined by members of the Denver Sustainable Food Policy Council for a discussion about the American diet and the costs of industrial food production on our health and the environment. The show is at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center gallery, 3636 Chestnut Place; admission is free, and Processed View will remain on view through November 26. Find out more here.

Park Hill Supermarket, at 3770 East 40th Avenue, celebrates its second anniversary with a free Dragon and Lion Dance show, along with cooking demos, food samples and other deals — including a drawing for big prices between 2 and 4 p.m. For more information, call 303-823-3088.

Sunday, October 16 

Harvest Week, an epic culinary collaboration between EatDenver and Growhaus, returns today through October 20. Each night's dinner will have a location-themed menu crafted through collaboration between six or more restaurants. Dinners run from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at GrowHaus; $75 gets you dinner, drinks and community. Get all the details at harvestweek.com.

In celebration of the new bike lane on Broadway, Sweet Action Ice Cream and Bikes on Broadway are teaming up for a Bikes on Broadway Ice Cream Ride. Bike down to Sweet Action from 1 to 3 p.m., where kids will get a free cone and families can get a professional family photo on the new Broadway 2-Way Bike Lane. For more information, check out the event's Facebook page.  

The second annual Fo' Swizzle team cocktail competition will stir things up at the Arvada Tavern tonight. Some of Colorado’s best bartenders will pair up to compete for the swizzle title. Each team is judged on its teamwork in crushing ice, swizzling cocktails and creating the craziest tiki garnishes. You can watch the competition while enjoying complimentary Don Q Tiki cocktails and snacks from the Arvada Tavern. The event, which runs from 2 to 5 p.m., is free to attend; register and get all the details here.

Come throw some bags for cash prizes and watch non-Broncos football today during the Tilted Kilt's Bags 'N Beers Cornhole Tournament. There will be drink specials and raffle giveaways throughout the day; the tournament starts at noon.  Registration is $20 per team; get the full scoop on the event's Facebook page. 

 For more Food & Drink events, go to our online calendar. If you know of an event that should be included in that calendar, send information to [email protected].