Wine, beer and bacon guarantee a great weekend

With three days left of the Denver International Wine Festival, you can still enjoy some of the finer sips in life. But if grapes don't twist your vines, there are culinary events aplenty to keep your body warm and your belly full this weekend. Tonight from 4 to 9 p.m.,...

By Loren Lorenzo

November 8, 2013

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With three days left of the Denver International Wine Festival, you can still enjoy some of the finer sips in life. But if grapes don't twist your vines, there are culinary events aplenty to keep your body warm and your belly full this weekend.

Tonight from 4 to 9 p.m., unwind at the Denver International Wine Festival at the Omni Interlocken Resort, where you can taste wine from around the world, paired with small bites. Tickets for the tasting range from $95 to $210; find more information here.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9 Acclaimed chef and restaurateur Frank Bonanno is starting a series of cooking demonstrations focused on holiday menu items. His first class will feature the start to any great party: appetizers. The class, which runs from noon to 2 p.m. at Bonanno Brothers Pizzeria, will include entertaining instruction from Bonanno, refreshments and a recipe to take home. Tuition runs $85 per person (class size limited to fifteen people); reserve your spot by calling Bonanno Brothers at 303-799-8900.

The pros are coming to town for the Bacon & Beer fest, and at 7 p.m., Wynkoop Brewing Company will host an appetizing preview: a Brewer's Dinner with a five-course meal with beer pairings from Wynkoop, Denver Beer Co., Breckenridge Brewery and Great Divide Brewing Co. Among the chefs cooking up courses: Jennifer Jasinski and Jorel Pierce (Rioja, Euclid Hall, Bistro Vendome), Max MacKissock and Blake Edmunds (Williams & Graham), Oakland's Kim Alter (Plum) and Cory Treadway of the Wynkoop. Although tickets ($40) are currently sold out, you can get on the waiting list and buy a sweet Beer & Bacon Fest T-shirt here.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10 Eat Boston and Denver Off The Wagon will ring in the second Bacon & Beer Festival at a larger location this year. From 2:30 to 5 p.m., the EXDO Event Center will host the alliance of two of the greatest things in the world: bacon and beer. Various Denver restaurants will offer their own bacon-based dishes; breweries will be pouring their best beers. And there should be plenty to go around, with an estimated 900 pounds of pork belly, 25 chefs and 25 breweries. Although tickets are sold out, you can get on the waiting list here. All proceeds will benefit Metro Care Ring and Project Angel Heart.

Cast your vote for the most rough and tumble chili in town at the eighth nnual Meanest Chili Cookoff. The fun runs from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Oriental Theater, where you can dig into hearty chili while cheering on the Broncos as they take on the Chargers. In addition to the orange and blue, the cook-off will support the Tennyson Center for Children, which gives abused and neglected children a safe place to stay. Tickets are $15; purchase them here.

For information on dozens of culinary events around town, visit our online Food & Drink listings -- and if you have information for a culinary event you'd like included in our online calendar, send it to [email protected].

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