News from the local food scene
• New Greek food spot: A new branch of The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill (946 S. Willow St., Manchester, 932-2181, thegreatgreekgrill.com) will have its official ribbon-cutting at 4 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 12. It will feature traditional Greek and Mediterranean dishes, some of which will be vegetarian and/or gluten-free.
• Special cupcakes: Queen City Cupcakes (816 Elm St, Manchester, 624-4999, qccupcakes.com) has released its menu of Special Holiday Cupcakes. All cupcakes will be festively decorated and “dressed in their holiday best,” according to the bakery’s website. Holiday flavors will include eggnog, gingerbread snickerdoodle, sugarplum fairy, and chocolate-peppermint. Pre-order your holiday cupcakes by Dec.21 for pickup on Dec. 24 from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Meet chocolate book writer: Rowan Jacobsen, James Beard award winner and the author of nine books, will sign copies of his new book Wild Chocolate: Across the Americas in Search of Cacao’s Soul on Friday, Dec. 13, from 4 to 5 p.m. at Dancing Lion Chocolate in Manchester (917 Elm St., 625-4043, dancinglion.us). Walk-ins are welcome for the book-signing and copies will be available to purchase. A chocolate tasting following the book signing is sold out.
• Cookie tour: The Currier and Ives Cookie Tour will take place Saturday, Dec. 14, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and feature 16 stops at inns, restaurants, galleries and more in the Monadnock region. Cookie Tour tickets may be purchased at The Inn at East Hill Farm (460 Monadnock St., Troy, 242-6495, east-hill-farm.com) and Frogg Brewing (580 Sawyers Crossing Road, Swanzey, 547-7639, froggbrewing.com). Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased with cash only. Visit currierandivescookietour.com. See the story in the Dec. 5 issue of the Hippo in the digital library at hippopress.com; the story is on page 22.
• Save the date: Chef Marcus Samuelsson will return to host the Steel Chef Challenge on Saturday, March 15, at 6 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Downtown Manchester. The event benefits the New Hampshire Food Bank. Tickets cost $150 general admission, $250 VIP. See nhfoodbank.org/steelchef.