News from the local food scene
• Tastes of the Caribbean: Get your tickets now for an al fresco Caribbean dinner at the Bedford Village Inn (2 Olde Bedford Way) on Thursday, July 22, at 6 p.m., the second event of its summer dinner series. Held on the Inn’s Grand Terrace, the five-course meal will feature Caribbean-inspired options, as well as a rum tasting and handcrafted tropical cocktails that will be paired with each course. Items will include passed appetizers like tostones, saltfish fritters with sweet chili sauce, Jamaican beef patties and fried whitefish with pepper jelly. Other courses to be served will be curry coconut prawns, oxtail stew with butter beans and fried okra, jerk chicken thighs and pork belly, and hummingbird cake for dessert. Tickets are $125 per person (event is 21+ only). Visit bedfordvillageinn.com.
• A piece of the pie: Join the Amherst Town Library (14 Main St.) for Summer Berry Pies and Tarts, a virtual program featuring Chef Liz Barbour of The Creative Feast in Hollis, taking place via Zoom on Tuesday, July 20, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Barbour will demonstrate her favorite pie dough recipe and prepare a seasonal fruit pie and tart, and she’ll talk about her favorite pie baking tools, ingredients and preparation methods. Registration is required — visit amherstlibrary.org to sign up, where you’ll then receive a confirmation email with information on how to join the webinar. Barbour has several other upcoming virtual events planned in collaboration with local libraries later this summer. Visit thecreativefeast.com for a full schedule.
• Handcrafted chocolates and more: A two-day grand opening celebration for Sweet Boutique, a new handcrafted chocolate and candy shop in Bedford, is planned for Saturday, July 17, and Sunday, July 18. The shop is in the former Triolo’s Bakery space at 21 Kilton Road and offers everything from specialty barks and truffles to peanut butter cups, fudge and a line of sugar-free products sweetened with monk fruit. Also featured during the summer are colder options like fruit smoothies, acai bowls and gelato cookie sandwiches. Sweet Boutique is run by owners Michael Pais and his partner, Lynn Mackenna, a chocolatier with more than 30 years of experience working at the former Willey’s Candy Shop on Salisbury Beach. Its current hours are Tuesday through Friday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit visitsweetboutique.com, follow them on Instagram @sweetboutique_chocolates or call 222-1521.