This Week In Boston: The Best Events

Boston’s dining and social scenes were hotter than ever this week. It kicked off with a top Boston and New York chef wine pairing, moved onto a Taste of the Back Bay and included a Hot Pink Party to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation along the way.

Photo Credit: Deuxave
Dining

Executive chef/owner Christopher Coombs of Deuxave paired up Tuesday night with his Culinary Institute of America classmate, Chef JJ Johnson, chef de cuisine of The Cecil and Minton’s in New York. The seven-course wine dinner featured signature dishes from each chef such as tofu dumplings with green curry, grilled pickled peaches and cashews; and a spiced duck with variations of champagne mango and black quinoa. Coombs was recently awarded the MRA Restaurateur of the Year by the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and Johnson received the award of Best New Restaurant of 2014 by Esquire Magazine.

Drinking

The Nantucket Wine Festival kicked off its five-day celebration on Wednesday with a welcome reception at the White Elephant. The festival is one of the island’s most popular event offering guests the opportunity to discuss wines with vintners from across the world, including Opus One, Flanagan and Veuve Clicquot. The wines were paired up with dishes from local chefs like Cassie Piuma of Sarma and Mary Dumont, formerly of Harvest. This weekend’s festivities continue with grand tastings scheduled on Saturday and Sunday where you can sip on more than 600 pours from over 150 different wineries paired with artisan foods.

Tasting

Also held on Wednesday night was the annual Taste of the Back Bay. Each year, this event gives foodies the chance to sample dishes from some of Boston’s best restaurant. Located at the Skywalk high atop the Prudential Center, the 20^th annual event featured dishes from L’Espalier, Abe & Louie’s, Atlantic Fish, Legal Sea Foods, Lucca Back Bay, Brasserie Jo, The Capital Grille, Met Back Bay and Stephanie’s on Newbury. Guests sipped on wine from Still River Winery and beer from local brewer Harpoon before wrapping up the night noshing on cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake while listening to live entertainment from the Berklee College of Music.

Giving Back

Boston’s A list of who’s who got together last night at the Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s Hot Pink Party held at the Seaport World Trade Center. Model/actress Elizabeth Hurley, Estee Lauder’s Global Ambassador for Breast Cancer Awareness, was the guest of honor at the 10^th anniversary event, which also honored actor Andrew Shue and journalist Amy Robach. The party where nearly 500 men and women don their most fashionable pink styles is held each year to raise money for breast cancer research. Attendees at this year’s festivities also included Patriots coach Bill Belichick and fashionista Tommy Hilfiger.