Upcoming Events: Tequila at TQLA and Multi-Course Mystery Dinners

Photo by Troy Fields

When a place has an agave plant at its entrance, you know what to expect at the bar.

If you've been looking for the right opportunity to try TQLA -- which just won our rather specific, yet no less applicable, award for Best Revival of a Genre -- here's the opportunity you've been looking for: TQLA is hosting a tequila dinner with Don Julio on Wednesday, October 19, starting at 6:30 p.m. The dinner will feature four courses from Chef Tommy Birdwell, each paired with Don Julio tequilas including the 70 añejo and the 1942. Courses include roasted lobster tamale, grilled agave quail and a filet with poblano spoon bread for $45 a person (not including tax or gratuity). Reservations can be made by calling 281-501-3237.

That same night, the Outback Steakhouse in Shenandoah will be hosting an alcohol-centered event of its own from 6 to 9 p.m. Heineken with a Heart is a fundraiser benefiting The Greater Houston Restaurant Association and the Montgomery County Restaurant Association. Tickets are $20 at the door and guests will receive cold Heineken beer along with appetizers from Outback.

If you're still feeling generous the next week, Wicked Whisk Catering will be holding a fundraiser dinner benefiting the Epilepsy Foundation of Texas on Friday, October 28, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $70 a person, but the event features a massive 10-course meal with a "breakfast for dinner" theme. Chefs Jay Stone and Jonathan James -- who are normally based in The Woodlands -- will be serving supper at 5226 Elm Street, a photography studio by day that's quickly becoming a popular pop-up dinner location by night. Their menu includes creative courses such as Bagels & Lox made with coho gravlax, hot mascarpone ice cream, bagel chips and dill pollen as well as Steak & Eggs made with Wagyu strip loin and a duck egg.

Caesar salad cupcakes: more on these in a second.

Speaking of pop-up dinners, the very last of the wildly popular Les Sauvages dinners are taking place in October. These final two farewell dinners will see guest chefs from past dinners coming back for one last hurrah with Les Sauvages main men Peter Jahnke, Ryan Lachaine and Justin Basye. The first farewell dinner will take place next Monday, October 10, and will feature chefs Lyle Bento, Jason Gould and Grant Gordon. The second (and final) farewell dinner will take place on Monday, October 17, and will feature an even bigger roster: Chris Shepherd, Ryan Hildebrand, Monica Pope, Chris Leung and one guest chef yet to be announced. Tickets are $100 a person for each dinner and -- as with previous dinners -- can be purchased online.

Coming up in November, get ready for another multi-course meal extravaganza -- and a bit of a mystery -- as The Big Chef's Dinner gathers the chefs from Hay Merchant, Underbelly, Petrol Station, and Xuco Xicana under one roof for an epic beer dinner featuring pairings from Ben Fullelove, owner of Petrol Station. The dinner will take place on Tuesday, November 15, and will feature five courses from each chef -- that's ten in total -- with beer pairings for each. Tickets are a whopping $150 a person and seating is limited to 40 guests.

The location for the dinner will be revealed to ticket holders 24 hours before the event, but is promised to take place inside the Loop. According to a press release, tickets will be available for cash only, sold at random and sold 10 at a time. So, yeah...we have no fucking clue how to get tickets either. Your best bet is to email MediaRelations at HayMerchant dot com for more information. We're still trying to find Waldo.

Last but not least, one of our favorite annual events is coming up on Friday, October 21: the 27th annual Caesar Salad Competition. If this sounds boring, that's because you haven't been. While the "classic" category of competition is pretty much what it sounds like, the "creative" category sees entries like those amazing caesar salad cupcakes seen above, which were entered by Rebecca Masson and Jody Stevens last year. Tickets are $45 and the competition is held from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Four Seasons downtown.

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