Last night, Creative Loafing hosted its first ever Iron Fork event at CenterStage@NoDa.

• Natrice Bullard

For our first foray into a foodie event, I think it went pretty well. There were a few problems, but that's to be expected for a first-time event. You live and you learn, right?

As a judge, I probably had the best seat in the house ...

... front and center, for everyone to watch me eat. I certainly hadn't planned for that kind of scrutiny. And when presented with an inventive dish that I was unsure of how to tackle, such as that which was concocted by Chef Zack Gadberry of Vivace, all semblances of a poker face vanished. (Side note: It was really good.)

• Natrice Bullard

But congratulations go to Chef Geoff Bragg of The Peculiar Rabbit - he took home the Golden Fork award.

• Natrice Bullard

Here are some more photos from the event.

Slideshow Iron Fork 2013

30 slides

Iron Fork 2013

Click to View 30 slides

Don't forget about Taste of the Nation, the annual shindig that takes over Two Wells Fargo Atrium for a gathering of some of the Q.C.'s top chefs, restaurants and culinary schools - all who turn out to showcase their most mouth-watering selections.

• Jeaumane McIntosh
• A glimpse of the selections at last year's event

Wine, beer, spirits and non-alcoholic beverages will be plentiful, but those who fancy a more hands-on approach should opt for mixologist Stefan Huebner's make-your-own cocktail bar. There will be silent/live auctions and music from party band Hot Sauce, too.

The event benefits Share Our Strength, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina and the Community Culinary School of Charlotte.

$85-$100. April 17, 7 p.m.-10 p.m. (preview hour for VIP at 6 p.m.) Two Wells Fargo Center Atrium, 301 S. Tryon St.

Need a good reason to splurge on a three-course meal at one of Charlotte's fancier restaurants? Well, now you've got one. The inaugural Dine Out Charlotte - presented by My Fair Offer, Inc. - is a 10-day-long culinary celebration that gives you the opportunity to eat, drink and be merry while helping out the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina.

Participating restaurants - including Upstream, Pisces Sushi Bar and Lounge, Osso, Dressler's, 1511 Cantina and more - have prepared special menus with three-maybe even more-course meals for $22-$32.

• Tom Dills Photography/Dine Out Charlotte Facebook
• Dressler's is participating in Dine Out Charlotte

Generosity replaces gluttony since $2 from every meal goes directly to the Feed Hungry Kids program, which provides healthy food to kids in need. Meals between $22-$32. April 12-21. For a list of restaurants and menu selections, visit www.dineoutcharlotte.com.

• Charlotte Food Fight

Food fights seem like a lot of fun on movies and TV shows, but they've never really appealed to me. All that tossing around of food ends up splattered on the floor, in your hair, on the walls, on your clothes. Frankly, I find it rather nasty.

But the Charlotte Food Fight happening on March 23 is a food fight I can get into. The "fight" pits nine food trucks against one another as they battle for best dish winner in three different categories. One of these categories is "People's Choice," which is where you come in. For a $40 ticket, participants will get to eat every dish turned out by each of the food trucks during the competition.

• Charlotte Food Fight Facebook
• The Herban Legend will be one of the food trucks competing in Saturday's event

Kelly DeMario and her husband John, Charlotte Food Fight organizers, have been participating in Relay for Life fundraisers for several years. They had been searching for a creative way to combine food and their fundraising efforts, which is how the idea for the Charlotte Food Fight was born. All profits from the event will go to benefit Relay for Life of Charlotte.

The other two competition categories, Chef's Choice and Best Bacon dish, will be judged by culinary professionals and a local radio personality.

Participating food trucks include:
- The Chrome Toaster
- The Tin Kitchen
- The Herban Legend
- Papi Queso
- Wingzza
- Gourmet Goombahs
- Root Down
- Roaming Fork
- Sal's Roadside Eatery

To purchase beverages such as water, soda, and beer, please bring cash. This is a children-friendly event, but event coordinators ask that you please leave dogs at home.

Date: Saturday, March 23
Time: 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Location: Silver Hammer Studios at the NC Music Factor, 817 Hamilton St
Tickets: http://charlottefoodfight.eventbrite.com/

• Jason Amendolara
• Jason Amendolara. American, 1972- FRED and Friends. Cumberland, Rhode Island, 2004- Food Face Dinner Plate designed 2009 Ceramic, glaze Gift of Jason Amendolara. 2012.44.1

Ever wonder if those kids who play with their food - turning their mash potatoes into landscape sculptures of Mt. Everest and their peas into a self-portrait - are actually on to something?

Food and art don't only cross paths when kids play with their food. The Mint Museum will highlight the merging of creative mediums on Wednesday, March 20 at Taste of the Mint! at the Mint Museum in Uptown.

• Kendrick Moholt
• Chris Antemann. American, 1970- Feast of Impropriety 2010 Porcelain Collection of Yvonne and Richard McCracken.

At 4 p.m., Taste of the Mint! participants will enjoy small plates and a beverage pairing at e2 Emeril's Eatery and Halcyon Flavors from the Earth. The afternoon will conclude with the main event, a tour of the exhibit F.O.O.D. exhibition, which the website describes as "a thematic look at inventive modern and contemporary objects, handmade and mass produced, that have one of three objectives: to prepare, to cook, or to present food."

There are only a few spots left for this upcoming Wednesday.

Cost: $35 for members of The Mint Museum and $40 for non-members
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: The Mint Museum, 500 S. Tryon St.
RSVP: Reserve your spot here, email kacy.harruff@mintmuseum.org or call 704-337-2018.

Events continue on April 20, May 15, and June 26.

If you're a craft beer lover who has done your homework, then you know there are tons of events going on every single day throughout Charlotte Craft Beer Week - happening March 15-24. Unless you're planning to take the week off from work or you're a professional beer taster (and if you are, how do I sign up for that job?), then there's no way you can make it to every event.

So, which ones are worth your time? Which are the creme de la creme of beer tasting events? I talked to Darrin Pikarsky, founder of Charlotte Beer Week, to ask him what event would he choose if he could only attend one event per day. Here are his top picks!

• Charlotte Craft Beer Week

Friday, March 15 - Kickoff at Taco Mac South Park
Pikarsky suggests the Kickoff because it will be a very educational event from brewers, owners and managers of some great national breweries. Some of these include Belle's Brewery, Sweet Water Brewery, and Southern Tier. He says that this is a very affordable event at only $25 for three hours of unlimited pours for 16-18 beers. Tickets are recommended to be purchased ahead of time at the Taco Mac website.

• http://www.apairofpantiesandboxers.com/2010/05/26/a-francophile-in-a-french-bakery/
• A smörgåsbord of sweets from one event provider, Amelie's French Bakery

Scientists may have pretty much debunked the "sugar high" theory, but as anyone who's ever been around a bunch of kids hopped up on colorful confections can attest, anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise. Nary a grown-up can escape the siren song of his or her own sweet tooth, and the Q.C. is home to quite the creative cluster of drool-inducing insulin-uppers. Personally I've never been too crazy for candy, but show me, say, a perfectly executed puff pastry and I will show you the deed to my first-born child (I kid, I kid. Mostly.)

So when I heard about Sugar Rush, the "candy-coated competition" presented by Nfocus Magazine, I immediately felt the familiar pull of the old sweet tooth once again. It's not a cavity either. I checked.

What's this Dish Crawl you speak of? Is it like a bar crawl only you're expected to wash dishes?

Nice try, but no.

• Dish Crawl Charlotte

Dish Crawl is a one-night event that offers you the chance to dine at four different restaurants. The experience may have just come to Charlotte, but it currently has a presence in more than 50 U.S. cities and even a few in Canada.

For $45, participants get a trio of each of the four restaurants' chef specialties - the dishes that embody what the restaurant is all about. Often, a dessert course and/or a food truck is thrown into the mix to add some variety. Charlotte's Dish Crawl "ambassadors" (i.e., organizers) choose restaurants by researching Yelp.com and choosing those that are most popular. But Dish Crawl does not inform diners what restaurants they will be visiting until two days before the event.

There are two upcoming opportunities to participate in Dish Crawl.

- Dish Crawl in South End, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.
- Dish Crawl in NoDa, March 6 at 7 p.m.

I have it on good authority that Revolution Pizza will be one of the stops at the NoDa Dish Crawl and Zucca Pizza Tavern will be a stop on the South End Dish Crawl. The rest of the itineraries have not been disclosed.

Tickets are limited and can be purchase on the Dishcrawl's Charlotte website.

While the upcoming S&D Culinary Challenge 2013: Extracts Edition isn't your classic, fun times food fight per say, it will be a fight involving food.

• S&D Coffee Facebook

From the press release:

The event is a recipe competition for the S&D Culinary Challenge. Ten culinary student finalists are presenting their original recipes to a panel of judges and live audience. It will be a great show with students doing live demos and the winner receiving $2,000. We have some wonderful judges and Chef Jim Noble is acting as mentor to the students.

Considering all of the contestants are students at Johnson & Wales, I think it's safe to say the aromas in Hance Auditorium will have you salivating.

When: Feb. 19, 2 p.m.
Where: Hance Auditorium at Johnson & Wales University, 801 W. Trade St.
More info: www.facebook.com/sndcoffee

The second annual Sweet Tooth Festival happens this year on Saturday, March 9 once again at Blacklion on Park Road. That means you've got about three weeks to purchase your $30 all-inclusive ticket to a plethora of sweets - that is, if the event doesn't sell out before then.

Don't know what a Sweet Tooth Festival is? Well, I'll just leave this here:

• Justin Driscoll

Oh, and this:

• Justin Driscoll

Better yet, you can read my post from last year here. Or check out the event's website or Facebook.