Special dinners highlight weekend choices

Foodies looking for Saturday night plans have unique options for the upcoming weekend. Both The Grape Tap and Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge are offering multi-course themed dinner events.

Chef-owner Kristin Cook will be getting her Irish on as The Grape Tap continues its ongoing series of pop-up culinary events. Following the success of February’s special Valentine’s Day wine dinner and sold-out cooking classes earlier in March, the popular Wasilla eatery will be hosting an Irish Pub Night on March 28.

The event will feature a buffet of Irish-themed treats. It runs from 6 to 9:30 p.m. Reservations are required, but will ensure a seat for the duration of the dinner.

The food spread will feature appetizer-type fare like Guinness Beer Cheese Dip and Baked Brie with Whiskey Apricot Jam, both served with bread. Irish Nachos – crispy sliced potatoes loaded with cheese, bacon, sour cream and scallions – will also be available, as will Boxty Bites, an Irish take on potato pancakes with herbed cream cheese and smoked salmon.

On the entrée side, diners will be treated to Whiskey Glazed Pork Meatballs, Corned Beef and Cabbage Stew, and Mini Shepherd’s Pie.

Dessert choices are Apple Bread Pudding with Irish Cream Sauce, and Stout floats – Bearpaw River Brewing Co.’s Mat Maid stout poured over vanilla ice cream.

“We just couldn’t let March end without having some sort of Irish theme night,” Cook posted on the restaurant’s Facebook.

The cost for the event is $75 per person. Drinks are sold separately. Interested people can call 907-376-8466 for a reservation.

Looking ahead to April, Cook has already put a new round of cooking classes on the calendar. Following the high demand for what started out as a single March class but evolved into eight, there are eight date options to choose from for the April class: April 7, 9, 14, 15, 22, 23, 28, and 30.

“People really enjoyed the March sessions,” she said. “They liked that they learned, but it was fun and light.”

Cook said many who participated in the March class were surprised by how so many of the menu items get composed from scratch. The small Grape Tap kitchen, which is the reason for the 10-person limit per class, also caused surprise.

Three of the more enduring and popular dishes from the old menu will be featured in the April class. The nearly legendary Grape Tap spiced nuts, present on every table every night of the restaurant’s 16-year run before it closed in December, is one of them.

Participants will also learn how to make the seared sesame ahi and rice cake. Since no visit to The Grape Tap is complete without dessert, the deconstructed lemon cheesecake will be the third featured dish.

The fee for the cooking class is $125. In addition to the expertise offered, a glass of wine is included, and all participants will get finished food to take home.

If the March class was any indication, the April sessions will sell-out quickly. Interested people should call 907-376-8466 to reserve their spot.

Farther up the Parks Highway, and following its recent reopening for the 2026 season, the Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge is presenting “mystery, intrigue, and a night to remember” on March 28. The Spring Murder Mystery Dinner will feature a three-hour multi-course dinner from Chef Angela Fraizer and her crew that diners will enjoy while unraveling a 1920s-inspired whodunit.

The impressive dining room at the lodge will be transformed into the Dunn Speakeasy for the evening for this married to the mob event. Appropriate period attire – flapper dresses, zoot suits, feather boas, and fedoras – is encouraged, as is traditional wedding fashion.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner begins at 6 with a garden salad. Entrée choices are grilled sirloin and herb-roasted chicken. Dessert is Alaskan wildflower honey and cinnamon crème brulee.

Tickets start at $145, with deals on rooms for the night. Reservations can be made online at www.alaskacollection.com/lodging/talkeetna-alaskan-lodge.

Other upcoming events

March 27 special dinner to feature sake and cocktail pairing

Alaskana Social Club, one of the Mat-Su’s newer eateries, will be serving up a five-course Asian-themed dinner March 27. An intimate affair at the scenic property alongside Meier Lake near Wasilla has room for just 24 guests. Organizers say the dinner is “built to transport you somewhere a little farther from the everyday.”

The event, which costs $150, begins at 6 p.m. Reservations can be made online at www.alaskanasocialclub.com.

April 1 public workshop part of series on ag basics

The Cooperative Extension Service, a branch of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ ag program at the Matanuska Experiment Farm near Palmer, is presenting a series of classes and workshops designed to assist all farming and gardening skill and interest levels.

Ruminant 101 is next up on April 1, from noon to 1 p.m. It is an overview of the fundamentals of raising livestock for meat, milk, packing, fiber, or companionship and will be presented by Jim Vinyard, UAF research assistand professor of livestock nutrition.

The class will cover the basic requirements for facilities, nutrition, reproduction, and health and welfare of species like sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, reindeer and other small ruminants. Participation is offered in-person and also online, via Zoom. It will be held at the Matanuska Experiment Farm, 1509 S. Georgeson Drive.

Register for both online and in-person attendance using the online form, or visit https://bit.ly/Ruminant101.

Reservations being accepted for April 5 Easter buffet

Chop House at Lake Lucille will be reprising its always impressive holiday buffet for Easter Sunday, April 5. Doors will open at 10 a.m., with the last seating at 3 p.m.

Cost is $65 for diners 13 and up, $25 for kids 5 to 12, and free entry for kids 4 and under. This is a reservation-only event. Call 907-885-3225 to reserve your table.