James Beard Celebrates Día de los Muertos With Ana Castro and Fany Gerson

The James Beard Foundation will celebrate Día de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, with a series of events at Platform by JBF’s space on Pier 57. On Oct. 30 at 6:30 p.m., the Mexican chefs Ana Castro, of Lengua Madre in New Orleans, and Fany Gerson, of Mijo and Fan Fan Doughnuts in New York, will discuss the Mexican event’s traditions; Ms. Gerson’s pan de muerto and Ms. Castro’s coffee atole and hot Oaxacan chocolate will be served, $25. On Oct. 31 at 6:30 p.m., Ms. Castro will conduct a hands-on class in using masa to prepare quesadillas, tortillas and tetelas, and preparing salsa verde, with dishes to eat and Masienda’s masa to take home, $95. And on Nov. 1, Ms. Castro will again be in the spotlight serving a Day of the Dead dinner, $150 at a table, $165 at the counter in the kitchen and $120 at a counter outside.

Platform by JBF, Pier 57, 25 11th Avenue (15th Street); platformbyjbf.org.

Cheese Aged in Queens Caves From Murray’s

Among the cheeses that were matured at the Crown Finish cheese aging caves in Brooklyn were hefty wheels of Carpenter’s Wheel by FireFly Farms in Accident, Md. Those aging caves closed last year and now Murray’s Cheese, which has its own caves in Queens, is working with FireFly Farms to age the cheese. These Alpine-style goat milk cheeses are now coming to market. The 16-pound wheels, their golden rinds washed in brine for six months, have an ivory interior, malleable yet firm enough to shave over pasta or a salad. A milky, walnut aroma gives way to a mildly tangy flavor. It’s a first-class melter, lovely on a cheese board and begging for a glass of riesling.

Murrays Cave-Aged Reserve Carpenter’s Wheel, Murray’s Cheese, $35 a pound, murrayscheese.com.

Dress the Table With Autumn Colors

Set your seasonal table with soft organic cotton napkins from Portugal in autumn tones with wispy fringed borders. Some have leafy patterns, others are traced with geometry and some are solid. They’re by Bicla, a company that hand-fashions Japanese-inspired linens. Sold in pairs, they’re 16 ½ inches square, $20 to $28 a set.

Bicla napkins, myportuguesemarket.com.

A Pumpkin Dessert, Minus the Spice

If an alternative to pumpkin pie is on the horizon for Thanksgiving, Lady M Confections has an answer. Pumpkin, in all its mellow richness but without the thrum of spice, defines a new Mille Crêpes cake in the signature style from Lady M. The parchment-thin crêpes are layered with opulent vanilla-pumpkin pastry cream interspersed with two tiers of concentrated pumpkin purée. A brûlée finish dapples the top. The nine-inch cake will serve eight or more. The cakes are available for national shipping.

Lady M Pumpkin Brûlée Mille Crêpes, $108, ladym.com.

The Chef Daniel Humm Shares His Kitchen Sketches

Daniel Humm is busy. With events to mark the 25th anniversary of the restaurant Eleven Madison Park, where he has cooked since 2006 and has been an owner since 2011, he also has a new book on his agenda. “Eat More Plants” — a fitting subject, as his restaurant went vegan in 2021 — is not a cookbook but an art book. It is a collection of pages from his personal culinary diary, complete with his colorful sketches and splashy paintings of ingredients, reproduced by the German art publisher Steidl. The 184-page book in a slipcase is divided by seasons and traces the evolution of the restaurant and its chef to vegan, and includes Mr. Humm’s own notes — “red, yellow, granité, ceviche, Beach” that accompany a bold slice of watermelon, “cooking vegetables is not scary” and “restraint is more difficult but often renders beautiful results.” Mr. Humm will be signing copies of the book on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Union Square Greenmarket.

“Eat More Plants: A Chef’s Journal” (Steidl, $75), elevenmadisonhome.com.

A Martini, Hold the Juniper

Can a drink lacking gin’s lash of juniper be a martini? Like paella without the saffron? Decide for yourself with a new option by Julia Momosé, who’s from Japan and has created the Martini in collaboration with Hoste Cocktails, made with a gin that has more to do with Japanese flavors than with English, Dutch or American. For this pre-mixed martini the gin is infused with touches of sakura (cherry blossom), sansho (pepper), hoijicha (roasted green tea) and yuzu in place of some of the more typical botanicals. Each of her elements represents a different season. Some dry vermouth from the Finger Lakes wraps it up at 33 percent alcohol, and it comes with a tiny atomizer of yuzu zest essence for an air-kiss finish. It’s a lovely, somewhat delicate cocktail, inspired by but not replicating its namesake, and excellent with sushi. Ms. Momosé is also an owner of Kumiko, a bar in Chicago.

Hoste Gin the Martini, $65 for 750 milliliters (10 to 12 drinks), hostecocktails.com.

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