La Parrilla has planned a South American-style christening for the wine cellar in its new, bigger digs at 724 Massachusetts St., the space that formerly housed Tapas.

The cellar, which has been in the building since 2000, belongs to Steve Wilson of City Wine Market, who will lead La Parrilla's first tasting event there. The evening will feature four Argentinian wines paired with South American influenced, small-plate style dishes from chef Alejandro Lule (a Peruvian shrimp and octopus ceviche with a glass of torrontés gets the menu started).

The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. June 19 at La Parrilla. Cost is $48 per person. Seating is limited, and reservations should be made by calling 841-1100.

La Parrilla owner Subarna Bhattachan, in the event announcement, describes the cellar as an intimate space featuring exposed hardwood beams and decorated with Persian rugs. He said he plans to collaborate with Wilson on more cellar tasting events in the future, highlighting primarily Spanish, Portuguese and South American wines to complement the restaurant’s Latin American cuisine.

Tips welcome!

Try something unusual or know about something interesting going on at a Lawrence restaurant? Send me an email at sshepherd@ljworld.com or contact me on Twitter @KCSSara. For more local food and restaurant news, click here.

Even as fast-food chains tout their healthy offerings, they're also coming up with fatty new treats to keep customers interested. Case in point: Dunkin' Donuts is adding a doughnut breakfast sandwich to its national menu beginning June 2013. (AP Photo/Dunkin' Brands, Inc., James Scherer) by Sara Shepherd

Dunkin' Donuts is now on board the making-new-things-with-bacon train. This year on National Donut Day, which is Friday, the chain is launching its new creation, the Glazed Donut Breakfast Sandwich.

It's got smoked bacon and a fried egg with a sliced, glazed doughnut for a bun. The executive chef for Dunkin' Donuts says this in a Q&A on the company's website: "The glazed donut is light and fluffy and gives you just the right amount of sweetness. Combined with the lightly salted, smoked bacon, the texture and flavors marry together in a wonderful way. It’s a delicious bite of the perfect harmonization of sweet and savory flavors."

OK then. And if a plain ol' doughnut is good enough for you, Lawrence Dunkin' Donuts locations are celebrating National Donut Day by offering a free doughnut of choice with purchase of a drink all day Friday. Stores are located at 521 W. 23rd St. and 1400 W. Sixth St.

According to the definitive source on all things Donut Day, donutdayusa.com, the celebration — always the first Friday in June — was created by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the women who served doughnuts to soldiers during World War I.

Tips welcome!

Try something unusual or know of something interesting going on at a Lawrence restaurant? Send me an email at sshepherd@ljworld.com or contact me on Twitter @KCSSara. For more local food and restaurant news, click here.

West coast wineries — one in Oregon, one in California — will provide the wine part of two upcoming wine dinners in downtown Lawrence.

On June 5, the Eldridge is playing host to a dinner featuring wines from Jax Vineyard in Calistoga, Calif., at the foot of Mt. St. Helena. The planned five-course menu includes roasted duck breast with ginger-glazed carrot and slow-braised beef cheek with Iwig buttermilk mash.

The Jax Vineyard Wine Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Eldridge. Cost is $60 per person, and reservations are required. Contact Lindsay Robinson at 785-749-1005 or lindsay@oliviacollection.com.

Genovese’s June wine dinner will prove that seafood and red wine can go together, especially when you’re talking about pinot noir. Each course will be paired with wine from Oregon’s Willamette Valley Vineyards — two whites and two pinot noirs. Planned dishes include a parmesan breadcrumb crusted diver scallop and pancetta-wrapped seared ahi tuna.

The Willamette Valley dinner is set for 6 p.m. June 6 at Genovese, 941 Massachusetts St. Cost is $45 per person. Call the restaurant at 842-0300 for reservations.

Brenna McKedy, a Kansas University junior from Garden City, left, works on homework near the cereal bar at Java Break, 17 E. Seventh St. Sarina Geist, right, store manager, says cereal bars are popular on the coasts and suit Java Break’s college-age clientele. by Mike Yoder

For the second time in two weeks, Lawrence has landed a spot on a Zagat list.

Our very own Java Break, 17 E. Seventh St., is representing Kansas on Zagat’s latest online roundup, “The United States of Caffeine: 50 States, 50 Must-Try Coffee Shops.” It's No. 16 on the slideshow list, revealed Wednesday on the Zagat blog.

Here’s what caught the judges' attention:

“Lawrence has no shortage of cool-kid coffee shops, but Java Break is unique thanks to the 24-hour coffee-flowing-though-your-veins service. The ultra-kitschy decor is loved by hipster college kids sticking Starbucks to the man, and their drinks, like the cult-ish Hazelnut Chai, are made from scratch without preservatives or corn syrup. Bonus: there’s a cereal bar with a slew of toppings.”

I'm an almond milk latte gal myself and haven't tried the chai, but I'll vouch for the rest of this writeup. If you missed our recent Off The Beaten Plate feature on their Cereal Bar, check it out here.

The other Zagat mention? That would be Burger Stand making its "Best Burgers in 25 Cities" list.

Java Break’s Minty Hot Chocolate. by Nick Krug

Mike Davis, sous chef for Lawrence's Oread Hotel, carves a watermelon during the 2012 Edible Book Festival at the Shawnee County Public Library in Topeka. Contributed photo. by Sara Shepherd

Mike Davis, sous-chef at Lawrence’s Oread hotel, will conduct a free food carving demonstration next week.

The demonstration will be from 6-8 p.m. March 7 in the All Seasons Den at the Oread, 1200 Oread Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

Davis previously has conducted similar demonstrations for county libraries in Topeka and Salina, but this will be his first such demonstration in Lawrence, according to the Oread.

Culinary Hearts, photo courtesy of Van Go Inc. by Sara Shepherd

Lawrence chefs and restaurateurs Molly and Robert Krause are teaming up with Van Go Inc. to put on a Valentine’s dinner for a good cause.

The annual Culinary Hearts Valentine Dinner is set for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8 at Van Go, 715 New Jersey St. Tickets are $125 per person and include a three-course dinner, wine, beer and live music. Attire is “festive.” Seating is limited, and tickets should be reserved by Jan. 25 online at van-go.org or by calling 842-3797.

The dinner is a benefit for Van Go’s Go Healthy program.

According to the organization, 70 percent of its participants live in poverty and, as such, experience food insecurity and hunger. Go Healthy is Van Go’s year-round food, nutrition and healthy lifestyles program that aims to give teens tools they need to fight obesity and stay mentally fit.

Matt Poulton is owner of Queen Lizzy's Fish and Chips, winner of Best New Restaurant in the 2012 Best of Lawrence contest. by Mike Yoder

Some Lawrence folk from across the pond are collaborating to host Christmas dinner British-style — complete with figgy pudding and a visit from Father Christmas.

Queen Lizzy’s Fish and Chips Shop, 125 E. 10th St., and Brits, 929 Massachusetts St., have planned Traditional British Christmas Dinner events on two dates, Sunday and Dec. 16. For both events, doors open at 5 p.m. and dinner begins at 6 p.m. at Queen Lizzy’s. Tickets, which can be purchased at either business, are $38 for adults and $19 for children 15 and younger.

The figgy pudding, of course, is for dessert. Queen Lizzy’s chef and owner Matt Poulton, who is from England, said the traditional dish is made with raisins, currants and figs then drizzled with brandy butter. He added, "It's a delight."

Also on the menu is wine for adults, an appetizer of cherry and almond baked brie and a dinner of roast turkey, ham, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, honey roasted parsnips, almond roasted brussels sprouts, gravy, sage and onion stuffing, pigs in blankets (British style) and buttered carrots and peas.

Poulton said Tuesday that plenty of tickets remained for Sunday but only a few are still available for Dec. 16.

“I thought it would be fun for a lot of expatriates to come to, and something the locals might find enjoyable.” he said. “We don’t have Thanksgiving in the UK, so our big thing is Christmas.”

Alex Pope by Sara Shepherd

On Saturday, over in Johnson County, a library is playing host to what has to be one of the more unusual events they’ve had.

Butcher and charcuterier Alex Pope will butcher half a hog (like a side of beef, only pork) in a public demonstration beginning at 2 p.m. at the Johnson County Central Resource Library, 9875 W. 87th St., Overland Park. Pope owns Kansas City, Mo.’s, Local Pig, an artisan meat-cutting and sausage shop dedicated to locally and humanely raised meats including beef, pork, chicken, duck, turkey, quail, rabbit, lamb and goat.

The library promises real knives, real meat. All ages are welcome, though parental discretion is advised. The event is free, and registration is not required.

"Whole Beast Butchery," one of Alex Pope's favorite food books. by Sara Shepherd

But wait — there is a connection between beast and books. Pope “learned his trade in the best way,” the library announcement says, “by reading books.”

During the event, Pope is expected to talk about how meat makes it from farm to table, demonstrate his butchering techniques and share what he learned about the trade from reading books.

The library provides this link to some of Pope’s favorite food titles.

Pretzel-Nutella Bars with White Chocolate Chunks by Sara Shepherd

I’ve undoubtedly eaten more than my fair share of Nutella on its own — on ice cream, toast, crepes, fruit, by the spoonful and (I confess!) straight off a knife — but never baked with it.

On the one hand, I’ve always thought, it’s kind of expensive and so decadent, why waste it by mixing it with other things? On the other hand, I mulled as I recently dipped crackers in it for the first time, wouldn’t some kind of salty-sweet dessert with Nutella and pretzels be awesome?

Envisioning gloops of Nutella and chunks of pretzels just needing some kind of something to hold them together, I pulled up a handful of Nutella recipes online but found none like what I had in mind. So I came up with my own.

These cookie bars (inspired by the Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars from September’s Kansas University tailgating food story) have mini pretzels and white chocolate chunks in the cookie dough. Not wanting to dilute the Nutella by stirring it into anything, or risk it being smeared away from the top or bottom of a cookie, it’s scooped straight out of the jar and sandwiched safely between layers of dough.

This probably goes without saying, but these are extra good with a glass of milk.

PRETZEL-NUTELLA BARS WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE CHUNKS

Start to finish: 45 minutes

Servings: 18 bars

1 box yellow cake mix

1/2 cup canola oil

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups mini pretzels, broken

6 ounces white baking chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 jar (13 ounces) Nutella

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, stir together cake mix, oil and eggs. Mix in pretzels and white chocolate chunks. In a greased 9-by-13-inch pan, press three-fourths of the dough into the bottom. Bake 10 minutes. Cool 5 minutes.

Spread Nutella over top of partially cooked dough. Drop remaining dough over the top. Bake 20 minutes more, or until top is lightly browned. Cool and use a sharp knife to cut into bars.

by Sara Shepherd

One 10-piece, 1,090-calorie Chicken McNuggets meal, please.

For the first time today, I learned how many calories are in my favorite meal at McDonald's. I’m still trying to decide whether I’m worried about it.

As promised, the fast food giant this week added calorie counts to its menus — no more having to go the extra mile to check online (or look at the box), the count is right there next to the price. Lawrence locations are included, with calories on both drive-thru and in-store menu boards (confirmed at Sixth and Wakarusa, no reason to doubt the other spots don’t have them up, too).

The 1,000-plus calories in McNuggets do not shock me. While I’ve never been a big calorie counter, I am generally health-conscious and well aware typical McDonald’s fare is not a healthy choice.

When I head to McDonald’s — always the drive-thru — I’m either starving, in a hurry and don’t want to trouble myself to get out of my car AND/OR have a salty greasy food itch to scratch and wouldn’t give healthier options the time of day, anyway. McDonald’s satisfies those needs like none other.

Nutrition information for 10-piece Chicken McNuggets by Sara Shepherd

Obviously, my health would be better off without McDonald’s (at least the kind of stuff I order there). However, if I depended on the drive-thru for frequent meals and sustenance rather than occasional indulgence (or if I had diagnosed medical conditions such as high cholesterol or blood pressure), I think I’d be a lot queasier about the calorie counts — and all the other counts. My nuggets and fries had a combined 28 grams of protein (56 percent of the recommended daily allowance), but they also had 1,270 mg of sodium (53 percent RDA) and 48 grams of fat (73 percent RDA), according to nutrition information on the boxes.

Hmmm. I guess that does make me extra glad I ate homemade salads for lunch the previous two days.

P.S. You’re probably wondering, “What’s the highest-calorie item on the menu?” Got it. Weighing in at a whopping 1,400-plus calories, that would be the Angus Bacon and Cheese Burger meal. The sandwich alone has 2,070 mg of sodium (86 percent RDA) and 39 grams of fat (60 percent RDA).