Wine fests to aid area good causes

 Raise a glass for a good cause at two area fundraisers.

First up is the annual Festival of Wines on May 1 at Fort Wayne Country Club, 5221 Covington Road.

This benefit for Hospice Home will feature wines (and microbrews) from around the world, which can be bought during the event.

Advance tickets are $50; call 435-3222. Or buy them at Visiting Nurse & Hospice Home, 5910 Homestead Road. (Cash, checks and credit cards accepted). For more information, go to www.vnhh.org.

Then on May 8, it’s the 21st annual World Wine Tasting at Grand Wayne Center, a benefit for Northern Indiana Public Radio.

Sample 200 wines, plus nibble on appetizers from a variety of restaurants.

Tickets for First Pressing, a time to try unusual, top-of-the-line wines, are $60; the doors open at 6 p.m. General admission is $40; doors open at 7 p.m.

Tickets are available at all Belmont Beverage locations. Or call NIPR at 452-1187 or go to www.nipr.fm.

More food on the way
•Heavenly Breads & Sweets has opened in Angola with “everything but doughnuts,” owner Scott Meyers says.

The bakery, at 2405 N. Steuben County Road 200 W., next to Caruso’s Restaurant, offers bagels, croissants, cinnamon rolls, Danish rolls, turnovers, cakes, cookies and other pastries. Specialty breads change daily but include jalapeño-cheese bread and pumpernickel-onion rolls (which must be ordered in advance).

Hours are 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. It’s closed Sundays and Mondays.

For information, call 260-833-1900.

Meyers, who owns the bakery with wife Rebecca, is a former baker with Scott’s Food stores.

•B. Antonio’s Pizza will add a second location at 10011 Lima Road in the new Lima Marketplace. Owner Ben Nighswander hopes to open in early July.

The restaurant will offer the same menu, plus beer and wine. The dining room will be double the size of the original location (5417 Meijer Drive) and will seat up to 120 people. I’ll have more details in a future column.

Specials in Roanoke
Enjoy the cuisine and wine of Sonoma Valley as Joseph Decuis’s vineyard series continues at noon Saturday with a four-course lunch.

The main course is a Cal-Asian stuffed Wagyu flank steak. Wines are Leese-Fitch Merlot 2006 and Dry Creek Chenin Blanc 2007. The meal is $40 ($26 without wine), which doesn’t include tax or gratuity. Reservations are required; call 672-1715. The restaurant is at 191 N. Main St. in Roanoke.

Starting May 1, the Emporium (just a few doors down the street) will have cookouts every Friday. The grill will be fired up on the sidewalk from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine. Enjoy burgers, barbecue beef or homemade corned beef on rye. Reservations are not necessary.

Also, the Emporium’s line of frozen foods (gumbo, soups, etc.) is available at other retailers, including Hoosier Foods in Roanoke and Eagle Creek Farms in Winona Lake. In Fort Wayne, you can buy items at Fresh Market in Covington Plaza, Wine Time at Jefferson Pointe and all three Jamison Meats locations.

J.K. O’Donnell’s adds hours, brunch
To celebrate summer (a wee bit early), J.K. O’Donnell’s, 121 W. Wayne St., will extend its weekend hours starting May 2.

On Saturdays, it will be open from 11 a.m. to midnight.

On Sundays, it will be open from noon to 9 p.m. – until May 24, when the restaurant will begin offering Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. That menu will feature eggs Benedict, corned beef hash, brunch cocktails and other goodies. (The regular menu will start at 3 p.m.).

J.K. O’Donnell’s also has plans to expand this year; I’ll have more details in a future column.

Walleye special at Tavern at Coventry
Now through Sunday, enjoy the “light and right” walleye special at Hall’s Tavern at Coventry, 5745 Coventry Lane.

It’s $12.99 and includes 5 ounces of almond-crusted fish, wild rice, sautéed vegetables and your choice of soup du jour, house salad or fruit cup. For reservations, call 459-2893.

Neon Armadillo’s mid-week specials
Wednesdays mark the halfway point to the weekend, but that’s not enough for the Neon Armadillo, 6040 Lima Road.

Every Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m., the country bar offers $1 “Crappy Wednesday” specials, including beers, burgers, Chicago dogs, BLTs, nachos and fries. There is a $1 cover charge.

From 7 to 9:30 p.m., WFWI-FM 92.3 also broadcasts live from the bar and has plenty of giveaways – plus a cash drawing.

Seeking events for Mother’s Day
If your restaurant is doing something special for Mother’s Day, please let me know by Monday. I’ll include a list in a future column.

Tidbits
•Culvers, 3510 E. Dupont Road, will have a Day of Caring on Tuesday. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., 10 percent of sales will be donated to Parkview Newborn Intensive Care Unit.

•Deer Park Pub, 1530 Leesburg Road, will have its annual Beer Tasting Rendezvous from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 29. It’s $5. Sample craft and imported beers and munch on sausage, crackers and cheese. For information, call 432-8966.