Several dining events and changes are planned this month.
On Saturday, the East Mountain Country Club in Westfield will be presenting a dinner buffet and comedy show.
The cocktail hour is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. with dinner to follow at 7 p.m. The show itself, which will feature three stand-up comics, will start at 8 p.m.
Cost of the dinner and show is $35; the show only is $15. Full tables of six can be reserved. Tickets can be reserved by calling (413) 568-1539 or by going to eastmountaincc.com.
The Log Cabin Banquet and Meetinghouse will also be in the business of promoting laughter next week. On Nov. 2, the Log Cabin will be hosting Comedy Campaign 2012, a dinner and show evening featuring a head-to-head matchup of Presidential candidate lookalikes.
Promising to incorporate topical humor, cutting edge multimedia, and parody songs, the evening will begin at 6 p.m., with dinner served at 6:30 p.m. Tickets, which are $35 per person, can be ordered by calling (413) 535-5077.
Outback Steakhouse, long a dinner-only operation, has announced that all the chain's locations will now be serving weekend lunches. Restaurant will open at 11 a.m., featuring a new menu of items priced at less than $10 and a $7.95 Lunch Combo deal of soup, salad, and sandwich entree.
Outback Steakhouses can be found on Riverdale Street in West Springfield and at 98 Elm Street in Enfield.
Chandlers Restaurant at the Yankee Candle Flagship location in South Deerfield will be holding another Berkshire Brewing Dinner on Nov. 9.
Hosted by Berkshire Brewing's master brewers Chris Lalli and Gary Bogoff, the evening starts with a brewery tour before moving on to Chandlers Restaurant for a four-course dinner paired with an equal number of Berkshire Brewing beers.
The get-together, which begins at 6 p.m., is $45 per person. Reservations can be made by calling (413) 665-1277.
The weather's colder, the leaves are falling -- it's almost Fireplace Feast time at the Salem Cross Inn in West Brookfield.
The feasts, which feature spit roasted prime rib with all the fixings, are held on selected Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from Nov. 17 until late April.
Each event includes a menu that begins with seafood chowder and concludes with "New England's Best Apple Pie"; horse-drawn wagon or sleigh rides are also included, weather permitting. Tickets, which can be ordered on-line or by calling (508) 867-2345, are $55 for adults and $25 for children age 10 or younger.
The Blue Heron Restaurant in Sunderland will be holding an Italian Wine Dinner on Nov. 8.
Co-hosted by the Horizon Beverage Company of Norton, a wholesale purveyor of fine wines, the five-course feast, which is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m., will feature some of the Italian vintages Horizon handles.
After an antipasto or scallop and fluke and a first course of spaghettini with crispy pork belly and rock shrimp, the dinner will move on to seared spiced breast of duck.
Braised lamb shank with olives and oranges will serve as the main attraction, with a butterscotch budino (pudding) as dessert. Tickets for the dinner, which are $75 not including tax and gratuity, can be ordered by calling (413) 665-2102.
Billed as "the dining event of the year," the upcoming Chef's Showcase Dinner at Max Downtown in Hartford will feature all eight Max Group executive chefs collaborating to produce one spectacular meal.
Courses include bacon, eggs, and truffles; carpaccio of veal tenderloin; lemongrass steamed Hawaiian snapper; and all-natural ribeye cap steak.
The plan is to conclude dinner with a manjari chocolate gateau; special wines from the Max Downtown cellar will accompany each course.
The dinner is scheduled for Nov. 11, with a 5:30 p.m. reception and 6:30 dinner. Tickets are $185 per person, not including tax and gratuity. For more information or reservations, contact the Max Group offices at (860) 522-9806, extension 18.
Sue Ellen Panich sends word that an evening benefiting the Therapeutic Equestrian Center in Holyoke will be held at Eighty Jarvis Restaurant in Holyoke on November 12.
Beginning with a reception at 6 p.m., the event will be co-hosted by Jeffrey Aldrich of Eighty Jarvis and Mike Brunelle of United Liquors, the company providing the wine selections.
Dinner will start off with a pumpkin bisque and oxtail pierogies; herbed Cornish game hen will follow. A pear tart with caramel sauce will conclude the meal, which is $65 including tax and gratuity. Tickets can be purchased at Eighty Jarvis, which answers at (413) 534-4000
Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community College's hospitality and culinary arts program and has over 35 years of restaurant and educational experience. Please send items of interest to Off the Menu at the Republican, P.O. Box 2350, Springfield, MA 01102; Robert can also be reached at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com