Three Natural Wine Festivals Are Headed to New York This Month

October is the month for natural wine festivals

Three natural wine festivals are headed to New York this month. First up is Peripheral, a fair hosted by Fish & Game chef Zak Pelaccio that brings together natural wine producers and distributors for wine tastings at BackBar in Hudson. The all-day event is happening on October 26; tickets can be purchased here.

Next is Raw Wine at the Knockdown Center in Queens, featuring 150 natural, organic, and biodynamic winemakers. There will be tastings and panels, alongside food from Roberta’s, Insa, Cervo’s, and Candide. Counter Culture will also be there selling coffee. The event goes down at 52-19 Flushing Avenue on October 27 and 28 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets here.

Finally, Wild World will be offering tastings of over 200 organic wines, farmhouse beers, and other drinks and foods fermented with wild yeast and bacteria on October 28. It goes down at the Berg’n beer hall 899 Bergen Street in Crown Heights from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; tickets available here.

In other news

— Despite the rumors, there will be no Outback Steakhouse in the former Coffee Shop space in Union Square.

— Once-popular but now-shuttered Bed-Stuy bakery Scratchbread may be making a comeback: Owner Matthew Tilden has shared on social media that he’s opening a new business called Scratchbread.counter.

— Some Upper West Side residents are pushing back against Pickle Hospitality’s new tiki bar Tiki Chick, whose sign is a drawing of a topless hula girl wearing a lei. The bar’s sign has been called “culturally insensitive” and not “family-focused.”

— Vanessa’s Dumpling House on 14th Street is closed for “modernization,” according to a sign hanging from its shuttered storefront.

— Chef Ziqiang Lu’s takes a “thrilling” approach to traditional Sichuan dishes at Birds of a Feather in Williamsburg, which serves some of the city’s best dan dan noodles, Hungry City critic Marian Bull writes.

— Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved a bill that requires the State Liquor Authority to maintain an accessible public database of liquor licenses.

— Neir’s Tavern in Woodhaven, Queens — one of New York’s oldest bars — celebrated its 190th anniversary over the weekend.

— NYC’s Sanitation Department wants more restaurants and food stores to begin separating their organic waste from their trash.

— Lol: