Seven local chefs will compete Feb. 25 for the title of shrimp and grits champion in the first ever Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chefs' Throwdown.

The event at The Carolina Inn is open to the public who will vote for the fan favorite. It costs $15 to attend the event, which is from 1-4 p.m.

The participating chefs include: Jeremy Blankenship of Tyler's Taproom; Trey Cleveland of Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery; Adam Cobb of Glasshalfull; Bret Jennings of Elaine's on Franklin; Vimala Rajendran of Vimala's Curryblossom Café; Jimmy Reale of Carolina Crossroads Restaurant and Bar; and Adam Rose of Il Palio at the Siena Hotel.

For more information and tickets, go to www.CarolinaInnThrowdown.com.

A portion of the proceeds will benefit TABLE, a nonprofit aimed at helping children at risk of hunger.

For Valentine's Day, restaurants usually unveil a prix fixe menu or special offerings in addition to their regular menu. If a nice meal out isn't your thing, here's my list of other Valentine's Day activities, including cooking classes and chocolate tastings.

Here are a few dinner options that I spotted in my inbox or online:

• Durham's West 94th Street Pub is offering a four-course meal Friday through Valentine's Day and 50 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the St. Baldrick's Foundation. Dinner costs $25 per person or $35 per person with beer or wine.
• There will be a Valentine's Day Food Truck Rodeo and Fundraiser in Carrboro from 5:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday. See my earlier post for details.
• The Point in Raleigh's Five Points neighborhood is offering a three-course menu for $40 a person. Go HERE to see the menu. (Scroll down a bit to see it.) They are offering that menu on Friday, Saturday and Valentine's Day.
• Tribeca Tavern in North Raleigh and Cary is offering a three-course meal for $50 per couple or a la carte off their special menu. Go HERE to see it.
• Twisted Fork, also in North Raleigh, also is offering a special Valentine's menu.
• Cary's Coffee and Crepes is offering a Valentine's special: a strawberry and nutella crepe. As the owner Terri Pastrana says, "Pair it with a hot mocha latte and you have a smiling date that won't break the bank."
• Raleigh's 42nd Street Oyster Bar is offering a three-course menu for 2 for $65. Go HERE to see the menu.
• bu.ku in Raleigh is offering a special three-course menu that is $75 per couple. The special starts Friday and runs through Valentine's Day. Go HERE to see the menu.
• Jibarra in Raleigh is offering a three-course meal and a margarita for $49. Plus, they will be offering some other specialty cocktails for the occasion. Go HERE to see a menu.
• The Angus Barn in Raleigh is offering a four-course meal on Saturday for $95 with live music and dancing in the pavilion after dinner. Go HERE for details.
• Daniel's in Apex is offering an Almost Valentine's wine dinner on Thursday offering five courses for $75. Go HERE and click on Wine Dinner for details. Daniel's is also offering a special Valentine's Day menu, including lobster bolognese for $22.
• The Matthews House in Cary is offering dinner and dancing from 6:30-11:30 p.m. Saturday. It costs $50 per person. Plus, one lucky couple will win a night in the honeymoon suite. Call 467-1944 for more details and reservations.
• Herons at The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary is offering a five-course tasting menu for $85. You can get wine pairings for an additional $35. You can take your date for this special meal on Friday, Sunday, Monday, Feb. 13 and then Feb. 15-Feb. 18. Call 447-4000 for a reservation.
• La Residence in Chapel Hill is offering a three-course meal for $49 or a four-course meal for $65 on Valentine's Day. Call 967-2506 for a reservation.
• Taste Carolina is offering walking tours in Durham and Raleigh on Valentine's Day. Tickets cost $62.50.
• Dos Perros in Durham has posted its Valentine's Day menu, which it will be offering in addition to its regular menu. I'm most intrigued by this drink, which could stand in for dessert: Mexican Affogato, a Mezcal-spiked coffee poured over mole ice cream with house-candied orange peel. 
• Its sister restaurant in Chapel Hill, Jujube also has posted its Valentine's Day menu.
• The Fairview Dining Room at the Washington Duke Inn in Durham is offering a five-course meal for $65. Go HERE for details.
• The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill has a series of dining and overnight stay packages starting at $129. Go HERE to see their offerings. UPDATE: If you just want to dine at the Carolina Crossroads restaurant, there is a special four-course meal with champagne and a rose for your sweetheart on Valentine's Day for $75 per person. On Feb. 11-13, you can enjoy a four-course meal with champagne for $65 per person. Call 918-2735 for a reservation. 
• Il Palio at The Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill is offering a five-course meal for $95. Go HERE to see the menu.
• Chef Chip Smith, formerly of Bonne Soiree, is now cooking at The Inn at Celebrity Dairy in Siler City. They are offering a Valentine's Day menu on Saturday, Sunday and Valentine's Day. Call 742-5176 for details.
• Watts Grocery in Durham is offering a three-course meal for $50. Go HERE to see the menu.
• Foster's Markets in Durham and Chapel Hill are offering a three-course take out meal for two for $75. You must place your order by Saturday to pick up on Valentine's Day. Go HERE to see the menu.

If you would like your restaurant added to this list, please send an email to aweigl@newsobserver.com and put "Valentine's Menu" in the subject line.

From 5-9 p.m. Friday, guests will enjoy live bluegrass music and be able to order off a picnic menu with beer, wine and drink specials, all enjoyed on the Carolina Inn's front lawn.

Friday's featured beer will be Carolina Brewery's Sky Blue Golden Ale and the band is Big Fat Gap. Next month's musical lineup is Mel Melton & the Wicked Mojos on May 6; Lizh and the Big Band on May 13; Mick Mixon & The Franklin Street Band on May 20; and the Gravy Boys on May 27.

To see the schedule, go to www.carolinainn.com and view the events calendar.
 

The New York Times reporter Kim Severson, who until very recently wrote about food, is one of the authors you can meet as part of the Orange County Literacy Council's Writers for Readers events.

Severson is now the Atlanta bureau chief for The New York Times. She is the author of "Spoonfed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life." (I loved this book. It was so reassuring that someone as accomplished as Severson is can be panged with doubts. It made me realize that there's room at the food writing table for all of us.)

You have two opportunities to meet Severson and several other authors:

• a "Meet the Authors Gala" reception at the UNC's presidents house at 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 20. Tickets: $125.
• a book and authors luncheon at 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 21 at the Carolina Inn. Tickets: $65.

For a full list of the authors who will be there and to purchase tickets, go HERE.
 

At 6:30 p.m. Oct. 28, The Carolina Inn is hosting a five-course beer dinner featuring ales from Carolina Brewery to celebrate Oktoberfest.

The courses include beer and cheese soup with local bratwurst, a salad made with a beer-poached Latta farm crispy egg, frisée, chanterelle mushrooms, crisp country ham and warm sherry vinaigrette and a beer-braised beef short rib with a horseradish potato cake, baby root vegetables, tobacco onions and natural jus.

There’s also a raspberry beer sorbet as an intermezzo. And dessert also incorporates beer with a chocolate souffle cake with porter-brined caramel pecans and chocolate sauce. Now that sounds interesting!

The cost is $49 per person. Make a reservation by calling 918-2735.

The Carolina Inn is banking on its haunted history to get you to spend the night there this Halloween.

The story goes that Dr. William Jacocks lived at the hotel from 1948 until his death in 1965. Ghost hunters from Haunted North Carolina detected footsteps in an empty, locked room, the faint sounds of a piano when there isn't one in the hotel and a few softly spoken words when these paranoraml investigators went looking in 2007 for signs that Dr. Jacocks hung around. 

And so the hotel is offering a dinner, a presentation from Haunted North Carolina, a tour and overnight accomodations if you dare. 

For the whole thing plus breakfast, it will cost you between $110 to $160 a night. 

For just dinner, the talk and the tour, it costs $59. 

Call 918-2711 to book your reservation. 

Reminder: The Carolina Inn has started sushi nights from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays in the Carolina Crossroads Bar.

The menu includes starters such as edamame salad, mixed peppers, daikon radish and soy sesame vinaigrette for $5 and down south wontons with spicy collard greens, shredded pork, buckwheat noodle salad, miso vinaigrette for $8.

Some of the rolls include spicy tuna, California roll and Tempura roll. Prices range for $6 to $7.

The Carolina Inn is offering Sushi Nights from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesdays in the Crossroads Bar. The BBQ eel and the Down South Wontons are intriguing.