I have a story today profiling the second-in-command in well-known Triangle kitchens. Meet Jimmy Alfano and Jim Long of the Angus Barn, Amanda Forsyth of Magnolia Grill, Miguel Torres of Lantern and Sunny Gerhart of Watts Grocery.

Greg Cox gives 3 1/2 stars to The Pig in Chapel Hill. HERE is his review.

And Greg explores the Triangle ethnic food world with a new Cheap Eats column. His inaugural column explores Mongolian barbecues.

I have just gotten a flurry of e-mails today about a ton of interesting events in April. So get out your calendar and mark these dates:

• 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 6 is a fundraising dinner for the Center for the Study of the American South featuring  Southern Foodways Alliance director John T. Edge and pitmaster Rodney Scott of Scott's Variety Store and Bar-B-Q in Hemingway, S.C. Other chefs who will be involved include Ben and Karen Barker of Magnolia Grill, Whitney Brown of Scratch, April McGreger of Farmer's Daughter, Sam Suchoff of the Pig, Bill Smith of Crook's Corner and cookbook author Sheri Castle. The event is at 3Cups and costs $125. Call 956-0556 962-5665 to reserve your seat. There are only 50 tickets.
• 2-6 p.m. Sunday, April 10 is the annual SEEDS Pie Social and Skill Share Auction at the SEEDS garden at 706 Gilbert St. in Durham. The suggested donation for the pie social is $10 for four slices. Pies are being donated by Toast, Watts Grocery, Scratch and more. The skill share auction allows you to bid on things or opportunities to learn interesting skills from fellow community members from reupholstering a chair to brewing beer to flying a plane. All proceeds benefit the Durham Inner-City Gardeners, a youth-driven, urban farming leadership development program. 
• The annual Piedmont Farm Tour will be 1-5 p.m. April 16 and 17. Tickets cost $25 advance, $30 on the day of the tour for a carload. For more information and to purchase tickets, go HERE.
• 6 p.m. Thursday, April 21, Herons restaurant at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary is offering a winemaker dinner featuring Tommy and Amie Baudoin of Morgan Ridge Vineyards in Gold Hill, N.C. The four-course meal will cost $85. Call 447-4200 for reservations.