“Top Chef” contestant Edward Lee is coming to Fearrington Village to promote his cookbook, “Smoke & Pickles.”

At 6 p.m. June 5, Fearrington is hosting a barbecue picnic dinner with Lee as a special guest. This is part of McIntyre’s Books’ “Books and Cooks” series of events.

Lee is the chef and owner of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Ky, a three-time finalist for best chef in the Southeast from the James Beard Foundation and was a contestant on the 2012 season of Bravo’s “Top Chef.” Raleigh chef Ashley Christensen will introduce Lee at the event.

Tickets cost $85 for the meal, a tasting of beer and an autographed copy of Lee’s book.

The event’s menu includes recipes from Lee’s cookbook: pulled lamb barbecue, lime beef salad, adobo-fried chicken and waffles, pork ribs and sauerkraut with horseradish, rice bowl with tuna, pork rinds and jalapeno remoulade sides, green tomato kimchi, soft grits, bourbon ginger glazed carrots, fried green tomato and cilantro relish, bacon candy and curried cashews, fried pickles, kimchi poutine, whiskey ginger cake with pear salad and a coconut rice pudding brulee.

Call 919-542-3030 to reserve tickets.

A week ago, I wrote about the beer legislation in the North Carolina state legislature. The two bills advanced to the Senate before the crossover deadline and now await further action.

The picture in Washington is a bit murkier. Get a look at the beer fight at the federal level in this week's Pintful column and a tasting of an oak-aged IPA.

Durham’s SEEDS garden will host a homemade cheese workshop from 2-5 p.m. Saturday.

Cheese maker Laurel Shulman will offer a broad introduction to cheese, discussing its chemistry, culture and history. Then Shulman will teach how to make mozzarella and farmer’s cheese, using fresh herbs from the educational community garden to spice up the cheeses. Students are asked to bring a container to transport the cheeses.

The class costs $45 per person. To register, go to goo.gl/NEM3w.

SEEDS is at 706 Gilbert St. and the garden’s new entrance is located on Elizabeth St. across from Carlton St. The class will be in the outdoor classroom, which is in the far right of the gardens. Info: seedsnc.org.

You know the drill. Leave a comment below this post to be entered to win a copy of "The Grilling Book" from Bon Appetit and a pair of grilling gloves from Trudeau.

You have until noon, Friday, May 31st to enter. I'll pick a winner at random.

Good luck!

Mystery Brewing's Erik Lars Myers won $50,000 in a reality TV show contest that aired Tuesday on CNBC.

The Hillsborough-based microbrewery owner competed against two other new companies in an effort to convince three judges and the audience of the new cable TV show Crowd Rules that his business plan is the most deserving of the cash prize.

In the end, Mystery Brewing tied the other finalist Sky Fitness, a Myrtle Beach, S.C.-based gym, at 50 percent. But when the judges votes were removed (two for Sky and one of Mystery), Myers won 49 percent to 48 percent. "All I need is this little push to make us fly," Myers said in his final 30-second plea to the crowd.

The judges criticized Myers decision to open a tap room in Hillsborough instead of buy more kegs. Myers told the judges that $50,000 in prize money to buy more kegs would increase monthly revenues by $20,000. "We need to get more beer out the door," he acknowledged.

The theme of the show -- the second in the series -- was "debt," an ode to companies in the red at the start. As Myers told me in recent Pintful column the first year was a challenge. But the prize money will surely help move his vision along.

A Raleigh magician is one of the contestants on this season of Fox’s “ MasterChef,” which airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Shaun Jay, 22, who has been working as a professional magician since the age of 12, is one of the home cooks trying to prove their cooking skills to acclaimed chefs Gorden Ramsay and Graham Elliot and restaurateur Joe Bastianach. The show’s winner takes home $250,000 and a cookbook deal.

Jay will be watching the season premiere at a viewing party at Casa San Carlo Italian Restaurant at 9600 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh. The party is open to the public.

Info about Jay's magic company: shaunjaymagic.com

Raleigh’s Capital Club 16 is hosting its third annual Spargelzeit celebration featuring that spring treat: jumbo white asparagus.

Starting Wednesday and through Saturday or as long as the white asparagus lasts, the restaurant will be offering nightly specials featuring it in several dishes. Some of the dishes include a crepe called a “pfannkuchen” with sautéed white asparagus, shiitakes, spinach, brown butter and a poached egg; sautéed asparagus with shaved ham, boiled potatoes and hollandaise sauce; and other dishes, including soups, marinated salads and paired with seafood. They also will offer German and Austrian wines pairings that go well with the prized ingredient.

Jake and Shannon Wolf, the couple who owns the restaurant, described how white asparagus is different from green. It is harvested before the stalks pop out of the ground because the stalks turn green once the sun’s rays hits them. While it has the same earthy flavor of green asparagus, the texture is more tender and delicate.

The New York Times recently published a story about France’s obsession with white asparagus. To read the story, go to goo.gl/NIhsH.

To make a reservation, call 919-747-9345. The restaurant is at 16 W. Martin St. Info: capitalclub16.com

This is a post by N&O restaurant critic Greg Cox:

J.P. LaRussa and his wife, Gwynne, opened Acme Pizza Co. (204 Village Walk Drive; 919-552-8800; acmepizzaco.org) last week in the former All Aboard Pizza space. They’re still offering the New York style pies that were that restaurant’s calling card, but Acme’s specialty is Chicago-style deep dish stuffed pizzas.

The style fills an underserved niche in the Triangle, and is a natural for Acme’s owners. The LaRussas hail from the San Francisco Bay area, where J.P. worked for more than 20 years for a small chain called Zachary’s Chicago Pizza.

“They brought Chicago-style to the Bay area,” says LaRussa. “It’s like a real pie, baked in a two-inch deep pan with the filling between two layers of thin dough, and sauce on top.”

It’s a lot of filling, too, whether you opt for the Meat Head (pepperoni, sweet Italian sausage, sliced meatball, crumbled bacon and mozzarella) or something “lighter.” The Greek, say, with roasted red bell peppers, marinated artichoke hearts, green olives, feta and Monterey Jack. Novices are advised that these hefty pies take 30-35 minutes to bake.

Ordering ahead is encouraged, but you could also profitably fill the half hour wait with a glass of wine or a draft beer from a soon-to-be-expanded selection that already includes local brews from Aviator, Carolina Brewing and Natty Greene’s.

The menu also lists calzones, stromboli, grinders, half-pound grilled-to-order burgers and a modest selection of appetizers and pastas. Given LaRussa’s experience and the paucity of Chicago-style pizzerias in the area, though, it’s a good bet that transplants from the Windy City are already setting their GPS for Holly Springs.

Acme Pizza Co. is open for lunch and dinner daily.

Send restaurant news to Greg at ggcox@bellsouth.net. Be sure to tune in to Greg's radio show at 11 a.m. Saturdays on WPTF.

This is a post by N&O restaurant critic Greg Cox:

Last year it was Doolin’s in Durham and Doherty’s in Cary. Hibernian opened a new location in North Raleigh while, just up the road, Saints & Scholars gave the area its first half-Irish, half-Mediterranean menu. In Wake Forest, Pat Murnane’s opened in the old Oh’ Mulligans space.

Now Chapel Hill is riding the wave. Fitzgerald’s Irish Pub (206 W. Franklin St.; 919-240-4560; fitzgeraldschapelhill.com), which opened last week on Franklin Street, is the second location of a popular Charlotte watering hole.

The new pub builds on the winning formula of the original: 24 beers on tap, lots of sports TVs, and a menu that covers all the expected bases from Reuben to fish and chips. The unexpected, too, with options including a Hawaiian entree salad, chicken “Riggies” (grilled with sweet and spicy peppers) and a selection of six variations on the slider theme.

Fitzgerald’s serves lunch on Saturday and Sunday (opening at noon for the time being), and dinner nightly.

Elsewhere, Murphy’s Law (in the form of construction complications) has delayed a couple of other Irish pub openings.

Sprinkler system changes necessitated by an interior makeover have pushed back the opening of a second Trali in Morrisville. Originally slated for March, it’s now looking like early- to mid-June.

Work continues on bringing the original Hibernian on Glenwood South back from the ashes, too. Owner Niall Hanley hopes to reopen a bigger, better version of the pub with a rooftop patio later this year.

Send restaurant news to Greg at ggcox@bellsouth.net. Be sure to tune in to Greg's radio show at 11 a.m. Saturdays on WPTF.

Once a year at the N.C. General Assembly, beer and politics and the politics of beer blend like a summer shandy at the “Rush the Growler” party.

For me, it’s a can’t miss – combining my “day job” covering politics for the newspaper and my “night job” writing about craft beer. And the growler event showcases the evolving mindset at the Statehouse toward beer – particularly craft beer – since 2005 when lawmakers “popped the cap” and lifted the alcohol limit from 6 percent to 15 percent. Click here to read the column and get an update on beer-related legislation this session.