Gilt Club's Beard Dinners; Lompoc's Chowder Challenge

In today's lunchtime EaterWire, more events to mark on those calendars:

OLD TOWN: Hot off some Portlandia and NY Times press, Gilt Club chef Chris Carriker will cook one of his signature meaty dinners at the James Beard House in NYC later this March. During the week of March 15-19, he'll preview the entire Beard tasting menu in Portland: The six-course meal, including hors d'’Oeuvres like foie gras terrine and elk tartar; two fish courses (steamed black cod and pear wood-smoked trout); and young beef served two ways, as slow-cooked brisket and grilled New York-style. The $65 tasting menu will be available by reservation only.

N. WILLIAMS: Lompoc Brewery's fifth-annual Chowder Challenge cooks up its competition this Saturday at the Fifth Quadrant pub house, with 14 local brewpubs and restaurants competing to create the best cup of New England-style clam chowder [Ed note: Everyone knows Manhattan clam chowder is an affront to all that is good in the world]. For a $10 tasting fee, guests get non-labeled tasting cups of each entry (from the likes of EaT: An Oyster Bar, Hopworks, EastBurn, and the home team Lompoc), and votes are tallied to crown winners of the Chowder Cup. All proceeds benefit Locks of Love.