Holiday lovers rejoice! This tasting will prolong the holiday atmosphere at the French Cultural Center!

To kick-off their tasting season, the French Cultural Center will explore the different hot beverages that you can sip during the winter time!

Join them for a warm and new tasting presented by Alexandre Sofjer, resident sommelier at La Voile and 1855 Bar à vin.

Event in English. Advanced RSVP strongly recommended. The general tasting is a standing event – this is not a sit-down seminar. Please email culture@frenchculturalcenter.org to request a seat/chair, if needed.

On the Menu 

• Mulled wine
• Mulled apple cider
• Irish coffee
• Grog
• Russian punch

For more about the French Cultural Center, please click here.

Join the French Cultural Center for a cooking and wellness women’s workshop.

Is living healthy at the top of your resolutions this year? Join physician and Certified Health and Wellness Coach Martine Vounatsos for a discussion and cooking workshop, en français and in English. The discussion will include ways to incorporate wellness into every aspect of a woman’s mental and physical health, from exercise and supplements to sleep habits and cooking methods.

Participants will craft and enjoy a traditional and healthy French meal with Martine in a convivial environment.

Aprons, ingredients, and kitchenware will be provided. Please note, this event is intended for women only.

On the Menu:
Entrée: Soupe de légumes et croûtons
Plat de résistance: Pavé de saumon sur son lit de poireaux
Dessert: Salade de fruits de saison et son rocher coco

To learn more about the French Cultural Center, please click here.

This winter, escape Boston’s frigid temperatures for a lively evening by Terra’s warm wood-fired grill.

This winter, escape Boston’s frigid temperatures for a lively evening by Terra’s warm wood-fired grill as you indulge in rustic food and Tuscan wine pairings! On January 30, award-winning Chef Dan Bazzinotti invites restaurateur and salumi producer Chef Cesare Casella to take over the Terra grill.

The five-course menu will revolve around seasonal ingredients and pork used from a whole pig raised at Chickering Farm – a demonstration of the versatility of this rich meat and the beauty of utilizing an entire animal. Guests will enjoy smoke-kissed plates (like house-made sausage and tableside prosciutti carvings by both chefs to start the meal) designed by Chef Bazzinotti and Chef Casella – a partnership made all the more special due to the duo’s personal connection and love for salumi.

Stay tuned for the full menu!

At this dinner, you will:

• Indulge in five courses of Tuscan-inspired, pork-centric dishes brought to you by award-winning chefs
• Learn about the importance of using whole parts of food
• Enjoy Tuscan wine paring with each course
• Experience the magical ambiance of our rooftop restaurant, Terra

To learn more about Terra, please click here.

Meet and mingle with other Francophiles while celebrating La Chandeleur!

Also called Crêpe Day, la Chandeleur is a French holiday during which people traditionally eat crêpes and drink cidre. Though la Chandeleur is often associated with the Catholic holiday of Candlemas, it actually stems from pagan traditions. And, of course, there is the traditional coin ritual: if you can flip a crêpe while holding a coin in your other hand, you and your family will not have to worry about financial problems. There is even a fun legend that ties Napoleon’s misfortune with his time in Russia with the flipping of the crêpes!

The French Cultural Center will observe this popular holiday with crêpes and a variety of delicious toppings. All ages are invited and welcome to attend!

Please note: When you register for a family, you are registering per family. You will be required to answer a question on the number of family members that will attend.

Early RSVP recommended.

To learn more about the French Cultural Center, please click here.

Join the French Cultural Center for a musical trip to Paris from Boston in 3 acts.

This event features an international lineup of musicians exploring a French and Bostonian repertoire through piano, clarinet, and vocal performance.

A highlight of the concert is the US premiere of contemporary French composer Jean-Pierre Armanet’s composition ‘The T’, dedicated to our historic subway, the oldest in North America.

The program also includes music for clarinet and piano by Poulenc, Debussy and a dramatic solo cantata by Berlioz, all performed by graduates of the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, which was founded by a Frenchman.

Presented in partnership with Ballets Russes Arts Initiative.

Program:
Jean-Pierre Armanet: The ‘T’, suite for solo piano, US Premiere (2017)
intermission
Francis Poulenc: Clarinet and Piano Sonata, op. 184 (1962)
Claude Debussy: Première rhapsodie for clarinet and piano, L. 116, (1909-1910)
intermission
Hector Berlioz: La Mort de Cléopatre, solo cantata, H. 36,  (1829)

To learn more about the French Cultural Center, please click here.

Beverage Director Gregg Guertin takes you back in time to the way wine used to be.

During the next Terra Wine Dinner, Eataly’s Beverage Director Gregg Guertin takes us back in time to the way wine used to be—before the addition of pesticides, chemicals, and additives to today’s agriculture.  Each wine pairing during this multi-course dinner will be an expressive, unique, and raw example of grapes in their truest form so that you may taste distinctive characteristics of the grape varietals while appreciating terroir and the growers’ techniques. Along with natural wines, you’ll enjoy biodynamic wines—bottles which are made with a holistic view on agriculture and balance the resonance between vine, man, earth, and stars.

Just like the wine, the five courses prepared by Terra’s Executive Chef Dan Bazzinotti will also draw from primitive roots of cooking and ingredients while showcasing Terra’s wood-fired grill as the main attraction. These dishes will utilize meats from local farms using organic and sustainable methods; wild and sustainable Massachusetts seafood; and local, organic, and foraged fruits and vegetables showcased in their true form to create the perfect pairing with each wine.

During the dinner, you will have the opportunity to learn about the ingredients and stories behind our wines and food directly from our experts. Chef Dan will take you on a journey through all the dinner’s ingredients including the Frantoi Cutrera Primo organic olive oil from Sicily used in the preparation of local seafood; the Country Hen eggs that give our housemade pasta its bright, yellow color; the local, humane, non-GMO meat raised at Chickering Farm in Westmoreland, NH; and our fresh produce from local farms, foragers, and purveyors who strive to keep the quality intact.

Book your seat for another installment of a Terra Wine Dinner under the stars. Stay tuned for the full menu!

At this dinner, you will:

• Indulge in five courses featuring local, organic, sustainable ingredients cooked over the Terra fire
• Enjoy natural & biodymanic wine pairings with each course and learn about the distinctive characteristics of grape varietals
• Meet and chat with Executive Chef Dan Bazzinotti and Beverage Director Gregg Guertin about the stories behind each ingredient and wine pairing
• Experience the magical ambiance of Eataly’s rooftop restaurant, Terra

For more about Terra, please click here.

The north remembers, TRIVIA IS COMING!

Trivia kicks off at at 7 pm and all teams are welcome

During the event, Back Bay Social will be offering a $10 build-your-own-burger.

The winning team will take home a $100 gift card.

This event is 21+.  There is no cover.

If you have a larger group and would like to reserve space for your party, please email info@backbaysocial.com

Join the French Cultural Center for an informative evening around a burning topic: Fake News.

Patrick White will give a short history of fake news. He will compare the Fake News situation in the US and in Quebec, tell us how to find reliable sources, and give us tips on how to think critically about statistics and events being presented in the news.

Joignez-vous à nous pour une soirée instructive autour d’un sujet brûlant : Les Fake News. Patrick White dans un premier temps, va présenter un bref historique des fake news. Puis il va comparer la différence entre les Fake News aux Etats-Unis et au Québec, nous indiquer comment trouver des sources fiables et nous donner des astuces sur comment réfléchir de façon critiques aux statistiques et événements présentés dans les nouvelles.

Presentation in English, Q&A in English and en français / Présentation en anglais, questions/réponses en anglais et en français.

La présence de Patrick White aux États-Unis est rendue possible grâce au programme Mobilité dans les Amériques du Centre de la Francophonie des Amériques, ainsi que grâce à l’aide de la Délégation du Québec en Nouvelle-Angleterre

As Renata said, I will NOT not win trivia!

Trivia kicks off at at 7 pm and all teams are welcome

During the event, Back Bay Social will be offering a $10 build-your-own-burger.

The winning team will take home a $100 gift card.

This event is 21+.  There is no cover.

If you have a larger group and would like to reserve space for your party, please email info@backbaysocial.com

Ascend to Terra for a multi-course dinner under the stars (with wine pairings!) for a culinary tour of the valley.

Ascend to Terra for a multi-course dinner under the stars (with wine pairings!) for a culinary tour of the valley with one of the region’s most celebrated producers: Nino Negri. The former winemaker’s daughter herself, Sara Maule, who now resides locally, will guide you through this captivating landscape and introduce the traditions of Valtellina.

The Valtellina is an Alpine valley in Northern Lombardy, just below the border with Switzerland, that was carved out by the mighty river Adda.  The valley lies in between the Rhaetian Alps to the north and the Bergamo Alps to the south.

Nino Negri, located in this very valley, was established in 1897 is one of Italy’s most celebrated producers in the Valtellina.  The winery operates to this day in a centuries old castle, and uses the original cellars with natural underground temperature control to age their wines.

Each wine will be perfectly paired to savory courses like Pizzoccheri alla Valtellinese, a traditional Alpine pasta dish. You will dive into flame-kissed flavors of the seasonal ingredients prepared over Terra’s famous wood-fire grill as you discover the stories and history behind the dishes and wine.

Get your tickets for this magical night of vino, food, and a storied tour of Valtellina—without leaving Boston—on April 1st!

For more about Terra, please click here.