Tag: TPK – Peoples Kitchen

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Dickens Returns to Worcester!

A Weekend Celebrating Charles Dickens’ 200th Birthday in Worcester

As the world celebrates Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday, Vaillancourt Folk Art–known for Christmas Traditions–is bringing Gerald Charles Dickens to Worcester. He has set off on a world tour, retracing the historic steps that Charles Dickens made during his famous American tours. With the birthday celebration that began with the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace, Gerald will stop in Worcester in September on his 2012 American Tour!

For this historic tour, Dickens will entertain the audience with a one man performance of Dickens’ classic ghost story, A Christmas Carol, at Mechanics Hall in Worcester on Friday, September 21st at 8:00pm followed by two performances at Vaillancourt Folk Art in Sutton on Saturday, September 22 at 2:00pm with excerpts from The Republic of My Imagination and Oliver Twist and at 7:00pm with A Child’s Journey with Dickens, and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.

Meet the great-great grandson of Charles Dickens as he reclaims the main stage at Mechanics Hall in the same manner in which Charles Dickens did in March of 1868. A limited number of tickets are available for a VIP reception before the performance. VIP reception ticket-holders will be introduced to Gerald and enjoy fine hor d’oeuvres donated and prepared by The Peoples Kitchen. Following each performance, Gerald Dickens will be on hand to sign merchandise and greet patrons.

The Dickens Returns! celebration is available because of the generous support of Worcester Historical Museum, John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Richard Carr & Associates.

Charles Dickens visited America on two book tours—the first in 1842 and the second in 1868 which included a reading at Mechanics Hall. By 1868, Charles Dickens was the most celebrated author in the English speaking world, and close to 2,000 patrons jammed into Mechanics Hall to hear his dramatic performance. Charles’ great-great Grandson will be touring the U.S. with his very popular and artistic re-enactment of his ancestor’s performances, and specifically wished to include Mechanics Hall on his fall tour.

Born in Landport England in 1812, Charles Dickens was raised in a tough working-class condition and forced to work at a blackening factory—a dirty and backbreaking experience retold in many of his famous novels—after his father was forced into debtors’ prison. Charles took great pleasure sharing his novels and stories through readings to packed audiences across England and America. In an adaptive manner, Gerald Dickens has rekindled his great-great grandfather’s readings, considered by the New York Times as “a once in a lifetime brush with literary history,” and which the Los Angeles Times says “the audience was rapt, as it was in Charles’ day!”

Gerald Dickens has been re-enacting Charles’ dramatic readings since 2008 at Vaillancourt Folk Art to sell-out audiences. He is actively celebrating Charles’ 200th birthday, starting in February with the Wreath-Laying Ceremony at Westminster Abbey followed by a banquet at The Mansion House, where the Lord Mayor of the City of London resides. On Valentine’s Day, Her Majesty the Queen along with the Duke of Edinburgh invited Gerald to Buckingham Palace to continue the birthday celebrations.

Tickets are available through Mechanics Hall, meetdickens.com, group tickets are available for classes, organizations, and companies.

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Foodies Unite!

Recently, the WorcesterFoodies group united with the culinary expertise of Niche Hospitality’s The People’s Kitchen. Owner Michael Covino, Chef Bill Nemeroff, and Wine Director Katie Kelly designed a special 3-course meal and wine pairing for our members and guests to enjoy.

The People’s Kitchen features local, artisan and hand crafted meals created by passionate, food loving professionals so it was a perfect match for our WorcesterFoodies group.

Our evening started with a locally-sourced, roasted root vegetable panzanella of beets, butternut squash and parsnip, drizzled with a maple vinaigrette. The deep, rich flavors of the root vegetables were balanced perfectly with the lightly sweet maple vinaigrette.

The Tahitian Vanilla and Valrhona Cocoa Brined Double Bone Pork Chop

The panzanella got our meal off to a wonderful start and we knew we would be in for something special.

Our palettes were cleansed with an intermezzo of apricot sorbet with fresh tarragon. The apricot sorbet by itself, was outstanding, but the fresh tarragon added a sweet licorice flavor that worked perfectly with the sorbet.

Shortly before our meal was served Chef Bill Nemeroff came out to introduce our main course, a Tahitian Vanilla and Valrhona Cocoa Brined Double Bone Pork Chop, served with Grafton cheddar mashed potato and fresh vegetables. The perfectly cooked pork chop was tender and extremely flavorful but the vanilla and cocoa added such an unusual twist that it really brought this dish to another level. The accompanying potatoes and vegetables were also outstanding.

With our first two courses, the staff at The People’s Kitchen pushed our taste buds to new limits, and they certainly didn’t disappoint with dessert. Chef Nemeroff and his staff prepared an Almond Joy Bread Pudding with Coco Puff Streusel that was unquestionably a fantastic finish to a tremendous meal. Moist and rich, this smoothly textured bread pudding had hints of chocolate and coconut woven into the custard covered bread and was topped with a warm, rich chocolate drizzle.

The People’s Kitchen is certainly one of Worcester’s jewels and if you have not been there, put it on your “short list” of restaurants to visit. Located at One Exchange Place, TPK is a wonderful place to enjoy an outstanding meal with friends and family. But be ready to be challenged, as the menu is diverse and exciting.

Chef Bill Nemeroff explaining his food and wine pairings to the Worcester Foodies group.