Boston in winter: food, wine, jazz, culture

Author: By Jerry Morris, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, January 10, 1999

Page: L2

Section: Travel

January through March may be dull months in many places, but not in Boston. This is a time to feast on food, wine, jazz, and cultural activities.

To take in the activities, you'll need at least two days. While we can highlight some of the events, the best way to take in all the happenings is to obtain the ``Boston Overnight, Just for the fun of it'' brochure from the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau: Call 888-SEE BOSTON or check out the events on the Web at www.bostonusa.com. Out-of-towners who go to the Web can register for a $99 American Airlines companion ticket to Boston, good with another identical itinerary ticket costing at least $358 from anywhere in the 48 continental states. Travel must be completed by May 15.

More than 200 events are planned.

Certainly one of the tastiest happenings is ``Boston Cooks,'' a 10-day festival that includes a kitchen and culinary expo at the World Trade Center Jan. 15-17 (call 617-439-7700). Everything from kitchen design to meeting celebrity chefs is on the menu. Also, Jan. 19-21, the city holds a great dine-around at 35 Greater Boston restaurants, all featuring top chefs from around the country. A special treat will be at Le Meridien Boston, which will offer an evening with Marc Haeberlin Jan. 18 and 19. Haeberlin has gained international recognition as chef of the Guide Michelin three-star restaurant, L'Auberge de L'ill, in Alsace. He'll be teamed with the hotel's Julien's chef Alain Raye, the former chef/owner of three one-star Michelin restaurants in France. The five- course meal with wine is $95 a person; call 617-451-1900.

Boston also has a foodline telephone restaurant guide: Call 617-588-MENU for Zagat reviews, menus, and more on area restaurants.

Other treats include the ``Great Chef Series'' at Macy's, where dessert and baking chef Rose Levy Beranbaum will offer tempting tastings Jan. 12 (call 617-357-3260). New England's premier culinary event is the annual Anthony Spinazzola Gala Festival of Food and Wine, Jan. 22 at the World Trade Center (call 781-344-4413). The North East Brewing Co. will offer a Brewers Dinner on Feb. 22 (call 617-566-6699) featuring local brews and a beer-based menu. The Westin Copley Place offers ``Classes That Cook!'' Saturday evenings through March. Classes include an overnight stay at the Westin and hands-on cooking demonstrations (call 617-262-9600). The Ritz-Carlton offers ``Millennium Menus: Decades of Taste'' (call 617-536-5700): Nostalgic menus, wine tastings and ballroom dancing are featured. The fifth annual ``Celebrity Chefs Culinary Program'' is on at the Fairmont Copley Plaza on Saturday afternoons with demonstrations, samplings, and wine tastings (call 617-267-5300). A real Swiss Winterfest, including cheese fondue and dark Swiss chocolate fondue, is on the menu at the Swissotel (call 617-422-5579); and at the Boston Park Plaza, there's ``HomeFest: A Celebration of Dining, Design & Decor'' Saturday afternoons (call 888-225-2008).

Add to this the eighth annual Boston Wine Festival at the Boston Harbor Hotel featuring outstanding wine tastings and the culinary expertise of chef Daniel Bruce (call 800-752-7077). From Jan. 23-24, the eighth annual Boston Wine Expo takes place at the World Trade Center where more than 400 wineries will be featured (call 877-WINEXPO).

For a brief escape from the city, head out to Tyngsborough for the Stonehedge Inn's Celebration of Wine, a series of distinctive dinners with outstanding wines (call 978-649-4400).

The Four Seasons Hotel is featuring its sixth annual Salute to the Arts, a celebration that includes pre-and post-performance packages (call 800-332-3442).

Don't miss the chocolate happenings: Saturdays at Le Meridien, there's a lavish chocolate bar (call 617-451-1900). And Saturdays and Sundays, there's the Boston Chocolate Trolley Tour, a two-hour tour for chocoholics, including tastings at the Meridien and other sites (call 617-269-7150).

On stage, there is great theater, including ``Victor, Victoria'' at the Colonial, `A Midsummer's Night Dream'' at the Huntington, ``Ragtime'' at the Colonial, ``Romeo et Juliette'' at the Shubert, and ``The Wizard of Oz'' at the Wang. At Symphony Hall, the Boston Symphony is performing, and in February will present Seiji Ozawa conducting ``Madame Butterfly.'' The Regattabar Jazz Festival is back at the Charles Hotel from February through May.

Check out the Boston Overnight guide for a lot more happenings. Why, there's even a James Bond festival on the big screen at the Wang Center, and for cat lovers, ``Cats! Wild to Mild'' takes over the Museum of Science Feb. 2 to May 2 (you'll be able to test your skills against your feline friends).

And finally, since Boston is known for its beans, the Back Bay Hilton will offer the first annual Boston Baked Bean Challenge, Feb. 15, when Bostonians can share their recipe with others (call 617-236-1100).

Swissotels are offering Senior Specials, a 30 percent discount at all of its five North American properties in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, New York, and Washington. The program is available to retired persons 60 years or older as well as members of the American Association of Retired Persons and the National Association of Retired Persons. The program is available year round, and has some restrictions. Proof of membership or age must be presented on check-in. For details, call 888-73-SWISS.

Carnival is especially popular in Germany, where it begins in January and lasts several weeks through Ash Wednesday, signaling the start of Lent. The last three days of Carnival are often referred to as ``die Drei Trollen Tage'' (``Three Crazy Days'') and are marked by parades, dancing, costumed street revelers, and celebrations. A favorite saying in Germany is ``Anyone who is not a fool at Carnival is foolish for the rest of the year.'' While Dusseldorf, Mainz, and Cologne are the best-known Carnival sites, traditional ones can also be found in the southern Germany area of Baden-Wurttemberg. For celebration information, call the German National Tourist Office in New York City at 212-661-7200, fax 212-661-7174, or on the Web, visit www.germany-tourism.de.

The 300th anniversary celebration of Mardi Gras in North America begins in New Orleans on Feb. 5 and culminates on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 16. For a guide to the festival, along with the history of Mardi Gras and its traditions, check out the 136-page 23d annual edition of ``Arthur Hardy's Mardi Gras Guide'' (available by sending $6.50 to Arthur Hardy Enterprises, PO Box 19500, New Orleans, LA 70179; or for credit card orders, call 504-838-6111 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST).

Visitors to Moscow can now tour the countryside around the capital by snowmobile. The seven-day tour includes stays in Moscow and the ancient town of Suzdal. The package is $2,199, including air fare on Finnair. For information, call Departures International at 800-509-5959.

``Barbados in Style'' features round-trip transportation via the famed Concorde and stays at one of four deluxe resorts on the island. The Feb. 6, 13, and 20 trips begin at $3,899 a person. For information, call British Airways Holidays at 800-222-7342.

Bloomsday, an annual festival honoring James Joyce and the fictional hero of his novel ``Ulysses,'' Leopold Bloom, is celebrated in more than 100 countries on June 16 but nowhere as festive as in Joyce's native Dublin. Joyce fans, many dressed in Edwardian costumes, prowl the city following in the footsteps of Leopold Bloom. Specialty World Travel in Cambridge has created an 11-day Literary Tour of Ireland (June 13-23) that includes Dublin on Bloomsday. The $3,380 tour includes air fare, accommodations, most meals, and literary guide. For information, call 617-476-1142.