International Chinese Culinary Competition
Come enjoy authentic Chinese cuisine outdoors at Times Square on Friday, Oct.1, at the third annual NTDTV International Chinese Culinary Competition finals, where you can purchase a Connoisseur’s Pass for $125 and come between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., 1 and 4 p.m., or 4 and 8 p.m.
If you would rather have these Oriental delicacies by the Hudson River, you can go to the Gourmet Reception at Pier 60 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 3 for $60, or the Award Banquet from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. for $275 per person or $2,500 per table, which will include a cocktail reception and a 10-course grand feast prepared by the winners.
Concerto Barocco and More at NY Ballet
On Oct. 2 at 2 p.m., you can enjoy New York City Ballet’s adaptation of “Concerto Barocco” entirely set to Bach, as well as “The Magic Flute” and “Stars and Stripes,” all in one performance at the Lincoln Center.
Tickets range from $20 to $125.
Chili Pepper Festival
Get your taste buds ready this weekend for the Chili Pepper Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. You can get a taste of spicy delicacies from spice-loving cultures around the world, including Haiti, India, West Africa, Mexico, Algeria, and Malaysia, between 2 and 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 2.
Keep in mind, even if you don’t like the usual tongue-killing spicy food, you may like the spicy desserts the festival offers or you can just go there for the musical, fire juggling, and fire-breathing performances.
The venue is located at 900 Washington Ave. in Brooklyn. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors, and free for members and children under 12.
Rigoletto
Giuseppe Verdi’s popular opera masterpiece Rigoletto is back at the Metropolitan Opera. Rigoletto, a jester at the 16th-century palace of the corrupt Duke of Mantua, has been hiding his daughter Gilda at home. All has been good until the young woman falls under the duke’s spell and gets abducted. In response, Rigoletto hires an assassin to murder the duke, but turns out to be under a curse.
The three-hour production under conductor Paolo Arrivabeni is sung in Italian with subtitles in English, German, and Spanish.
Fourteen shows will be playing from Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010, to Thursday, May 12, 2011. Tickets range from $25 to $420.
Heroes: Mortals and Myths at Onassis Cultural Center
Exploring the role of heroes in our society—past and present, Heroes: Mortals and Myths in Ancient Greece will open to the public from Tuesday Oct. 5, 2010, to Jan. 3, 2011.
The exhibition will feature the figures of Hercules, Odysseus, Achilles, and Helen, which continue to inspire us today.
Altogether, Heroes has a collection of more than 90 artworks from the United States and Europe capturing the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods (6th to 1st centuries B.C.). Through these artifacts, the exhibit shows “how the ancient Greek heroes were understood and how they served as role models.”
