Special events: Harvard Square’s Harvest restaurant (44 Brattle St.) celebrates an impressive 50 years in business with an alumni dinner series, kicking off on Friday, April 11.
Chef and prolific cookbook author Sara Moulton headlines the inaugural feast. Moulton is now well-known for TV appearances on places like “Good Morning America” and the Food Network’s “Cooking Live,” but she got her start in Cambridge, cooking at Harvest in 1977. Lydia Shire, then an up-and-coming culinary force, was her mentor.
“Lydia, who was mostly working the line by herself, said, ‘Come on over here.’ I went over to the hot station and just stood there, and I literally got a one-on-one tutorial from Lydia Shire about the most basic things. I had worked in restaurants, but not restaurants like this before,” Moulton recalls. “Lydia literally would say, ‘Here’s how the oil should look in the pan when it’s hot enough to add the meat. Here’s the sound the meat should make when it hits the pan so you know that you’re going to get a proper sear.’ She really took me under her wing.”
Moulton plans to prepare canapes from her cookbooks, including deviled eggs with caviar (“I’ve been obsessed with hard-boiled eggs my whole life,” she says, having learned how to perfect them under Julia Child); she’ll also serve chorizo-stuffed mushrooms. Also on the milestone menu: smoky broccoli cheddar soup with Canadian bacon; seared scallops; lamb and baby artichokes; and bananas foster crepes. Moulton plans to mingle throughout the meal.
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Other notable Harvest alums include Barbara Lynch, Frank McClelland, and Chris Schlesinger. Tickets are $95 per person; get them at www.harvestcambridge.com.
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Openings: In Malden, Phat Thaiger (166 Eastern Ave.) is softly open, serving Japanese-Thai fusion from the team behind nearby Thaiger Den and Crying Thaiger. Enjoy sushi, gyoza, octopus tentacles, noodles, grilled beef tongue, and a deep assortment of spicy and savory cocktails.
Coming soon: Dedham’s Legacy Place (680 Legacy Place) welcomes two new restaurants later this year: The venerable Anna’s Taqueria, as well as Mecha Noodle Bar, each plan fall debuts. Mecha serves Vietnamese pho, Japanese ramen, and dumplings. There’s also a cocktail program using ingredients like pandan, yuzu, and spiked boba tea.
Later this spring, vegan hotspot Lulu Green expands from South Boston to Kendall Square (675 W. Kendall St.), serving plant-based meals for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, alongside vegan wines and sweets, indoors and on a small patio.
Scoops: J.P. Licks introduces two unusual ice cream flavors celebrating sports and Broadway. No, really: Their Celtics Pride ice cream melds vanilla with green (naturally) marshmallow swirls with hints of caramel. The Awe Shucks! flavor honors the Tony Award-winning comedy about corn, “Shucked,” coming to the Citizens Opera House this month. A savory departure, this limited-edition flavor features sweet corn and hints of sea salt. Try them both throughout April at locations throughout the Boston area.
Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her @kcbaskin.