The first organic Italian restaurant outside Italy, Escopazzo in South Beach has been the place to go for upscale and delicate Italian food since it opened in 1993. But its new weekly organic wine tastings “We do it Thursdays” are making the experience more accessible for those of us in a low budget.

Every Thursday from 7-9 p.m., you can try four wines -and these are full glasses, not small samples – and get a plate of fine cheeses, olives and other appetizers for $20, plus a knowledgeable sommelier will explain a little history of each wine, its geography, grapes, origins and more. (I couldn’t take pictures of my cheese plate because it emptied before I could even take out the camera).

While not everything at the restaurant is certified organic, everything comes from local as well as Italian family-owned farms and wineries that have been using environmentally-friendly practices for generations. Remember that getting certified can sometimes take years and be costly, so many small farmers choose to instead continue doing what they believe is the right thing without stressing about certifications.

The restaurant has a full menu of Italian plates -pastas, risottos, antipasti and more- as well as raw and vegetarian selections that include a vegetable lasagnetta with pinenut ricotta and pesto; and a flaxseed wrap filled with marinated vegetables, lemon cashew sauce and grape chutney.

If you go:
What: “We do it Thursdays” organic wine tasting
When: Every Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m.
Where: Escopazzo, 1311 Washington Ave
More info: www.escopazzo.com

The list of fun eco-friendly weekend events has been getting longer and longer. Email me at editor@theecozine.com if you don’t see your event. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, May 27
>Green Drinks Boca/Delray: Mingle with eco professionals and locals in this green happy hour. Taste organic wines and foods while you learn how you start your company’s green team. 6:30 p.m. at 4th Generation Organic Market, 75 SE 3rd Street
Boca Raton.
>Organic Thursdays at Escopazzo: Weekly food and wine tastings at the SoBe organic Italian restaurant. Stop by between 7-9 p.m. for “We Do It Thursdays” and try 4 wines and appetizers for $20. 1311 Washington Ave.

Friday, May 28
>Free medication class: To celebrate Meditation Month, Ayama Yoga Center is offering free meditation classes and discounted packages to newbies every Friday in May. Stop by at 6 p.m. for your free class at the Ayama Yoga Center, 2624 NE 118th St., North Miami Beach.

Saturday, May 29
>Replenishing the kitchen: Get your weekly raw, vegan or healthy food supplies, plus buy fresh produce at the Coconut Grove Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., 3300 Grand Ave.

>Learn all about sprouting at the monthly SaveEarth potluck: The pro-vegan organization SaveEarth presents “Sprouting For Health,” a lecture to get you started on sprouting these rich, living and high-enzyme foods. Bring a vegan dish for 8 people and your own utensils. Free for members, $5 non-members. 6:15 p.m. at the Coral Gables Congregational Church, Fellowship Hall at 3010 DeSoto Blvd. Coral Gables

Sunday, May 30
>Tea ’n Sanity Health Fair: Celebrate the new address with organic food vendors, jewelry, aromatherapy, astrology, crystals, oils, and teas, plus yoga demos, Reiki, tai chi, karate, and chair massages. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at Tea n’ Sanity, 12011 SW 131st Ave. 786-462-4341.

Tuesday, June 1
>Vegan Drinks Night: Bring your business cards and leave your worries for this fun, apres-work networking event! Meets 1st Tuesday of every month from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Sublime Restaurant & Bar 1431 N. Federal Hwy., Ft. Lauderdale, 954-615-1431

Image via audiinsperation

I’ve known about BunnieCakes for a while, but I finally made it to Juice & Java on the Beach last weekend and got to try these delicious vegan and organic cupcakes (see a video of my interview on the side video).

There I met Mariana, the baker behind BunnieCakes, who explained that she began looking into vegan baking after not being able to find sugar and gluten-free food for her children. After some experimentation in the kitchen and some tweaking of her grandma’s cupcake recipe, she developed her own recipe, which substitutes butter, wheat flour, sugar and eggs for things like apple sauce, agave and sugar cane.

Her vegan cupcakes come in mini and regular sizes ($1.50-$2.75) and in 15 flavors including red velvet, vanilla ginger, passion fruit, key lime and espresso. They are currently available at the natural food and juice emporium Juice & Java in South Beach and in Aventura, at Garden of Eat’in, and very soon at the Saturday Doral Farmers Market. You can also place orders online and delight your friends at your next get-together, or send your mom a yummy animal-cruelty-free treat for Mother’s Day.

For more information visit www.BunnieCakes.com continue

Florida animal rights activists scored two big laws during the Florida legislative session, which ended last Friday. These two laws passed unanimously:

>Ban on exotic reptiles trade: A new law will prohibit the possession, import, sale or breeding of several large reptile species including the infamous Burmese python that has been troubling so much the local environmentalists.

>Horse protection: A new law will increase penalties for the unlawful killing of horses in Florida and strengthens restrictions on the consumption of horse meat. You might have heard the heartbreaking reports about horses being killed for their flesh across South Florida.

These three laws were also discussed but for different reasons didn’t pass.

>Protecting animals from sexual abuse: This law, which would make bestiality a crime in Florida, didn’t pass for the third year in a row. It made it to the House but didn’t come up for a vote before the session ended. You can email Sen. Nan Rich at rich.nan.web@flsenate.gov and ask her to reintroduce the bill next year.

>pay/neuter surcharge: This law would charge a $15 fee for every animal cruelty or animal control violation. The funds would then be used for spaying or neutering dogs and cats in the community. This law also didn’t make it to the floor of the House or the Senate before the session ended. You can email Sen. Nan Rich at rich.nan.web@flsenate.gov and Rep. Scott Randolph here ask them to reintroduce the bill next year.

>Greyhound racing: An amendment to remove the requirement that dog tracks conduct live racing in order to offer poker or slots died for technical reasons. Had it passed, it would have probably put an end to the cruel -and very unprofitable- greyhound racing business in Florida. You can e-mail Sen. Charlie Justice and encourage him to reintroduce the bill next year: justice.charlie.web@flsenate.gov.

For more information on Florida animal rights issues visit the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida at www.arff.org

Photo courtesy of brettmcbain

(Thanks to Betsy Martinez for contributing with this story and to Chris Cutro for the picture)

When Grisel Couto asked for a bundle of fresh cilantro, she got just what she asked for. The booth attendant hand picked them right in front of her and bagged the herbs – dirt clumps still clinging to the roots. That’s what makes this crop fields-meets-city veggie mart so unique: some of the produce is grown right before your eyes.

Roots in the City’s Urban Market, the first-of-its-kind farmer’s market, ran every Wednesday through April in Overtown, offering the freshest veggies and herbs in Miami.

And besides the freshness of the produce, or the fact that it’s grown on premises, or that it’s the first of its kind in South Florida, the market was special to the city because it offered those on food stamps twice continue

April is gone and with it all the cool Earth-Day related events that April brought us. However, there’s still a lot of fun and environmentally friendly things to do this week.

Wedneday, April 28
>Active lifestyle networking: Join Miami Active’s monthly meeting. The group encourages the free exchange of information and ideas to promote active lifestyles and business networks. Free. 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, April 28 at Whole Foods Coral Gables, 6701 Red Road. Meets in the Lifestyle Center,

>Hear environmentalist Bill McKibben discuss his new book, “Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet.” Believed to be one of the first to warn against climate change in his book “The End of Nature” 20 years ago, McKibben now insists that we need to acknowledge that we’ve waited too long, and that massive change is not only unavoidable but already under way. He’ll be at Books & Books in Coral Gables, 265 Aragon Ave. 8 p.m., Wednesday, April 28. Free.

>Stroll the gardens of Vizcaya under the moonlight: Don’t miss this romantic moonlight tour of the Vizcaya gardens. Enjoy live music, wine and delicious refreshments. 6:60 to 9 p.m., Wednesday, April 28. Tours leave at different intervals throughout the night. Vizcaya is located at 3251 South Miami Avenue Miami. Tickets: $15 for general admission, $10 for students, seniors and members.

Thursday, April 29
>Chilean food & wine tasting: Wanting to help Chile recover but can’t get on a plane? Support the country by supporting its cheese and wine at this free tasting. 5 to 7 p.m., Thursday, April 29. Whole Foods South Beach, 1020 Alton Rd.

>’80’s themed free yoga: SoBe Pilates is having an ’80s-themed grand opening party with MC Miss Elaine Lancaster. Stop by for free fitness demos, refreshments and raffles. 7-9 p.m., Thursday April 29. Located on 950 Arthur Godfrey Rd., Miami Beach. 305-763-8878. continue

Can you remember what you were up to when you were 16? Local high schooler Becca Medvin probably will: She started a vegan cupcake company and now distributes her delicate treats around town.

Vegan since she was 14, the only thing she missed from the omnivore life were the desserts, so voila!… after a few trials in her kitchen, Becca developed the perfect vegan cupcake recipe. Her chocolate and vanilla cupcakes are now available at the Bookstore in the Grove for $2.65 -yes, I know, but vegan desserts are famous for two things: they veer towards the pricey side and they are extremely delicious.
continue

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to watch some of the best and latest food-related documentaries, which will be screened locally as part of the Earth Month film series Let’s Re-take our Plates, organized by Whole Foods.

I’m particularly excited about No Impact Man, the documentary based on the Brooklyn family that decided to reduce their waste to the minimum for a whole year (I couldn’t drop the book). Other films include Fast Food Nation, Food. Inc, What’s on Your Plate? and The Garden, all very politically-charged films making strong arguments against the state of the food industry.

Here is the schedule:

Fast Food Nation
4:45 p.m, April 17
Cinema Paradiso
503 SE 6th Street, Ft. Lauderdale
$7

King Corn/ Big River
2:30 p.m. April 17
Cinema Paradiso
503 SE 6th Street, Ft. Lauderdale
$7

Food Inc.
2 p.m., April 18
Cinema Paradiso
503 SE 6th Street, Ft. Lauderdale
$7

The Garden
12 p.m., April 18
Cinema Paradiso
503 SE 6th Street, Ft. Lauderdale
$7

Food Inc.
5 p.m., April 19
Cobb Theater
11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Avenue, Palm Beach Gardens
$5

No Impact Man
7 p.m., April 19
Coral Gables Congregational Church
3010 De Soto Blvd., Coral Gables
$5

What’s on Your Plate?
5 p.m. April 20
Cobb Theater
11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Avenue, Palm Beach Gardens
$5

Fast Food Nation
5 p.m., April 21
Cobb Theater
11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Avenue, Palm Beach Gardens
$5

The Garden
8 p.m., April 21
Miami Beach Cinematheque
512 Espanola Way, Miami Beach
$10

End of the Line
5 p.m. April 22,
Cobb Theater
11701 Lake Victoria Gardens Avenue, Palm Beach Gardens
$5

Food Inc.
7:30 p.m., April 23
Temple Bet Shira
7500 SW 120th Street, Miami
$5

Visit the Let’s Re-take our Plates site for more information

Still not sure what to plant in your spring garden?

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden is getting ready for its 31st Annual Spring Plant Fair April 24-25, only that this time it’s going to include the best from last year’s Edible Garden Festival, making it even more interesting.

This is the best opportunity to get your supplies of edibles before the summer is here.

The event will include culinary demos, a farmer’s market, lectures on composting, gardening, recycling and organic pest control, plus it’s your chance to check out dozens of local vendors.

More details will be coming soon.

Still not sure what to plant in your spring garden?

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden is getting ready for its 31st Annual Spring Plant Fair April 24-25, only that this time it’s going to include the best from last year’s Edible Garden Festival, making it even more interesting.

This is the best opportunity to get your supplies of edibles before the summer is here.

The event will include culinary demos, a farmer’s market, lectures on composting, gardening, recycling and organic pest control, plus it’s your chance to check out dozens of local vendors.

More details will be coming soon.

There’s the pasta machine… and then there is a cleaner, easier and even more delicious way to have fresh pasta at home. No, I don’t mean the processed, packaged type of pasta, but the Italian fresh market type of pasta that comes in dozen flavors, colors and aromas

I’m talking about Pappardelle’s handcrafted tomato basil penne, spinach garlic fettuccine, lemon basil fettuccine and a dozen other flavors, which I recently discovered at the the Grove’s Wednesday farmers market for $9 the pound.

The market has been going on for a few months now, but only recently I had a chance to check it out and discovered this fresh pasta stand that makes the drive there worth it.

Another interesting booth is Elhadj’s, who sells African shea butter, a natural moisturizer made from the African shea tree, and African black soap, which is used to clear the skin from acne and blemishes.

You can also shop for honey, fruits, juices and jewelry at the market.

If you go:

Mayfair Green Market
2311 Grand Avenue, Coconut Grove
Every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.