This Fresh Forkin’ Friday I’m feeling a little sluggish. We had a slam bam event last night at the Le Cordon Bleu to benefit the scholarship funds of the James Beard Foundation. I could tell you tales of meat umbrellas, foie gras croquettes, bacon wrapped sweetbreads, and desserts that needed a “blast shield”  but all of that crazy food wonderment came second to something else: the culinary kids. Throughout the night I watched students working with some of our best chefs, pimply-faced kids with glasses hanging on every word that Jack Riebel or Lenny Russo was saying, and it made me freaking happy. They watched the work and helped where they could, and you could feel their excitement. Will they ever forget being a part of those teams? I can only hope they saw the possibilities of their future lives through Mike Brown (a grad) and Michelle Gayer (former instructor) and the young intensity of Sameh Wadi and Thomas Kim. We will all be luckier for it.

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It’s crazy out there, folks.

CLOSES

Wondrous Azian Kitchen is closed and Thom Pham is in a world that seems to be spinning out of control. It looks like he no longer owns interest in the yet-to-be opened Azia Market and there are legal matters concerning a lot of money.

Chez Jude in Duluth is set to close after one last harvest dinner hurrah on Oct. 27.

Pierre’s Bistro at 50th and Penn has closed for good.

OPENS

The Lynn on Bryant is open in the slip of a space behind Patina. There’s a front cafe, a more formal back dining (but only 28 seats!) and talk of a brilliant kids meal that comes in a muffin tin. There’s a French feel to the menu and they happily endorse take-away.

New Bohemia Wurst & BierHaus opened this week. The smallish place feels like that right intersection between Uptown and Nordeast, it has bar seating and two very long communal tables. The food is sausage heaven mit Kartofflesalat and the beer list is righteous.

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Get your foodist film fix next week with the Film Society’s Feast for the Eyes festival. From the 25-28 you can get in on screening of classics like Big Night, Babette’s Feast, and Eat Drink Man Woman, as well as the cultish-fabulous Dead Sushi which will be sponsored by Masu and include a little nosh with your film. Also check out the Small Bites events which includes bites from Barbette, Birdhouse, Zen Box, and more before a screening of food-related shorts.

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You have to check out the Dias de los Muertos celebration going on at MGM, it’s a full week of fun. Not only can you paint skull masks, but there will be cooking demonstrations, tequila tastings, and mariachi all over the place. This is Manny’s favorite week of the year, so get down there and hug him.

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Also, go have a beer for your chesty friends. The Blue Plate group is celebrating Beer for Boobs at some of their locations. Head in for a pint of Summit and support the fight against breast cancer. Win win.