Sauce Magazine and Left Bank Books couldn’t be more excited to have Michael Pollan as our guest for our next Sauce Celebrity Chef Series event held on Thursday, May 9. From noon to 2 p.m. at Moulin event space, Pollan will chat with us over lunch about his latest book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation. Pollan will also sign copies of the book and answer questions from the audience.

Globally, through his award-winning books such as The Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food and The Botany of Desire, Pollan has been, slowly but surely, changing the way people think about food. Named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2010, Pollan is an advocate for change in food policy (And believe it or not, he knows a thing or two about how to make good food!).

Tickets, available here, are $55 and include lunch and a copy of Cooked. Ticket sales close on May 7; do not delay!

I’m willing to bet that I know what local wine connoisseurs are daydreaming about right now: those fabulous pours in store for tonight at the Centennial Wine Expo. This is the inaugural year for the event, which takes place this evening from 6 to 9 p.m. at Moulin event space at 2017 Chouteau Ave., but one that is anticipated to become an annual wine affair.

Get your oeno on because general admission ticketholders (Sorry, VIP tickets are sold out.) will have the opportunity to sample wines from around the world – nearly 150 wines in total – from 15 area wine distributors. Most of the wines are currently only available to restaurants or specialty wine shops. Grab that tasting sheet and keep track of your favorites, for you can order any of the wines in a mixed case format. Complimentary nibbles like cheese and crackers will be available, but if you need to fill your belly, just head to Vin de Set or PW Pizza, both located inside the building, before or after the event.

Scott Gaghan, Centennial Wine Expo founder and wine director for 1111 Mississippi and Vin de Set, explained the impetus for the event. “We decided to do it because we’ve had a good level of success with our beer festival that we do on an annual basis.” He continued, “We wanted to give an opportunity to have the St. Louis wine market get together. There is few and far between where the general public can do a tasting of this size for this price point.” The cost of admission, he pointed out, equated to what someone “can easily spend on a bottle of wine.” And, he added, “The general public has the opportunity to purchase [wine] at aggressive retail pricing.”

Thirsty? General admission tickets are $38.66 and can be purchased here or at the door. But wait, why buy one ticket when you can get two for free? Head here, to enter to win two tickets to this event. Our giveaway will be running until 1 p.m. today. We will announce our winner here and on Facebook, and we’ll send you an email if you’re the lucky winner.

***This giveaway has ended. Kent Ritzel, you are our winner! Look out for an email from the Sauce crew. Everyone else, thanks for playing! Check in next Friday for another drinking-inspired giveaway!***

With her ever-expanding multimedia career, restaurant ventures, philanthropic work and four young sons, trailblazing chef Cat Cora ranks as one busy lady – but not too busy to visit St. Louis in little more than a month, and we’re thrilled to offer you a chance to meet the busy chef.

Sauce Magazine and Left Bank Books will host a ticketed demo, tasting and book signing with Cora on June 7 from 12:30 to 3 p.m. at Moulin in the Lafayette Square neighborhood.

In the demo, Cora – to date, the only female Iron Chef on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America – will prepare and serve two dishes from her latest cookbook, Cat Cora’s Classics With a Twist: Grilled Chile-Lime Flank Steak Soft Tacos and Grapefruit and Cherry Ambrosia With Honey Cream.

Tickets for the event are for sale here till June 5. They cost $65 apiece and include food, wine and beer, and a copy of Cat Cora’s Classics With a Twist, a 240-page book (Cora’s third, a $30 value) coming from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt late this spring.

Cora specializes in Greek and Southern fusion cuisine. A Jackson, Miss., native now living in Santa Barbara, Calif., she also emphasizes a “go-with-what-you’ve-got” philosophy. Educated at the Culinary Institute of America, Cora serves as executive chef for Bon Appétit magazine and heads barbecue eatery CCQ (Cat Cora’s ’Que) in California and Mediterranean restaurant Kouzzina in Florida. She also founded the nonprofit philanthropic organization Chefs for Humanity, on whose behalf she toured earthquake-ravaged Haiti earlier this month.

Doors for the visit with Cora open at 12:15 p.m.