Food Events and Festivals: February 2019

First up this month is some Hot Chicken News, as one of our favourite places in the whole wide world – Edinburgh street food yard The Pitt – returns from its winter hibernation bigger and better than ever. There's more space to play with (some of which is actually indoors under a roof) and promise of mod cons like a big screen, but what we're both amped and psyched about is news of their latest permanent vendor, The Buffalo Truck. The multi-award-winning fried chicken geniuses will be taking up residence at Pitt 2.0, and if that means a weekly chance to grab their incredible fried chicken burgers then goodbye arteries, it's been nice knowing you. 125 Pitt St, Edinburgh; Saturdays throughout February; facebook.com/pittstmarket

Next on the award-winning tip, it's gin! If you like gin, you're surely bound to like award-winning gin, and if you like one award-winning gin then surely ten of them at the same time would be at least ten times better. That's the thinking behind The Scottish Gin Society's aptly titled Meet the Winners of The Scottish Gin Awards 18 event at Sloans this month. A chance to sample a cabinet's worth of excellent spirits, meet the people responsible for their creation, and snap up a bottle or two to keep in the cupboard for 'special occasions' – i.e. refuse to touch until next Christmas. Sloans, 108 Argyle St, Glasgow; 9 Feb, 12-4pm, £15 + booking fee, tickets via Eventbrite

You'll need to be quick or in the know to bag a ticket for Julie & Jimmy Cook Chinese New Year, the two-venue feast from Julie Lin Macleod of The Skinny readers' fave Julie's Kopitiam and Jimmy Lee of Lychee Oriental. If you pull it off, you're in for a four-course banquet of contemporary Chinese cooking that sounds so good we may have dribbled on the keyboard when the email came in. SWG3 Acid Bar, 100 Eastvale Pl, 7 Feb, 5.30 & 8pm, £35 + booking fee, tickets via Eventbrite

If you're still clinging to a New Year health kick but are fast deciding you can't be bothered, may we suggest Stewart Brewing's Dockside Tap Running Club? They take fortnightly 5k runs around the area near the brewery's taproom at The Shore; ideal for those of you who want to keep fit or feel like you need an excuse for a nice beer on a Tuesday evening. For the record, you don't, but here's one anyway. Dockside Tap, 38 Bernard St; 6 & 20 Feb, 7pm, facebook.com/docksidetap

From running around in the dark to drinking wine with your eyes shut, Marchtown present a series of Blind Wine Tastings this month. Finally, a chance to put our vague assertions about grape varieties and 'the terroir' to the test! Marchtown, 741 Pollokshaws Rd; 8 & 16 Feb, 7.30pm, £25, tickets via marchtown.co.uk

If you want to learn a more – dare we say – practical skill than blindfolded wine identification, Edinburgh's Forest Cafe are hosting a string of free Pasta-Making Workshops at which you can learn the ins and outs of making your own pasta. Forest Cafe, 141 Lauriston Pl; 10 & 24 Feb, 4pm; free, book via Facebook

And finally, everyone's favourite culinary anthropologists Küche are back with Supper Scozzese. The event takes a food-first look at Italian immigration to Scotland from the late 1800s, and its cultural and culinary impact on Scotland. There'll be discussion of Italian-Scottish identity, the defining role that the Italian diaspora have played in creating modern Scottish food culture, and stories from across the years. There will also be Ribollita (Tuscan bread soup), fish and chips and a whisky-laced tiramisu. History, community *and* a tasty dessert? We're sold. MILK Cafe, 452 Victoria Rd, Glasgow; 16 Feb, 7.30pm; £17, tickets via kueche.co.uk