Gear up for a Taste

Charlotte's 16th Annual Taste of the Nation on April 13 will offer fare from more than 30 area restaurants, culinary schools, organizations and wineries, plus live entertainment, live and silent auctions and more. All ticket sales go toward ending childhood hunger, and local beneficiaries include Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina and the Community Culinary School of Charlotte. Among the restaurants on board are BLT Steak, Blue, BrickTops, Brixx, Ember Grille, Enso, Gallery, Harper's, LaVecchia's, Mert's, Mez, Mimosa Grill, Paco's Tacos and Tequila, The Capital Grille, Savannah Red, Upstream, Vida Cantina, Village Tavern and Zink.

$100 gets you into the VIP Preview Hour, beginning at 6 p.m.; it's $85 for the 7-10 p.m. main event, at which there will be tastes of dishes, wines, beers and more. (No one under 21, even kids in strollers, will be permitted in.) All are at The Atrium at the Wells Fargo building uptown at 401 S. Tryon St., with free parking at the deck off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Tickets: online at www.charlottetasteofthenation.com or at 704-376-1785.