Five South Florida Food-Related Events This Weekend: Mack House Debut, Truffle Season, and More

Via Holy Mackerel's Facebook page.

Holy Mackerel is kicking off its new tap room this weekend.

Will Hurricane Sandy crash (and/or destroy) your Halloween party this weekend? That remains to be seen, but if you've got weekend plans anywhere in South Florida, it would pay to call ahead to ensure everything is proceeding as planned, as some organizers may pull the plug on events if conditions worsen. Case in point: The Traveling Plate supper club has rescheduled its October dinner (planned for tonight) to November 3 because of the predicted rain and wind.

All that being said, the main focus for this weekend is obviously Halloween. But costume parties and candy orgies aren't the only goings-on. After the jump, find a variety of food- and drink-related activities this weekend in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

5. Tropical fruit and vegetable plant sale
Need to get out of the city for a bit and surround yourself with plant life? The Rare Fruit and Vegetable Council of Broward County is hosting its annual fall sale at its research garden at 5105 SW 208th Lane in Southwest Ranches. The sale is 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. You can pay with cash, check, or Visa or MasterCard. There are dozens of varieties of plants available, including avocado, allspice, bananas, passion fruit, ylang ylang, and cacao. Limited quantities are available.

4. Truffle season at local restaurants
Truffle oil is an abomination that has no place on your French fries or mashed potatoes. Actual truffles, on the other hand, are pretty damned tasty and in much shorter supply than the chemical-tasting bastardization of nature's product. That's especially true this year, given that weather conditions in Italy were somewhat crappy in the truffle-harvesting department. There are a few South Florida restaurants serving up truffle-laced dishes this season, among them are Casa D'Angelo restaurants in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. The dish selections range from a $38 beef carpaccio with shaved white truffles to risotto with shaved truffles ($24 to $68), plus a few other entrees. Extra shavings of the coveted fungi are $10 each. Call ahead to confirm selections are on offer and to make a reservation.