At our baking and beer event, instructor Jossie Lukacik will teach you how to be a better baker (and use craft beer while doing it!). Kristen Wile/UP

Q: How many cupcakes will we get to eat at your event with Sweet Spot Studio on Thursday?
UP: Each guest will make half a dozen cupcakes AND sample a flight of beers that we’re using in the cupcake. You can eat your cupcakes when they’re done, or you can take all six home with you. Get your ticket here!

Q: I need to figure out a restaurant to have a dinner meeting for 5-6 people that is not too far from the airport as our experts are staying at an airport hotel, not too expensive and either has a private room we could use or at least is not super crowded and loud as we need to be able to discuss a case. Thoughts?
UP: There’s not much on that side of town other than Heirloom. You could go to Copper Modern Indian Cuisine and tell them you need a quiet table (their dining room is split up into rooms), or see if Bonterra can seat you upstairs (might be too pricey). Rai Lay is pretty quiet and has easy parking. If you need more ideas, use our restaurant finder!

Q: At what point do you consider a restaurant a chain?
UP: I don’t think there’s an official definition. Instead of looking at the number of locations, I look at whether the chef who’s over the menu can be found in the kitchen several days a week cooking it. Once a place has grown to have so many locations it has a corporate chef, and that corporate chef doesn’t work in the restaurants, I think it’s a chain (see: Babalu). A corporate chef who works in the kitchen with executive chefs at each location, or a restaurant with multiple locations but an executive chef with control of their own menus (like Rooster’s) isn’t a chain to me.

Q: What is your top recommendation for restaurant week?
Definitely NoDa Brewing! The point of Queen’s Feast is to experience new things, and there’s really no other time you’ll get to experience this. The brewery is setting up the old tap room on North Davidson Street to be a restaurant for the week. Tin Kitchen will provide the three-course menu, which includes dishes like caramelized pork belly bites, a soup flight, sweet potato falafel, and bourbon bread pudding. And,  because it’s NoDa, you also get a flight of beer. See the full menu here.

Q: What are your favorite restaurants for a cold night?
UP: You probably already know I’m going to say Intermezzo. Crêpe Cellar is another warming spot; it seems exposed brick is what I’m looking for on a cold night. Fireplaces are a draw, too, which makes me appreciated the corner of the bar area at Dogwood. And open kitchens, such as the ones at Rooster’s, Stoke, and Stagioni, bring some heat to their dining rooms, too.

Have a question? E-mail it to us and we’ll answer it next week!