French fete for Patricia Wells

Join chef Renee Erickson at Boat Street Cafe (3131 Western Ave., # 301, Seattle, 206-632-4602) May 14 for a Cooks & Books Visiting Chef Series dinner celebrating the latest offering from the French cooking expert and her longtime mentor and friend Patricia Wells.

Wells and her husband Walter's memoir "We've Always Had Paris ... and Provence: A Scrapbook of Our Life in France," chronicles the couple's love of France and its cuisine and includes personal photographs and more than 30 recipes.

Erickson will prepare two seatings of a France-themed feast at 6 and 8:30 p.m., to include braised chicken, a variety of spring vegetables, meringues with vanilla bean whipped cream and strawberry-rhubarb compote, all paired with French wines. The cost is $95 per person (excluding tax and tip) and includes a signed copy of the book. Call 206-632-4602 for reservations.

Downtown Bellevue restaurant boom

A fourth Purple Cafe and Wine Bar is scheduled to open in November in Bellevue Towers, one of many new buildings rising in downtown Bellevue.

Two other new restaurants will join Purple on the street level of the new high-rise, at the corner of Northeast Fourth Street and 106th Avenue Northeast. Barrio will serve seasonal Northwest-style Mexican dishes and cocktails. A yet-to-be-named cafe will offer fresh-baked goods, espresso, tea, lunch, desserts and drinks.

Purple already has locations in downtown Seattle, Woodinville and Kirkland. Barrio, also owned by Purple founders Larry and Tabitha Kurofsky, is opening its first location in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood this summer.

The trio join a host of new eateries to open in Bellevue in the coming months, including Wild Ginger, El Gaucho and John Howie Steak, a namesake steakhouse by Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar owner John Howie.

Cheese festival on tap May 16-18

Tickets are on sale for seminars and cooking classes at the fourth annual Seattle Cheese Festival, May 16-18 at Pike Place Market. A sampling of this year's options:

• May 17, Northwest Terroir: Jeffrey Roberts, author of "The Atlas of American Artisan Cheese, discusses how our region's soil and climate affects the flavor of local cheeses.

• May 18, "From Curds to Consumer": Panelists including Matt Day, of Mt. Townsend Creamery; Laure Dubouloz, of Herve Mons Affineur Company; and Connie Rizzo, cheese buyer for DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine, discuss what it takes to get cheese from the farm to the consumer.

• May 18, "Do You Taste What I Taste?": Peggy Smith, co-owner of Cowgirl Creamery, discusses the language of tasting cheeses.

Seminars cost $40 and include cheese samples and wine pairings. Visit www.seattlecheesefestival.com to register and for more information about the festival, which will feature cheese samples, beer and wine gardens, demonstrations and competitions.

May promotion adds eateries

The New Urban Eats restaurant promotion returns with an expanded list of Seattle and Eastside eateries three years old and newer that will offer three-course dinners for $30, excluding tax and tip, throughout May.

Restaurants include Crush (2319 E. Madison St., Seattle, 206-324-4549); Tidbit (2359 10th Ave. E., Seattle, 206-323-0840); Enotria (3515 N.E. 45th St., Seattle, 206-527-5039); Yama at the Galleria (550 106th Ave. N. E., #300, Bellevue, 425-453-4007); and Betty (1507 Queen Anne Ave. N., Seattle, 206-352-3773). For a full list and details, visit www.NWsource.com.

Karen Gaudette, Seattle Times staff reporter