Slow Food Urban San Diego, a growing organization devoted to ensuring sustainability and pleasure in the foods we eat, will hold its first membership meeting from 4 to 6 p.m., Saturday, March 21, at Downtown’s San Diego Wine & Culinary Center. The event gives prospective new members a chance to learn about the slow food movement while sampling seasonal fare and local wine and beer. Since launching last year, the organization has presented regular mixers, dinners and educational events throughout metro San Diego. For more information, send an e-mail to slowfoodsandiego@gmail.com.

Who says science festivals are all about fossils and volcanoes? This month’s San Diego Science Festival brings into the equation a couple of food events designed to teach us the genetics of what we consume. Learn about the history and medicinal properties of beer, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, March 19, at Rock Bottom Brewery, 401 G St. And the following week, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., March 24, UCSD Professor Franciso Villareal will be joined by Michael Antonorsi of Chuao Chocolatier in a tasting of exotic chocolates while discussing their health properties and ancient uses. The forum will be held at KPBS studios on the SDSU campus, 5200 Campanile Drive. The registration fee for each event is $10. For more information, visit www.sdsciencefestival.org.

Some of the prettiest and most flavorful tacos in San Diego can be found at Cantina Mayahuel in Normal Heights, where the kitchen uses fruity marinates for the meats and dresses up presentations with chipotle sauce and chili Diablo. The restaurant also features a unique, bright-red hot sauce made of beets and habañaro peppers. The cost per taco (sirloin, chicken, mahi mahi or shrimp) is $4.50, which recently went up by 50 cents in the first price hike since Cantina opened three years ago. On the third Wednesday of every other month, the outdoor patio gives way to tastings of boutique tequilas that include slide-show presentations about the tequila-making process. The cost is $40. 2934 Adams Ave., 619-283-6292.

Karen Krasne reveals some of her dessert recipes in a series of individual classes to be held over the next several weeks titled, “Kitchen Secrets.” Each two-hour class, which begins with wine and coffee starting at 5:30 p.m., will focus on Krasne’s baking and decorating techniques used for making several of her signature confections. Class dates are March 24, 25, 31, and April 1. The cost is $85 per class. 1430 Union St., 619-294-7001, ext. 103.

Chef Matt Gordon of Urban Solace in North Park and Steve Silverman of San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyle Magazine will present a Passover Seder followed by a four-course wine dinner, starting at sundown on Wednesday, April 8. The seder will feature a pre-feast of chicken liver paté, charoset and house-prepared gefilte fish, while the dinner menu includes Matzah ball soup made of Jidori chicken consommé, pached Arctic char, braised short ribs and lemon-blackberry cake. The event, to be held at Urban Solace, is $60 for adults and $45 for children. 3823 30th St., 619-295-6464.