Food for the Soul

Two programs on Sunday afternoon – a concert in the East Village and a poetry reading in the West Village – will celebrate food, glorious food.First up is a performance by the Downtown Chamber & Opera Players, which will present “If Music Be the Love of Food,” a smorgasbord of food-themed tunes.The program’s centerpiece is Jeffrey Lependorf’s chamber opera called “The Art of Eating,” a culinary love story inspired by food writer M.F.K. Fisher. Disappointed after a string of mediocre meals, Mary Francis stops at a simple country restaurant and is quickly smitten with the parade of delicious dishes served by her chef and waiter, Andre.She falls in love with him, too – this is opera, after all.“The Art of Eating” features soprano Maria Fatorre, baritone John Schenkel, a string quartet, and a chorus. The concert’s conductor and curator, Mimi Stern-Wolfe, says that her excitement about the opera spurred her to create an entire food-themed program.The opera is the main course, but the side dishes are appetizing, too. Leonard Bernstein’s “La Bonne Cuisine” includes odes to oxtail soup, plum pudding, a Turkish chicken dish, and “Rabbit at Top Speed.” The aria from Bach’s “Coffee Cantata” adds a dash of spice: “Coffee in the time of Bach was a little bit like marijuana in our time. It was looked askance as an addictive form of food,” Ms. Stern-Wolfe said. The menu also includes Erik Satie’s “Trois Morceaux en forme de poire” and, naturally, Henry Purcell’s “If Music Be the Food of Love.”Ms. Stern-Wolfe has organized other themed concerts in the past. “A Toast to the Steins” featured music by composers including Jule Styne and Leonard Bernstein, “Dial M for Mother” was a Mother’s Day recital of works by women composers, and last November she created an Armistice Day recital. “If I had a little more funding for this thing,” Ms. Stern-Wolfe said of Sunday’s concert, “I would have prepared a feast! But I think the audience will like the imagination of eating all these exotic foods.”Across town, a new poetry reading series at the bistro CamaJe kicks off with a “Feast of Words.” Host Emily Gordon welcomes Eleanor Levine, Daniel Nester (who has penned two personal books about the rock band Queen), Caledonia Kearns, Jennifer Chapis, T.M. De Vos, and prolific writer Katha Pollitt.Ms. Levine will read a poem “against food,” according to Ms. Gordon. “It’s about the impossibility of dieting. Knowing her, it’s going to be outrageous.” Ms. Kearns is to pontificate on pomegranates. The rest of the bunch have also been instructed to read verses about victuals, although Ms. Gordon notes that “poets are so ornery” and they may be reluctant to stick to the theme.No matter what the flavor of the selections, the audience can enjoy the restaurant’s tasty French fare (Ms. Gordon particularly loves chef Abigail Hitchcock’s “dreamy” crepes).Perhaps it’s even the sort of place where a foodie could meet a waiter and fall in love over a perfect dinner.Concert: Sunday, 3 p.m., St. Mark’s Church, 131 E. 10th St. at Second Avenue, 212-477-1594, $15. Reading: Sunday, 5 p.m., CamaJe, 85 Mac-Dougal St., between Bleecker and Houston streets, 212-673-8184, free.

Food for the Soul

Food for the Soul

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