Assembly Required: Innovators in Food

[Update: Sold out!] It's a good time to be dining out in Baton Rouge—a world of options, chefs out to make names for themselves, and foodies enthusing to friends and followers. For the very latest, though, you'll do well to get off Instagram and head to the Louisiana Culinary Institute for "Innovators in Food," the second installment of  local creative agency ThreeSixtyEight's "Assembly Required" series, where local and national experts will weigh in on the state of cuisine, at present and in the future too. Speakers include Bill DiPaola, president and COO of Dat Dog Enterprises, which retains a small-business culture even through rapid expansion; Robbie Vitrano, CEO of Innisfree and Good Spread, whose vitamin-fortified peanut butter aims to combat Severe Acute Malnutrition in children; Michael Gulotta, the New Orleans chef of MoPho and Maypop, who melds Louisiana and Southeast Asian influences in his cutting-edge cuisine; and more. 

Festivities begin at 5 pm with a local vendor fair and hors-d'oeuvres. Then the ideas start flying. assemblyrequiredla.com/tickets.