Kevin Binkley is on a roll. Last week, the acclaimed chef was nominated for a James Beard Award as Best Chef: Southwest. Today, Café Bink, a more casual sibling to his fine-dining Binkley’s, opens its doors at 5 p.m. Both restaurants are in Carefree.

Café Bink, which includes a large patio, is open for dinner-only this week, but will add lunch next week. Executive sous chef Brandon Gauthier, a Scottsdale Culinary Institute graduate, takes over Cafe Bink’s kitchen after six years at Binkley’s.

The dinner menu (see Cafe Bink menus) includes:

• Foie gras terrine with brioche, orange marmalade and watercress ($24),

• Country pate with caperberry, pickled red onion, mustard and toast ($12),

• Charcuterie plate with proscuitto, soprasetta, coppa and cornichon ($14),

• Chilled white wine poached salmon with marinated cucumber salad, olives and sauce vert ($14),

• Quiche with bacon, blue cheese and spinach ($11),

• Mussels with garlic, white wine and baguette ($16),

• Trout meunière with toasted almonds, haricots verts and lemon brown butter ($18),

• Roast chicken with fingerling potatoes, Brussels sprouts and roasted chicken jus ($17),

• Red wine braised duck leg with creamy grits and grapes ($15),

• Corned beef with cabbage and apple ($15),

• Hanger steak with scalloped potatoes, broccolini and demi-glace ($19).

Café Bink takes over half of Pizzafarro’s restaurant, which is downsizing and staying open in the Bashas’ Plaza.

>> Cafe Bink, 36899 N. Tom Darlington Drive, Carefree, is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. (480) 488-9796.

Fans of fabulous Cave Creek restaurant Binkley’s are going to have to wait a little longer for its casual Carefree sibling, Cafe Bink, to launch. The opening of chef Kevin Binkley’s second restaurant now is scheduled for Feb. 22.

Binkley’s, considered by many to be the finest restaurant in the Valley, is about to get a little sister. Cafe Bink, a casual cafe from chef/owner Kevin Binkley, will open Jan. 29, in Carefree. The restaurant, 36899 N. Tom Darlington Drive, will feature affordably priced dishes like roasted chicken, salmon and paninis.

“Gastrological Dinners,” The Boulders Resort’s quarterly alternative to traditional winemaker dinners, have proven so popular that they’re being offered more frequently.

The 2008 series kicks off Jan. 24 in the Carefree resort’s new Organic Garden. The dinner, which will feature wines from Oregon’s King Estates, starts with cocktails at 6:30 p.m.

The menu: assorted hors d’oeuvres; roasted cauliflower soup with maple-smoked bacon and lobster; galantine of pheasant with truffle and cognac; granite of Granny Smith apple and chocolate mint; spiced seared elk loin, sweet potatoes, braised mushrooms and succotask; cheese tasting plate; flourless chocolate espresso cake and quenelle of kahlua panna cotta; and mignardises.

Cost is $150 person and reservations are required. The evening will include spiritual readings by astrologer Tom McMullan.

Other scheduled dinners are Feb. 28 (Long Meadow Ranch Vineyards), March 20 (Stage Coach Vineyards) and June 21 (Frog’s Leap).

Info: (480) 488-9009.