Ra Ra Rasputin

Celebrate one of history’s most mythologized figures: Russian peasant turned tsarist sidekick Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin. Hosted by Greenpoint’s Center for Investigative Research, the dinner marks the 99th anniversary of the adviser’s reported attempt to prove his identity by exposing himself—literally—at Moscow’s Yar Restaurant (he was rumored to be superlatively endowed). Sip a 21-ingredient borscht while learning about his supposed healing powers, his religious belief in redemption through sin and his mysterious death by cyanide-laced cake (the meal ends with the same petit fours, minus the poison). If the dulcet tones of a traditional Russian lute aren’t enough to transport you, take solace in a pair of vodka toasts to a man who was also a notorious drunkard.—Nina Stoller-Lindsey