With its assortment of artisanal food vendors, craft makers and more, the Hester Street Fair, at the corner of Hester and Essex Streets on the Lower East Side, returns on Saturday for the season. The market is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays through Oct. 26. The Dead Rabbit, 30 Water Street in the Financial District, is hosting two cocktail events with Ernest Hemingway serving as inspiration. On Saturday, Cana Brava Rum sponsors "Hemingway in Havana," and Pernod Absinthe is sponsoring "Hemingway in Paris" on Sunday. Philip Greene, who wrote a "To Have and Have Another," will lead a nine-minute discussion at both events, which start at 7 p.m. Tickets, available online for $60 per guest, include four drinks. The Pride of Brooklyn Homebrew Festival will pit amateurs against one another in a homebrewed beer competition and expo starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Tickets, available online, are $25 per person, and part of the proceeds benefit an animal shelter in Williamsburg. Salvatore Olivella, a pizzaiolo, will lead two pizza-making classes on Sunday and May 5 at 4 p.m. at 180 Neapolitan Eatery, 180 Hester Street in Little Italy. The 90-minute workshops will focus on thin crusts and wood-fired pizzas. Students will learn how to create pizza dough, knead Neapolitan-style pies and make a margherita sauce. Each class, which includes wine, is $65 per person. Giovanni Rana Pasticio & Cucina, 75 Ninth Avenue in Chelsea Market, is offering two pasta-making classes. A session for children at 10 a.m. Sunday includes a demonstration and a chance for them to roll dough themselves. Each parent and child pair is $60, which covers one brunch beverage, the class and a pasta dish. On Monday at 6:30 p.m., the class focuses on pasta dishes using springtime ingredients. That class is $65 per student and includes a beverage, appetizer, class, a tasting of dishes, recipes and enough food to take home. Call (212) 370-0975 for reservations. Spina, 175 Avenue B in the East Village, is also holding a pasta-making class from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Joe Marcus, the chef, will teach students how to make spaghetti, black pepper pappardelle and basil malfati. The class is $75 per student and will include wine and light snacks before a pasta tasting. It will be offered every Sunday until June 2. To R.S.V.P., e-mail matthew@spinarestaurant.com. Brunch service will make its debut at a number of newer restaurants across the city. The Greenwich Project, 47 West Eighth Street in Greenwich Village, serves a classic brunch Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will offer fresh-pressed juices. A two-hour-long Sunday jazz brunch aboard the Hornblower Cruises and Events departs Pier 40, 353 West Street between SoHo and the West Village, at 12:30 p.m. with cocktails, a brunch buffet, a dessert station and live jazz. Tickets are $82 per person. The General, 199 Bowery on the Lower East Side, now serves an Asian-inspired brunch menu beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Besides dishes like Peking duck hash and blueberry buttermilk pancakes served with five-spice syrup, the restaurant's bakery will also be selling its doughnuts, some made with cereal.