Weekend Eats & Drinks 3/31/11

Close out March with a few alcoholic-fueled events this weekend.

Today from 5:30 to 8 p.m., Rebuilding Together Oakland hosts a wine tasting fundraiser. Tickets are $30 and include two tastings from each East Bay Vintners like Dashe Cellars, R&B Cellars and more. Rebuilding Together Oakland offers support and services to the city's low-income communities.

On Friday, Modern Coffee continues its weekly Friday cuppings with guest brewers from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Stop in to taste and learn about Ecco coffee.

Saturday is busy around Oakland's Jack London Square. KGO AM 810 holds a craft brew tasting paired with food from local eateries from noon to 3 p.m. in the Pavilion Building. Gene Burns will also broadcast the "Dining Around" program live from the event. Presale tickets are sold out, but should be available day of the event for $20.

Also Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., the East Bay Vintner's Alliance hosts its 4th annual Passport to the East Bay tastings event. Over 20 urban wineries ranging from the well-visible Rosemblum and Rock Wall Wine cellars to smaller production wineries like Stomping Girl Winery and Tayerle Wines will be pouring across 6 locations. Tickets are $40 and include continuous shuttle service between wineries, BART and the Ferry Terminal, appetizers, and a souvenir wine glass. Designated drivers are $10 and get a souvenir coffee mug and full access to the wineries. For a full list of participants, please see http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/156471.

Rebuilding Together Oakland
1171 Ocean Avenue, Suite 100, Oakland
510-625-0316


Modern Coffee
411 13th St., Oakland
(510) 835-8000

KGO AM 810 Much Ado about Beer
Jack London Square Pavilion
Broadway and Embarcadero, Oakland

East Bay Vintners Alliance
Various locations in Oakland and Alameda

Weekend Eats & Drinks 3/24

Who knows if the rain will stay this weekend, so good thing these weekend highlights are indoors.

Pyramid Brewing will host a beer dinner tonight to highlight its seasonal Curveball Blond Ale. $45 dinner includes the following four courses paired with the Curveball. Call for reservations: (510) 528-9880.

First Course: Pigs in a Blanket – Pork Tenderloin wrapped in filo dough on baby mustard greens and Dijon apple sauce.

Second Course: Honey Fig & Goat Cheese Salad - Fig vinaigrette drizzled on frisee salad greens with honey candied figs and hand-rolled almond covered goat cheese

Third Course: Almond Crusted Mahi-Mahi - Crisp and buttery almonds coat Hawaii’s native mahi-mahi. Served with julienne tropical relish of pineapple, mango, and apple.

Fourth Course: Bombshell Parfait - Sugar covered green apples crown a creamy blend of caramelized blond apple parfait with sweet vanilla crème and crunchy granola.

Also tonight, Vintage Berkeley offers its weekly 5 flights for $5 from 5 to 7:45 p.m at both locations downtown and on College Avenue.

On Friday, R&B Cellars provides jazz and $10 wine flights at Angela's Bistro in Alameda from 5 to 8 p.m. Proceeds go to local charity.

Also Friday, Miss Pearl's Jam House continues its weekly complimentary wine tasting with a member of the East Bay Vintner's Alliance. This week Urbano Cellars pours from 5 to 6 p.m.

Pyramid Brewing
901 Gilman St., Berkeley
(510) 528-9880

Vintage Berkeley
2113 Vine St., Berkeley
(510) 665-8600

Vintage Berkeley
2949 College Ave
(510) 549-9501

Angela's Bistro
2301 Central Ave., Alameda
(510) 522-5822


Miss Pearl's Jam House
1 Broadway, Oakland
(510) 444-7171

Japan Relief Effort

Several restaurants and bars across the East Bay are donating a portion of their proceeds to the relief effort in Japan.

BayWolf in Oakland will donate a portion of sales to tomorrow's dinner to relief organizations serving Japan. The disaster affects BayWolf dearly, as one of its past managers and friends recently moved his family to Japan.

Berkeley's PiQ is hosting a donation night Monday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. in collaboration with the Red Cross and the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program Alumni Association of Northern California. All individual donations and sales will be split between the two organizations.

Til the end of the month, Ozumo will donate 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of its specialty cocktail Kibou No Hana (“flower of hope”) to the American Red Cross.

BayWolf
3853 Piedmont Ave., Oakland
(510) 655-6004

PiQ
91 Shattuck Square, Berkeley
(510) 540-7700

Ozumo
2251 Broadway, Oakland
(510) 286-9866

Fat Tuesday Celebrations

Miss Pearl's Jam House's weekendlong Mardi Gras celebration culminates today with $5 daiquiries and hurricanes, Southern specialties, zydeco music, beads and more in Oakland.

Up Broadway, savor New Orleans fare and Mardi Gras cocktails to the beat of a zydeco band at Pican from 8 to 11 p.m. Tickets are $59 tickets at the door with a portion of the proceeds going to St. Augustine High School in New Orleans.

In Berkeley, Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto marks Fat Tuesday with an extended happy hour, Cajun food specials, live music and free beads until 10 p.m.

For other East Bay restaurants sure to have Southern comfort specials, try Oakland's Brown Sugar Kitchen and Berkeley's Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen. No word on any special offers but each teases menu surprises like beignets, alligator and crawfish direct from Louisiana.

Miss Pearl's Jam House
1 Broadway, Oakland
(510) 444-7171

Pican
2295 Broadway, Oakland
(510) 834-1000

Spenger's Fresh Fish Grotto
1919 4th St., Berkeley
(510) 845-7771

Brown Sugar Kitchen
2534 Mandela Parkway, Oakland
(510) 839-7685

Angeline's Louisiana Kitchen
2261 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
(510) 548-6900

Photo: greenpreferred.com

Weekend Eats & Drinks 3/3/11

Oakland's Miss Pearl's Jam House in Jack London Square celebrates Mardi Gras all weekend beginning Friday with happy hour specials, zydeco and live music, daiquiries and hurricanes, southern comfort food and of course beads. The fun ends on Fat Tuesday.

Also Friday is Drake's Brewing's monthly First Friday open house from 4 to 8 p.m..$15 tickets get you a souvenir tasting glass and 3 tokens for 3 full pours with a voluntary $5/person donation to James Madison Elementary School, this month's non-profit.

On Saturday, Berkeley's Donkey & Goat will host its spring release party with Gather Restaurant from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the winery. Tickets are $18 in advance or $25 at the door (cash only) and include a Riedel glass, or bring your own glass and get $10 off any wine purchase of $35. Donkey & Goat specialize in Rhone varietals.

Miss Pearl's Jam House
1 Broadway, Oakland
(510) 444-7171

Drake's Brewing
1933 Davis St. Ste 177, San Leandro
(510) 568-2739

Donkey & Goat
2323 B 4TH St., Berkeley
(510) 868-9174