With talk of an economic downturn people may be tightening their belts a bit. Not surprisingly, restaurants are trying to make eating out more enticing with special deals. Here’s a round up of deals, just be sure to check with each restaurant before dining since these offers do come and go…

Dine About Town is back! From June 1 - 15th the now bi-annual event features prix fixe deals for lunch and dinner at San Francisco restaurants, specifically a 3-course lunch for $21.95 or dinner for $31.95. Restaurants include Bushi-tei, Campton Place, Fringale and Roy’s. Check out the Dine About Town site for details and a list of all the participating restaurants.

Castro stalwart 2223 hosts $12 Tuesday when starters are $6 and entrees are $12. Choose from comfort dishes such as Classic Mashed Potatoes, Southern Fried Chicken Salad or Braised Pork Shoulder in Salsa Rojo. The menu has 4 starters and 5 entrees choices.

Brave the bad parking on Russian Hill! 1550 Hyde has an award-winning wine list and is offering $10 off any bottle of wine priced $40 or higher. They have plenty of wines under $40 as well.

Nick’s Crispy Tacos, chosen by 7×7 magazine readers for “best meal under $15″ hosts $2 Taco Tuesdays from 5 until 9pm. Tacos, quesadillas or chips, salsa and guacamole are only $2 each. $2 happy hour menu includes domestic beers, well drinks and margaritas.

For prix fixe deals we turned to Kevin Blum of SF City Dish. Kevin’s weekly newsletter, web site and dining card offer great deals and discounts at restaurant citywide and beyond. Here’s what he uncovered for us:

Civic Center favorite Indigo restaurant hosts a nightly Ultimate Wine Dinner. Guest may choose one appetizer, one entrée, one dessert and drink freely for the evening from a select choice of wines. That’s right, it is an all-you-can-drink dinner. Guests must arrive after 8 p.m. The dinner is $49.

Nob Hill brasserie Rue Saint Jacques restaurant is offering a three-course menu and a glass of wine for $23 every day from 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Guests can take their choice of appetizers (soupe du jour or pâté du jour), a choice of main course (New York steak or moules frites) and a choice of a dessert (crème brûlée or mousse au chocolat). Rue Saint Jacques, 1098 Jackson St. at Taylor St., San Francisco, CA 94133, 415-776-2002.

On Russian Hill Luella has a spiffy prix-fixe menu that includes its addictive romaine, radicchio, and watercress salad with Gorgonzola and walnuts that has a fan club of its own. But then you have to turn down the baked mussels with bacon over mashed potatoes! Oh, decisions. Their roasted pork loin with pancetta-braised cabbage is then followed with a vanilla and fresh mint crème brûlée. All this for $26, which means you can splurge on one of their wines from their well-chosen list of unique vintages. Available Monday-Thursday 5:30 p.m.-6:30pm.

South of Market Supperclub which describes itself as offering “an innovative multi-sensory fine dining experience” is doing a 3-course prix fixe that includes entertainment as well as dining in bed, for $35 every Tuesday.

In Palo Alto, La Strada is hosting regional Italian wine tastings. Chef Donato Scotti will pair sultry wines with light bites inspired by different regions of Italy. Enjoy the evening in a convivial and relaxed atmosphere on La Strada’s open-air patio. 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. $20 per person; includes wine and appetizers.

Fior D’Italia celebrates their 123rd year in business, America’s oldest Italian restaurant by offering a Special Prix Fixe Menu (all summer long) for just $18.86.

The traditional, 3-course menu includes a choice of first course salad, Serra Mista or Caesar Salad a second course pasta entree, Lasagna al forno, Ravioli, Cannelloni, Gnocchi alla Piemontese, Fettucini Alfredo, Tagliatella Bolognese, Tortellini alla Panna, or Trenette al Pesto and choice of dessert, Tiramisu, Sorbet, or Gelato.

As the weather warms up it’s prime time for outdoor festivals. Head to Ghirardelli Square for sipping wine at the third annual Uncorked Wine Festival or to Golden Gate Park for shucking oysters at the ninth annual San Francisco Oyster Fest. Better yet, enjoy both!

Ghirardelli Square hosts Uncorked! in partnership with COPIA, the American Center for Wine, Food & Arts located in Napa. Uncorked provides an opportunity to taste, learn and experience wine and gourmet food from throughout Northern California. Highlights include a food and wine pairing seminar, sensory wine class and chef demonstration ($10 fee). Check out the schedule online.

What: Uncorked! Wine Festival
Cost: Tickets are $40 and include unlimited wine tastings from over 50 wineries and a souvenir glass
When: May 17th 1 - 6 pm
Where: Ghirardelli Square, 900 North Point St, San Francisco
How: Purchase tickets online

The San Francisco Oyster Fest celebrates that classic combination of oysters and stout and features a great selection of contemporary live music. A wide variety of other beverages will also be available, ranging from beers, wines to premium spirits and though oysters are the main focus of the festival many other culinary choices will be offered. Festival events including the Shuck and Suck Competition, Oyster History Exhibition and Oyster Cooking Demonstrations.

What: San Francisco Oyster Fest
Cost: Tickets are $20 for a 1 day pass or $35 for a 2 day pass
When: May 17th - 18th, 12 - 7, gates open at 11
Where: Great Meadow at Fort Mason, San Francisco
How: Purchase tickets online

I know, fireworks and farmers aren’t usually uttered in the same sentence, but why not? In San Francisco you can have up close and personal access to both at these special events.

Every year KFOG puts on a fireworks extravaganza. You can fight the crowds on the pier or treat yourself to an upgrade. Head to Waterbar, the best spot in town for viewing the fireworks and nibble on oysters on the half shell, prawn cocktails, pizzas, gougere sandwiches, artichoke crab crostini, risotto fritters, salt cod fritters, gravlax, ceviches, tartare and mini meatballs.

What: Kaboom, VIP Event
Cost: Tickets are $65 and include passed hors d’ oeuvres (cash bar)

When: May 10th 7 - 10 pm

Where: Waterbar, 399 The Embarcadero, 415.284.0161

How: Purchase tickets online

Macy’s at Union Square puts on a variety of terrific culinary events. Catch the third part of the series “Get Green Cooking” where local farmers are paired with chefs who explain the ins and outs of sustainable farming, the importance of organic seasonal produce, and the tremendous impact your food choices can have on your community.

Sara Tashker of Green Gulch Farm and Annie Somerville of Greens Restaurant will discuss their partnership, organic farming, vegetarian cooking and more. Plus, they’ll cook something delicious!

What: Get Green Cooking Demo with Sara Tashker of Green Gulch Farm and Annie Somerville of Greens Restaurant
Cost: $10 donation to CUESA (the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) includes a sample of the featured dish, a glass of Benzinger wine, a canvas Ferry Plaza Farmers Market bag, plus a deluxe sample from Origins Organics, in celebration of their new USDA-certified organic skincare line
When: May 14th 6:30
Where: Macy’s Union Square, Cellar Kitchen
How: Seating is first-come, first-served starting at 6 pm

I’m looking forward to the CUESA-hosted Farmers Market Cocktail Demonstration and tasting that will be held on Wednesday, May 14 at the Ferry Building in participation with San Francisco Cocktail Week.

The Farmers Market Cocktail Demonstration will feature cocktails using seasonal farmers market ingredients and will have a star line-up of great bartenders from around the city:

• Joel Baker, Bourbon and Branch
• Steve Liles, Boulevard
• Josh Harris, Pier 23 and Elixir
• Josephine Packard, Alembic
• Greg Lindgren & Jon Gasparini, Rye
• Reza Esmaili, Conduit Yerba Buena
• Carlos Yturria, Grand Pu Bah
• Jon Santer, San Francisco chapter of the US Bartenders’ Guild
• Erick Castro, Sacramento chapter of the US Bartenders’ Guild
• Victoria Damato, Bar Johnny

There will be 12 demonstrated drinks available to taste, and tickets include two drink tickets for signature cocktails.

Tickets are $15 and you can purchase them through Brown Paper Tickets.

In honor of the 134th annual Kentucky Derby, which just happens to be happening tomorrow, I am making mint juleps. How could I not? Since I am neither a Southerner, nor have I ever been to Churchill Downs, I very easily could not. But I have lots of Southern friends and often like to pretend I am from the South– especially when I’ve been drinking bourbon. If I drink rum, I like to pretend I’m from the Midwest.

Ah, Magnolia. Ah, Churchill Downs. I’m certain that, had Sir Winston ever visited Kentucky, he would have downed several. Juleps, I mean. In case you didn’t know, the mint julep has been the official drink of the Kentucky Derby since 1938. Prior to 1938, I very much doubt anyone cared about officially recognizing official drinks.

The Julep, courtesy of Merriam-Webster.com: ju·lep

Pronunciation: \ ‘jü-əp\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from Arabic julāb, from Persian gulāb, from gul rose + āb water (that’s rosewater, in case you weren’t following).

Date: 14th Century

1: a drink consisting of sweet syrup, flavoring, and water 2: a drink consisting of a liquor (as bourbon or brandy) and sugar poured over crushed ice and garnished with mint.

For the purposes of todays post, we will focus on number two. Definition number two, that is.

I am a sucker for a good mint julep, and it isn’t very often one comes across one– especially in California. When I was a young lad living in Los Angeles, my favorite bar/restaurant was called Ports. It had no sign, yet the habitués were congenial. I once asked my favored bartender to make me a julep, but he lacked the necessary fresh mint and therefore refused me. Two warm summer evenings later, I asked again for a Julep and he replied again in the negative. I then produced a large bunch of spearmint, presenting it to him as I would a nosegay. He accepted, sniffed, and made everyone at the bar a julep. And then we started dating.

Until I ran out of mint.

The Mint Julep
Thought it may sometimes seem that the Persians pretty much invented everything, it’s the American South that may lay claim to the mint julep. Sometime during the 18th Century, white people living below the Mason-Dixon line started drinking this concoction of bourbon, ice, sugar, water, and mint. Henry Clay introduced the drink to the swamps of Washington, D.C. in the early 19th Century at the Round Robin Bar in the Willard Hotel, months before the hotel was bought out by the InterContinental chain.

What I enjoy so much about the julep is that it is refreshing, incredibly easy to make, and yet not so simple. There are essentially five ingredients and twenty-seven thousand theories upon how to make one. For an excellent read on what is, what is not, and what might be considered a true mint julep, I encourage you to read Jason Wilson’s story Juleps for the Derby? All Bets Are Off. It made me a very, very happy fellow.

Ingredients:

About 8 fresh mint leaves, plus one attractive sprig for garnishing
1 teaspoon of superfine sugar (it dissolves better than table sugar)
3 ounces Kentucky bourbon
a good splash of soda water
Crushed ice, and lots of it
Powdered Sugar, for dusting (I’d never done this until reading Wilson’s article, now it shall be forever part of my Julep schtick)

Preparation:

1. Chill a tall Collins glass or silver julep cup in your freezer for a few minutes.
2. Combine mint, sugar, soda, and half of the bourbon in the bottom of the glass. Muddle gently.
3. Add a few spoonsful of crushed ice and stir. Fill the glass the rest of the way with ice, top off with the second half of the bourbon, garnish with mint, and dust with powdered sugar.
4. Drink immediately, but don’t grab the glass around the middle unless you wish to give yourself away as unrepentently Yankee.

Serves: 1

If you now have especially strong feelings about the mint julep, you might wish to join the Mint Julep Sisterhood. Please watch this instructive video. NB: Granny Mae is wearing a snood, which means I must love her, in spite of her toothlessness.

If you have been suffering from the Vapors, I hope this has helped. Enjoy your Derby Day.

Next Monday May 5th you can join the Cinco de Mayo crush at local Mexican restaurants, or you can meet the authors of celebrated Italian and French book on food, instead. We suggest the latter, besides, the best community celebrations will take place on the weekend, such as San Francisco Cinco de Mayo San Francisco in Dolores Park on Saturday May 3rd from 10-5 or Cinco de Mayo Oakland on Sunday, May 4th in Fruitvale.

First up–Italy

Join Mario Batali, celebrity chef, and television personality at Il Fornaio for lunch to celebrate the release of Italian Grill, which combines his passion for Italian cuisine and tasty grilled food. No ordinary backyard bbq book, it includes appetizers, flatbreads, meats, seafood and vegetables along with his signature olive oil, citrus, wine, herbs, and garlic rubs. This luncheon is at Il Fornaio Restaurant in San Francisco, with food selections from the restaurant’s own excellent menu).

What: Lunch with Mario Batali

Cost: Tickets are $125 and include lunch and a signed copy of the book Italian Grill
When: Monday, May 05, 2008, 12:00 PM
Where: Il Fornaio Restaurant, 1265 Battery Street (inside Levi Plaza), San Francisco
How: Purchase tickets online

Next up–France

Clotilde Dusoulier the blogger behind the popular Chocolate & Zucchini blog returns to the Bay Area for a book signing. Her latest book, Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris is in stores now.

In her own words, “Clotilde’s Edible Adventures in Paris is a window onto my Paris, this delicious stomping ground for the food enthusiast. It is the companion I wish I had for every city I visit, pointing me to the edible highlights and giving me the lowdown on the dining scene, the best food shopping haunts, and the locals’ favorites.”

What: Clotilde Dusoulier At Books Inc. in Opera Plaza
Cost: Free
When: Monday, May 5, 2008, 7 pm
Where: Books Inc. 601 Van Ness San Francisco
Why: Get a chance to meet Clotilde in person.

Black Tartarian Cherries: “Copyright 1910 – Edward M. Mitchell, San Francisco”

In celebration of National Postcard Week, which spans the first week in May in the US and UK, be sure to send out a few notes to your favorite folks. An actual piece of personal mail, let alone hand-written thoughts for someone you know and love, is the closest thing to a hug you can share long-distance.

A trick I learned a long time ago from a consummate correspondent: Buy a stack of cards, stamp them in advance, and keep them in a pretty box in a visible place with a pen right there next to them. If you’re trying to stay in touch with someone specific—your grandfather in the nursing home, your friend from college, your flame across the country—address the cards in advance and shuffle them up. Then, all it’ll take are two minutes and three sentences to remind someone that they’re important to you.

Michael Sowa’s surreal “Zum Kartoffellagerhaus.”

Yes, email is so convenient and links to weird news always provide a laugh. And, yes, Facebook offers a million ways to poke your friends. But for this one week, pickup a pen and send your thoughts on paper.

To help inspire you, I’m sharing a few food-related postcards from my own boxes. Some are waiting to be mailed out; others were sent to me from friends who know how much I like to cook and eat. Below you’ll also find a few resources for tracking down interesting postcards, or, if you’re feeling especially ambitious and creative, making your own.

A card from Hong Kong.

One last quick note: On May 12, the postcard rate will go up to 27 cents. It’s still, a bargain, though, for injecting a smile into someone’s day, so go ahead and buy a couple books of the USPS’s brand-new, colorful tropical fruit stamps.

This linen postcard, showing two boys and their very big catch, is from my own collection of vintage travel cards.

San Francisco Bay Area Post Card Club
Local history buffs will want to browse these online exhibits of delightful historical postcards to learn about “Goats in San Francisco” or modern-day restaurant “freecards”. Visit SFBAPCC’s website to learn about their monthly meetings at Fort Mason or read their latest newsletter. The April aviation issue (pdf) includes a linen postcard showing the elegant tables in the Skyway Wing Room of San Francisco International Airport, with its expansive view of the ramps and runways during the cutting-edge “air age” of the 1950s and 60s.

Advertising for the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island in 1939. (From the postcard collection of Katheryn Ayres.)

Pomegranate Postcard Sale
One of the foremost publishers of postcards and notecards is offering a postcard blowout sale. It’s a mystery assortment of 100 cards—plenty to get you through the week and beyond.

MoMA Food Collection
Visit the online museum store of the Museum of Modern Art to purchase a box of postcards featuring food art drawn from the paintings, drawings and prints in their collection.

A card from Singapore, one in a series of drawings from the Straits Settlements of the early 18th century.

Art Postcard
Although I’m emphasizing actual paper cards, I’d be remiss not to mention new ways of sending images with messages. This impressively extensive online art postcard gallery allows you to search by style of art, topic, artist’s country, or keyword. Select an image, type your message, and your friend will receive your virtual postcard.

Handmade Postcards
For the crafty among you, here are a few sites showing how to make your own gorgeous works of mail art. At the more involved end, see how leaves can be pressed into still-wet pulp to make elegant Japanese-style paper cards. On the much, much easier end, learn how to transform any photo into a unique postcard in seconds. A wonderful way to reuse AND amuse is by appropriating food packaging, such as dried pasta boxes, with their built-in, plastic-coated “viewing frame,” to make fun postcards. All you need are scissors, pen, and a postcard stamp. This last one would be an especially fun project with kids, but adults will enjoy these moments of creativity and connection, too.

A cup of matcha on tatami mats. Japantown’s gift shops have beautiful cards.

Deltiology
If you’d like to brush up on postcard history, spend some time reading about deltiology, considered the third most popular collectible hobby in the world after stamps and coins (baseball, limited to the US, counts lower). Since that first postage stamp in 1840, these little missives have helped document our shifts in technology, travel, communications, and social networks.

Coco-note
No piece about food and mail would be complete without a mention of that classic tourist gift: a whole coconut mailed intact from Hawaii. Coco-notes and Fortune Coconuts are the modern incarnations of what surely the US postal service regrets ever allowing.

Cindy sent this from Argentina to let me know that she was eating fine.

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and the Asian American Journalists Association San Francisco Chapter is holding it’s annual fundraiser, East West Eats, An Evening with the Bay Area’s best Asia American chefs. Participating restaurants include Betelnut, Straits Restaurants, Butterfly, Junnoon, Namu, Poleng Lounge, Ponzu, Red Lantern, Three Seasons, Maharani and Hilton San Francisco.

The event is a great opportunity to enjoy dishes as well as wines, from some of the most exciting Bay Area Asian restaurants in a fabulous setting, the San Francisco Ferry Building. The event raises funds for student scholarships for rising young journalists.

What: East West Eats

Cost: Tickets are $100 until April 25th
When: Thursday May 8th, 2008, 7 pm
Where: San Francisco Ferry Building, upstairs
How: Purchase tickets online or send a check, along with contact information to:
ATTN: Johnny Liu
AAJA San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
2062 Arapaho Place
Fremont, CA 94539
Why: I look forward to this event, not only because it supports a good cause, but because it’s not a mad crush like some fundraisers can be. It’s well-organized and the food is really outstanding. This year I’m particularly excited to try the cuisine from Namu and Red Lantern. Last year, the dishes from recently opened contemporary Indian restaurant Junnoon were a big hit.

I’m also a big fan Tim Luym, a Chronicle Rising Star chef. Meals at Poleng Lounge are filled with tantalizing flavors and textures from across Asia including the Philippines, Vietnam, China and India. The small plate menu allows you to try and share more dishes like this one, Beer Braised Oxtail Dumplings.

Beer Braised Oxtail Dumplings

Ingredients:
5 pounds oxtails, cut into 2 inch pieces, fat trimmed
Kosher Salt
5 teaspoons canola oil
1/2 cup Shaoxing Rice Wine or dry sherry
2 cups light beer
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 ea dried tangerine peel
1 stick cinnamon, 2 inches
2 star anise
2 cloves
2 carrots, peeled
5 lemongrass stalks, bruised
3 scallions cut into 3 inch sections
2 thumbs ginger, peeled (1 thumb sliced into thin matchsticks for garnish)
8 garlic cloves, crushed
2 Thai chili peppers, crushed
1 head napa cabbage, cut in half
10 dried shitake mushrooms, stemmed

Dumpling wrappers (potsticker or wonton work well)
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Filling:
1 1/2 cup green onions, chopped (reserve 1/2 cup for garnish)
2 Tablespoons minced ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons sesame oil

Preparation:
1. Salt oxtails. Brown oxtails on all sides and set aside. Deglaze pan with beer. Place all ingredients except napa cabbage back in pot and add water to slightly cover the oxtails.

2. Braise for 3 hours or until oxtails are fork tender.

3. Add napa cabbage and cook for an additional 10 minutes.

4. Remove napa cabbage and oxtails. Strain and reserve broth and reduce by half.

5. Pick meat off bone and set aside. Roughly chop the napa cabbage and mushrooms.

6. Mix all filling ingredients with meat, cabbage, and mushrooms. Make a slurry from the cornstarch and water.

7. Fill wrappers with 1 1/2 T of dumpling filling, dip your finger in the slurry and and seal edges of the wrapper.

8. In a pot of boiling water, cook dumplings for 3 minutes. Transfer dumplings into a bowl and spoon over reserved liquid. Garnish with chopped scallions and sliced ginger.

Another great Asian culinary event is Taste of Asia at the Asian Art Museum. The Grand Tasting will feature food and beverages from Anzu, Asia de Cuba, Betelnut, Bong Su, Butterfly, Dosa, E&O Trading, Poleng Lounge, Red Lantern, Roy’s, Straits, The Tonga Room, Yank Sing, and Yoshi’s.

Culinary seminars the next day include Culinary Adventures Through Asia with Saveur editor James Oseland, and San Francisco: The Culinary Pioneers with Cecilia Chang, Patricia Unterman and Chuck Williams and a panel discussion on how new and emerging media on the web are changing the world of restaurants.

What: Taste of Asia
Cost: Tickets are $125 for the Grand Tasting and $25 for the Culinary Seminars
When: Grand Tasting Friday April 25th, 7pm Culinary Seminars Saturday April 26th 11am
Where: Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St, San Francisco
How: Purchase tickets online
For more information, call 415-581-3788
Why: This is the second year of this popular event and is a great excuse to head to hte museum. Throughout the gala, guests will have full access to the museum’s collection and world-class exhibitions. The experience will also be enhanced by performances including live music and dancing.

Last year I dined at Acme Chophouse in support of Dining Out for Life, a fundraiser for the STOP AIDS Project and it was a blast. There were lots of people I knew in the restaurant and the atmosphere was festive and fun. This year is the 7th year in the row for this event where restaurants donate 25% of their sales for the day to HIV prevention efforts of the STOP AIDS Project. The event takes place on April 24th, 2008 at restaurants all over town.

One of the things I love about this fundraiser is there are lots of ways to get involved. You can eat out at a high end restaurant like Masa’s or Rubicon or somewhere more casual like Amici’s or Pomodoro. You can check out all the participating restaurants online. You can also reserve online for many of the restaurants at OpenTable. You can also get involved by being an Ambassador.

Dining Out for Life recruits over 100 volunteers to act as ‘Ambassadors’ to each of the participating restaurants. These Ambassadors act as liaisons between the STOP AIDS Project and their respective restaurants. Ambassadors can also promote their respective restaurants between now and the night of the event, inviting friends, family and co-workers to dine at their restaurant on April 24th, 2008.

Find out which restaurants need Ambassadors and sign up.

A chilly Spring has me longing for a tropical vacation. One way to get a little taste of the islands in our own backyard is to dine at Roy’s. Chef Roy Yamaguchi is one of the most influential and well-respected Hawaiian chefs. His style of fusion cuisine combines Asian, French and Hawaiian ingredients and techniques. He is Hawaii’s first James Beard award-winner and this year his restaurants are celebrating their 20th year with special dinners.

Tomorrow’s 20th anniversary dinner takes place at the San Francisco Roy’s, with Roy at the helm. Local and Hawaiian ingredients will be featured with a particular emphasis on sustainable seafood and a portion of proceeds will go to Grow for Good, a national initiative dedicated to supporting local farms and encouraging sustainable agriculture.

amuse buche
Shiro-Shoyu Marinated Kona Kampachi “Nigiri”–sustainable princess conch, tri-color tobiko & Kumamoto oysters–Perrier Jouet Grand Brut

first course
Kona Lobster Ceviche–California avocado and halibut turtle shell, –organic watermelon radish, Cara Cara oranges
Jacob’s Creek Riesling

second course
Organic Sausalito Springs Watercress & Red Kaiware Sprout Salad
goat cheese, Sparrow Lane Napa walnut vinaigrette –Brancott Sauvignon Blanc

third course
Japanese Wagyu Topped Niman Ranch Top Sirloin–Delta asparagus, red Irish potatoes, Sebastopol mushrooms
Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz

fourth course
Hawaiian Vanilla & Rum Infused “Baba”–Berkeley Farms sweet cream–Sandeman
Tawny 20 Year Port

What: Roy’s 20th Anniversary Dinner
Cost: Tickets are $100 (excludes tax & gratuity)
When: Thursday April 10th, Seating from 5:00 to 9:30 pm
Where: Roy’s is located at 575 Mission Street in San Francisco
More: The evening will also include performance by Hawaiian dancers and Patrick Landeza
How: To make your reservation for this special event, please call 415.777.0277

Another sweet event, literally, is a pairing of wine and chocolate at local chocolate shop, Cocoa Bella.

Head over to Cocoa Bella Chocolates on Union Street for the first Wine and Chocolate Soire. They’ll be offering a six-piece tasting of favorite American and European chocolates paired with a 3-glass selection of sparkling and dessert wines. The staff will be on hand to discuss how to match up your favorite bonbons with port, Madeira, and other after-dinner drinks. Each attendee will go home with a 2-piece box of complimentary chocolates chosen from the evening’s special selection.

Space is limited, so make your reservations now. Reserved tickets can be paid for at the door. Some additional tickets may be available on the night of the event, but advance reservations are encouraged to ensure your space at this entertaining and informative event.

What: Wine & Chocolate Soiree
Cost: $40 per person
When: Thursday, April 10, 2008, 7 PM - 9 PM
Where: Cocoa Bella Chocolates, 2102 Union St at Webster, San Francisco
More: Includes 6-piece chocolate tasting, 3 glasses of selected wines, and complimentary 2-piece chocolate box
How: For reservations, call (415) 931-6213 or email cocoabellachocolates@yahoo.com
Additional tickets may be available at the door