Austrian Wine Tasting

We've done South African, New Zealand, Napa, Sonoma, and I'm sure a few other wine regions on here, but not Austrian yet, until now. No, not Australian, Austrian. That little country in the middle of Europe known for its Grüner Veltliner. What's that, you ask? I have no idea! I have yet to taste many Austrian wines, so now's the time!

Next Monday, the 21st there will be an Austrian wine tasting event at the ferry building. It's put on by the Masters of Wine, a British organization "to promote the highest level of educational achievement for the wine industry." So you might just learn a thing or two while you're there. And if you don't want to show up knowing NOTHING about Austrian wine, I found this site to shed some light.

Earth Day Free Concert in the Park

It's that time of year again - Earth Day hits SF next sunday, with another rendition of the Green Apple Music Festival. This year, the lineup includes Mickey Hart and, my fave, Brett Dennen. I wish I knew what time he was on, since I'd love to go check him out. There are a couple other bands I don't know, Yonder Mountain String Band and Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks, but I'm sure they're good hippie-dippy music. And hopefully next weekend is as beautiful as this one!

You're sayin' the FBI's gonna pay me to learn to surf?

OMG - One of my all time cheezy movie favorites is being produced on stage! Apparently some brilliant minds have decided to perform Point Break LIVE here in SF!

On stage at the Xeneodrome Theater in Bernal Heights, you can catch the wave too - this friday - may 3 only on fri and sat nites for $25. A great way to spend an evening, if you ask me, even if Keanu and Anthony Kedis aren't really in this one...

Radical, dude.

Three Martini Monday

So, your week is already off to a crummy start, and you need something to look forward to... as well as a venue to vent to your work comrades about it all. Well, I came across just the thing. Book a table at Scala's Bistro for their month of April lunch special - a Three Martini Lunch.

I came across this on Thrillist - and it just sounded too good to be true. I decided to do some fact checking - and according to Scala's it is the real deal! They just don't say anything about it on their website for some reason... Anyway, the deal is this - Prix Fixe menu - $50 gets you "a trio of martinis (Stoli, Kettle, Tanqueray, or Bombay)to down while munching on a Caesar, a grilled flat iron steak w/ "Cafe de Paris" butter and pommes frites, and a mini dessert." And apparently, the bill will just say "prix fixe lunch," so no worries if you want to attribute this one to some "team-building" back at the office.

And according to the lady at Scala's there are still plenty of lunchtime slots open, so go forth and book it!

Ritch is Back

330 Ritch Street. I remember it well. I was 19, Popscene was all the rage for those of those of us who needed somewhere cool to go to escape the burbs. Flash forward 7 years or so, I'm working down on Townsend during the dot com hype, and 330 Ritch had the best BBQ lunch plate in the hood. Lunch was short lived there as dot com cleared out. Then flash forward 5 more years, 330 Ritch and Popscene are STILL going! I went to see Trashcan Sinatras there - a flashback to age 18. I definitely felt old, but nothing beats bopping around to some brit pop in that cozy brick-walled space.

Well, I guess 330 Ritch has undergone some renovations recently, and now they're back again! But this time, their kitchen doesn't open until 2AM when they're going to serve tapas and snack for the late night crowd. In fine style I'm sure. Thrillist describes it as a mod gentleman's club inspired by vintage Stanford prep. Apparently the chalkboard menus were snagged from Stanford classrooms. So, maybe you get smart if you eat there too!