All-American Backyard BBQ @ Kettner Exchange
WHEN: July 29, 6PM
WHERE: Kettner Exchange, 2001 Kettner Blvd., Little Italy, 619.255.2001.
Kettner Exchange is one of the newest stars of Little Italy’s booming dining strip, and for this dinner chef Brian Redzikowski will cook up a five-course meal dedicated to the great, smokey, American outdoors paired with cocktails and beers from beverage director Steven Tuttle. Jungle juice w/ watermelon salad. Modern Times Oneida Pale Ale w/ crab and shrimp boil. A 7-rum blend “Firecracker” with corn soup. An old-fashioend with tri-tip. And a root beer and rum float with blueberry angel food cake. The dinner is held at the chef’s table, overlooking Kettner Blvd., and there are only eight seats. Sells out fast.
COST: $90
Ales & Acoustics
WHEN: July 25, 2-6PM
WHERE: Herringbone, 7837 Herschel Ave., La Jolla, 858.459.0221
I just had a meal from Brian Malarkey and his team, and it was fantastic. It’s high time I returned to Herringbone in La Jolla, their stunner of a restaurant with indoor olive trees. The idea of the “Acoustic Ales” series is to basically hang out in their bright, airy, wine-cellarish cavern of a restaurant and listen to two local bands—Alfa and Kris Bradley. It’s just music in a restaurant. But it’s music in a good restaurant.
COST: Whatever you eat and drink
Farm to Bay
When: August 8, 4PM – 7:30PM
Where: Living Coast Discovery Center
The Living Coast Discovery Center is an oasis for wildlife refuge, education and sustainability programs. It harbors and promotes the responsible treatment of our one absolutely essential resource: our habitat. This is their annual fundraiser. You should go and support just because everyone with a heart is an animal-loving hippie (there will be up-close animal encounters for you to behold). But they’ll also have some of the area’s top restaurants, breweries and farms there for your food and drink hankerings, including: Loews, Eclipse Chocolate, 1500 Ocean, Tidal, Table 926, Kitchen 4140, Sushi on a Roll, The Fishery, Local Habit, Waypoint Public, Four Seasons Residence Club Aviara, Bread & Cie, Lost Abbey, Karl Strauss, Rough Draft Brewing, Bay Bridge Brewing, Ballast Point, Suzie’s Farm, Sage Mountain Farm, Santa Monica Seafood, L.A. Specialty Produce and Connelly Gardens.
COST: $80
Farm to Bay