Lou Bustamante

St. Charles Punch at Aurea

With the official 75th Anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge this weekend, the festivities will also come in cocktail form.*

At Aurea inside the Stanford Court Hotel on Nob Hill, they're serving the St. Charles Punch ($12, Pierre Ferrand Ambre Cognac, Fonsecca Terra Bella Organic Ruby Port, lemon juice, fresh berries), a drink that was popular in 1937 when the Golden Gate Bridge opened up. The interplay of the grape based brandy with the ruby port is fantastic, with just enough lemon juice to brighten the drink up.

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RajPatel.org

Food Activist Raj Patel at The Commonwealth Club

Where:  Commonwealth Club, 595 Market Street, 2nd Floor

When:  Tuesday, June 12 at 6 PM (Can't make it? Head down to Palo Alto on the 14th where the Cubberly Theater will host the same talk at 7 PM)

Cost: $12 for Commonwealth Club Members, $20 for Non-Members, $7 for Students To buy tickets call 415/597-6705 or register at www.commonwealthclub.org

The Rundown: Raj Patel is out to answer some big questions. Why is half the world hungry, and the other half obese? Who is behind this discrepancy? Patel will offer some controversial answers at his talk at The Commonwealth Club, many of which he addresses in his books Stuffed and Starved and The Value of Nothing: How to Reshape Market Society and Redefine Democracy. An activist and an academic, Patel has certainly done his homework with degrees from Oxford, the London School of Economics and Cornell. Now he is looking to make a difference in the food system that he asserts is manipulated by an elite few. Patel has found first hand that fighting The Man is not just all fun and games. We're excited to hear what this former employee and now vociferous critic of the World Bank has to say. Maybe he'll share the story of why he has been tear-gassed for protesting on four different continents. This could get interesting.   

Blue Bottle Coffee Company

Any good San Franciscan knows how to muse over a cup of coffee. We can't help but remembering fondly the coffee drinkers at Four Barrel who continued sipping obliviously as two burglars used this hipster hotspot as an attempted escape route last November. I've sat in many a coffee shop, eavesdropping on coffee drinkers engaged in careful analysis as they wax poetic over the chocolate aroma of an espresso shot.

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Inside the City Beer Stroe

Fun fact: The platypus is the official mascot of SOMA's City Beer Store. We remember from third grade that these creatures have duck bills, beaver tails, and the feet of otters. Perhaps this creature is an apt metaphor for a beer destination with an identity crisis -- Is it a beer store? Is it a bar? The short answer: Yes.

Six years in, and it's clear that City Beer Store hasn't succumbed to any crisis of identity. If anything, its singular focus to provide consumers with a well-rounded, educational beer experience has become a model for other successful craft beer businesses in the Bay Area and beyond. For City Beer customers, the last year will be remembered as the era when the wall came down and the shop expanded into the adjoining space.

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Lamb peeks through the vines at Shannon Ridge

Efficiency is sometimes adorable. Vineyards run by environmentally conscious folks sometimes use sheep to trim weeds between the rows and nibble of sucker shoots from the bottom of the vine. Baby doll sheep seem to be the beast of choice since their diminutive size and limited mouth elevation keeps them from being able to reach the grapes. Shannon Ridge in Lake County takes the lamb alliance one step further by butchering the little lawn mowers and selling the meat. It's all very circle of life, and since the lamb are fed grapes as well, so foodie focused that we had to give the lamb -- and the wine -- a try.

We selected a few racks of lamb loin chops, some for us and some for our lamb expert friend Jay Jamison. Jay's family has run Jamison Farm, a producer of premium free-range lamb for chefs (including Jean-Georges Vongerrichten, and Daniel Boulud) and individuals since 1976. He grew up amongst the lambs and is an avid eater of them. "I'd be willing to bet that I've eaten more lamb than anyone my age in the United States," he says.

For the wine we let Shannon Ridge choose. Their selection: Shannon Ridge 2009 Single Vineyard Home Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon from High Valley in Lake County . Here's what we thought.

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A new mobile eatery will hit San Francisco streets -- or more specifically a sunny corner on 455 Mission Bay Blvd -- in early June. Sigsbee's is looking to fill a niche for a "new kind of wow factor" that will distinguish it from most off-the-grid eats. Rather than trying to out-do the latest crazy taco twist or far out fusion (Eire Trea, anyone?), siblings Tony and Jennifer Jett have a back-to-basics vision. Sigsbee's aims to offer the kind of food you can eat several times a week, which is just what Chef Garret Blantz, brother-in-law to Tony and Jennifer, hopes the community in this developing Mission Bay community will do. More >>

A good place to steal wifi in your car

First off, I apologize in advance for the following comparison to anyone struggling with serious addiction. But my two visits to the new greenish McDonald's in Berkeley (at 1198 San Pablo) brought to mind nothing less than the way a heroin addict I know on occasion used to make a big production out of not just kicking it, and not just turning his life around, but of suddenly becoming the most churchgoing, Eagle Scout-y, all-American straight-arrow he could be. For a couple weeks, he would insist -- with that shaky, desperate persuasiveness the true addict can muster -- that he'd traded the needle for the minivan, and not knowing how else to handle this, his friends and family would all play along. It was an act of collective wishing -- and lying.

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Olga Sapegina/ Shutterstock

Cheers to good food and great friends

The Dinner Party Project

Where: All over this fine city, starting at Flour + Water

When: The first dinner is June 11

Cost: Varies, Flour + Water dinner $275/$265 (if purchased with Visa signature card)

The Rundown: It's a trip down memory lane via a meal. Chefs from around the city will pop-up with fellow chef friends to cook dinner and tell tales of the friendships that transpired over sharing kitchen space with one another. In a world where sharing counter space is like sharing a desk, the pop-up dinners' theme of camaraderie plays an intricate part in every meal that comes out of a kitchen. Now diners will learn details about these foodie friendships: What it's like for chefs who live with chefs, where chefs go -- and what they talk about -- after the burners are turned off for the night, and how their passion for food translates into the plate they create.

The dinners span six-weeks, and the other host venues include EPIC Roasthouse, Waterbar, Baker & Banker, and Grand Cafe. To see what chefs will be popping up where and when, and to buy tickets, visit the Dinner Party Project site.

Alex Hochman

The #1 awaits its dressing.

Adam Mesnick is quick to distinguish the offerings at his new venture, 1058 Hoagies, from his SOMA sandwich mecca, Deli Board. "Deli Board is my baby. Everything is perfect down to the wrapper. With hoagies, I can be a little sloppier. If a customer orders a hoagie and picks it up four hours later, I'm okay with that. At Deli Board, that would freak me out! " he told us.More >>