Happy Hour International

‘Melrose Place’ viewing party
Watch the new CW drama on 37-inch HDTVs. Food and drink specials include $2 sliders (7-9 p.m.) and $5 select cocktails.

$3 Miller Lite drafts, $3 for a pound of wings

Re’Cue
Rub shoulders with Japan's smart-set in this temple to chic in the Far East. Thanks to it's dark interior, artfully dimmed by table-top lamps, and a labyrinthine layout, it's all-too-easy to get lost. But who cares when you can sip on sake, or nurse a mighty beniotome to clear even the most jaded of palettes in readiness for a wooden bowl of tofu…

10/28, 3-5pm, 6-8pm. Ginjo-kyokai sake tasting.
Sake brewmasters from around the country will be offering hundreds of premium sakes for your tasting pleasure at this annual event of the Ginjo Kyokai brewers’ association….

Brews News #95
Reviews of Sankt Gallen Yokohama XPA, Fujizakura Weizen, Shonan Liebe, and three more Japanese microbrews in the September/October issue of our Japan beer newsletter.

Where to eat in Shoreditch
You should go to Saf at least once if only to appease the spirit of discovery and Green & Red is home to rather good Mexican food

Glam Jam @ Escape Soho (28th Sep 09)
A new weekly hangout for West End actors, dancers, choreographers, singers, musicians, cast, crew, directors, producers, stage management, students, agents, casting agents, technical and front of hous…

Rock Your Ego Wednesdays @ Studio Valbonne (30th Sep 09)
Join us for the Rock Your Ego Wednesday’s at Studio Valbonne, this has extablished as one of the best midweek parties in the Capital. Last Wednesday proved Studio Valbonne is the place to be as we…

The Kitchen Tuesdays at Jungle Garden
Every Thursday, party at the Jungle Kitchen with cheap drinks, DJs and crazy spacecake edibles.

Microbrews and Seating for 1,000
Lately, beer gardens have been proliferating faster than wine bars. Eight places to hoist a stein this Oktoberfest.

Night of Four Dozen Brews
On September 20, NY Craft Beer Week ends with a tasting party at the Studio Square beer garden.

Glamour Reads
Four famous folks read from their new books this week.

First Rate Mixed Drinks in San Francisco

The Tenderloin has the BESTEST “First Rate” drinks in the City.

City Beer Store

200 different beers… endless good conversation

Red Vic

The Red Vic as a great place to go to hear local musicians and to play if you are a musician

Drive by boxes at the Peninsula
Picnics for the concert made easy

Mayan soujourns at Hotel Maya
Sweet deals on accommodation and food

Hockey star Boyd Devereaux plays music mogul too
The Toronto Maple Leaves center joins a pal from Reprise Records in service of hyper-obscure noise-rock.

WHEN Toronto Maple Leafs center Boyd Devereaux caught a set from the Canadian psych-rock group Black Mountain at a Phoenix record store in 2004, he was so blown away that he let the band stay over at his house that night. The group was grateful for a place to crash but was taken aback by Devereaux’s day job, then a member of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Sergey Khachatryan, 22, captivates Hollywood Bowl crowd
In debut, Sergey Khachatryan, 22, displays passion, virtuosity that won him awards.

NOW we know what the buzz around Armenian violinist Sergey Khachatryan, 22, is all about. Winner of the International Jean Sibelius Competition in Helsinki, Finland, in 2000 (the youngest in its history) and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 2005, Khachatryan first played in the Southland with the Minnesota Orchestra last year at UCLA and in Orange County.

Zilver – Zilver Tasting menu with Peking Duck and our award winning dish Live Mud Cr…
Zilver Tasting menu with Peking Duck and our award winning dish Live Mud Crab in Singapore style/wrapped w lotus leaves and a choice of signature dishe for only $48(without wine)$58(with wine). Min order of 4 person. Booking 92112232

Manta Restaurant – Lunch is fixed this weekend… and every weekend. $49 for 2 courses – $59 f…
Lunch is fixed this weekend… and every weekend. $49 for 2 courses – $59 for 3 courses. + glass of selected wine. Call 02 9332 3822 email:reservations@mantarestaurant.com.au Not valid Mothers/Fathers Days or December

The Death of Mortimer
Betty Sue’s parents bought her a new stuffed animal. Mortimer the pink bear. Betty Sue doesn’t like Mortimer. Mortimer tried to run away, but Betty Sue chased him down. Poor Mortimer. He never had a chance. MUA Goddess: Natalia Lopez De Quintana 1st Assistant: Tanner Chung

Anyone Dine at Scarpetta Yet?

I?m all excited about my upcoming dinner this Sunday at Scarpetta with friends. We?re doing the Spice menu (but man, we were aiming for an early dinner, couldn?t get our desired time and are stuck with 6 pm!!).

Have any of you been yet? We have high hopes about it and I?m curious to see what others have to say. Also, how dressy or casual is it?

Cosplay @ Sushi Samba
Once a month, on a Tuesday night, the Cosplay Wasabi Fashion Party takes over Sushi Samba on Lincoln Road in South Beach. There is a different color theme each time, this month it was a pink invasion. The Wasabi Fashion aliens came down from planet pink to convert sushi lovers into dance maniacs and [...]

Vogue Girl Interview
Koreans have great taste. My interview for Vogue Girl (Teen Vogue Korea). If you can’t read Korean, too bad. I gave away all my deepest, darkest secrets… I could tell you, but it’s classified. It’s between me and 200,000 Korean girls. So I can’t spill the beans, and you can’t [...]

Opening Day Deals

With baseball season upon us, Chicago bars kick it into high gear to draw in fans and non-fans alike, offering cheap eats, drink deals and plenty of flat-screen TVs. If you’re not heading to the game, celebrate Opening Day the cheap way at one of these spots. The Cubs kick off the Wrigleyville season April 13 at 1:20 p.m.; the White Sox opener is today, after getting rained out Monday.

Just want a place where you know the game will be on? Check out our favorite White Sox bars and Cubs bars.

Jefferson Tap & Grille
Celebrate MLB’s opening week on Tuesday with the Chicago Baseball Museum with a free hot dog and nacho buffet from 3:30-5:30 p.m., $2 domestic drafts and a raffle drawing with plenty of prizes. The event costs $25 at the door and all proceeds will benefit the Chicago Baseball Museum. Prizes include tickets to Cubs and Sox games, as well as autographs from Jermaine Dye, Ron Santo and more.

Finley Dunne’s Tavern
The Lakeview bar will host a White Sox home opener party (yes, you read that right), complete with $15 Budweiser and Bud Light buckets and garlic cheeseburgers for $7.

Timothy O’Toole’s
The Streeterville bar will air the Cubs’ home opener on 45 TV screens and provide a handful of drink specials, including $15 Old Style buckets, $6.50 Smirnoff Twist martinis, $7 baseball bombs (Jagermeister and Red Bull) and $14 select bottles of wine.

Stretch Run
If 45 screens aren’t worthy of your attention, try 240. This sporting club boasts more than that actually, and can guarantee you won’t miss any of the upcoming Sox and Cubs action. The bar will be offering drink specials for both teams’ home openers, including $4 20-ounce drafts and a special Black & White Sox on the Rocks drink (Blue Curacao, raspberry liqueur and Black Cherry Effen garnished with a float of cream in a rocks glass over ice, $4.50). For the Cubs opener, Stretch Run will have $3 bottles of Bud Light and a $4.50 Blue Cubs on the Rocks drink (Blue Curacao, Bacardi Limon and Sprite garnished with grenadine and a maraschino cherry).

Reggie’s Music Joint
The popular South Loop spot will open up at 10 a.m. for the Sox opener, offering $1 tacos, 50-cent wings, $3 draft beers and vodka cocktails and $4 bombs, along with bus rides to and from U.S. Cellular Field.

Full Shilling
The return of baseball season means one thing for this Wrigleyville bar: free hot dogs. The dancing Full Shilling Hot Dog Man will once again be handing out complimentary all-beef Red Hot Chicago dogs complete with all the trimmings. The free eats are offered one hour before and after every home Cubs game, with the purchase of one beverage. Free hot dogs begin at 11 a.m. on April 13. The bar also offers Cubs game -ay drink specials, including 24-ounce cans of Miller Lite, Bud Light and PBR for $6. The bar is equipped with more than a dozen HD plasma TVs that will broadcast all Cubs home and away games along with all other Major League Baseball games.

Lottie’s Pub
The Bucktown neighborhood bar will serve 25-cent wings and $5 20-ounce Miller Lite and Coors Light drafts throughout opening day for the White Sox.

Ann Sather (Belmont)
As the Cubs take on the Colorado Rockies in their home opener (April 13), Ann Sather’s Belmont Avenue location will show its support for the home team by offering a deep-dish Chicago-style omelet that will replace the Denver omelet in its regular menu line-up. Baked like a frittata, the Chicago omelet will be prepared with premium locally-grown ingredients procured at Green City Market, including eggs from TJ’s Free-Range Poultry Farm in Piper City; cheese from Prairie Pure Cheese Co. in Belvidere; and Italian sausage from Twin Oaks Meats in Fairbury, Ill. The Chicago omelets will be available from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and cost $9.75.

The Lodge
If you really, really want to be at Wrigley when the first pitch of the season is thrown, but you don’t have a few hundred bucks to spare, head to The Lodge on Opening Day. The Gold Coast bar will be giving away a pair of rooftop tickets (including catered food and unlimited beer, wine, soft drinks and water) during an 11:30 a.m. raffle. Even the losers are winners here, as there will be free hot dogs and $3.50 Bud Light drafts all day at the bar.

Merkle’s Bar and Grill
Can’t wait for “next year” to begin? Merkle’s Bar & Grill is offering an $85 ultimate bus package that includes a ticket and bus transportation to the Cubs’ April 11 game against the Brewers in Milwaukee, as well as a food and beverage tailgate. There are only 50 tickets, so work fast if you want to go.

Check out Centerstage Chicago food and drink deals!

Where to Watch the Cubs

Is this the year, Cubs fans? Whatever happens to the Cubs this year, you’ll want to be there to watch it. Here are some of our picks for the best places around Wrigleyville to watch the game (and even grab some good grub while you’re at it):

More of a Sox fan? Check out these bars instead.

Vines on Clark
Brought to you by the same owners as The Cubby Bear, Vines on Clark, the hood’s only rooftop dining venue, is a dressier way to enjoy the Wrigley Field experience. Trade the Old Style draft for a pink lemonade martini made with Svedka citron, Triple Sec, cranberry juice and sour mix, sit back and take in the cries of the crowd. On non-game days, take advantage of the free parking lot and watch all the playoff games on one of four flatscreen HDTVs that show any game broadcast on Comcast or DirecTV.

This American trattoria is staffed by alums from top tier restaurants like Spiaggia, Everest and Osteria via Stato and, consequently, specializes in Italian eats (try the garganelli with proscuitto, peas and red peppers). Paninis and salads provide fare for more the red, white and blue crowd.

Full Shilling
We’ve got just three words for you: free hot dogs. Yes, the Shilling serves ‘em up before and after games (with a drink purchase, of course). And they’re amazingly fresh and good. While you can expect a full-on party atmosphere, they do their best to keep it in check and keep the drinks flowing for all. A standing special of $4 big cans of Old Style is the way to go, and they also serve a pretty good menu for a ballpark bar. But admit it, we had you at “free hot dogs,” didn’t we? Redmond’s
Located just a few blocks from Wrigley Field, Redmond’s is a world away from its rowdier, raunchier neighbors. A neighborhood pub with the requisite long, wooden bar and sometimes-sticky floor, it is home to Wrigleyville’s more sophisticated beer drinkers. Even on game days, the crowd remains somewhat reserved, seated at booths and opting for import drafts rather than the Pabst-drenched gauntlets found around the corner. It’s got Bud Light, but also serves Blue Moon (and 11 other beers on tap). Instead of dripping bottles served from tubs by indifferent bimbos, Redmond’s offers at least 25 different types of bottled beer slid across the bar by some of the friendliest bartenders in town.

Mullen’s on Clark
This is a sports bar in the classic sense: Five TVs and two big screen projectors play the game, while beer-drinking patrons play foosball, Golden Tee and darts (the real kind, with metal tips, so watch out!). Music plays at a raucous but not deafening volume, making Mullen’s as suited to friendly conversation as it is for a little friendly competition. The backyard beer garden consists of several tables set up in the alley, offering a better chance of finding a seat and a smaller chance of having beer spilled on you.

Trader Todd’s
Perhaps best known for being co-owned by Don Gibb, who played Ogre in the “Revenge of the Nerds” movies, Trader Todd’s is more Animal House than nerd-fest. Parked out front is the “Tiki Transit,” a converted minibus that acts as a free shuttle from Trader Todd’s to Wrigley Field and back on game days, in case you can’t make the three-block walk. Trader Todd’s namesake beers are brewed in Wisconsin and include lager, red and pilsner varieties. A couple more mainstream beer varieties are available as well, but none are endorsed by “Ogre” himself.

Harry Caray’s Tavern
A relative newcomer on the scene, Harry Caray’s took over for the old Hi-Tops just before the season and has been going strong. If you’re lucky enough to get a table, sit back and enjoy a plethora of TV screens everywhere you look — including a 10-foot HD TV in the back of the bar. They take the bar food menu up a notch with a burger bar that has plenty of options for all. And the chicken vesuvio is a favorite at all of the HC locations.

Captain Morgan Club
You can’t get much closer to the ballpark than this. Opened just this year, this bar/restaurant is actually connected to Wrigley, meaning you can enter the park through the bar’s indoor patio. As for the place itself, expect ballpark fare (hot dogs, burgers, Italian beef) brought to you by the Harry Caray’s people across the street. On a nice day, you can hang out in the outdoor patio, or come inside if the weather’s not cooperating.

Not in Wrigleyville? There are sports bars throughout Chicagoland sure to be showing the game.

Check out Centerstage Chicago food and drink deals!

Bar Bourbon Street
One has to admire a bar that aims to offer a 'taste of New Orleans in Tokyo.' But this quirky, cozy bar with its homely, accessible atmosphere really pulls it off. Ideal for those feeling a tad lost in translation, those who want to slow down and chill out after a spell in the frantic Japanese capital…

Review – Cafe Ano: Harajuku
Many Tokyo cafes have succeeded in creating a laid-back, Bohemian-style atmosphere, but none quite so literally as this charming Old World-inspired Czech cafe. Hanging from the walls are antique clocks, carved wooden marionettes, posters for local theater events and a well-used bulletin board. An old piano stands in one corner; above it a chalkboard lists upcoming musical events held here. Each of the solid, well-scuffed wooden tables is supplied with a deck of cards – there’s no need to bring your own….

10/17-10/18. VegeFood Festa 2009 in Yoyogi Park.
One hundred vegetarian restaurants and food shops will set up stalls in Yoyogi Park for a weekend of vegan fun and food….