Local Flavor

Local Flavor shares hippanings and happenings around town.

Picnic on the Plaza
Savor Summer’s Best, One Sip at a Time.

With daylight hours lasting long into the evening, CUESA and the United States Bartenders Guild take advantage of the sunshine with a city-style picnic in front of the Ferry Building in San Francisco, on July 27th. Picnic on the Plaza is a pop-up urban oasis. Cool down with craft cocktails from the Bay’s best bars, featuring peak summer produce and classic picnic ingredients—think corn, peppers, watermelon, tomatoes—and snack on upscale cookout fare from the city’s hottest restaurants.

Guests receive three full-sized, signature cocktails along with unlimited sample-size drinks. Restaurants provide small bites in this happy hour event, where you’ll unwind with music, foodie lawn games, and a vote for your favorite drink and bites. At the end of the evening, catch twilight descend on the waterfront. Proceeds support CUESA’s sustainable agriculture educational initiatives and the USBG’s professional development programs.

Lemonade

Described as a “part lemonade stand, part grade-school cafeteria” — Lemonade opened in Palo Alto recently, launched by chef-founder Alan Jackson and business partner Ian Olsen. The food is exciting, seasonal, and veggie-centric, with per-dish prices ranging from $3 to $8. Select from a variety of not-so-sweet lemonades like cucumber mint, watermelon rosemary and guava limeade,

and dishes like Chinese Long Beans with Summer Plums & Hoisin Vinaigrette, and Roasted Vine Ripe Tomatoes with Caramelized Onions & Tomato Curry. It’s also hard to pass up their full case of tempting desserts sold in cute jelly jars like Chocolate Mint Grasshopper Pie, and Tiramisu. (but then what to do with the jars?) Lemonade has a long counter with lots or options, but “it’s perfectly fine to skip the line” and move ahead if those in front of you are tasting, or taking more time deciding.

I thought the food was delicious (tiramisu needed a bit more moisture to get me to squeal in Italian though). The menu is spot-on what we all need to be eating a lot more of.

Blackpepper

A shout out to fellow Food Partiers, Blackpepper, the good eating, good drinking network. Hip, young, motivated, Menlo Park-ian and founder Keisuke Teeple, contacted us with news about this social network dedicated to restaurants and bars. Go on the site to find many local restaurants participating, such as Reposado, Terun, Bird Dog, and Nola. Blackpepper tracks their specials, menus and events, so you always know where the next Food Party! is taking place.

Friends of Kids Golf Classic, The Saddle Room

The Saddle Room of Redwood City hosts it annual Friends of Kids Golf Classic and BBQ this coming weekend. It’s an all-volunteer effort started 25 years ago when regulars wanted to raise badly needed funds for Redwood City’s St. Pius Elementary School youth basketball and soccer teams. Since then, the event continues to spur the community into action, with lasting results and an annual event that has raised upwards of $325,000 for local youth activities in Redwood City and beyond.

The Golf Classic will be followed by a grilled steak and potato dinner at The Room, and a huge raffle, supported by businesses all around town. Raffle donations are still needed, and it’s 501c3, tax deductible. Please consider supporting this fabulous community event.

Picnic on the Plaza
Wednesday, July 27
5:30 PM to 8:00 PM
San Francisco Ferry Building – One Ferry Building, San Francisco

Blackpepper
http://www.blackpepper.social

Lemonade
151 University Avenue, Palo Alto
Open daily 11 AM – 9 PM

The Saddle Room
Friends of Kids Golf Classic and Dinner
Saturday, July 16th
1607 Woodside Rd. Redwood City