Check out these events—all happening this week.

1. Native Brew Ha Ha
The Slow Beer Festival  being held in Golden Gate Park on Saturday, March 1st, might not be the place to chug a beer in under 15 seconds, but it is the place to enjoy some of the area’s finest cold ones, paired with Hog Island oysters and Fatted Calf charcuterie.

2. Tasting is Believing
If you caught any of the third season of “Top Chef,” you know that Vietnamese-born Chef Hung Huynh (pictured above) is a culinary champ who draws on both French and Vietnamese cuisines. To get a taste of his judge-flooring dishes, check out The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay’s “Inside the Kitchen” 2008 series, where Chef Huynh will be recreating some of his dishes.

3. Wine in the Afternoon
As part of the Legends of Wine III weekend in Napa Valley, the Harvest Inn in St. Helena is hosting “An Afternoon with Cooks, Vino and Books.” The public invited to come by for drinks and snacks, as well as a chance to meet chefs Rick Tramonto of Tru in Chicago and Gabriel Kreuther from New York’s The Modern and pick up a book for signing. For each book sold, a $10 donation goes to the St. Helena Boys & Girls Club.

4. Coffee Clatch
With new medical findings about the possible detriments of soy (and some Starbucks taking it off the menu), what are we to do?  Pop into Duboce Park Cafe and try their brand new, delicious hemp latte. It’s so Northern California.

5. Cutting Edge
Citizen Cake-owner and lauded pastry chef Elizabeth Falkner challenges diners to experiment with edgy takes on global classics at her new restaurant Orson. Think samosas with a chutney sorbet and Paella with squid ink gel.  Try it for yourself; the sweeping SoMa restaurant just opened today.

6. Pinot Playground
This Sunday’s Sixth Annual Pinot Noir Summit at Fort Mason Center, benefiting ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), is a great way to celebrate for a cause: Expect blind tastings, workshops, lectures, pairings and a full schedule of activities.

7. Heavy Hitters
Three lectures, three hot-button issues: This Thursday at the Ferry Building, learn about how increased global warming will affect local farms and our food supply. Next Monday, go to the Preservation Park Ginn House in Oakland for a full day on Building Successful Community-Based Food Initiatives. Follow it up that evening at Stanford University where Michael Pollan will be leading a discussion that focuses on the topics of his books: The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food.