photo by Platon

1. We are how we eat
Feed your mind and your stomach for the entire month of August with everything from book discussions and hands-on cooking classes to tastings and food-related field trips during the Commonwealth Club’s “How We Eat” series. Join food revolutionary Alice Waters and a panel of other sustainable-food advocates for a discussion on Thursday, July 31, moderated by Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation). The talk will be held at the Fairmont Hotel, costs $15 and begins at 6 p.m.



2. Long strange trip
On Monday, August 4, play a trick on your taste buds. Head to Temple nightclub to sample the much ballyhooed “miracle fruit,” a West African berry that numbs your sour and bitter taste buds, leaving your tongue to taste only sweet, salty and savory flavors.  Claims the Flavor Tripping website, “After eating a berry, stout beers taste like chocolate milkshakes, grapefruits taste like pixie sticks and cheeses taste like frosting.” For $25, you can be the judge—reserve your ticket here.



3. Bubbalicious
Uncork the bottle and let the bubbles flow—on July 31, head to the Frey Norris Gallery to celebrate the launch of POP!, the Champagne and sparkling-wine club from Bottlenotes, a customized wine club service. From 6 to 8 p.m., sip Taittinger and Ayala, savor caviar from Tsar Nicoulai and contemplate whom you might convince to send you your monthly shipment of sparklers. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased here.



4. Mediterranean feast
Local cookbook master Joyce Goldstein will discuss her new book, Mediterranean Fresh: A Compendium of One-Plate Salad Meals and Mix-And-Match Dressings and teach a cooking demonstration at the Ferry Building’s Book Passage on August 2 at 11 a.m.—her book (and expert advice) arrives just in time to help us deal with the glut of extraordinary vegetables arriving at the farmers market each week.

5. Get baked
Roll out the dough and prepare to bake off! The newly expanded Mission Pie will be unveiling Anne Hamersky’s  Sky in the Pie mural in the Mission on August 3 at 2:30 p.m., and as part of the celebration the place is hosting a pie bake-off.  Submit your best attempt at Mission Pie by 3:30 p.m.—at 4, the best pie will be chosen and a prize (plus bragging rights) could be yours for the taking. 

6. Oenophile opportunity
Looking for a crash course in wine? Spend the weekend of August 1 and 2 at COPIA attending the wine- immersion course, hosted by master of wine Andrea Immer Robinson. The weekend kicks off with a Champagne reception and continues the following day with first-class flights of world-class wines and lessons on how to pair wine with food, all taught by Robinson herself. This hands-on tutorial will make you an expert in no time, but expertise doesn’t come cheap—the two-day course is $795. For information, click here.

7. Made from Scotch
Take a tour of Scotland without the hassle of air travel or the chance of losing your luggage. Sign up for the Scotch whisky cocktail class on August 5 at Bourbon and Branch, taught by renowned mixologist Dominic Venegas. He’ll guide you through the regions of Scotland before teaching you how to make some standard whisky drinks and innovative new ones.  Tickets for the evening class are $95 and can be purchase here—donning a burr and kilt is optional.