The Week In Eats

Get Out!

by Monica Weymouth

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Published: May 30, 2007

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

Oh, Hump Day — we knew you had potential. Center City bars and restaurants are back perkin' up your Wednesdays with City Sips, a multibar promo that features specials like $4 cocktails, $3 wines, $2 beers and $1 munchies. Get your happy hour(s) going with XIX's Blueberry Pom martini, Mangotinis at Public House and carne asada taquitos at Mission Grill. Wary of these decidedly shmancy hangouts? There's always Applebee's for Coors Light and cheesy bread sticks.

You support the troops — but what about their best friends? Military dogs in Iraq and Afghanistan help find buried mines and perform search and rescue missions in bombed-out buildings — sometimes in 140-degree heat. This wine tasting raises funds for ChillyDog Cool Vests, special packs that keep patriotic pups cool in the line of duty. "Dogs don't sweat the way we do," says organizer and dog trainer Jane Brydon. "They need other ways to cool down." Wine-wise, check out an intense carignan, a summery viognier with notes of apricot and a "Papillion" pinot noir, with Daisy, the resident doggie at Oregon's Cherry Hill Winery, on its label. The Plough & the Stars, 123 Chestnut St., 610-622-5183, www.tothedogs.org.

It's not every day that a group of strapping firemen serve you breakfast. (Or is it, lucky friend?) At this benefit for the Hepatitis C Awareness Fund, local firefighters will prepare more than 400 meals — complete with sausage, fresh-squeezed OJ and coffee — using donated ingredients from Reading Terminal Market vendors. Extra syrup, boys — I'm feelin' sweet. Tootsie's Salad Express, Reading Terminal Market, 12th and Arch streets, 215-922-2317, www.readingterminalmarket.org.

Please pass the amore. Cookbook author, instructor and Sicilian culture fanatic Anna Tasca Lanza is returning to Fork, and she's bringing tasty hometown eats with her. Join the director of Regaleali-Tasca d'Almerita Winery for a discussion and lunch featuring rustic recipes such as insalata cafona (asparagus and mozzarella), eggplant timbale and biscotti e torrone. Fork, 306 Market St., 215-625-9425, www.forkrestaurant.com.

This tasting and benefit for the Fox Chase Cancer Center features almost 50 local restaurants and caterers touting assorted high-calorie treats. Get posh with Moonstruck's pasta, crab cakes from Blue Ox Bistro or Ann's Cake Pan's raspberry butter pound cake with vanilla butter frosting. Then, get hearty with cheesesteaks from neighborhood fave Joseph's and cold treats from ever-trusty Rita's Water Ice. Fox Chase Cancer Center, 333 Cottman Ave., 215-728-2441, www.fccc.edu.

Fit to Be Fried
Roll Calling
Smoothie Jazz
Feeding Frenzy
Pad Thai
Mercato
You Ask We Answer
Small Bites