Four Cocktails for $30. A Whole Meal Too.

Say you're out having a cocktail or two after work.

Before you know it, you've racked up a tab of almost $30, and that's just for one round for you and your buddy.

Cocktails these days can run on average between $12 and $15.

Ouch.

That's the pain that makes tonight's Classic Cocktails dinner at the Ashmont Grill such a bargain.

Four courses of food -- which is normal for Ashmont Grill's Monday Night Club.

For $30 -- which is also normal (for them, if no one else).

And a classic cocktail paired with each course.

Still for $30.

RSVPs are a very good idea.


WHAT: Monday Night Wine Club: Classic Cocktails
WHERE: Ashmont Grill, 555 Talbot Avenue, Dorchester
WHEN: TONIGHT, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
RSVP: Call 617.825.4300
COST: $30


DAILY TIDBIT:

"One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough."

-- James Thurber

Riesling 101 Tonight, Waltham

Riesling, it needs to be said, needs a little help in the PR department.

Way too sweet, some say.

Smells like a gas station, others say.

Can't understand German wine labels, still others say.

And then they move on to something else in the wine aisle.

Yet the reality is this: some of the best Rieslings are bone dry and not sweet at all, the smell of petrol is characteristic of Riesling for good reason, and more and more Riesling comes from outside Germany though even the Germans are getting better at the easy-to-read label thing.

Get it all straightened out, and taste some very nice Rieslings, tonight at D&L Liquorsin Waltham.

It won't cost you a thing.

And you'll be doing Riesling a big, big favor.


WHAT: Riesling Tasting: Sweet to Bone Dry
WHERE: D&L Liquors, 850 Lexington Street, Waltham
WHEN: Friday, April 23 from 4 to 8 p.m.
COST: $0


DAILY TIDBIT:

"The exciting thing is that Riesling, though not native to New York, has a natural affinity to the region and can be used to make very good wine -- wine that's different from Rieslings made in Germany, the Alsace and Australia. We have lots of empirical evidence that this is true."
-- Anna Katherine Mansfield

Neal Rosenthal, in Person, at BRIX on Broad Tonight

You're stumped.

You're standing in the wine aisle, facing 100 labels from Aligote to Zinfandel, and you simply don't know which to choose.

What to do? What to DO...?!?

Here's a tip:

Turn a few of those labels around.

Because that's where you'll usually find the name of the importer of the wine, and remembering the names of a few reliable, reputable importers is a lot easier than remembering labels from Aligote to Zinfandel.

Importers to Massachusetts that you'll want to tuck away in your memory (or in an iPhone note, whichever works for you) include Kermit Lynch, Oz Wine Company, and Becky Wasserman.

Then there is Neal Rosenthal.

When it comes to importers, Rosenthal and his portfolio are pretty much atop the heap.

Tonight, BRIX on Broadhas him all to themselves.

And to you, that is, for their walk-in Alive After Five tasting. The focus of the tasting was originally supposed to be a winemaker from Tuscany, whom Rosenthal represents. Since that winemaker got stuck behind the ash curtain, Rosenthal himself is filling in.

He's that kind of importer. And his wines are those kind of wines.

We suggest you get there early.

WHAT: Tasting from Neal Rosenthal's Portfolio, hosted by Rosenthal himself
WHERE: BRIX on Broad, 105 Broad Street, Boston
WHEN: Thursday, April 22 from 5 to 7 p.m.
COST: $0


DAILY TIDBIT:

"I think [the concept of terroir in wine] has been treated as an elitist game, when I think it really is tied more closely to the natural world. There is this strong anti-intellectual bent here in the United States. That is something that is unfortunate. I think it serves us very poorly. Being smart about something, getting the details right, should be applauded rather than denigrated. In this case, terroir is just another way of trying to understand the natural world."
-- Neal Rosenthal

Newton Vineyard (and Their 96-Point Wine) at BOKX 109

This one's got FEISTY written all over it.

On the one hand, we love to hate Robert Parker and his 100-point rating system.

On the other hand, we do take notice when he scores a wine above the 95-point threshold (such as the 96 points he gave Newton Vineyard's 2005 Unfiltered Chardonnay).

Then there's the whole unfiltered-wine trend.

On the one hand, a little refining could go a long way.

On the other hand, we love the purity and the nakedness of it. (At the wine dinner on April 30 at BOKX 109, you can try Newton Vineyard's unfiltered Chard, Merlot, and Cab. Check out the full menu here.)

And then, just in case there wasn't enough contention in the mix, there's the issue of big-ticket events, "big ticket" meaning $50 and above.

On the one hand, there just isn't that much extra cash floating around our wallets these days.

On the other hand, if you're going to make a night of it, a 5-course meal plus wine pairings for each at BOKX 109 is a very good choice to spend it.

Sheesh.

Why don't you tell us what you think? One lucky winner, chosen randomly, will win two tickets for the price of one for the Newton Vineyard Wine Dinner at BOKX 109.

Send us an emailbefore this Friday at noon with your answer to these questions:

1. Do you value Robert Parker's rating system? Yes or no.
2. Do you like unfiltered wines? Yes or no.
3. Is $95 for a 5-course wine dinner worth it? Yes or no.

Pick a side. Put yourself in the mix. It just might get you a seat at one very feisty dinner party.


WHAT: Newton Vineyard Wine Dinner, hosted by Dr. Su Hua Newton
WHERE: BOKX 109 American Prime, inside Hotel Indigo, 399 Grove Street, Newton
WHEN: Friday, April 30 at 6:30 p.m.
COST: $95/person + tax and gratuity


DAILY TIDBIT:

"Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance."

-- Benjamin Franklin

The Best Way to Be Out to Lunch: Wine Specials at Smith & Wollensky

Lots of special occasions to note this week, and Earth Day on Thursday is just one of them.

Tomorrow, FYI, is Administrative Professionals Day.

And whether you're doing the administrating or you're on the receiving end of it, you are officially encouraged to mark the occasion.

With lunch, say.

Especially when lunch includes a special deal on some very special bottles of wine.

Smith & Wollensky, for example, is opening their doors for lunch tomorrow -- something they do not normally do -- and they're opening their wine list as well to these two featured wines:

2003 Westport Rivers Brut "RJR" at $10 by the glass or $39 by the bottle, and

J. Lohr Cypress Vineyards (Chard, Cab, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot) at $8 a glass or $39 a bottle.

Our advice?

Start with the Westport Rivers sparkler, because what's a special occasion without a flute and a toast?

Then move on to J. Lohr with your meal, whether that's the tenderloin steak sandwich or an entree salad or or or.

Then kick back. It's your day, after all.


WHAT: Administrative Professionals Day Lunch
WHEN: Wednesday, April 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
WHERE: Smith & Wollensky, 101 Arlington Street, Boston

MORE INFO: Click here.


DAILY TIDBIT:

Q. What does wine do to you at lunch --

A. -- and what does the absence of wine do to you?

William F. Buckley, Jr., being interviewed in the Claremont Review of Books

Earth Week (and Biodynamic Wines) All Next Week at Bambara

Earth Day turns 40 this year.

That's a big birthday.

But instead of getting all extravagant about it, Bambara Restaurantis reigning it in.

They'll be serving dishes composed of ingredients that come from very close -- to the ground, that is, and to Boston in general.

Such as Island Creekoysters from Duxbury, along with a mignonette made with wine from Westport Rivers.

And English peas from Verrill Farmin Concord.

And a main course of Berkshire pork shank.

Check out the full menu here. It's a little bit like a Massachusetts food tour, organic-style.

But notice the two bits that are right up top:

1. That this earth-friendly menu is available ALL WEEK, from Monday, April 19 to Saturday, April 24.

2. That wine pairings -- all from sustainable sources -- are a mere ten bucks extra.

Peace out.


WHAT: Earth Week Menu
WHERE: Bambara Restaurant, 25 Edwin H. Land Blvd., Cambridge
WHEN: Monday, April 19 to Saturday, April 24
COST: $45 per person, $55 paired with sustainable wine

DAILY TIDBIT:

"I'm like old wine. They don't bring me out very often, but I'm well preserved."

-- Rose Kennedy

Slow Food Founder Carlo Petrini, Sunday in Boston

Boston hosts more than its fair share of big-deal speakers.

But for those of us who care about the sources of our food and drink, Carlo Petrini is one of the biggest deals of all.

Petrini was the one who in 1989 protested the first McDonald's to open near Rome's ancient Spanish Steps with no more than a bowl of macaroni in his hands and a fierce opposition to fast food in his heart.

That's when Slow Food and Slow Food Internationalwas born.

100,000 members in 132 countries later, Petrini and his iconic bowl of macaroni continue to inspire a resistance to fast food, fast life, and the disappearance of local food traditions.

This Sunday afternoon, he'll be inspiring 500 or so Bostonians in person.

Most of those seats are taken so here's what could be your last chance.

Petrini's talk is free and open to the public. He'll also be signing books alongside Woody Tasch, author of the similarly-spirited Slow Money.

Go. Be inspired. And never see a bowl of macaroni the same way again.


WHAT: Talk and Book Signing by Carlo Petrini
WHERE: Science Center Lecture Hall B, Harvard University, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge
WHEN: Sunday, April 18 from 2 to 4 p.m.
COST: $0 but you must RSVP here


DAILY TIDBIT:

Edible Bostonmagazine, edited by the incomparable Ilene Bezahler, is the local publication that connects "consumers with local growers, retailers, chefs, and food artisans, enabling those relationships to grow and thrive in a mutually beneficial, healthful, and economically viable way." Check it out here.