Friday Quickies #59: Wine, wine and more wine edition

Gâteau au Chocolate en Plastique (Ding Dongs) with Barros 10 Year Tawny Port at the 2nd Annual White Trash Wine Tasting at Colorado Wine Company

Totally psyched about some promising eats and drinks happening in the near future, from tonight's dinner at Susan Fengier's STREET to tomorrow's Rosé Wine Tasting (Cowboys v. Mimes v. Von Trapp family) at Colorado Wine Company to next week's Old Town (Pasadena) Restaurant Week (the menus for POP Champagne & Dessert Bar, Vertical Wine Bistro, Heritage Wine Company and La Grande Orange look particularly promising.) But here's a few more nice tidbits to come:

LearnAboutWine is kicking up it's summer TASTE series first Wednesday of each month (starting June 3rd), this year's location is at the Grove. For $45/person (or $60 if you buy at the door), you can taste to your palate's delights from dozens of the hottest wineries from around the globe with appetizers from Maggiano's Little Italy. The theme for the June TASTE is "Go Burgundian" (followed by "Rosé & Rhone" in July, "No Oak" in August and "Full Throttle & Voluptuous" in September.) To sweeten the pot, proceeds from this event will benefit the TJ Martel Foundation for cancer research at Children's Hospital Los Angeles.

For more substantial food and structured wine tasting, TAPS Fish House & Brewery is teaming up with Chalk Hill Winery on June 10 to do a five course wine-paired dinner for $85/person; the menu includes intriguing and tasty-sounding dishes such as "a study in wild Alaskan salmon" with Asian pear, Hawaiian mango and meyer lemon; lightly smoked serrano-wrapped monkfish with fava beans, leeks and oyster mushrooms; and a "Berry Good" dessert incorporating five kinds of berries with zabaglione and pound cake. All paired with estate wines from the Sonoma County-based winery. Mmm...

Finally, thanks to fellow foodbloggers Food Destination & Kung Food Panda for their intrepid deals & steals sleuthing and letting me know, Providence is reducing the prices of their tasting menus in commemoration of their upcoming four year anniversary. The five-course tasting $75 ($110 w wine pairing) and the nine-course is $95 ($150 w pairing), their original 2005 prices; the deal lasts until their actual birthday on June 17 so get your reservations in fast! (To shave off a few more dollars, ask for the "worst table discount" of 10% when reserving)