SF Weekend Planner: Cocktail Relief, Pig Roast, Napa Throw-Down

Napa Valley's Rat Pack will come together this weekend at the CIA

By Meesha Halm

This weekend is your last chance to get your ya-yas out before the family obligations hit. Hoist a cocktail to raise funds for Hurricane Sandy Relief, stalk your favorite Wine Country chef or get down and dirty at a pig roast. It’s this week’s edition of San Francisco’s Weekend Planner.

Flavor Napa Valley

Everyone who’s anyone will be converging up at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone this weekend as part of a 4-day long food and wine extravaganza. The cooking demo with Thomas Keller is already sold out but tickets are still available for the highlight event, Saturday night’s Appellation Trail, a sipping and grazing event that will entail more than 100 wineries and appetizers from over two-dozen Napa Valley chefs. (6-9 PM, $150 per person). Tickets also remain for cooking demos with well-known restaurateurs including Christopher Kostow (Meadowood) and an exclusive six-course dinner hosted by “the godfather” of American cooking Larry Forgione which will offer a preview of the school’s new farm-to-table cooking program (7- 9PM, $250 per person). (For tickets and info on all the Flavor events, check out the website).

Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats will be cooking up a rum-soaked, Jamaican-jerked whole pig as part of the Mission bar Elixir's nine-year anniversary party on Saturday night. The saloon itself is 154 years old but the current proprietors will be celebrating its near decade of operation with a pirate-style party featuring said pig, chichironnes, rum punches, tiki cocktails and pints of ale (Saturday, noon- 2 AM, standard tickets are $54, VIP tickets are $65, a portion of the proceeds will go to Share Our Strength, tickets and info available online).

Two Sandy Relief Benefits

SF Hearts NY, the Coney Island-themed cocktail-fueled fundraiser featuring the city’s top mixologists that will raise money to repair bars in the Tri State Area goes down this Sunday afternoon at Local Edition (Sunday, 4-6 PM, $25 per person, tickets available online.)

Dobbs Ferry is also hosting a benefit on Sunday night to raise money for East Coasters affected by the hurricane. Dubbed “The Hudson Meets Hayes Valley”, the benefit will include passed appetizers and an open bar; proceeds to go to the “Tunnel to Towers Foundation” (5-9 PM, $100 per person, tickets available online).