Eat, Drink and be Merry, for Tomorrow, you may Fry.

Dan, the friendly GM at Wheatsville Food Co-op is all about the delicious cooling beverages this week. His current favorite? "Organic Black Iced Tea ... I drink two cups a day and enjoy every minute of it. It tastes like tea should without any pretentious 'fusion' flavors in it to mess it up!" Also on his list? Organic Jasmine green tea, Wheatsville's iced coffee... (he says it's cold and strong - in a good way - without being bitter,) lemonade, Thai iced coffee, iced mate, iced homemade chai, and hibiscus tea. This guy drinks us under the table.

Over at Whole Foods Market, we stalked wine department genius Joan McKern regarding the weekend beer and wine classes at the flagship store: "Our Wine 101 class is every Saturday morning, 10:30, when our taste buds are the freshest! I choose something simple like Chardonnays from around the world, and then we taste and compare and look at a world wine atlas, and everyone is free to ask anything they wish about wine. It's lots of fun and it's FREE. Each week is something different which I usually choose that morning. I also make sure everyone knows how to open a wine bottle, how to taste and what to look for, a little history." We're convinced. Plus it's FREE!

Whole Foods' Shelly Herring steers the Beer 101 effort on Sundays at noon, comparing beer styles, explaining the differences between a lager and an ale, etc., and sampling beer from around the world. Joan can't help it, she's got to tell us again: "It is also fun and FREE!"

Mayoral advisors Matt Curtis and Richard Arrelano convinced us to stop by 219 West for a few cold glasses of wine to celebrate their new projects. We spent a moment talkig with Mayor Will Wynn who couldn't help but gush over the positive changes the culinary community is encountering. We couldn't help but agree with him. The closing of Las Manitas didn't come up, but even after that fateful day, we're pretty sure we'll still be able to get good migas in Austin, Texas.

A few months ago we regretted our inaugural trip to Cru Wine Bar. Tonight we had great service, great wine, and a great time with out-of-town visitors from Spokane and Chicago. No trip down 2nd Street is complete without a visit to Taverna, and bar manager Britt Chapman and Chef Andrea Volpi, as usual, made us all feel right at home. Next stops? Which Wich and Paciugo.

Wheatsville Food Co-op
3101 Guadalupe

Whole Foods Market
525 N Lamar

219 West
219 W 4th St

Cru Wine Bar
238 W 2nd St

Taverna
258 E 2nd St

Which Wich
259 W 3rd St

Paciugo
241 West 2nd St

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