Party With the Profussor

When did I get to be so social? I blame the job. At one point, I could just hang out in my mother’s basement and spit vitriol and frustration all over the interwebs. Ok, fine. That never happened. Well, at least the part about my mother’s basement. All the vitriol and frustration I used to spout came from my very own house here in the suburbs of Albany.

But it is true that I didn’t used to go out nearly as much as I do now. But the kids are getting older and more independent. Plus part of my job is now throwing parties, and attending other great community events.

So with that in mind, there are a few things coming up that I think you should know about.

Next Thursday is Tavern Time. Technically, it’s called Third Thursday Tavern Time. And a bunch of us just from Yelp go out to a local tavern, order a bunch of pizzas, wings, mozz sticks with melba sauce, and pitchers of beer. Then we split the check evenly, pay with cash, and agree to meet up again next month someplace else.

Anyone is welcome, you just need to RSVP on the Yelp Event Page so I know how big a table we’re going to need. This is a more intimate kind of gathering, but it’s fine for the Yelp-curious who may not want to jump right into the middle of a big party.

Steve, who also writes I Like Food is pretty much always there too.

The Tuesday after next, February 23 to be precise, I’m working with The Ruck to throw an incredible Official Yelp Event. Did you know The Ruck has an upstairs? It actually has a second and a third floor. Well, on the 23rd those floors are going to be opened as a brand new concept. It’s call Next Level at The Ruck. And it sounds sweet.

Those who come to the party are going to get the first taste of the food and beer pairings that await the general public once it officially opens.

This is another great event for both active Yelpers, semi-active Yelpers and the Yelp Curious. It’s pretty easy to mingle in a cocktail party kind of setting. Over the course of the night, servers will be presenting four different morsels, each paired with five ounces of a thoughtfully selected craft beer. One of those morsels will be vegan, so our animal loving friends can get in on some of the fun too.

I expect this event will fill up. You can’t say an event will sell out, when it’s free. So get your RSVP requests in soon. You can do that here, which is also where you can get the rest of the pertinent details.

Not so into the Yelp thing? That’s okay. I’ve got an alternative suggestion for the 23rd. Of course, I won’t be there. But I wish I could. Because that’s the day that SCCC hosts their annual Chefs for Success event, and it sounds delicious.

Talk about conflicts.

Hopefully your calendar is already marked for Saturday, March 5 when the FLB will do its late winter Tour de Buffalo Wing: Schenectady Edition. The time hasn’t yet been set for this. But I just recently found out about another event that’s happening on the same day. And I’m motivated to put the wing tour on the earlier side so I can try and make both events on the same day.

That would be the Craft New York Brewers Festival.

I can’t say I’m an expert in the local beer festival scene. But from what I can tell, many of them are just a way to spend the afternoon day drinking and get plastered for a lump sum entry fee. The thing that’s different here is this event’s focus on New York beers, and section on locally grown hops and malt.

For someone like me who really cares about local foods, and who is actively trying to learn more and more about beer, this seems like a really great opportunity to do just that. Especially since the attendance is capped, and the samples will be poured by brewers and brewery reps.

Spoiler alert, expert to see this event in a future issue of the weekly Local Yelp newsletter.

I should mention for the sake of transparency, while many of these are Yelp events and Yelp sponsors, inclusion on the FLB is never part of the terms of our agreements. I’m putting these here of my own free will because either I’d love to see you at my events, or think you would enjoy one of the conflicting engagements.

But the beer fest isn’t really a conflict. It’s just a daunting prospect to follow a few hours of wing eating with a few hours of beer drinking.

God help me, but I think I just might do it.