Next Week Will Be Awesome

Did anyone have a good week this week? Mine was filled with sickness, pain, and disgust. Okay, fine. I did get to go out to Tavern Time with some of the Yelp Crew last night at 20 North Broadway, and that was a lot of fun.

But next week? Next week is going to be nuts. Here are the highlights, starting with Saturday.

Saturday is the Tour de Buffalo Wing: Downtown Albany Edition, which you are still welcome to attend. We’ve got a growing group, and I’m excited that we’ll be able to field multiple teams. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more. Read all about it here, and let me know if you want me to bring a scoresheet for you.

Sunday is All Grimm Everything at Albany Ale & Oyster. For those that don’t know, Grimm makes some great beers which can be hard to find. And it will be a real treat to be able to drink them at the bar no longer known as The Beer Belly. Unfortunately, I may only be able to make it for the end of the event. But don’t cry for me. I’ll get plenty of beer on Monday, because…

Monday is the long awaited return of Wild Game Night at The City Beer Hall. I already bought my ticket for this beer pairing dinner which features some special brews from Finback and Rushing Duck, including a collaboration beer made with the culinary team of The City Beer Hall. I love these events. Love them. And if you don’t have a ticket, I suggest you get on that soon.

Surprisingly it hasn’t sold out yet. But next week is also both Schenectady Restaurant Week and Saratoga Beer Week. Egads!

There are actually some great offerings next week in Schenectady. All the menus are here. But some of my top picks would be:

• Checking out with Chef Dominic Colose is doing at Chez Nous
• Experiencing the six-course feast at More Perreca’s
• Ordering the crispy spicy duck at Pho Queen
• Trying out a brand new place with a kickass steak-topped chowder

The Saratoga Beer Week events sound amazing too, but I’m saving myself for the Saratoga Beer Summit on Saturday. Actually, I’ll be attending that for Yelp. But that won’t make it less fun. Of course it would be even more fun if I knew more people in the crowd. There will be some seriously great New York State breweries in attendance, and I can’t wait to see what they bring.

But before I can go out drinking beers on Saturday, I’m going to have a night at the theater with Young Master Fussy. Friday night Brain Candy Live! is coming to Proctors. Again, I’ll be there representing Yelp, but that doesn’t mean I won’t get to enjoy the show. While I suspect most people are excited by the Mythbusters fellow, my kid is jazzed to see YouTube sensation vsauce live on stage.

Please, don’t ask me to elaborate on that last sentence. All I know is that for the first fifty people who come to the show, there will be some really nifty Yelp Schwag to bring into the theater, and keep as a souvenir.

And then that’s it. After next week we’ll have just a couple more days of February, and we’re into March. For those who haven’t been following along that closely, that’s the unlocking. Also known as the time that I start getting back to eating right and trying to shed the ten pounds of winter weight I’ve picked up since October.

My hope is that it shouldn’t be too hard. You know, once I stop eating like a complete jerk. I am going to miss my butter library and all the fried foods. As an act of good faith, just last night I gifted the remnants of my bottle of Special Sauce.

I know. It’s getting real. Of course, tomorrow I’m going to eat myself silly on wings. So let’s not jump the gun.