We're planning a fundraising event in a month or so with San Diego Oceans Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to stewardship of the region's marine environment. We'll reveal all the details when they've been set in stone, but as a pre-thank you for hosting the event, they gave me a little goodie bag- t-shirt, environmentally friendly cloth bag, etc. as you might expect- but the surprise was that I was also given a White Seabass!

They have a program called the "White Seabass Restoration Project" through which they raise and release seabass back into the ocean to help replenish the specie's population in our local waters. They work with Hubbs Sea World to raise the fish after they are big enough to survive, and then all of the fish are tagged before being released into the wild again. They are hoping that the fishermen who catch these bass will save the heads and report them so that they can track their progress.

There is an associated adoption program to help support this mission, and in addition, they allow any interested volunteers to learn more through hands-on experience feeding these juvenile fish, cleaning their pens, and other related work.

Anyways, since I've been gifted an adopted sea bass, I figured I should go ahead and name him/her, and that's where you come in! I'm soliciting suggestions for what to call this fish. I have Certificate of Adoption #118, and that's about all I know. Post your suggestions here on our blog (as a comment) and when we announce the details of the event, I'll include the winning name!

Join us next Thursday, February 25th at 7pm to savor the following locally brewed Belgian-style beers from Chuck Silva at Green Flash Brewery, paired with Rocketeer Chef Christy’s beer-inspired creations. As a bonus, Chuck himself will be stopping by to say hello during the meal!

Belgian Brown Ale with Winchester Gouda Cheese Balls rolled in Herbed Fallbrook Macadamia Nuts
Served with grilled Ciabatta Bread from our neighbors at Cardamom Cafe

Trippel Belgian Ale with Fresh Market Fish and Scallop Ceviche
Marinated with Citrus Juices, Red Onion, Cilantro and House-made Habanero Sauce

7th Anniversary Red Rye Ale with Duck Ballantine
Stuffed with Meganʼs Lamb served with Potato Croquettes and Roasted Local Organic Radishes

Le Freak with Cabbage Rolls
Cabbage leaves from Susieʼs Farm filled with California Brown Rice and Ground Berkshire Pork

Belgian Stout with Butternut Squash Mole
Local Organic Squash simmered in a Complex Sweet and Spicy Mole with Guittard Chocolate and Caffe Calabria Coffee

$50 includes all food & beverage. Seating is limited to 20. Reserve your seats today! 619-255-7049.

To help you celebrate Valentine's Day, we'll be offering a 3-Course Prix Fixe Menu for just $30 from Friday, February 12th through Sunday, February 14th. Menu includes a complimentary glass of champagne. Reservations are now being accepted for the entire weekend, dinner only. Here's the menu that Chef Christy is planning:

Starters
Pickled Cabbage Salad with fresh herbs & poached sardine fillets
Beet & Carrot Soup (vegetarian & vegan)

Entrees
Poached Yellowtail Fillet in saffron/clam sauce served with rice & greens
Braised Beef Shanks with sweet carrot, beet & potato galette
Green Curry Tofu Stew over California brown rice

Desserts
Tangerine & Coconut Milk Rice Pudding
Chocolate-filled Crepe Flambe with Rum Sauce

And for those of you not interested in getting all lovely-dovey with anyone this year, join us at the bar for a Stone Brewing bottled beer special! Our friends at BottleHood are so eager to get their hands on more of the cool etched Stone bottles to make into glasses and vases and such, that they've offered to put $1 towards every bottle of Stone beer that you buy all weekend! We're chipping in another buck so that means you get to pay $2 less for every single bottle you buy. We're calling this an "Anti-Valentine's Day" celebration, sporting specialty beers such as Arrogant Bastard, Double Arrogant Bastard, and Cali-Belgique just to name a few.

Either way, we hope you'll join us for a lot of fun and romance that weekend! Call 619-255-7049 in the evenings or 619-997-8043 during the day to make a reservation.

Tuesday, February 16th is Mardi Gras' Fat Tuesday! Celebrate with us and sample some great New Orleans-inspired fare. Chef Christy studied and worked in the Crescent City for over 8 years, so you know this is going to be some authentic Nawlins food!

"Since I won't be able to make it to Nawlins for Mardi Gras this year, I'll be sharing some of my favorite Looziana dishes with you. Please come and celebrate with us! With the Saints going to the Superbowl, it is going to be an extra special Mardi Gras. Geaux Saints! Who Dat!"

---Chef Christy

These specials will be available either a la carte, or as a Prix Fixe Menu for $25:

Fried Green Tomatoes with Remoulade Sauce (a spicy red creole mayonnaise)
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Red Beans and Rice with Andouille Sausage and Cathead Biscuits
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King Cake (a sweet cinnamon and cream cheese filled yeast roll cake)

Joining us for the occasion will be djs Johnny Tran and drdiggs, spinning the sounds of New Orleans including funk, zydeco, blues & dixieland. We'll be stocking up more than usual for our regular $1 Oyster Tuesday deal as well, so come on down and have a good time, New Orleans style! No reservations necessary.

Some of you might have taken advantage of last month's Thursday DrinkAbout bus which shuttled you, free of charge, to the various beer bars and restaurants up and down 30th Street. Well, this new monthly event has been tweaked a bit so here is the updated info for you. The "beer bus" will run again this Wednesday, January 20th from 7pm until about 11:30.

Here is how it will go down. Each month, 2 lovely buses (by Brewery Tours of San Diego) will cruise a loop, stopping repeatedly at eight different craft-beer bars and restaurants. You are free to hop on and hop off wherever and whenever you desire, and ride as many times as you want, at NO COST TO YOU!

For our part, we'll have the following beers on tap:
* Lost Abbey Red Barn Ale
* Lightning Elemental Pilsner
* Ballast Point Victory at Sea Imperial Coffee Porter
* Airdale Altitude Pale Ale
* Ballast Point Calico Amber
* Ballast Point Sculpin IPA ON CASK

Here are links to the participating beer establishments.
Blind Lady Alehouse
Small Bar
Livewire
Toronado
Sea Rocket Bistro
The Station
Hamilton's
Ritual Tavern

And here are some more details for you...
*Buses will start running at Starting at 7pm and go until around 11:30, or whenever the last bus has reached the end of it's route.
*There will be 2 buses running consecutively, with no freeways involved.
* Buses will run on a set schedule in both directions (see below), rather than stopping and waiting for passengers to come out of restaurants in response to a bell like last time.
* The route is a loop going southbound from Blind Lady Ale House in Normal Heights to Hamiltons Tavern in South Park, stopping at all stops except Ritual on the Southbound. Ritual will be the only Northbound stop, in order to keep the bus on the right side of the street.

Also, check out the DrinkAbout Website and Facebook page.