Single Guy's Planner

It’s getting busy for the Single Guy this month. Here are a couple of interesting events that I’m planning to attend:

April 23 (Thursday)—Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation. I actually brought my ticket for this gala event already, and you should too! It’s a celebrity-chef-studded event that’s raising funds to wipe out hunger among the country’s children. The event is hosted by Traci Des Jardins of Jardiniere and Top Chef local cheftestant Jamie Lauren of Absinthe. It’s really two events at Des Jardins’ Acme Chophouse (go Giants!) in San Francisco starting with a tasting event for $75 (this is the one I can afford) with appetizers and drinks from restaurants around the city. Then for $250, you can eat at the gala dinner with courses made by celebrity chefs Michael Symon (Iron Chef America), Chris Cosentino (Incanto), Gavin Kaysen (Café Boulud in New York) and Koren Grieveson (Avec in Chicago). The price is pretty steep, but it does go to charity. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.

April 26 (Sunday)—A Taste of Tamales by the Bay. I love tamales and I missed this event last year but heard it was a lot of fun. So I’m going to try my best to make it out for this tamales extravaganza at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center. Event runs from noon to 4:30 p.m. (talk about a long lunch!) and benefits the Benchmark Institute, a nonprofit that helps other nonprofits help low-income communities. Tickets are $35 (early bird before April 18) or $40 for adults and $15 for children (kids under 6 eats free with an adult who paid for an adult ticket). Learn more about the event and purchase tickets here.

Here are some other interesting events that I haven’t committed to but are worth a mention:

April 15 (Wednesday, tomorrow!)—Tom Colicchio book signing. Expect big crowds at Williams-Sonoma’s Union Square flagship store as the head judge of popular “Top Chef” sells his book, “ ’wichcraft” (which is the same name as his sandwich shop in SOMA). Book signing (with panini tasting) begins at 5 p.m. at 340 Post St., but I’d get there early if I were you because the Colicchio groupies can be numerous.

April 25 (Saturday)—Best of the Bay Tasting Event. It’s like the battle of the tasting events. First there’s the Share Our Strength event I mentioned above, and then the San Francisco Ferry Building is hosting this massive tasting event in conjunction with the Project for Public Spaces convention taking place during that weekend. (PPS is a group that works on developing farmers markets across the country.) This tasting event, which includes nibbles from various restaurants and wine and vodka from Napa Valley, also costs $75 for tickets, and takes place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Ferry Building’s Grand Hall. If I didn’t buy my ticket already for the SOS event, I probably would have gone to this. Click here to purchase tickets.

April 30 (Thursday)—Dining Out For Life. This is the annual fund-raiser for the Stop AIDS Project, where all you do is go out for dinner at a participating restaurant and a portion of the proceeds go to support this AIDS organization. And it’s not just for people in San Francisco; there are Dining Out For Life events all across the United States. Just go to the group’s Web site and click on the link for participating restaurants. For you in San Francisco Bay Area, your list is here.