"san francisco bay area" news and stories

A weekly look at the draft selection at beer-friendly bars across the country.

As I've mentioned before, the San Francisco Bay Area has a rich history for beer and brewing. As a result, the city sports a lot of great beer bars and brewpubs. On a recommendation from a friend who was recently in said city, this week's What's On Tap takes a look at one of the area's newer gastropubs, The Monk's Kettle.

Foodies take note: The Monk's Kettle (opened in December of 2007) really aims to put the "gastro" in gastropub. Now, I don't get paid to talk about food (I had half a boiled potato and Fun Dip for dinner), but their fries comes with something called "aioli" and they've got an $8 pretzel on the menu (not sure if that's a pro or a con to try to get beer drinkers through the door).

But food aside, The Monk's Kettle's beer list alone proves they are worthy of a stop if you happen to be in the neighborhood. Check out their entire current draft list after the jump...

Keeping track of what foods are in season at different times of the year can be difficult. For those who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, finding in-season, locally grown foods just god a little bit easier. The Local Foods Wheel is a bright, 12-inch wheel that rotates, revealing all the foods that are seasonally available. The front of the wheel indicates the produce that is available year round. The back of the wheel has a full seasonality reference, including a listing of the precise seasons a given product is available and a list of some of the more obscure foods that don't have icons on the wheel itself. Take the wheel shopping with you, or just use it as a reference when you're making your grocery list at home.

The wheel is $11.95 and can be purchased online, as well as at the Berkeley farmer's market and several other Bay Area locations.

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