fixedgear via Flikr Creative Commons

Show mom the local craft beer culture for Mother's Day.

Mother's Day is an annual event dedicated to your first love--mom. If you're racking your brain trying to come up with something different to do this year, try thinking outside the box.

Perhaps mom would enjoy kicking back with brewski? After all, she might just be as tired of burned homemade brunch and wilted flowers as you are.

Whether you want to show your mom the local craft beer culture and introduce her to some fun craft brews or you've already got an unconventional suds loving mama, the scene has more to offer than ever before.

See Also:
- Mother's Day Brunch in Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach
- South Florida Food & Drink Events This Weekend: Fort Lauderdale Bus Loop, Derby Watching, and More
- Beer Plus Food at 3rd and 3rd: Friday's Cigar City Tasting Got Academic

More »

Dada Executive Chef Bruce Feingold has announced the return of his restaurant's popular wine pairing dinner series, beginning with the first, dubbed Twelve/Twelve/Twelve because -- you guessed it -- it will be held on December 12. It is the first of such wine pairing dinners to be held at the restaurant in more than five years.
More »

Christina Mendenhall

The 2012 New Times Pairings was a fine vintage indeed.

See also: Pairings 2012 at Broward County Convention Center photo gallery and Pairings 2012: The Five Best Things I Ate

If the number of slain bottles and shimmying hips was any indication, there were more than a few rough wake-up calls this morning for the 1,500 or so attendees at Thursday night's fifth annual New Times Pairings. The event, held on three levels at the Broward County Convention Center, boasted more than 40 restaurants and food vendors and as many wine and beer pairings. Plus liquor samplings, live music, and giveaways.

It was a lot of eating and drinking, but the five Pairings judges managed to get it done. Those sampling the cuisine in an official capacity were: Laine Doss (New Times food writer), Zach Fagenson (a New Times restaurant critic), Christine Najac (author of the Food Lovers' Guide to Miami & Fort Lauderdale and editor of southfloridafoodandwine.com), Renée Quinn (chair of JA World Uncorked wine and food event), and James Carras (Himmarshee Village Association, head of the Greek Festival in Fort Lauderdale, and longtime judge at New Times Beerfest). Find their official picks after the jump.

More »

Small bites/bite taste await at Pairings.

See also: New Times Pairings: Wines You'll Be Swirling and Sipping on Thursday Night and New Times Pairings: An Event for Beer Geeks and Novices Alike

Alright, slackers and/or procrastinators. If you've been putting off purchasing tickets to the fifth annual New Times Pairings -- which goes down tonight at the Broward County Convention Center -- consider this the eleventh hour. Advance ticket sales end today at noon; after that, you'll pay an additional $10 at the door (and there's always the chance the event will sell out). Need one last motivating factor to make the leap?

More »

Pairings: Killing bottles left and right.

See also: Fifth Annual New Times Pairings: Who's New to the Lineup This Year and Five Reasons You Should Go

On Tuesday, Clean Plate Charlie showed a little love for the craft beer to be offered at Thursday's fifth-annual New Times Pairings. The beer camp makes a very compelling case, but it's not the only cause to consider: Wine, for obvious reasons, is one of the biggest draws for Pairings. So what can oenophiles expect this year?

Andrew Lampasone, proprietor of Fort Lauderdale's Wine Watch (winner of the 2011 New Times Best Wine Shop), is charged with the considerable task of selecting wines for the VIP reception that kicks off at 6 p.m. as well as working with restaurants to develop pairings for the general-admission area.

More »

Courtesy photo

Something new for beer fans.

Wine tends to get top billing at New Times Pairings -- in part, because Wine Watch and crew do such a fine job of it -- but the craft-beer department is no slouch either. This year especially is a must for beer geeks and hops nerds.

In addition to familiar faces like Shock Top and Key West Sunset Ale, beer connoisseurs (and casual observers alike) will have an opportunity to dig into less-familiar, harder-to-find, and in some cases new-to-Florida brews this Thursday night.

John Linn, "baron of beer happenings" for Brown Distributing, said the company is teaming with five restaurants for the fifth-annual event and will offer a few unusual picks for the evening.

More »

Courtesy photo via Salt7's Facebook page

See what's shaking with Salt7.

The top five reasons you should attend the fifth annual New Times Pairings event were spelled out earlier today and, naturally, food ranked right up there, second only to sweet, sweet alcohol.

Since Pairings is an opportunity for local food lovers to sample new and new-to-them cuisine from some of the region's best restaurants, Clean Plate Charlie thought it only fair to let you know who's new to the food segment of the program this year.

More »

The fifth annual New Times Pairings event is right around the corner. On September 13 from 7 to 10 p.m. the Broward County Convention Center will host this evening of good food and good wine. If you've been procrastinating about your ticket buying we've got some reasons why you should buy them now:

More »

wikimedia commons

Pairings, New Times' annual food and wine event featuring carefully selected wines and artistically crafted dishes from more than 40 of the area's best local restaurants, turns 5 this year, and we couldn't be more proud.

So, we've been giving away a few precious pairs to some lucky readers the last couple of weeks. This week, we asked you to "like" our Facebook page and let us know what you'd like to see more of on Clean Plate Charlie. Many of you commented, and this morning we randomly selected a name from among you.
More »

Another week, another pair of tickets to give away. New Times annual wine and food event Pairings is coming up fast on Thursday, September 13 at the Broward County Convention Center.

Last week we gave away two pairs of passes to two artistically inclined readers. We had a lot of fun judging the many submissions, but this week we thought we'd make things a little less challenging while giving you the opportunity to provide us with some feedback.


More »