marke@sfbg.com

AIR Know that for this article I just spent an ungodly amount of time popping the Youtube replay button on Biggie's 1995 30-second TV spot for St. Ides malt liquor, "Big Poppa" shoutouts from passing flygirls and all. Why besides the fashion tips, you ask? Turns out St. Ides is from good ol' San Francisco, created by the McKenzie River Corporation, a somewhat overlooked party beverage marketing powerhouse that also brought us Steele Reserve, Black Star, and the one, the only Sparks, truly the hipster runoff off the '00s.Read more »

virginia@sfbg.com

WINE Recommended bottles, fall events in Sonoma, urban wine classes ... here are a few wine tips for true autumn flight. Check out my online Appetite column on the Pixel Vision blog at SFBG.com this week for restaurants making some of Napa's best cocktails, a family vineyards wine-tasting report, and more Wine Country dining reviews.

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caitlin@sfbg.com

BEER I will not re-enter the one-sided debate of whether the East Bay is cooler than San Francisco (we covered that in our much hullabalooed April 11 cover story, helpfully titled "San Francisco's loss") But I will tell you this: one side of the Bay Bridge has less hills. Less hills being a boon for the drunk biker in us all.Read more »

virginia@sfbg.comRead more »

le.chicken.farmer@gmail.com

CHEAP EATS Coach's dad said it was the best Chinese restaurant in the world. The world being a pretty big place, and one which includes all of China, we went. Him, her, me, Hedgehog, Indiana Jake, and a Random Texan.

Daly City. Koi Palace. Pffft.

I'd retract that last little almost involuntary and entirely uncomplex sentence in deference to Mr. Coach, him being a respected figure among us, but come to find (over appetizers) that he didn't say it was the best Chinese restaurant in the world; some guy did.Read more »

virginia@sfbg.com

LIT A harvest of cookbooks, some set for release in the fall, some ready for your shelf, cupboard, or bar hot off the press.

THE BLUE BOTTLE CRAFT OF COFFEE: GROWING, ROASTING, AND DRINKING, WITH RECIPES

By James Freeman, Caitlin Freeman, and Tara Duggan

Ten Speed Press

240 pp, paper $24.95Read more »

virginia@sfbg.com

APPETITE A fledgling new restaurant is a work in progress, evolving. Often I'll visit restaurants in their opening week, then return three to four weeks later, noticing a marked improvement in rhythm and flow, if not a dramatic change in food (often first food impressions prove to be consistent).Read more »

le.chicken.farmer@gmail.com

CHEAP EATS Oh, I have so many sporty things to tell you about! To my surprise I am playing baseball again, football season starts (for girls) on the same day it starts for the 49ers: next weekend! Meanwhile, the Giants and A's are both very much "in it," entering September. Steroid busts . . .

Next week I am going to hire a dedicated sports writer for Cheap Eats. Mine will be the very first cheap eats newspaper column with a sports section in it.Read more »