Dayton Dining

Did you resolve to be “greener” this year?  Join Green Drinks to cocktail, meet and network with like-minded individuals who share your interest in building a sustainable society and planet. On Wed, Jan 27th from 6-8pm Green Drinks will take over the lounge area at Franco’s Ristorante Italiano at 824 E. Fifth Street.

January’s Green Drinks is generously sponsored by Energy Optimizers USA and Wat-Kem Mechancial. FREE APPETIZERS!  CASH BAR.

Dayton Green Drinks is a casual social event where emerging and established community leaders network and link ideas to create a concentrated effort of positive change for our region.

They have a lively mixture of people from academia, agriculture, government, non-profits and business. Come along and you’ll be made welcome. Just say, “are you green?” and they’ll look after you and introduce you to whoever is there. It’s a great way of catching up with people you know and also for making new contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there is always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organizing network.
Attendess have found employment, made friends, developed new ideas, done deals and had moments of serendipity. It’s a force for the good and we’d like to help it spread so bring a friend along!

According to Wikipedia  Green Drinks is an informal networking event where environmentally minded people meet over drinks. Started in London in 1989, by Edwin Datschefski, Paul Scott and friends, it has spread to 51 cities in the United Kingdom, 223 in the U.S. and many more in Canada, Germany, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Puerto Rico and Lebanon. As of May 2009, there are over 525 Green Drink Chapters worldwide.  As of 15 February 2007, Melbourne, Australia holds the record for the world’s biggest Green Drinks. Over 1700 people attended an event held on the first evening of the city’s 2008 Sustainable Living Festival.

For some folks the rush to register for classes is just like being back in college, plotting out your schedule, hoping you’ll get in to the class you want before it sells out!  Pretty amazing that a grocery store’s cooking classes can evoke that can of excitement, but Dorothy Lane Market’s School of Cooking is indeed a unique place.  Offering over 60 classes for the winter/spring session,  including hands on classes with an average class size of 12 and demonstration classes for up to 30 at at time, DLM’s classses sell out more often than not. The classes range from basic knife skills to couple’s classes that pair food and wine.

According to Sandy Martz, the Director of the Cooking School, students bond with certain instructors and will over time take all the classes he/she offers.  Sandy works diligently at recruiting Chefs, cookbook authors and Foodies from all over the country to continuously offer different courses throughout the year.  In the summer, the focus is on children’s cooking camps.

DLM Corporate Chef Carrie Walters holds the distinction for the class that sells out the quickest and that’s the Girls’s Night Out.  So this term- they are offering two, one in Feb and one in May, but you better sign up quickly if you want to experience the fun!

Bon Appetit (imagine this being said in your best Julia Child impression)!

Drinking for a cause, it’s a great excuse to have a fun night out in the Oregon District to benefit the Dayton Ballet!  This Sat night, Jan 9th folks are encouraged to join the Associate Board for a progressive party with drink specials, fabulous prizes and lots of fun.  To join the fun, purchase your pass to the Ballet Barre Crawl by contacting Todd at 287-1773 or email him.

Here’s the line up for the night:

6-8pm  Boulevard Haus Join us in the private room for…$1 off beer, $2 off martini’s, $4 special very berry tini

8-9 pm Oregon Express – $12 buckeets of 5 Bud or Bud Lights, $3.25 craft beer specials, $5 La Lacolada, $3 special ballet slipper drink
9-10:30pmThe Trolley Stop -$2 betsy-bourbon & seven, $2 beer specials, $3 special tutu
10:30-12:00amDublin Pub – $10 buckets of 5 bud, budlight or miller light, $3 nutcracker shots  pluse 20% off food coupons for all participants, live music by Nick Mitchell

12-2am Newcom’s Tavern $1 PBR drafts , $2bud lights
AND…The Crowne Plaza is offering rooms for $69 for the night

The Dayton Ballet Associate Board, affiliated with the Dayton Ballet and the Dayton Ballet Association Board of Trustees, is responsible for increasing interest and awareness of the Dayton Ballet and involvement in the Dayton Ballet Barre. The Associate Board facilitates the Barre’s budget, planning, and marketing for events and activities organized to support the Dayton Ballet. The Dayton Ballet Associate Board specializes in reaching out to dynamic,
interested people looking to get involved with arts and culture. Members of the Associate
Board gain an introduction to the Dayton Ballet and the competencies required of being on an arts or community board. They are invited to private events and receive over 50% off premium tickets to the Dayton Ballet’s Saturday night performances.  For more info on the Barre you can contact Bryan Michel at 902-3261 or email him.

Located in the heard of the Oregon District, Loretta Puncer’s Gallery 510 Fine Art is putting together a night of fun where you can browse, buy, eat and have a little drink while you are shopping on Tues, Dec 15th from 6-8pm.
Featuring an everchanging selection of original pieces by local artisans, displayed with an eye for really showcasing the nuances of each creation. You’ll find paintings, photographs, linocuts, collage, jewelery, beaded dolls, quilts, hooked rugs, hand-dyed scarves, handbags, ceramics and more.

If you can’t make the party, be sure and check out the gallery another time:

Wed, Thurs & Sat noon – 5:00 pm

Fri 3pm – 8pm

located at 510 E. Fifth St, Dayton OH 45402

As of 11:30am Monday, Beavercreek residents can now stand in line to enjoy these much talked about burgers.  The concept is kept very simple, with a menu that offers burgers, kosher hot dogs and fries. It’s a quick serve kind of place, you enter the line, order your food, get your own beverage and they call your number when your order is ready.

Five Guys offers  several options for burgers.  There’s the “regular” burger, which consists of two beef patties, and a “little” burger that has only one patty.  Then you choose your toppings: mayo, relish, onion, lettuce, pickle, tomato, green pepper, jalapeno, grilled onion and grilled mushrooms. Sauces include BBQ, hot sauce and A-1.  You can add American cheese or bacon to your burger for a slight upcharge.

As for the hot dogs, you can get yours with cheese and or bacon.  They also offer a grilled cheese and a vegetable sandwich, but quite frankly, I’ve never tried those.

Fries, which are cooked in peanut oil are available in two sizes.  And there you have the entire offerings of Five Guys.  Keep it simple, do it right and voila success!  They guys started out with one store in Virginina in 1986 and now have over 450 locations in 30 states.  Chris Mastin, the Dayton-area franchisee, opened the first Miami Valley location on St Rt 725, next to Rue Dumaine, earlier this year.  They’ll add a third location near UD soon.

Opps, I may have forgotten the most fun part- FREE peanuts to eat and throw the shells on the floor while you’re waiting for your order!
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During the Middle Ages and continuing well into the Renaissance, the holiday season was a time when guests traveled great distances to the castles of wealthy friends and family members to feast, dance and exchange news in a celebration that lasted several days. After the rigorous fast of the Advent season, elaborate preparations were made to ensure a truly festive event.

The banquet at Christmas, as on other great holidays, was not an isolated meal, but rather a series of celebrations filled with pageantry and circumstance. After prayers in chapel or at the table, trumpet fanfares signaled the service of specific courses and dishes within the feast. Guests danced, told stories, and sang in enthusiastic outbursts of merrymaking.

Since 1983, the annual Madrigal Dinner, produced each December by the Wright State University Student Union with the Department of Music, has provided the greater Dayton community with a musical and dramatic interpretation of these fabulous medieval ceremonial feasts. What began as a single performance has become an established tradition that spans four evenings and entertains over 1,300 guests.

So, come one, come all, and enjoy traditional English fare, amidst the antics of jesters and manorfolk, dancing and revelry, the Puppet Master, and the wonderfully interwoven lines of the madrigal song. See the Student Union Apollo Room transformed into the Great Hall of Wright Manor where guests are treated to the voices of the Wright State Chamber Singers, medieval dances choreographed by the Tudor Rose Performing Troupe, and the music of Wind in the Woods Early Music Ensemble.

Thursday -Saturday, Dec. 10-12, 2009, 7:00 p.m. Wassail Reception, 7:30 p.m. Dinner
Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, 5:00 p.m. Wassail Reception, 5:30 p.m. Dinner

Tickets run $35-50, wine extra

To Reserve by phone: (937) 775-554

On the menu:

• Wassail
• Medieval Sallat
• Beefe and Leeke Pie
• Appyl Almynde Stuffed Turkey Breast
• Wylde Ryse Blend
• Honey Glazed Carrotes and Parsnips
• Brannbrede
• Bûche Noël
• Plomme Poddyng

This kind of  Pub Crawl has been happening in cities around the country for 15 years or so. It was originally started by a small group of friends as a means of raising some Christmas spirit – and having some fun at the same time. Brian Young moved here from Denver, Colorado where he’d participated for years and  brought the event to Dayton! The first year there were 14 people.  Two years ago the event grew to 80 and last year it more than doubled. It was pretty amazing to watch over 150 Santas, elves, angels, reindeer wander through the Oregeon District.

This year’s even on Sat, Dec 12th promises to be even bigger and better!  More prizes — more fun! No covers when dressed as Santa or festive holiday characters!

Cost of admission is a $10 unwrapped toy (or a $10 monetary donation), which will be donated to Montgomery County Children Services and Toys for Tots. The toys/money can be dropped off at The Dublin Pub or The Trolley Stop.

Costume contests are getting better every year! Dress up and be creative! Prizes are at stake!

The schedule is:

Dublin Pub: 6 to 7:30 p.m. (drop off toys)
Trolley Stop: 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. (drop off Toys and sober group picture)
Blind Bob’s: 8:30 to 10 p.m. (contest winners announced)
Tumbleweed: 10 to 11 p.m. (holiday shot specials)
Oregon Express: 11 p.m. to midnight (great dance band)
Newcoms/Ned Peppers: midnight to closing (more dancing)

Each bar will have drink specials, TBA.

See you all there — and don’t forget your $10 unwrapped toy for a child!

Don’t drink and drive: Stay at the Crowne Plaza down the street for a special rate of only $69. Call 937-224-0800 and ask for the “take the elevator home” special.

So spread the word, get your Santa suit and we’ll see you there!