A Trip to the Riviera
Zazio's in Birmingham – you know, the delicious upscale eatery on the corner of Maple and Woodward – will be rolling out the Liguria, Italy installment of their Chef's Table for July (Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays this month, starting at 7 p.m. and costing you only $55 for food or $75 for food and wine). Included this month will be a delightful frittata (with speck, asparagus, herbs, grana padano and white truffle oil), spade (Georges Bank swordfish, olives, arugula, sweet corn, faro, tomatoes, roasted garlic oil and balsamic), pasta pesto (with their awesome homemade rigatoni, peso, pine nuts and pecorino romano), grigliate di agnello (herb grilled lamb chops, roasted fingerling potatoes, fava beans and lamb jus) and limoncello e frutti di bosco for desert (limoncello, lemon curd, fresh berries and biscotti). I'm pretty sure you won't be able to pronounce all of that, but trust us – it'll be beyond delicious. And pair all that deliciousness with the following fantastic wines and you'll be in heaven: Zardetto Prosecco, Colleventano Pecorino, Rondineto Pinto Nero and Limoncello. Just imagine that you're dining on the Italian Riviera!

Michigan is for Drinkers
Drink Michigan, an organization dedicated to celebrating Michigan-made beer, wine and spirits, will host Sip of Michigan on Friday, 7/13 from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Rattlesnake Club in Detroit. This is the second year Drink Michigan has organized the beer and wine tasting event, which attracted more than 300 attendees in 2011.

Ticket holders will be able to stroll from table to table and savor samples from more than 20 Michigan-based breweries, wineries and distilleries. Additionally, chefs at the Rattesnake Club have designed handcrafted appetizers that complement the featured beverages.

All proceeds from the event will support First Step, a Michigan-based non-profit organization that provides education, advocacy and appropriate intervention for victims of domestic and sexual violence. Tickets are $50 per person and include appetizers, entertainment and 35 drink tickets (one drink ticket per 2-oz. sample and three tickets per full pour). For more information and to purchase tickets, visit sipofmichigan.com.

Foran's Faygo Dinner
On July 17, Foran's takes a turn toward the sweeter side of beverages. Rather than the usual beer dinner where each course is paired with a beer, this will be a soda dinner where each course will be paired with a different flavor of Faygo. Foran's takes it one step further and uses the chosen beverage in each course as well.

There will be four courses including Rock 'n' Rye pulled pork sliders with green beans almandine and Duck a la Orange Pop, to name a couple. The cost is $40/person for the meal. Each course is generously sized and will be paired with the applicable Faygo flavor.

Michigan Beer Month
As if we need a reason to drink MORE Michigan beer, July is officially Michigan Beer Month, a month dedicated to all of the wonderful craft beer Michigan has to offer. Start by visiting some local breweries like Atwater, Kuhnhenn or Dragonmead. Of course, Foran's Grand Trunk Pub always has at least a dozen Michigan beers on tap. Other places like One Eyed Betty's, Shores Inn and Terry's Terrace always have some Michigan representation on their draught board. Most impressive might be Clubhouse BFD, who by month's end, could have all 40 of their taps represented by Michigan beer. At the time of writing, 25 were already claimed.

RIP MBC
While we're on the topic of Michigan brews, we're mourning the loss of Michigan Brewing Co. All of the assets belonging to the brewer were sold to MillerCoors via auction. While not all hope is lost for small breweries (Michigan has really skyrocketed in terms of craft brew quality, availability and popularity over the past few years), it is a shame to lose MBC, who had been in business since 1996. | RDW