One of Downtown’s very own chefs will be a contestant on the new season of Hell’s Kitchen, which premieres at 7 PM on Monday, July 18. The Green Beetle’s Jonathon Plumley will be one of the 18 competitors. The Beetle will have a watch party. Come by a little before 7 to grab a good seat and enjoy some good food and good beer. Best of luck to Jonathon! His signature dish is listed on the Hell’s Kitchen site as Punch-Drunk Chicken.
If you’re a fan of Woot.com, there’s a Woot-off going on today. I plan to keep my eye on it, and hopefully snag the Bag of Crap I’ve long dreamed of.
Last week on Facebook, I posted a suggestion: Try Bardog’s potato salad instead of their fries. It’s some of the best potato salad I’ve had. Last night, a friend who normally doesn’t like potato salad tried it, and agreed with me. The fries are awesome too, but the potato salad is a welcome change of pace now and then.
It’s Thursday night party time. On the Peabody’s roof, Ryan Peel and Alexis Grace will perform. There will be a “Friends with Benefits” movie promotion with screening passes, prize giveaways, a game station and themed specialty cocktails. Buffet theme is “favorite American snacks” with mini pizzas, grilled cheese sandwiches, kosher dill pickles, potato chips with onion dip, and tortilla chips with salsa. In VIP they’ll have southern fried chicken fingers, jalapeno poppers, a wheel of cheddar with assorted crackers, and spinach dip with pita chips. $10 to get in includes first drink; ladies free until 7; $50 for VIP pass that gets you in for the rest of the season.
Marcella Pinilla will bring her Latin jazz fusion to the Madison rooftop tonight. Doors open at 5:30, live music 6-10, sunset at 8:15. $7 to get in, with cash bar and tapas menu available on the roof.
Josh Kelley and Heidi Newfield play Country on Beale tonight at Handy Park at 7:30. Hollywood Disco on Vance does a Country on Beale after-party every Thursday, with doors opening at 9, beer bust, hottest cowgirl contest.
I have the U.S. government to thank for killing my attendance at rooftop parties this year. Since they busted my favorite poker sites, the only place I have to play a 10-person, single-table freezeout tournament is at Max’s on Thursday nights. It’s only for a $15 bar tab, but it’s fun, it’s poker, and I get to play with friends. That’s the likely plan for tonight.