Photo courtesy of The Barrel & Brew

Treat Dad to some St. Arnold craft beers this weekend at The Barrel & Brew, along with a club sandwich with grilled chicken and a guacamole spread.

Father's Day Weekend Saint Arnold's Tap Takeover @ The Barrel and Brew
Friday-Sunday, 5 p.m. on Friday to 12 a.m. on Sunday
12720 Southwest Freeway, Stafford

This weekend, The Barrel & Brew hosts a Father's Day Weekend Saint Arnold's Tap Takeover starting at 5 p.m. on Friday and ending on Sunday at 12 a.m. Enjoy a variety of Saint Arnold's craft beers, like Endeavour, Fancy Lawnmower, Weedwacker and a special release of Divine Reserve #12 -- there will be a limited amount, so make sure you get to taste it. Prices differ for each 16-ounce poured beer offered this weekend. Be sure your dad knows about this event so he can enjoy some of the best offerings from Saint Arnold's Brewery, along with tasty burgers, steaks and tacos at The Barrel & Brew.

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Photo courtesy of Brennan's of Houston

Enjoy complementary snowballs during lunch at Brennan's from June 21 until July 5.

Brennan's of Houston is having a Snoball Fight for Charity starting Friday, June 21, and lasting until Friday, July 5. Brennan's has partnered with five local charities -- SEARCH, Alley Theatre, YDC: Youth Development Center, Hermann Park Conservancy and Scout's Honor Rescue -- that have each chosen a snowball flavor to be served at the restaurant for the next two weeks. Whenever you dine at Brennan's for lunch, you will select one complimentary snowball to cast your vote for your favorite. Now, these snowballs are not your typical childhood snow cones; they're a bit more sophisticated. SEARCH Homeless Services chose Bananas Foster as its flavor, Alley Theatre chose Grasshoper, YDC: Youth Development Center chose Praline Dream, Hermann Park Conservancy chose Japanese Garden-Inspired: Cherry Blossom and Scout's Honor Rescue chose Caramel Covered Apple.

The snowball flavor that wins taster's choice will be added to the Brennan's menu for the rest of the summer and the organization will receive $1,000. Head on down to Brennan's for lunch to enjoy a delicious meal followed by a free snowball to cool you off this summer and to support local charities.

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Minh T Truong

Yep, there are people in the water.

The third annual Houston Beer Festival happened this past Saturday at Hermann Square Park. In its inaugural year in 2011, the festival was declared a disaster for having oversold tickets on Groupon and run out of beer well before it was scheduled to close and for overall being a big cluster fuck. Most wrote it off, but apparently it came back with a vengence last year. But if you Google search Houston Beer Festival, not much about the one held in 2012 can be found.

This year promised to be even bigger, better and even more organized. And having only the first year to compare it to, I'd have to say it was a success and is a welcome addition to the lineup of festivals in Houston.

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Photos by Mai Pham

Peter Laufer of The Royal Sonesta's Korean-style beef with kimchi, pickled daikon, wonton crisp

There are food and wine events throughout the year, but none as big, or with as much at stake, as the Wine Rendezvous and Grand Tasting at Wine & Food Week in The Woodlands.

This is no regular tasting event. Where other events may have winners, and the winners may take home trophies or bragging rights, this event has a monetary prize of $5,000 up for grabs, which means the chefs in attendance have to bring their A game. With just one bite to impress a large panel of distinguished judges -- Greg Morago of the Houston Chronicle and Pat Sharpe of Texas Monthly, among others -- and approximately 50 competitors, what would it take to combat the judges' palate fatigue to take home the big prize?

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Photo courtesy of Houston Restaurant Weeks

With a new logo, Houston Restaurant Weeks is ready to collect more donations for the Houston Food Bank.

Houston Restaurant Weeks is less than two months away and is gearing up to raise funds for the Houston Food Bank, once again, beginning August 1 and lasting through Labor Day to September 2. This year will mark the tenth year of installment, after launching in 2003.

While the complete list of restaurants participating this year has not been formally released, we do know that Randy Evans of Haven, Michael Cordua of Cordua Restaurants and Arthur Mooradian of Del Frisco's, Sullivan's and the new Del Frisco's Grille will be participating once again. Cleverley Stone, founder of Houston Restaurant Weeks, predicts that these three groups of restaurants will make a huge donation. In fact, Del Frisco's was the number one donating restaurant last year.

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Photos by Mai Pham

Look at this beauty: Perry's Famous Pork Chop, lunch portion

Every Friday, Perry's Steakhouse & Grille has an unbelievable deal on its famous pork chop. The "Famous Pork Chop Friday Lunch" comes with a lunch cut of their pork chop, whipped potatoes, and their homemade apple sauce for only $11.95.

As we reported previously, last Friday Perry's offered an even better deal at its nine locations across town. The first 100 people in line at each site paid only 79 cents for their pork chop lunch. So, of course, we were there.

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Context Travel

For just $10, sign your dad up for a wine tasting class at Central Market.

Give Dad an early Father's Day gift by signing him up for the Wine Workshop: Wines for Father's Day -- "An ode to Dad" at Central Market this Monday, June 10, at 6:30 p.m. This demonstration class is run by the Central Market Beer & Wine Experts, who will take each participant on a tour through the different types of grapes used to make some of the best wines in the world.

If your father loves wine, he will definitely love this class. For an hour he will have the chance to taste several wines from regions throughout the world, like Kuleto Cabernet Napa, Domaine Arnoux Pinot Noir and Zuccardi A Series Malbec, just to name a few. Don't worry if Dad doesn't know much about how to taste wine, what he should be looking for or how the wines are made, because the beer and wine experts at Central Market will teach all these skills and techniques.

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Photo by Molly Dunn

Start the weekend off with sliders, beer and wine at Sips, Suds & Sliders in The Woodlands.

Sips, Suds & Sliders at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott
Friday, 5:30-9:30 p.m.
1601 Lake Robbins Dr.

Purchase tickets for the Sips, Suds & Sliders event at The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center for just $20 in advance and $30 at the door to feast on a variety of sliders from local restaurants and chefs while they compete for the Shining Slider Award. To wash down those miniature burgers, you can sample up to five craft beers and/or specialty wines from various vendors throughout the night with your drink card -- or enjoy one full beverage with your drink card, instead.

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Photos by Molly Dunn

Wine Wizard Tim Hanni kicked off Wine & Food Week 2013 with his seminar about choosing the wine you like.

How many of you actually really enjoy a glass of White Zinfandel or Moscato, but are afraid to tell your friends in fear of being judged for having a "beginner's taste" in wine? Probably a lot of you (including myself).

Wine & Food Week 2013 began on Monday night with the Wine Wizard Kick-Off Event where Tim Hanni, this year's Wine Wizard, held a seminar discussion about how to choose the wine that you like, followed by a five-course sit down dinner with wines from Dr. Konstantin Frank and food from Executive Chef Lawrence Fogarty of the MAIN Restaurant at MainStreet America.

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Photos by Mai Pham

From top left: Plating, Blaffer tent, Philip Speer and Bun B, chicken karaage

It was Saturday morning, and I was hot. As in super caliente, sweat dripping down my back, and cheeks flushed to a bright pink uncomfortable kind of hot. I'd just fought my way through the entrance of the Free Press Summer Fest so that I could be on time for the Fancy Pants, ultra-exclusive $175 per person breakfast at the Blaffer Art Museum tent, and for the life of me, I couldn't tell that we were in an air-conditioned space.

All I could think about was ice water. In fact, I passed on the delicious cocktail that bartender extraordinaire Ryan Rouse had created, asking for ice and bottled water instead. Then I made my way to my seat, avoiding the throngs of people chit-chatting, and plopped myself down ahead of the crowd, trying to cool down.

But then something miraculous happened.

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