Fall afternoon in the apple orchards

While we still have plenty of beautiful, warm days, it is starting to feel a bit more like fall.

And a favorite fall family activity is heading out to the apple orchards of See Canyon.

What to do with all those apples? Find some ideas, and a little taste of the apple experience, in our recent story here.

A cook-off and a chow down

Sunday brings a celebrity chef Oktoberfest cook-off at Peachy Canyon Winery, with hors d'oeuvres from the chefs of Villa Creek, Artisan, Dining with Andre and the Culinary Academy.
The appetizers will be accompanied by beer from Downtown Brew and Firestone and wine from Grey Wolf, Jan Kris, Windward, Vineyard, Midnight Cellars, Dark Star Cellars, Zenaida Cellars and Peachy Canyon.

The Sip of Paso and a Taste of Talent event benefits the North County Dance and Performing Arts Foundation, which uses the money to fund various performance groups and its annual production of "The Nutcracker."

There will also be a live and silent auction plus live entertainment. It goes from 2-5 pm at the winery at Highway 26 West and Bethel Road; tickets are $35. Call 805-835-1678 to reserve.

Speaking of Oktoberfest, I got to celebrate last week with dinner at Old Vienna Inn in Shell Beach. I enjoyed a robust goulash, flavorful potato soup and an excellent (and very large) Franziskaner wheat beer. Read more about the food and festivities, which last all month, from Dining Out writer Dawn White here.

Wine and music at two local events

Following a first-year festival that suffered from more visitors than apparently expected -- an avocado festival that ran out of guacamole? -- I'm going to head back to Morro Bay for more of a sure thing, the long-popular Harbor Festival. It runs from 10am-6pm both Saturday and Sunday along the Embarcadero, with tons of food, wine and beer and live music; admission is $8. Read more about it in Ticket here.

If you'd rather focus more on just wine and music, Sunday brings the finals of the Winery Music Awards, which features two local bands competing in the final six. It goes from 2-8pm at River Oaks Hot Springs and Spa in Paso Robles; tickets are $50. Read more about the local bands in our story today and in the SLO Goings blog.

Tuesday also brings a tough choice: Satire king and Cal Poly alum Weird Al Yankovic performing at his alma matter or the Dark Star Orchestra at the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande. Dark Star goes far beyond the usual Grateful Dead "tribute band" with dead-on performances of live shows. Read more about Weird Al here and about Dark Star here.

McCarthy's is finally reopening!

Need I say more?

McCarthy's Irish Pub reopening Friday

But first, a short look back at the last day at the old McCarthy's, including the parading of the bar down Higuera Street to the new location: Watch the slideshow with audio

Foist today!

Sample a fine Vintage

Among my duties here at The Tribune is editing the twice-yearly Vintages magazine, and I'm proud to announce that the fall issue has just debuted.

In it, you'll find features on luxury hotels of the Central Coast, a Spanish wine that is increasingly being produced here and winemaker dinners, staple events of our local wineries.

You'll also read about our picks of what wine to buy now, notes on tasting rooms, hotels and local attractions, a recipe for a delicious dish to pair with almost any white wine and a trip through Paso's eastside, as well as maps, a guide to the county's tasting rooms and info on upcoming events, including the popular harvest festivals.

You can pick up the magazine in most local tasting rooms or find it on our web site here.

Enjoy!

What others are saying about us

The good folks at the Washington Post apparently like what the Central Coast has to offer, even off the coast itself.

The paper's travel section recently featured a piece on touring SLO and Paso and the surrounding spots. You can read it here.

The New York Times, meanwhile, is gushing over the olive oil of Pasolivo, which recently won two best-in-show awards at the International Olive Oil Competition in Los Angeles. Read the article here.

25 cent wine tasting?!?

Tonight's wine tasting at Monterey Street Wine Co. -- normally $10 -- can be had for a quarter if you bring a book to donate for a child age 5-9.

And check out what's coming Monday, from Doug, John, Mecaela and Katrina

We will have a special guest bartender, Shannon Beighley, helping raise money for her Team in Training. Shannon will be running the Nike half marathon next month in San Francisco and is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by have small fundraiser. Shannon, a San Luis Obispo native living in the Bay Area will be pouring wine here at Monterey St. Wine Co. Monday evening and will be pooling her tips with the money she has raised at other such fundraisers and will be making a large donation to the Leukemia and Lyphoma Society at the race. We hope you can come by purchase a special priced glass of wine and put some money in the tip jar for a great cause. Shannon will let you know about her training and her fundraising goal. Shannon will be pouring 5:00 – 8:00 PM so stop by after work and let have a glass of wine to find a cure for this particular form of cancer.