at 7:30 p.m. Japanese beers. The Japanese picked up brewing from the Dutch during the 1600s, and today it is the most popular alcoholic beverage in that country. They are generally light and crisp, with low malt content. Make a reservation at 336.333.3190..

For the uninitiated, Dunkin’ Donuts began in New England around 1950 and quickly spread its brand of sugar-glazed goodness throughout the Northeast. When I was a kid in the 1970s and ’80s, mothers would bring boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts to school for their kids’ birthdays, and anytime you went to a sleepover.

That’s right, vodka, whiskey, gin… belly up to the bar and get you some while you’re waiting for Michael and David’s wine dinner,.

Some things go together — like, say, bacon and tomato. Others don’t — like chocolate and fish. This is the theme for this week’s Amuse Bouche column, because things are so slow not only do I have space for a theme, I could probably create characters and a subplot as well.

Scheduled guests include 3 Doors Down, Josh Kelley, Gavin DeGraw, Vanessa Carlton, the Bravery, Ben Folds, Jason Mraz and Matisyahu..

Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a lot of dough to eat well in the North Carolina Triad. In season right now: green beans, butter beans, blueberries, cabbage, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, peaches, field peas, peppers, potatoes, squash, tomatoes.

The drink, the aguacate mescal contains Cointreau, tequila, agave nectar, honey, lime juice and Agwa, a liqueur made from the coca leaf. Yeah, that coca leaf..

Usually these three-day weekend holidays sap all the juice from the news cycle, but we’ve had bank robberies, celebrity divorce scandals and the death of Jesse Helms to contend with.

The Fourth of July crept up pretty quickly this year, but sure enough by the weekend the air will be filled with fireworks and the heady whiff of lighter fluid as its sprayed over the coals in preparation for a big meat feast. Tell me you're not going to eat at least some charred animal remains this Fourth, and I'll tell you you're helping the terrorists.

Some people get phone calls asking, "What are you wearing right now?" I'll spare you those details and tell you what I'm eating right now - a few samples from Poblano's new lunch menu: A Mexican pizza on flatbread with seasoned, grilled chicken, enchilada sauce and tons of that melty Mexican cheese. Also on the plate is a Buffalo shrimp wrap, made with real nice shrimp and carrying a decent degree of heat. And what I'm thinking about is the coming storm. Food prices are rising and family budgets are shrinking tighter and tighter in the current economic climate, which is bad news for independently owned sit-down restaurants. Revival Grill in Greensboro has closed. So has Crush in High Point. And a reader tells me his newest favorite Greensboro restaurant, Sahari, which focuses on Sudanese cuisine, is on short time as well. "Go eat fast," he writes. "It will soon be gone."