GIVEAWAY: Dinner With GrubWithUs

If you ever have a hard time finding people to dine out with, or want to meet new people over a meal, Grub With Us is now there for you. Dinners are organized at partner restaurants, sometimes for a specific group ("travel enthusiasts", "entrepeneurs", "young Republicans" - no, really), sometimes just a "social meal". The menu is set beforehand for the whole group and when you sign up for dinner you pay the website in advance (all inclusive of tax and tip). If no dinner strikes your fancy, you can set up your own, but it has to be with a participating restaurant.

I haven't actually tried joining one of these dinners before but I will be this coming Saturday, October 28, and Grub With Us has offered to give away a free spot to one of you too! So join me for dinner with them (the dinner will be open to regular Grub With Us users to sign up per usual)! The place? Starry Kitchen pop up at Tiara Cafe in downtown LA!

If you're not already familiar with it, the menu at this husband and wife run restaurant changes pretty regularly, but the predominantly Southeast Asian dishes are crowd-pleasers. The awesome Singaporean Chili Crab may not be on the group dinner menu, but I'm looking forward to their other stuff.

UPDATE: Change of plans! Since the dinner on Saturday was apparently not set, the giveaway is now changed to credit to any future dinner on Grub With Us. Once you've won you can sign up for an account and browse for upcoming dinners.

To enter to win, leave a comment below with your email contact and answer the following: what type of people (or person) would you want to meet at a dinner like this? 
Oh, and of course, make sure you are free for dinner on Saturday!

The giveaway ends at midnight on Thursday, October 26. Good luck and looking forward to meeting one of you on Saturday!
Because of the changes in the giveaway, I'm extending the deadline to midnight on Saturday, October 27!

Mixology 101 at The Grove (Los Angeles)

The Grove and The Original Farmers Market tend to be occupied by restaurant chains and touristy spots, and Planet Dailies, which is associated with Mixology 101, probably is too. On the other hand, Mixology 101 isn't.

This large and swank bar sits on the second floor right at the border of the Farmers Market and The Grove, and the cocktails are the products of renowned mixologist Salvatore Calabrese, aka "The Maestro" and the one in charge in the day to day operations, LA's Joseph Brooke (formerly of Next Door Lounge and The Edison)

I finally came here for the first time a couple of months ago, tagging along as Shop Eat Sleep's guest.
My first cocktail was fun, refreshing, and absolutely perfect for the summer: Maestro's Special Fizz (Capri Natura Limoncello, lemon sorbet, fresh mint and prosecco - $14)

The Brisa Frances has a unique flavor, made with Mezcal Joven, fresh lime juice, agave syrup, cucumber water, Pernod Absinthe, and salt - $13

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GIVEAWAY: A Box of King's Hawaiian Bakery Awesomeness!

In yesterday's post I talked about touring King's Hawaiian Bakery, tasting many many things made using their products, and about the box of goodies I got as a parting gift. The giant box had bread enough for months, coffee cake, coffee, cookies, apron, gift card, etc ... and we bloggers loved it so much King's Hawaiian decided they wanted to share the aloha with you guys!

So ... we will be giving away a similar box (the contents won't be exactly the same but I'm sure they will be just as generous!) to one of my readers!

Here's how to enter:

1. Leave your name and email contact in the comments below and answer the following: Have you had King's Hawaiian Bakery products before, and if so, which one is your favorite?

And then get extra entries by doing the following:

2. Share this giveaway on Facebook, and make sure you tag my page @Gourmet Pigs so I know you actually did it!

3. Tweet "Win a box of @KingsHawaiian goodies from @gourmetpigs! #KHspreadsAloha http://bit.ly/SXCMmY" 

You have until midnight of Tuesday, October 23rd. Good luck!