Greer's OC

Foodies and wine and beer enthusiasts, get ready for two weeks of back-to-back events featuring premium beer and wine pairings available for all budgets and tastes at some of OC’s top restaurants.

We’re thrilled about the debut of OC Wine Week starting Sunday (through Sunday, Oct. 1), and OC Beer Week running Sunday, Oct. 2 through Saturday, Oct. 8. Think of it as OC Restaurant Week: prix-fixe menus that you savor, but coupled  with fantastic wine and beer pairings or flight options that can’t be beat. The culinary celebration will be replacing fall’s OC Restaurant Week.

Some outstanding choices to get excited about include the Silver Trumpet Restaurant and Bar’s Wine Week lunch menu for just $20. Start with white gazpacho with bitter chocolate, pimenton, grilled spot prawns, paired with Zaca Mesa, Z cuvee, Red Blend; the entrée is a poached salmon with citrus, crispy skin, caramelized grapefruit, white bean, and sage, paired with Penfolds, Bin 311, Chardonnay, 2010; and for dessert a pear tart with Frangipane and vanilla bean ice cream paired with Noval Port.

Silver Trumpet is at 3350 Avenue of the Arts in Costa Mesa. For more information, call 714.751.5100.

One of our favorite upscale Vietnamese restaurants, Phans 55 in Irvine, is offering a $40 Wine Week dinner starting with aroll sampler plate with a small glass of Pinot Grigio, Barone Fini, Italy; and then a a bowl of PHO with top round or chicken with a small glass of Rose, Simi Winery, Sonoma.

The entrée choices include prawn garlic noodle with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, Nobile Icon, Marlborough, NZ; a shaken beef filet with a glass of Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon, ’06; or braised short rib with a glass of Cabernet, Dollarhide Ranch St Supery, Napa, ’02. Finish with a macaroon with a small glass of Hogue, Late Harvest Riesling, Washington.

Phans 55 Irvine is at 6000 Scholarship Drive in Irvine. For more information, call 949.724.1236.

And Splashes at Surf & Sand Resort in Laguna Beach is serving a $50 Beer Week dinner from Oct. 2 through Oct. 8. Choose from one starter, an heirloom tomato and gorgonzola with Mama’s Little Yella Pils, Oskar Blues Brewery; or a  BBQ octopus with white beans, plums paired with Levitation Ale, Stone Brewery; or a Cajun shrimp with sweet corn paired with Hefe-Weizen, Paulaner Munchen. The entrée choices include parmesan chicken with pole beans paired with Red Seal Ale, North Coast Brewing Co.; or seared ahi tuna with shitake mushrooms paired with Ellies Brown Ale, Avery Brewing Co.; or grilled hanger steak with crispy onions, paired with IPA, Stone Brewing Co. Finish with dessert with raspberries and cream paired with St. Louis Framboise, Castle Brewery; or a beer float; or chocolate cappuccino with Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout, North Coast Brewery. Splashes is at 1555 South Coast Highway in Laguna Beach. For more information, call 949.376.2779.

For an entire list of menus and participating restaurants go to www.ocwineandbeerweek.com.

Ritual Cleanse on Sunday!

Our favorite 100% organic juice cleanse, Ritual Cleanse, will supporting Sunday’s Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Fashion Island. Co-founder Marra St. Clair and Lori Kenyon both of Newport Beach will offer tastings of their certified organic, cold-pressed juices from 6:30 a.m. until noon at the Wellness Expo.

Both women have friends and family affected by breast cancer and support the Susan G. Komen foundation. One of Ritual Cleanse’s missions is to improve the lives of women, especially supporting those who have heroically battled breast cancer. They will also offer discount coupons at their Ritual Cleanse booth.

Ritual Cleanse makes superior fresh pressed, 100% certified organic and raw fruit and vegetable juice cleanse that is  packaged in environmentally sound materials –100% biodegradable bottles and reusable coolers made from 100% recycled materials. The company is offering free local delivery in Orange County, Los Angeles and San Diego through  Oct. 1.