This Saturday May 30 is the 13th Annual Chocolate & Chalk Art Festival along North Shattuck Avenue.

Amateur to professional artists young and not so young will be assigned areas of sidewalk to create their own chalk drawings for free; same-day registration at the event booths located along North Shattuck Avenue. Artist’s chalk is available for a fee. There will be a contest for the best drawing with a first prize of $250, judged after 4:00 pm.

Now, on to the real reason we are here, chocolate!

Select merchants (flying festival balloons) along North Shattuck Avenue, Vine Street, and Walnut Street will serve up classic chocolate treats like truffles (various types), dark chocolate sorbet, and ice cream to some very interesting items including chocolate chicken tikka kabob, Caribbean black bean chocolate soup, chocolate pizza w/ricotta, chocolate jalapeño gelato, and other joys. Check the chocolate to-go menu for items, locations, and times. Tickets are $10 for 10 tickets available at any of the registration sites; chocolate items are from 1 to 5 tickets each. Strolling around looking at the artwork, listening to music, and enjoying the day is free.

Vendors with chocolate-related items and hand made arts & crafts fill the Farmer’s Market area along with entertainment at various locations throughout the day.

This Business Directory Map has locations of area merchants, very handy.

Take BART to the Downtown Berkeley BART Station and walk north six blocks.

13th Annual Chocolate & Chalk Art Festival
Sidewalks along North Shattuck Ave., Berkeley

Saturday, May 30, 2009
10:00 am – 5:00 pm

510.548.5335

Anybody who’s ever been to the Portland temple of cult doughnuts known as Voodoo Doughnut will instantly recognize a twisted twin sister in Campbell’s Psycho Donuts. Ranging from donut fries with dipping sauces to light airy donuts rolled in Rice Krispies, crushed malt balls or Cocoa Puffs, More traditional Banana Creme Pie or even Key Lime Pie (my favorite) the donuts are weird and not surprisingly, good. They’re very good. Crraaaaazzy good.

So besides simply being the best at what you do, how do you market doughnuts in a city saturated (pun) with doughnut shops? With a little help from your friends. And–actually even more useful–your enemies. This morning, Twitter was all abuzz about a protest. Apparently just about every weekend since they’ve opened Psycho donuts sees a troop of protesters with placards protesting against their name.(They go home around 10) It offends them and all people who are clearly… well, how shall I say it? Maybe I better not. Let’s just call them sensitive. And really good marketers for Psycho Donuts.

Better yet, let’s roll the video. To the tune of “Crazy” by the fabulous Patsy Cline. Now WHAT would they have said to her?

Keep on top of the madness (did I really say that?) by following Psycho Donut’s Twitter stream, or just drop on by. The staff, BTW are super friendly and full of fun, if somewhat stunned by all the attention.

This Wednesday April 29 is the third annual 31 Cent Scoop Night celebration at Baskin-Robbins from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

During the event, Baskin-Robbins will thank its loyal customers by reducing the price of all 2.5 oz. scoops (or 3 oz. Soft Serve cones) to just 31 cents plus tax where applicable. Limit 3 scoops person.

As part of 31 Cent Scoop Night, Baskin-Robbins will donate $100,000 to the National Volunteer Fire Council’s National Junior Firefighter Program. At select local stores, you may also have an opportunity to donate to your local fire station.

Baskin-Robbins
Store Locations

April 29, 2009
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm

This Tuesday April 21 is Ben & Jerry’s 31st Annual Free Cone Day where their scoop shops give out free ice cream cones.

Free Cone Day is a way to thank customers for their support and a way for customers to check out new flavors.

This yummy fun event is from noon to 8:00 pm.

Local shops participating in Free Cone Day…

Ben & Jerry’s San Jose
115 East San Carlos
San Jose, 95112
408-275-8827

Ben & Jerry’s Santana Row
377 Santana Row
Suite 1120
San Jose, 95128
408-423-8115

For other locations, check here.

Dandelion Vegetarian Cafe

Dandelion Vegetarian Cafe has been open on Santa Clara Street since October, serving up a few new options for vegetarian diners. The location has hosted several vegetarian places over the last few years, mostly with somewhat similar menus, based on what I think is a Vietnamese tradition. Dandelion focuses more on Chinese dishes, though there are options from around Asia. The wide-ranging menu is based on family recipes, from a family that’s touched bases in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia on the way from China to the USA (blown by the wind like dandelion seeds, they say).

The noodle soups are the most recommended dishes, though rice plates are also available. One favorite is the spicy pickle noodle soup. It has salty green vegetable pickles and a soy-infused boiled egg (optional) in a tasty broth with rice noodles. I had the spicy pickle noodle soup on my first visit, months ago, and it’s the dish I’ll be most likely to go back for. Spring noodle soup, which I tried on my last visit, was also excellent, with mushrooms and a variety of beancurd shapes, and again a seasoned egg, flavorful broth, and rice noodles. The squid noodle soup that I had on an earlier visit, though, was not really my thing, reminding me of hot and sour soup you can get at most Chinese restaurants.

The owners also suggest trying the desserts (though I haven’t checked them out). One favorite is a Chinese Pancake. Another is the Malaysian polut hitaum, which is sticky rice in coconut milk, and is one of the few desserts that can be made vegan.

Dandelion Vegetarian Cafe is at 322 East Santa Clara Street, between 7th and 8th Streets. They’re open Monday-Friday from 10 am to 9 pm, and weekends from 1 pm to 9 pm.

Tonight Los Gatos, California chef David Kinch will test his culinary expertise when he goes up against chef Bobby Flay.

The Iron Chef competitors must turn out dishes created using the “secret ingredient.” For Kinch this shouldn’t be all that hard. Creative is what customers of the world famous Manresa restaurant have come to expect.

Food Network – Iron Chef America:
Mar 15, 2009
9:00 PM ET/PT
Mar 16, 2009
12:00 AM ET/PT
Mar 19, 2009
9:00 PM ET/PT

Channel 35 on Comcast
110 on the Dish
DirecTV on 231

When you buy a sundae at Baskin-Robbins, you get one free sundae of equal or lesser value. You will need to print out the coupon here and take it to a participating store location only through March 28.

Coupon

Store Locations

Tuesday February 24, 2009 is National Pancake Day. IHOP is celebrating National Pancake Day (also known as Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, or Shrove Tuesday) by giving away a free short stack of pancakes from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm. In return, they ask you to make a donation to support the Children’s Miracle Network (an international non-profit organization that raises funds for more than 170 children’s hospitals) and other local charities.

Head on over (early) to your nearest IHOP, have a free short stack of pancakes, make a donation, and remember to tip your server.

There is a limit of one free short stack per guest at participating restaurants for dine-in only while supplies last.

644 N. First Street
San Jose, 95112
294-4130

5403 Stevens Creek Blvd
Santa Clara, 95051
996-3393

4200 Great America Parkway
Santa Clara, 95054
980-8887

5687 Jarvis Avenue
Newark, 94560
(510) 794-5687

491 Veterans Blvd
Redwood City, 94063
(650) 367-8849

You know how you drive past a small restaurant a billion times and yet never go in, despite feeling rather curious about it? That’s basically how my boyfriend and I have been for the past year or so as we drive past Sushi Coast on 4th St. in San Jose. Well we finally decided to give it a try and I gotta say, it wasn’t that bad.

Now by no means am I a sushi expert and I’m not that daring to boot. We tried some the same kind of rolls we like at other places and they were all quite tasty.

• Dragon Roll (Shrimp, Crab, Eel & Avocado)
• California Roll
• Sunny California Roll (Deep-fried California Roll)
• Lion Queen Roll (Crab, Avocado, Broiled Jumbo Scallops)
• Shrimp Tempura Roll

The rolls are rather large and you get quite a few pieces (6-10 for the ones mentioned above) – we were quite stuffed and had to bring home a good portion of them. The service was great — but we went around 7 o’clock on a Tuesday and there were not a lot of customers. Decor was typical, however they had a slew of wooden boats I wanted to take a photo of but there were a few people in the way. Maybe next time!

We also checked reviews online, like the reviews at Yelp – 3.5 stars. My philosophy is if there are a considerable about of positive reviews it’s worth trying out for yourself.

Looking back at my old post here about sushi, a reader named Eric pointed out Sushi Coast in the comments! And it only took me almost two years to try the place out.. ah well!

Participating Denny’s Restaurants will be providing free Grand Slam breakfasts Tuesday (2/3/09) from 6:00 am to 2:00 pm.

For locations and more information, check here.

Later this month Ihop will provide free pancakes in celebration of National Pancake Day on February 24.