If a hair-metal tribute band, a free-for-all buffet of beers, and frat-party levels of public drunkenness sound fun to you–and if this promo video makes you say “hell yeah!”–well then the L.A. Beer Festival is probably your jam. But note the teeny tiny plastic beer steins–and don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Where: Paramount Studios, 5555 Melrose Ave., Hollywood

Tickets are $40 and available here. (No tickets are sold at the door.)

…But would you rather they contain carcinogenic coal tar? A vegan barista discovered that the new formula for Starbucks Strawberry Frappucinos contains cochineal beetle shells; ground up and highly refined, they are called carmine and can be found in everything from Pop Tarts to paint. Starbucks was trying to do the “green” thing and get away from the highly toxic red food dyes that have already been banned in several European countries–only to piss off the vegans. But…aren’t Frappucinos creamy? It appears that vegans would rather eat weird, artificial milk-like substances than a chemical extracted from an element derived from a bug’s exoskeleton. One vegetarian activist suggested using beets or “purple sweet potatoes” (would that even work?), but I think Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, is on to something: “Strawberry Frappucinos should be colored with strawberries.”

Vegans bash Starbucks for beetle coloring in frappuccinos – USATODAY.com.

It’s something I can’t quite figure–I’m not opposed on principle to hunting for food, and yet “Girl Hunter” Georgia Pellegrini‘s whole shtick makes me want to join forces with PETA. (No, she doesn’t hunt girls like a Joe Francis, she is, like, a GIRL who HUNTS, okay?) Maybe it’s the “xoxo” in her logo, or the combination of Barbie pink, designer sunglasses, and Daisy Duke shotgun fondling (or maybe it’s the “I left a career at Lehman Brothers…” part?) that makes me have a sudden revulsion from hunting. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I know I’ll not be signing up for a “Girl Hunter Weekend” anytime soon.  (It’s also entirely possible that the fact that she is a good enough cook to have worked at Stone Barns, looks like a JCrew princess and is going to have her own food show any…second…now, just fills me with jealous rage. Either way, I’m staying away from the crossbows.)

Blog — The Official Site of Chef Georgia Pellegrini | Food, Travel, Lifestyle, Hunting and Redefining Slow Food.

Cocktail impresario Lesley Townsend brings New York its third annual Manhattan Cocktail Classic this May. Look for events ranging from a Momofuku Milk Bar Master class featuring, you got it, milk-based cocktails, to a demonstration of “medicinal” cocktails (aren’t they all?), and culminating in the Indie Spirits Expo, where small-batch and artisanal distillers meet the thirsty masses.

Tickets are per event, and available here. Hurry–they are selling out quick!