Samin Nosrat: Salt Fat Acid Heat
Iranian-American chef and food writer Samin Nosrat brings her acclaimed cookbook-turned-Netflix series to the Revolution Hall stage. (Mon March 11, 8 pm, Revolution Hall, $48.50, all ages)

The Portland Mercury's Highball
Prepare yourself (and your liver): The Portland Mercury and Jim Beam present HIGHBALL! At each of Highball’s locations, you’ll find specially crafted cocktails that are available only to Highball participants. Even better? Each of these fantastic, sanity-saving cocktails will be available ALL DAY (not just during happy hour!) and cost you a mere $5! (March 18-24, Various Locations, click here for a full list of participating venues, $5)


Black Out Beer Fest
Lompoc Brewing throws a shindig for lovers of the best beers: The dark ones. At least two dozen rotating black IPAs, stouts, porters, and coffee beers will be on tap, from over 20 breweries all over the Northwest, plus one from the Netherlands. Admission is free, but tasting packages start at $20, and include a souvenir tasting glass and eight drink tickets. (Fri March 1, 4 pm, Lompoc Sidebar, $20)

SheBrew 5th Annual Brew Festival
Human Rights Campaign Portland and the Oregon Brew Crew presents the 5th installment of this annual festival celebrating local female craft beer, cider and mead makers, musicians, comedians, businesses, and community partners. Admission goes to benefit LGBTQ people in Oregon and across the Nation, and each entry includes 10 tasting tokens to sample local craft brews as well as sampling and voting on local homebrews, along with an annual HRC Membership or Membership Renewal. (Sat March 2, 11 am, Buckman Coffee Factory, $25-50)

Chowder Challenge
A dozen restaurants and pubs go head to fishy head for the Chowder Cup in a blind tasting competition. Admission includes a tray of all 12 chowder samples, but if you wanna plunk down a $20, you get a pint of Lompoc brewed goodness to go along with it. Also includes a beer garden, a raffle, and live music. Proceeds benefit the Community Transitional School. (Sat March 2, noon, 5th Quadrant, $15)

Wanna Fight?
Portland chefs Ryan Gaul and Cody Lucchesi take over the Doug Fir's kitchen to serve up a six-course meal complete with a jello shot. Stay tuned to the event website for a complete menu. (Fri March 8, 6 pm, Doug Fir, $36, all ages)

22nd Annual Barleywine Festival
Lucky Lab's annual celebration of one of the biggest, maltiest, knock-you-on-your-ass-style beers in brewing history features over 70 varieties rotating through 20 taps Friday and Saturday. Admission includes a festival glass and four tokens, with additional four ounce pours for $2.25. The Lucky Lab sits right next to three bus lines, and the Portland streetcar, and this is mentioned because you definitely do not want to get in a car after sampling this malted heaven all day. (March 8-9, Fri-Sat, 11 am, Lucky Labrador Beer Hall, $16)

TOAST
Sure, you like booze, but how sophisticated is your knowledge of it? At the Oregon Distillers Guild’s TOAST, you’ll get to taste over 120 spirits from around the world, getting tipsy and learning about new innovations in hooch, for a not-bad-at-all price. (Sat March 9, 5 pm, Tiffany Center, $15-65)

5th Annual Baker's Dozen Coffee, Beer & Doughnut Festival
You probably just clutched at your heart simply reading the title to this event. Slowly retract those claws. Redirect them to your wallet. Keep it in your hand as you drive to Ecliptic. You will want it at the ready, because holy shit it's a beer/coffee/doughnut festival! All at the same time! Admission includes a souvenir glass, and 4oz samples of all 13 coffee and coffee beers available, as well as samples of the doughnuts. (Sat March 9, 10 am, Ecliptic Brewing, $29-35)

Portland Cider Co. 6 Year Anniversary Party
Portland Cider turns six, and that's reason enough to celebrate with delicious ciders in your glass all damn day, with commemorative bottle releases, special tappings of over twenty cellared ciders, live music, a raffle benefitting the Providence Cancer Institute, and more. (Sat March 9, 3 pm, Portland Cider Co., $20)

Kells St. Patrick's Irish Festival
You know how downtown turns a particularly vibrant (and loud) shade of green come St. Patrick's time? That's Kells' fault. It tends to happen when you throw a three-day festival including live music, dancing, and a brand-new-for-this-year bicycle-fueled scavenger hunt, all under a massive tent just behind your historic bar. And if you want to get your fill of traditional Irish shenaniganery but you're not feeling the whole tent thing, Kells Brewery on NW 21st is also getting in on this good stuff. (March 15-17, Fri-Sun 11 am, Kells, $30)

Bacon Ball XIV: Baconometry - Full Circle
The Bacon Ball brain-trust has moved into the Redd and as such they're bringing it all back around. As they put it, "What has passed now returns, what is salted now is cured." So you get free bacon all night, aerial circus performances, and beats by some of Portland's best DJs. (Sat March 16, 8 pm, The Redd on Salmon, $25)

Oregon Cheese Festival
The Rogue Creamery hosts a full weekend full of tastings, master classes (you want to be a cheese master don't you?), four-and-five course dinners on both nights, drinks, goodies, and more. (March 16-17, Sat-Sun 11 am, Rogue Creamer and Crater Iron Building, $10-170)

Annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner
Is it on-the-nose to enjoy St. Patrick's Day at St. Patrick's Church? Maybe. But it's not like St. Paddy's is the most subtle of holidays in the first place. Plus it's almost guaranteed to not be a drunken mess (like some other St. Patrick's celebrations) but instead, a nice family-friendly feast of corned beef, cabbage, and other Irish cuisine, as well as Irish dancing, bagpiping, and a raffle! (Sun March 17, 11:30 am, St. Patrick's Catholic Church, $17)

Deconstruction: An Educational Evening of Japanese Food and Culture
A St. Patrick's Day swerve for you foodies: Celebrate the holiday by eating anything but Irish cuisine, and also help out the California Wildlife Relief Fund. Yuri Baxter Neal of Life Sampling PDX will help lead you through edible lessons on Japanese food and culture, culminating in a traditional Kaiseki meal by Megan Denton of Able Farms, with sakes from Sake One. Also, make sure you bring sunglasses or goggles with you. (Sun March 17, 6 pm, Two Stroke Coffee, $50)

PDX Vegan Mac Down
The Factory Farming Awareness Coalition hosts the first-annual PDX Vegan Mac Down, offering you the chance to try mac n' cheese offerings from Portland vegan restaurants like Aviv, The Sudra, Papa G's Vegan Organic Deli, Vtopia Restaurant & Cheese Shop, Fatsquatch PDX, and more, and then vote on your favorite. Proceeds go to benefit Factory Farming Awareness Coalition's humane education program. (Mon March 25, 6 pm, Lagunitas Community Room, $10)

Pints for Parkinson's Kick-Off Party
The Brian Grant Foundation's Pints for Parkinson kick-off party was one hell of a fun way to do good and feel good while the Blazers kick ass in the background, and they're back again this year! Admission includes light appetizers and two drink tickets. Start Parkinson's Awareness month correctly. You might even find yourself bending an elbow with Brian Grant himself, if you're lucky. (Wed March 27, 5:30 pm, Urban Studio, $25-30)