Brightrock

Finally, a book club that I can get enthusiastic about!  Stone Brewing, makers of a variety of fine beverages including Arrogant Bastard and several fine IPAs, has begun a "Book & a Beer Club," beginning with a discussion of Michael Pollen's Omnivore's Dilemma last night.  This first meeting was a proof-of-concept to see if they could get a decent turnout, and based on the 60-70 people that showed up I'm sure that they'll be following up with additional meetings (as far as I can tell, they still haven't put up a web page for the book club yet - I found out about it from an article in the paper last week.)   

The sample chapter on Pollen's website gives you a pretty good idea what the book is about.  The discussion in the bistro's gardens mostly concerned ways to opt out of the industrialized food system.   One resource that seems worth sharing is LocalHarvest.org, which acts as a resource for finding local farmer's markets, CSAs,  restaurants serving locally grown produce, etc.

BTW, the restaurant attached to the brewery, the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Garden, is worth a visit even if you don't drink beer -the menu, which focuses on "Slow Food," is fabulous.  Even if you're not concerned with the philosophy behind the menu, the food is just damn tasty :-)