Photo | Mike Persico for Grub Street

You may not know this, but Meal Ticket’s very own Felicia D is also a badass bartender/font of boozy knowledge at the Belgian CafĂ©. Grub Street provides a cool profile of our girl via their recurring Bartender’s Bible series. Choice excerpt:

What’s your patented drunk-handling technique?: Enlist the drunk’s friends as allies, stall and “forget” to serve them another drink, serve fake all-soda drinks if necessary. Gently shaming them works, too, if they are not too far gone.

Not that she’s done that to us or anything. Read the full piece here.

Adam Ritter of frequent Meal Ticket haunt The Sidecar (2201 Christian St.) tells us that he’s just inked a deal for a second location. Located in a long-vacant bar space on the corner of Montgomery and Girard in Fishtown, his as-yet-unnamed project will be most comparable to a contemporary European bistro in both design and layout — picture a 30-seat U-shaped bar in the middle of the space, surrounded by a smattering of picnic bench-style seating. The location, which’ll be single-level to start out, is roughly twice the size of The Sidecar’s floorplan.

Right now the plan is do between 20 and 24 beers on tap, plus growlers — “It’s going to take what we do at our place and put it on performance-enhancing drugs,” says Ritter. The menu, which’ll be handled by new Sidecar chef Brian Lofink (formerly of Matyson and Brasserie Perrier), will be focused on well-crafted smaller shareable plates. The spot should be open sometime in the first quarter of 2010.

By the by, Sidecar’s plan to expand to onto a second floor is still a go.

If whimsical cocktail lore is to be believed, Nov. 19, marks the 100-year anniversary of the Cuban daiquiri — rum, sugar, lime, water — making its first appearance on American soil. Story goes that Navy Admiral Lucius Johnson caught wind of the drink and introduced to his boys at the Army Navy Club one century ago today in our nation’s capital. To celebrate the occasion (why do cocktails always have such awesomely erudite backstories?), The Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. (112 S. 18th St.) is offering $8 renditions of the classic today from 5 p.m. till last call. For a dollar more, they’ll strawberry-ify it for you. Since all Franklin tipples are usually $12 across the board, this is a deal, so drink one or six in a salute to the good Admiral.

Photo | Monica Simpson

There is no alcoholic beverage that I enjoy more than champagne. But let’s get real, I usually just drink it — I know very little about the stuff other than the fact that it’s carbonated, and if it’s not from the region of Champagne, France, you have to call it “sparkling wine.” But last week’s Phiz Fest, at the Grand Ballroom at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue, was just as much for the champagne connoisseur as it was for the novice — both received an education in pairing possibilities.

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McGillins.com

The Stoudt’s -brewed McGillin’s 1860 IPA has been available exclusively on draft at McGillin’s Olde Ale House (1310 Drury St.) since it debuted Aug. 4, 2009, 150 days before the tavern’s 150th birthday on January 1, 2010.  Now three distributors have just 200 cases total of the first bottling of the secret-recipe India Pale Ale, which is hopped with Centennials and Amarillos and left unfiltered for historical accuracy.

Pick up a case ($35) at Springfield Beer Distributor (27th & South St., 215-546-7301),  Bella Vista Beer Distributors, 755 S. 11th St., 215-627-6465) and Fishtown Beverage (1511 Frankford Ave., 215-634-4883).  Six-packs ($11.95) can be had at both Foodery locations (837 N. Second St., 215-238-6077 and 324 S. 10th St., 215-928-1111).

Licensing is also in the works for bottles and to-go six-packs to be sold at McGillin’s, as well as other area restaurants and pubs.

Email McGillins[at]aol[dot]com with requests for bottles and kegs of 1860 IPA at your preferred distributors, take-out shops and public houses.

Photos | Lauren Seibert

They called out to ye faithful, and all ye faithful answered. Saturday night, at the second session of this weekend’s Winter Beer Fest, I watched the huge Naval Yard warehouse space slowly but surely fill up — and then flood and spill over — with the most faithful of beer-goers. Let me assure you, shelling out about $50 for a four-hour session of limitless holiday beer sampling is absolutely worth it, especially when many of these beers aren’t even out yet, or are limited-edition, or are 8.5 percent ABV and up.

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This Saturday from 5 to 8, Greensgrow Farms will throw its second annual Whole Hog event at Philadelphia Brewing Co. (2423-39 Amber St.). Meal out on Cuban-style roast pork, grilled salmon, hot cider, and vegan/veg options, all washed down with plenty of PBC’s brand-new Harvest from the Hood, a wet-hopped ale brewed using hops sourced right from Greensgrow.

Tix are available for a suggested donation of $50, and proceeds will go directly toward building a community kitchen at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church at Trenton and Cumberland. The plan is to create a space that’ll serve the community by bolstering small food businesses (a la Philly Kitchen Share) and providing a space for classes/workshops, as well as a home base for Greensgrow’s forthcoming low-income CSA program.

Image courtesy Royal Tavern

Such a romantic setting for the burger, no?

It seems like just yesterday we moved to South Philly, took the brakes off our bikes and careened, pell-mell, into the happening party scene of the SoWash neighborhood.  Oh wait, that was seven years ago, you say?  Hmm.  The seventh anniversary of the Royal Tavern (937 East Passyunk Ave.) , marked by the first ever Burger Bash,  seems to bear your assertion out.

From 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., burgers of “many shapes and sizes” and topped with every sort of thing, will dominate the specials chalkboard; drink specials will tempt those who have to work early Wednesday morning, while former Royal chef and current Rock Tits DJ “Nez” will spin from 9 p.m. on. Burger and beer rundown after the jump.

Starting the Thursday after the Burger Bash, the Royal kitchen will get down preparing favorite specials and menu items from years past, as voted by the drinking public. Check out what Team Meal Ticket, in an admittedly whiskey-toxic condition, voted for. See the complete list of winners after the jump.

Everyone who cast a ballot for their favorite items from the past will be entered into a raffle for T-shirts, bar tabs and gift certificates. Maybe star bartenders from the Royal’s storied past will show up… remember Sunday brunch with Suzanne Woods and the night before Thanksgiving with Casey Parker?

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… Meal Ticket reader Bobby, who responded to our request for a single sentence convincing us why they deserved to win with the following:

I have 5 daughters!

Here’s to you, Bobby — a real American hero. Enjoy the event!

CP food events guress Erin Mae Szrankowski previewed this weekend’s Winter Beer Festival in her upcoming What’s Cooking column, which’ll go live here on citypaper.net shortly:

‘Tis the season to start getting into holiday beers, and the Winter Beer Fest is the perfect opportunity to find your favorite. Head down to the Navy Yard to grab winter beer samples from about 50 breweries, including Clipper City Brewing Co., Wild Goose Brewery, Breckenridge Brewery and Dark Horse Brewing Co., along with local faves like Dock Street and Flying Fish. Elsewhere, there’ll be cooking demos from Robert Legget of Cuba Libre and Jeremy Nolen of Brauhaus Schmitz, a history presentation from local beer historian Rich Wagner, home-brewing classes and more. There are three sessions on both days of the fest, with various entry prices; tix available online. Navy Yard, 5100 S. Broad St., winterbeerfest.com.

Meal Ticket has two passes to Session 1 of the Fest, which is scheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 14. We exhausted our trivia brains earlier today with that Naked Pint quiz, so we’re gonna make this one nice and simple — send ONE SENTENCE to drew.lazor@citypaper.net convincing us why you deserve the pair. (You can also leave it in the comments — just make sure you input your real e-mail address.) We’ll choose the best and post it here. Happy sentencing!