Alexandra Harcharek touched on this in her latest What’s Cooking column, but we figured we’d remind you here, too: Tonight at 8, drop by Devil’s Den (1148 S. 11th St.) for a taste of Duvel Green, the first beer the time-tested Belgian brewery developed for draft. (Glasses will be a buck off from 8 to 10.) A Duvel rep will be on hand to remind you that Duvel is, in fact, readily available in Philly once more.

sjhotchefs.com

Take PATCO, Philly Car Share or your own set of wheels (whaaat, we have FREE parking lots!) to one of 44 restaurants participating in South Jersey’s Restaurant Week, scheduled for April 11-16. Depending on which place you choose, the four-course menus will run you either $25 or $35 — call or visit your pick’s Web site for more details and reservations.

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There are two steady truisms you can set your damn watch to this NCAA Tournament: 1) Jay Wright is ridiculously good-looking (that’s him above, politely telling us that he’s not interested); and 2) bars bust out some great deals to get asses in stools to watch all these games. Below, we’ve collected a few March Madness specials around town after the jump. If you have one to add, leave a comment or e-mail drew.lazor[at]citypaper.net. Go Wildcats, go Owls!

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The weather is perfect for a little fake-spring outdoor dining tonight. A table away from the spewing SEPTA buses and panhandlers that color our usual Philadelphia al fresco dining is premium; this is where the Piazza at Schmidt’s and Liberties Walk have the urban-planning edge.

Owen Kamihara’s Bar Ferdinand (1030 N. Second St.) is offering a Thursday tasting deal for adventurous eaters: 13 plates for $35 per person.  Recent menus have included sea urchin flan baked in an egg shell cup, housemade fettucine with braised pork shoulder and black olives,  house-smoked trout sliders with horseradish crème fraiche and goat cheese panna cotta with fig compote.

For an immersive gustatory experience, four paired wines can be added to the Thursday tasting for $25 per person.

After 10 hours of planes, trains and automobiles, the effort was clearly worth it when I had my first sip of on-Irish-soil Guinness this weekend, fresh from St. James Gate. While I’m pub-hopping in the UK this week, I’ve rounded up a list of St. Patty’s Day events taking place right in town this Wednesday. No plane tickets necessary, though you may want to leave the car at home. Got any more? Leave a comment!

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Tomorrow night, Standard Tap (901 N. Second St.) will host the second installment of three happy hours featuring $4 ROOT cocktails. (The first was last Thursday at Bar; the next is Thu., March 25 at Charlie’s.) Standard’s edition will run from 8 to 10 p.m., featuring bonus specials on craft beers for those who need a breather from the potent effects of 80 proof bespoke liqueur. (Read Trey Popp’s June ‘09 feature on ROOT.) Free T-shirts, courtesy of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction in Old City, have been thrown in to sweeten the pot.

Check out Art in the Age’s Web site for more info on the spirit, recipes highlighting ROOT and more upcoming events highlighting the stuff, like the Useable Feast event scheduled for March 30 at Noble (more on this later).

Another ROOT Down series is highly probable for the month of April. We’ll keep you posted.

Photo | Felicia D’Ambrosio

In her very first Spirit Sister column, Meal Ticket’s Felicia D outlined the big changes going down at Ladder 15. Tonight starting at 8 p.m., chef David Ansill will be handing out free samples off his new menu (check it out in full here) at the bar/restaurant (1528 Sansom). Read Flea’s column for more on the redo; here’s more info on Spirit Sister.

Courtesy of Metropolitan Bakery

Metropolitan Bakery now offers individually sized pizzas at its Rittenhouse (262 S. 19th St.) and Reading Terminal Market (12th and Arch) locations. Metro co-founder James Barrett has been doing the pies on and off for a bit, but now they’re officially available every week from Wednesday to Saturday. At just $4.75 (that’s a lot of food for under five bucks, no?), these things are a deal, especially when considering the pizza dough, which features a touch of whole-grain rye flour for flavor, is naturally leavened, slow-rising for two days before hitting the oven.

The varieties:

• Mixed wild mushroom with caramelized onion and white truffle oil
• Marguerite: housemade tomato sauce, tomatoes, basil, fresh mozzarella
• Fig, prosciutto and candied pecans
• Veggies with goat cheese and homemade pesto

Marc Vetri, who held an industry appreciation night at his Roman trattoria Amís yesterday evening, tells Meal Ticket that the event was a smash —  he estimates that “upwards of 300 people” showed up for free food and pay-as-you-go booze. They initially thought they were cooking way too much grub, but ended up serving nearly all of it. Though not set in stone, the chef adds that he’s considering instituting industry nights regularly, maybe on a monthly basis. We’ll let you know if that goes into effect.

Vetri also shares that lunch service at Amís will start on Monday, April 5 — same menu as dinner. It’ll run from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays. The brunch menu, scheduled to launch April 11, will feature stuff like duck egg casserole with homemade sausage and eggs and tripe with tomato sauce. Brunch will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekends.

Now through Aug. 1, the National Constitution Center is hosting “Ancient Rome and America,â€� an exhibit connecting that storied civilization to modern American via hundreds of artifacts. Gain an exclusive tour followed by a boozy Italian feast on Thu., March 25 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets ($149 for non-members, $129 for members) can be purchased by calling 215-409-6700. (Tix to view the just exhibit range from $12 to $20.)

Food like braised short ribs osso bucco style and risotto with porcini mushrooms, parmigiano reggiano and fava beans will be paired with Campanian/Roman-style wines (a.k.a. wines whose juices were extracted by foot-stomping) from Mastroberardino winery, as selected by sommelier Salvatore Galati of Winebow, importers of Mastroberardino. Click here for the full menu and wine selections.