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Burgers, Oysters, Wine & More

San Francisco finally gets its own Burger Bar today.

Chef Hubert Keller of San Francisco’s Fleur de Lys has brought his build-your-own burger concept to Macy’s Union Square in San Francisco. It opens today at 10:30 a.m., joining its sister Burger Bar locales in Las Vegas and St. Louis.

The San Francisco flagship burger joint, on the sixth floor of Macy’s, is open daily for lunch and dinner. Find buffalo, Kobe beef, salmon, and vegetarian burger options. Fresh meat is ground daily in the in-house butcher room.

The restaurant has its own wine cellar, and 24 beers on tap. There’s also a milkshake bar, where diners can customize their shakes any way they like.

Through Oct. 21, enjoy a three-course meal for $35 at participating Silicon Valley restaurants, from Los Gatos to San Carlos. It’s all part of “Silicon Valley Restaurant Week.”

Among those participating are: Nick’s on Main in Los Gatos, Alexander’s Steakhouse in Cupertino, Crimson in Los Gatos, and Quattro in East Palo Alto. For a complete list, as well as the menus offered, click here.

Reserve your seat for an intimate, whimsical dinner Oct. 29 at the Fifth Floor Restaurant in San Francisco, when South Australia’s Hewitson Wines launches the U.S. release of its highly touted 2006 Mad Hatter Shiraz.

For the occasion, Chef Jennie Lorenzo will feature a multi-course dinner served amidst Mad Hatter-decor. Price is $75. To reserve a seat, email madhattertourSF@gmail.com or call (415) 348-1111.

Tonight at 6:30 p.m., Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar in Palo Alto and Walnut Creek will host a walk-around wine tasting with each featuring five or six Napa Valley vintners. Paired hors d’ouevres also will be served. Price is $45.

Sip more wine at the new Affronti, which just opened in downtown Healdsburg.

Chef-Owner Jude Affronti, who ran Mario Batali’s Po for three years in New York City, serves California-Mediterranean small plates along with more than 30 wines by the glass, and inventive wine cocktails. Dishes include red trout escabeche in tangy marinade, and Sonoma smoked duck with white beans and tomato.

Live jazz is featured Thursdays and at Sunday brunch.

Oyster lovers should make a bee-line to Waterbar in San Francisco, noon to 3 p.m. Oct. 17 for “Oyster Fest 2009.”

Enjoy a hot sauce competition, a shucking challenge, and plenty of oysters and wines to sample. The fee is $50, which includes admission and five tickets, each of which can be redeemed for one drink or one small plate of food.

You can eat — and get some exercise — in the ”East Bay Foodie Bike Tour of Emeryville and Berkeley,” 11:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 17.

Pedal your way on a flat, 4-mile tour that will make stops for culinary refueling at such places as Charles Chocolates in Emeryville, and Vik’s Chaat Corner in Berkeley.

Price is $50. Register by clicking here.

Enjoy an “Organic Harvest Day,” 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 17 at ALBA’s Rural Development Center, 1700 Old Stage Road in Salinas, when you’ll get to pick your own crops.

ALBA, the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association, generates opportunities for farm workers and farmers with limited resources to grow and sell crops from two organic farms in Monterey County.

Crops available for picking that day include chile peppers, beets, fennel, basil, carrots, onions, tomatoes, squash, and small pumpkins. Proceeds benefit ALBA.

Two Salinas taco trucks also will be on site to cook up grub using organic veggies. For more information, call (831) 758-1469.

Head to Morton’s The Steakhouse in San Jose, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20, for a delicious cookbook event for a good cause.

Tastes of dishes from the Morton’s second cookbook, “Morton’s The Cookbook: 100 Steakhouse Recipes for Every Kitchen” (Clarkson Potter) will be sampled, along with wines. Delicious items also will be up for grabs in a silent auction. The cookbook, which retails for $32.50, can be purchased at the event for $20.

Price of the event is $35, with $5 of that going to Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. All proceeds from the silent auction also will go to the food bank. It’s all part of a nationwide partnership between Morton’s and Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief agency. The restaurant chain hopes to raise more than $75,000 through February 2010 for that organization.

Bardessono in Yountville has a scrumptious porky time in store for you. Oct. 19, they will be hosting a tasting of three varieties of Jamon Iberico, Spain’s delectable cured ham.

Chefs Sean O’Toole of Bardessono and Sylvain Portay, the consulting corporate chef for Groupe Alain Ducasse, will prepare a four-course dinner paired with select Spanish wines chosen by Master Sommelier Emmanuel Kemiji. Price is $135.