5 Things: March 15, 2011

Vegan colcannon for St. Paddy's -- or is that ST. PETA's?

>>1. (PARTY) HELP FOR JAPAN SF's nightlife community is already pulling out the fundraiser stops for Japan. First up: Thursday night's Good Foot [1] party at SOM [2], a rad hip-hop and funk-soul affair with special superstar guests Lyrics Born [3] and Trackademics [4]. They're donating a dollar for everyone who comes, so bring your crew and dancing shoes.

>>2. YUM, BUT NO SCRUBDOWN Around Union Square, it’s hard to find upscale dining that isn’t aimed at the hordes of hungry tourists. But for authentic Italian, Fino [5] really is fine – no need to navigate the North Beach girly bars for excellent alfredo or crisp, light veal piccata. The restaurant is in an old Turkish bathhouse – waiters argue over where the pool was, with most agreeing on the kitchen – and the crème brulee is to die for.

>>3. ALL THINGS GREEN (AND VEGAN) In and of itself a halfway admissable reason to have a break in your veganism: your Guinness contains animal products [6], probably. (Thank fur-stroking Paddy, then, for Jameson [7].) But to assuage your grief and make sticking to the critter-free lifestyle easier, PETA has assembled a lovely list of recipes [8] for vegan, Irish-inspired savories for St. Patrick's Day – as well as contributions to the fine American tradition of adding green dye to every damn thing.

>>4. ON THE UP AND UP A Bay Area classic that everyone should check out, Stairway Walks in San Francisco, has been updated and just rereleased [9]. 670 stairways? That's a lot of bun-firming.

>>5. FEELIN' SAXY and whisperin' careless!