The Vintage & Handmade Market 
Happy hours are usually restricted to slow weeknights, but Starlite is spreading the love through the weekend and extending its 5-to-7 p.m. happy hour to include Fridays and Saturdays. Early birds get the drop on $3 well drinks, $3 draft beers and $1 off all other drinks, plus food specials. All bottles of wine are $15 off for those who venture out on a Sunday or Monday, and the rightly beloved Starlite Mule is only $5. And Oktoberfest, Starlite-style, is celebrated with house-made bratwurst and homemade German dumplings. Each Oktoberfest plate, on the menu from Oct. 12 through 16, includes beer and a dessert. www.starlitesandiego.com.
The San Diego Asian Film Festival launches this Thursday, and there are a number of food-centric features in the lineup, beginning with Saturday’s 2:10 p.m. screening of a collection short films that includes EAT, a trio of stories about food and love. The next course starts at 4:20 p.m. with the documentary The Killing of a Chinese Fortune Cookie, a look at the origin and kitschy history of this Chinese restaurant staple. Monday at 5:30 p.m. is The Meaning of Tea, a doc that travels through eight countries that are linked by their relationship with the beverage, and Tuesday at 5:40 p.m. is The Fish Fall in Love, a romance set in a restaurant and told through food and cooking. www.sdaff.org.
My most recent meal at Hillcrest’s Bite was delicious enough to wipe away all memories of my first shaky dinner there. A group of us gathered last month to celebrate some friends’ recent marriage, and we tasted just about everything on the menu, with special recognition going to the braised pork belly with sherry vinegar gastrique and the lamb meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce with polenta and arugula. Both dishes are occasionally offered as part of Bite’s Tuesday night prix fixe dinner, a four-course deal for only $20.08. www.bitesd.com.
Top Chef doesn’t premiere until Nov. 12, but I’m already clearing out my Tivo in preparation for episodes of my favorite reality show, one of the only enjoyable ones out there. One of the contestants is 27-year-old Rich Sweeney, who has a professional diploma from the San Diego Culinary Institute and is currently the executive chef at Confidential in the Gaslamp. He also somehow finds the time to work at Pecs, the North Park bar. I’ll have to see how his cooking chops are before I put any money on him in my Top Chef pool, but it’s nice to see a local represented.
You might not get to see any, but raise a pint to their health at the Beer for Boobs event on Monday, Oct. 13, at The Tap Room in Pacific Beach. One dollar from every pint sold from 5 to 9 p.m. will go to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a foundation that supports breast-cancer research. www.pbtaproom.com.
Got food news? Write to candicew@sdcitybeat.com
