August 24th: Attention beer-loving and beer-curious ladies. The folks at New Jersey Beer Co. will be hosting Beer for Babes on a private behind-the-scenes tour of the brewery and beer sampling before it opens to the public. Afterwards, we’ll have lunch at a restaurant that serves NJBC beer. Brewery visit is free. New Jersey Beer Co. 4201 Tonnelle Ave, North Bergen, New Jersey. Questions: www.eyesontheworld.us/bfb or tara@eyesontheworld.us or 302-584-1607

August 24th: Montclair’s Pig & Prince to Tap Its “Pig & Prince Anniversary Ale by Ramstein” at Its One Year Anniversary Party. Pig & Prince Restaurant & Gastrolounge is celebrating its one year anniversary with the tapping of its Pig & Prince Anniversary Ale by Ramstein – a limited-edition Pale Ale style beer made from European pale malted barley and hops from Germany and the Pacific Northwest – during a special pig roast party on Saturday, August 24 from 11:00AM – 5:00PM. Admission is $10 per person and covers all patio foods – such as a full pig roast featuring pulled pork, BBQ brisket, cornbread, coleslaw and much more. The restaurant brewed 500 gallons of its Pig & Prince Anniversary Ale by Ramstein, yielding approximately 2,500 pints. It will also have one and two liter glass growlers for purchase and fill and pints will be specially priced at $4.00 each.

August 24th: Buffalo’s Spicy Wing Challenge – Buffalo’s Chicken Shack in Woodridge, NJ is offering a $1000 prize to the winner of the 2013 Spicy Wing Challenge. Eat the greatest number of spicy wings in 7 minutes to be crowned “Buffalo King”. Come to watch, or register to compete yourself! For those not brave enough to bear the heat, bring along some of your own wing sauce to enter the home-style sauce judging.

August 24th: Lakehurst Volunteer Fire Company 100 Year Anniversary Celebration. The event kicks off with a Parade, then Food Truck Wars, Bands, Beer, Cigars, and Firefighter games. Free Admission. Awards Categories include Chief’s choice. Mayor’s choice and Farthest distance traveled.

August 30th: Free Coffee Day at Booskerdoo Coffee to Celebrate the Opening of their Second Location in Fair Haven. The new shop is currently open and already conducting brisk business, serving the freshly roasted coffee (never more than a week old) and fresh pastry items baked on the premises. To celebrate, Booskerdoo’s owners and founders James (roastmaster) and Amelia Caverly (head baker) are buying a 10 oz. cup of drip coffee for everyone who comes in to the Fair Haven location from 6 am until 5 pm. Ten ounce cappuccinos and lattes, made from Booskerdoo’s famous Dancing Goat Espresso Blend, will be offered for the special price of $1.

August 31st: West Cape May Tomato Festival – Jersey tomatoes in every form! Tomato jewelry, tomato soup, tomato tacos. Located in Wilbraham Park from 9:00AM to 5:00PM

August 31st – Sept 1st: Jazz it Up Wine Festival – Allaire Village, Farmingdale— New Jersey’s largest wine festival will once again headline the Labor Day weekend on Saturday and Sunday, August 31 and September 1 from noon to 5 p.m. when the Garden State Wine Growers Association holds its annual Jazz It Up Festival at historic Allaire State Park in Farmingdale. Sponsored by the Asbury Park Press, Great Gold 1410, B98.5 Thunder 106 and 107.1 fm, the event will feature 19 GSWGA wineries, sampling nearly 300 different, locally-produced wines along with great live jazz music, craft and food vendors and the ability to tour Allaire State Park’s historic 19th century village.

September 7th & 8th: Appetite: A Gastronomic Experience – Located at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, this event is a must for food lovers. Each day will feature celebrity chefs, demonstrations and lessons, wine pairings, scotch and bourbon tastings, food trucks, and even kid-specific events. Tickets range in price and may be purchased online. Win Tickets

September 8th: Dearborn Market’s Local Food Festival. Holmdel 11am – 4pm Meet the people and places behind the delicious products available at Dearborn Market–cookies, coffee, chocolates, spices, honeys, tea’s, marinades, sauces, pasta’s, pickles & more – all located in NJ and available to purchase. For details, visit our website.

September 14th: Amateur Chili Cook-Off – The Grape Escape Winery in Dayton, NJ presents the second competition in their chili cook-off. The four amateur chef finalists will prepare chili, which you get to help taste and judge! A $40 ticket to the event will also get you Postino Restaurant food and tastings of wine and chocolate.

September 14th – 15th: Fall for New Jersey Wines Trail Event: The smell of ripening apples, the hints of red and orange in the tree line, tell us that it’s time to head for the hills to pick pumpkins and applies and to taste great wines along the Vintage North Jersey wine trail. Many wineries are beginning harvest and vineyards are filled with the aroma of future vintages as their grapes reach maturity. Watch – or even join in – as “crush” begins. “Crush” is the harvest, crush-destem and beginning of fermentation of 2013 vintage wines. If you are lucky, you may even taste juice as it runs from the press into fermentation vats! See your future wines in the making along the Vintage North Jersey wine trail.

September 21st: Festival of the Sea, Point Pleasant Beach. 10am to 7pm. Rain date is September 22, 2013. This street fair is located in the heart of downtown Point Pleasant Beach on Arnold and Bay Avenues. Vistors sample dishes by the area’s finest restaurants serving everything from Lobster, Steak, Chowders, Pasta, Desserts and everything in between. Hundreds of Arts and Crafts vendors display their crafts. Free Shuttles run from noon until 7pm. They stop on Broadway and Baltimore Avenues, Broadway and Ocean Avenues, Ocean and Arnold Avenues, and the Train Station. One also leaves from Point Pleasant Boro High School on Beaver Dam Rd. and drops off on Lincoln Avenue, so there is plenty of FREE on street parking. For more information please call 732-899-2424

September 21 – 22nd: Highlands Festival at Waterloo. The Highlands Festival at Waterloo is a “Celebration of All Things Local” including home-grown FOOD! food vendors will be asked to source local food and clearly state where it comes from. Chef run workshops, locally produced food products and more at this weekend long, family friendly event.

September 23rd: FBCC Culinary Classic – The Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties presents their 22nd Annual Culinary Classic at The Mill at Spring Lake Heights. The event will raise awareness and funds for hunger in the New Jersey community, especially with regard to the increased need post-Hurricane Sandy. Dozens of popular restaurants from the Jersey Shore will be present to offer samples of signature dishes, wine, cocktails and local craft brews. To purchase tickets and for more information, visit the event Facebook page.

September 28th: “Grape Expectations: a unique food & wine event with a “Twist” to benefit The Montclair Public Library. Featured guest will be Eric Asimov, wine critic for The New York Times. Mr. Asimov will lead a Wine Master Class for a small group from 6:30-7:30 and will make remarks and answer questions at the main event beginning at 7:30. Top local chefs contribute dishes inspired by the novels of Charles Dickens so it will be a delicious and enjoyable event for a great cause. For tickets and information, visit http://www.montclairlibrary.org or e-mail Montclair Public Library Foundation Administrator, Anita Peterson anita@montclairplf.org

October 5th & 6th: LBI Chowderfest – 2013 marks the 25th anniversary of the annual LBI Chowderfest. There will be unlimited chowder tasting, live music, a food court, a merchant market, and beautiful views of the bay! General admission tickets are $20 ($10 for kids) and may be purchased online.

On October 12th, Unionville Vineyards Fall Harvest Festival will be their biggest and best festival yet, with more areas to taste wine and food, two exciting regional rock’n’roll talents, new demonstrations and pairing classes, the return of the grape stomp, opportunities to interact with the winemakers, and plenty to keep kids of all ages happy and interested.

Tickets available at www.unionvillevineyards.com/ fallfestival