First Friday at Bottle Bar East Fri., Jan. 4, 7 p.m. For this First Friday go-around, Bottle Bar invites you to check out Fishtown art collective/fabrication shop Frank’s Kitchens and sample a few beer and cider choices while you soak in your monthly dose of culture. Free sips include selections from Rochester, N.Y.’s Three Heads Brewing and Spire Mountain Cider, a sub-brand of Washington state’s Fish Brewing Co. Bottle Bar East, 1308 Frankford Ave., 267-909-8867, bottlebareast.com.
Healthy Girls’ Night Out Mon., Jan. 7, 6 p.m., $40. Regardless of whether you say yea or nay to New Year’s resolutions, those early-January feelings of overindulgence run completely amok are near universal. A night of exercise, clean eating and advice from an expert should help sort you out; whether you choose to follow that advice moving forward is totally up to you. Put in an hour’s worth of effort at the ballet barre, then take the quick walk over to 21st and Walnut for dinner at Pure Fare. Health and weight-loss expert Jessica Procini will chat about nutrition and diet plans over the meal; the willpower to transition out of your newfound habit of holiday cookies for dinner is on you. Pure Barre, 1701 Walnut St., 267-234-7825, www.facebook.com/purebarrephilly.
Hundred Horse Beer Dinner Tue., Jan. 8, $50. Chicago’s The Publican is paying a visit for a special prix fixe in honor of their new collaboration beer with Alla Spina and Victory Brewing, a chestnut ale dubbed Hundred Horse. The beer is named for the world's biggest and most ancient chestnut tree that grows at the foot of Mount Etna in Sicily. A meet-and-greet reception with reps from Victory, the Vetri family and The Publican (including celebrated chef Paul Kahan) will kick off at 4:30 p.m.; the dinner follows, with reservations offered throughout the night. The price includes four Victory-paired courses, each consisting of side-by-side offerings from both restaurants — fritto-misto-stuffed pork loin and taleggio-stuffed shells from the Vetri crew alongside fried clams with fennel pollen aioli and guinea hen roasted in hay from the visiting team, for instance. Alla Spina, 1410 Mount Vernon St., 215-600-0017, allaspinaphilly.com.
