Free Brews and Boosters from Jester King; Fat City x Meanwhile = Beer Cheese; William Chris and the Black-Eyed Pea Cook-Off; THC Donuts Postponed; and More

Here's some of what's happening in Austin's culinary scene, as wrangled from numerous PR releases, words on the digital street, and even the occasional (verified) IRL eavesdroppings.

Yes, it’s your Food News Buffet leading into the first week of January. It’s the beginning of 2022, in other words: The year in which, um, well, our scrying glass is a bit murky at the moment, tbh … but we’re sure the next 12 months won’t be the least bit dull. Hail Eris, and pass the canapés!

First day of the new year, and here’s Fat City Stacks – that burger joint from the talented crew who previously brought The Peached Tortilla into existence – and they’re teaming up with Meanwhile Brewing for maximum deliciousness. Fat City’ll be featuring Meanwhile’s award-winning pilsner in their beer cheese throughout the month of January. We reckon that’s already newsworthy enough, but this collab will be kicked off with, will be celebrated at, Yard Bar (6700 Burnet Rd.) on Sat., Jan. 1, 11am-10pm, at a “Hair of the Dog” party – with Austin Facial Hair Club hosting games for humans and dogs, wherein you or your favorite pooch could win stuff from Yeti, Meanwhile, Tomlinson’s, and more …

Also on New Year’s Day, out at William Chris Vineyards (in Hye, Texas, just down the road a piece) they’re fixing to host their annual party that features a Black-Eyed Pea Cook-Off. So, you want to spend a pleasant countryside afternoon (Sat., Jan. 1, 1-4pm) nomming on what the locals consider their own best good-fortune recipes … and sipping excellent wine and getting a complete homecooked meal and listening to live music and – yeah, if you could just go ahead and click right here, that’d be great, mmmmkay?

Oh, sorry, is January First too far away for you? Were you still trying to find a good place to dine on New Year’s Eve? Right. Now let’s move on a little farther, as time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the (near) future:

Do you already love Jester King Brewery? Here’s more reason to: The brewery has partnered with Austin Public Health to give out free COVID-19 booster shots on Fri., Jan. 7, 2-6pm. Moderna and Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson boosters will be available, and there’ll be APH staff and EMTs on-site. And, along with that anti-virus jab? You get a free Jester King beer, too! No, for real: a pilsner or an Oregon Hop House, fresh from their taps. Or maybe you choose not to drink alcohol (or shouldn’t, because you’re too young, even though the boosters themselves are for anyone 12 years and older)? In that case, the Jester King crew is like, “OK, well, someone else will drink it – so how about we give you 50% off our regular prices on some tasty pizza instead?” Daaaaamn, right? It’s like these guys are trying to be the brewski equivalent of community-forward H-E-B or something …

But we can’t mention Fri., Jan. 7, without noting that it’ll also be Raclette Night in the ongoing dinner series at Antonelli’s Cheese Shop …

We’re also looking forward to the collaboration between Earlybird (the Austin company behind “the first recreational, full-spectrum hemp gummies and tinctures”) and Bom Bakeshop (those locally based purveyors of Korean-style mochi donuts). Because the collab’s going to be donuts with that tiny but already legal amount of THC to ’em. But the two companies have pushed the previously announced December release date back to January 29. So, as all those hippies who read Robert Heinlein’s Stranger In a Strange Land back in the day would probably phrase it: Waiting is …

Speaking of indulgence, Pluckers Wing Bar is thumbing their corporate snoot at dietary propriety with an Anti-New-Year’s-Resolution special, by offering decadent desserts – that big ol’ brownie of theirs, and deep-fried cookies and Twinkies, all topped with Bluebell vanilla ice cream – for half-price on Jan. 1-6 …

You know how Austinites are supposed to, uh, what’s that phrase again? Keep it … weird? As if, instead of just doing whatever you do that’s maybe a little different from how others do it, it’s somehow better if you choose to go against the crowd in order to conform to some rah-rah civic promotion of oddness? Feh, we say: Never mind any of that crap. And know that true weirdness happens naturally. Even in the realm of BBQ, for instance, where it often leads to some of the best things you could possibly introduce to your slavering piehole – as the Chronicle’s own Rod Machen points out in this brisket-spiked round-up …

Now eat as well as you can, citizen; tip like it’s going out of style; and remember that healthier is usually better than unhealthier, but no one lives forever.