Chefs Celebration Series & Kickstarting a North Park Nuttery

DEL MAR— Chef Celebration, a local nonprofit founded in 1995 and made up of a chefs who organize events to fund scholarships for young cooks, kicks off their 2015 Spring Dinner Series on Tuesday, March 31 at Pamplemousse Grille with a five-course menu prepared by a lineup that includes Pamplemousse's Jeffrey Strauss, Bernard Guillas (Marine Room) and Jeff Jackson (A.R. Valentien). Other multi-chef collaborative dinners, running every Tuesday throughout April, will be hosted at Terra American Bistro, Tom Ham's Lighthouse, the La Valencia Hotel and Tidal. The series will capped off by a food and beer pairing event at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station, scheduled for May 3, that will include 14 breweries and 14 chefs. [EaterWire]

KICKSTARTIN'— North Park Nuttery, the local snack company whose beer-glazed nuts are available at brewery tasting rooms and beer-centric locations including Modern Times Beer, S&M Sausage and Meat and Bottlecraft North Park, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help expand their business. The company, whose popular flavors include Modern Times Black House and Belching Beaver Horchata, is offering rewards that include a tote bag (they call them "nut sacks") or a batch of custom-glazed nuts with any beer of your choosing. [EaterWire]

LA JOLLA— Congrats to Joan Villanueva from The Hake Kitchen & Bar. The Prospect Street restaurant's lead bartender represented San Diego at the USBG Grand Masters Bartender Competition in the regional semi-finalists, where his cocktail Grand 5 Masts, made with San Diego-based Malahat Spirits Co.'s Spiced Rum, Ginger Rum, lime and Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge, won him a trip to France, where he'll participate in multi-day Grand Masters Road Rally Invitational across the European county. You can tasting his winning drink a little closer to home; it's been added to The Hake's cocktail menu. [EaterWire]