Shelve your bagged lunch leftovers – Today is Dining Out For Life, the annual event where local restaurants donate a percentage of their profits to fight AIDS with Nashville CARES. Topping our list: Arnold Myint’s restaurants ChaChah and Suzy Wong’s House of Yum are donating 100% of tonight’s dinner proceeds to the cause – Suzy Wong’s even has a special dinner buffet for the occasion. Other notable high percentage participants are all three Kalamatas locations at 75% of lunch and dinner and Jackson’s, Mambu and Rumba at 60% of dinner.

Peruse the lengthy list of participating restaurants and their donation percentages HERE.

We’re prepping ourselves for some serious eating this week, as Nashville’s first Restaurant Week of 2012 is upon us. Restaurant Week, for the unfamiliar, is a week of fixed-price meals at nearly 50 of Nashville’s finest local restaurants, mostly at $20.12 or $30.12 price points. We like to use the semi-annual event as an opportunity to try newcomers to the list of participating restaurants, but we have a little problem – it seems that every single menu is calling our names this time around.

Even at special reduced prices, Restaurant Week could easily wreak havoc on our bank accounts if we’re not careful. Our plan this time around is to make the most of it by partaking in some of the fantastic (and lower-priced) lunch offerings – $20.12 for a two-person lunch at Fido or Noshville, $2.12 for a cup of soup and bread at Provence, $12.12 for burgers for two at McCabe Pub, or $10.12 for a generous lunch at either Sunset Grill or Fish & Co. We may splurge on a dinner or two - we’re dying to try the mysterious and much-blogged-about Mama Myint’s House Salad at ChaChah - but the lunch deals should keep us fat and happy.

Check out all of the Restaurant Week participating restaurants and their menus here. The first Restaurant Week of 2012 runs January 16-22, but check individual restaurants for operating hours and days (most recommend reservations).

Photo by Keith Gallagher.

Happy weekend, Nashville. With the plethora of holiday events this weekend (shopping, shopping, shopping), you could almost fool us into thinking that it’s already Christmas. Even though December is so fresh that we haven’t even flipped over our calendars, ChristmaHanuKwanzaakah will be here before we know it. So grab a jacket, some mittens and a steaming cup of hot cocoa and browse through this weekend’s holiday markets, art crawls and more.

Toy Drive at the Nashville Zoo (PDF alert!). Saturday & Sunday, December 3 & 4 from 9am-4pm, free admission to the zoo with each new toy donation. Looking for a low-cost way to spend the day with the kids? This weekend, Metro Police are collecting donated new toys at the Nashville Zoo. Bring a new toy, get a complimentary admission ticket – it’s that easy.

Porter Flea Handmade Holiday Market. Saturday, December 3, 12-8pm at East Park Community Center, free. We can’t think of a more perfect time for a handmade artisan market – If you’re looking for unique gifts for the holidays, this is your place. We’ll be busting down the doors at noon to get first pick of the goods, then fuel up at our favorite food trucks.

Local Table Holiday Market. Saturday, December 3, 5:30pm at the Nashville Farmers Market, free. Oh hey. Look at that. Another holiday market! We’ve missed the past few Night Markets at the Nashville Farmers Market, so we’re pretty excited to be getting a mini-second chance. Libations will be on hand for purchase (to increase your holiday cheer), then settle in for some local shopping, live music, tasty food, crafts for the kids and more.

First Saturday Art Crawl. Saturday, December 3, 6-9pm in downtown Nashville between 4th & 5th Avenues, free. Holiday art crawls are always our favorites (as long as we remember to bundle up appropriately). There’s something special about wandering from gallery to gallery, sipping hot (spiked) cider and enjoying the twinkling lights in downtown Nashville. It’s free and friendly for all ages (sans the spiked cider, of course), so bring the whole family.

Five Points Holiday Open House. Saturday, December 3, 6-9:30pm in East Nashville’s Five Points, free. Seventeen East Nashville businesses are offering drinks, munchies, sales, specials, freebies, crafts and events for the kiddos tonight in Five Points. Head to the source for a full list, which ranges from Eastside Cycles to Pied Piper Creamery to the Art & Invention Gallery (swing in there for their 10th annual Holiday Art Show).

Preds vs. Sabres. Saturday, December 3, 7pm at Bridgestone Arena, tickets start at $25. Had enough with the holiday this, holiday that? Head to the Bridgestone Arena to see the Preds play their first home game since before Thanksgiving. They’re coming off an impressive win in Vancouver, and we’re fired up to see them destroy the Sabres.

Photo by Denise Mattox.

It’s a fine weekend in Nashville. Beautiful crisp fall weather and lots of things to do. Here are our top picks for the weekend:

Edgehill Village Artisan Fair. Saturday, October 22 in Edgehill Village, 10am-5pm, free. 50+ vendors and lots of festivities make this the perfect event to hit up on a crisp fall day. Read more here.

Grizzlies Red Dress Rampage. Saturday, October 22 at Belcourt Theatre, 12pm, $40. Ladies (and especially gents), put on your best red dresses and head to the Belcourt, where your $40 registration fee gets you a Yazoo beer at each of the five stops along this different sort of pub crawl/fun run. Stops at the Belcourt, ChaChah, PM, 12 South Taproom and Cabana. Registration starts at 10:30am.

Ghost Story Festival & Haunted Museum. Saturday, October 22 at Tennessee State Museum from 12-4pm, free. Follow a “ghost trail” through the Tennessee State Museum at this free annual event. Prizes, crafts, refreshments and spooky history.

The Big Nashty. Saturday, October 22 at 550 South Tunnel Road in Gallatin, TN. 12pm-3am Sunday, $20. Who doesn’t like a scrappy startup music festival? Two stages, lots of local music until the wee hours of the night, food trucks and more. Camping is encouraged, and we’re not sure why since it’s only one day. But hey!

Music City Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony. Saturday, October 22 at Walk of Fame Park, 1pm, free. Peter Frampton will be the newest star on the walk, and the ceremony is free and open to the public.

Musician’s Corner. Saturday, October 22 at Centennial Park, 3-5pm, free. Musician’s Corner is quickly winding to a close, with only three weeks left before they pack it in for the year. This week’s lineup features Matt Giraud, Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes, Coal Train Railroad, Heather Bond Trio, Felicia Barton, Micah Dalton and Melissa Fuller.

A School Uni-Formal. Saturday, October 22 at Old Made Good (1304 McGavock Pike), 8-10pm, suggested $10 donation. An “old school” party at Old Made Good benefitting a fine cause – the THRIVE Youth Development Program. Free beer and snacks, a raffle and a costume contest (dress as your best jock, nerd, lunch lady, or band geek to participate). C’mon… it’s for the kids.

Grassy Knoll Movie Night & Neighborhood Fall Festival. Sunday, October 23 in the side lot beside Bongo Java East, 4-6pm festival, sundown movie, $5. The star of the final Grassy Knoll Movie Night is Poltergeist, and there will be a neighborhood fall festival before the film. Read more here!

Photo by antirealism.

It’s no secret that your Nashvillest editors have bought into the food truck craze hook, line and sinker. And if our favorite trucks want to get together and serve up delicious eats in one spot every week and donate part of their proceeds to a fantastic nonprofit, we just can’t pass that up.

On the heels of the smashingly successful Food Truck Tuesdays benefitting Second Harvest Food Bank in Metro Center comes Food Truck Fridays at the YWCA on Woodmont Boulevard. Every Friday, a rotating lineup of Nashville’s finest food trucks wheel themselves into the YWCA’s spacious parking lot from 11am to 2pm and give 10% of the day’s proceeds right back to the organization to help them provide services focused on empowering women and girls to get out of domestic violence situations.

Hungry yet? Head over to the YWCA for today’s Food Truck Friday featuring the Grilled Cheeserie, DegThai, Mere Bulles and Dixie Belle’s Cupcakes.

Food Truck Fridays at the YWCA, 1608 Woodmont Blvd, 11am-2pm.

Photo by Sarah Duffel.

Booze and Nashville: Basically our two favorite things to write about. TPAC will kick off year two of their “The Art of” series with “The Art of Jack Daniel’s” on Thursday, October 20. Jack’s Master Taster Jeff Norman will walk participants through a tasting of four of their signature whiskeys and explain the history, use and flavor profiles of each.

The series will continue with “The Art of Yazoo Brewery” on February 23 and “The Art of Corsair Distillery” on April 5. Tickets to all three events can be purchased for $75 total, or individually for $30 apiece.

“The Art of Jack Daniel’s,” Thursday, October 20 at 6pm at TPAC. $30 or $75 for the series of three events.

Send us an email saying you’re on a cross country “Goat Tour” and you’ve got our attention. The cleverly-named book tour by Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard will stop in Nashville on Wednesday, October 19 and Izard will sign copies of her new cookbook, “Girl In The Kitchen,” for those who preorder here. We learned a few months ago when the Top Chef Tour rolled through town that you people are passionate about your Top Chef, so here’s your chance to meet & greet one of the champs. Go forth!

In addition to winning Top Chef season 4, Stephanie Izard can claim a host of other accolades. Her Chicago restaurant, Girl & The Goat, landed her the cover of Saveur magazine and the title of America’s Best New Restaurant (she was also nominated for the 2011 James Beard Best New Restaurant Award). Food & Wine has named her one of their “Best New Chefs” and in a fun little Nashville tie-in, she is currently serving as the celebrity chef for CMT’s Artists of the Year television special, premiering December 13.

Stephanie Izard will sign at the Turnip Truck Urban Market on Wednesday, October 19 from 11:30am-1pm. Preorder Girl In The Kitchen HERE for admission.

Photo by jtwilson37209.

What’s the best way to keep from freezing in the cold month of December? Did you say “turn on the heat” or “a pile of blankets and a crackling fire in the fireplace”? Okay, so maybe you’re right, but we like to think that a stiff drink works just as well. Enter 12 South Winter Warmer, a new beer festival coming to 12 South’s Sevier Park on December 10. An outdoor beer festival in December may seem a little strange, but we bet attendees will be toasty warm after tossing back a beer or ten.

12 South Winter Warmer will showcase the finest stouts, porters, barley wines, winter seasonals and barrel-aged beers from 25 craft breweries, both visiting and local. Food & treats from 12 South Taproom, Burger Up, Jonbalaya Catering, Begley’s Brats & Dogs, Olive & Sinclair and The Bloomy Rind will be available for purchase to soak up some of that booze sloshing around in your belly. Tickets go on sale tomorrow, and you’d better get them fast! The fest can only accommodate 750 people, and you can be sure it will sell out.

UPDATE: Whoa! Tickets sold out in just a few hours. We told you to get them fast.

12 South Winter Warmer, December 10 in Sevier Park, 11am-4pm, $45. Tickets can be purchased here beginning Friday, October 13. Strictly 21+.

Ever since Nashville’s first Chuy’s opened in Cool Springs back in 2009, we haven’t been able to shake our craving for that weirdly addictive creamy jalapeño sauce that hits us every single week. Oh, and the margaritas! And the burritos! And the Elvis shrine! And… and… ! Lucky for us, Chuy’s has moved into midtown, swinging wide its Texas-sized doors tomorrow and welcoming the masses. Just follow your nose (or a map) to 19th and Broadway and probably prepare to wait a while, as every Texan transplant within a 300-mile radius will probably be pouring into the place at once. If the other two Nashville Chuy’s are any indication, the happiest of happy hours will happen Monday through Friday from 4 to 7 PM with margarita and beer specials and, best of all, a free nacho bar. Check out the menu ahead of time and plan your strategy! And save us some creamy jalapeño sauce, will ya?

Chuy’s Midtown location opens Tuesday, October 11 at 19th and Broadway. 11am-10:30pm Sunday -Thursday, 11am-11pm Friday-Saturday.

Photo by BrtinBoston.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the superbly creative team behind The Patterson House took their fresh, hand-crafted approach to cocktails and applied it to food? We have, and we’re about to find out. The Catbird Seat, located above The Patterson House at 1711 Division Street, opens on Wednesday, October 12. The Catbird Seat will accommodate just 30 diners a night at a large, U-shaped table with their critically-acclaimed chefs at the center, serving each diner a seven-course meal from seasonal, local (like… from the backyard local) ingredients. The unique dining experience will set you back $100 per person plus tax and a tip (and an extra $30 a person for drink pairings). Reservations have been open for a few weeks now, but to our surprise there were still a few spots open in October when we checked.

Checking out The Catbird Seat in the next few weeks? We’d love to hear from you in the comments, because let’s face it – our pockets aren’t exactly padded with that kind of cash. Still, we’re intrigued.

The Catbird Seat opens Wednesday, October 12 at 1711 Division Street. Reservations required.

Photo by The Catbird Seat.