CELEBRATE
Memphis, Tennessee
Elvis Week is a wild one this year to mark the 30th anniversary of the King’s death
Including the first Elvis tribute artist contest, in which look- and sound-alikes will compete to be named Ultimate Elvis of 2007, to the Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Peppers Market, the Memphis Meetup, the Graceland Scavenger Hunt, an art show that guarantees much velvet and the annual Candlelight Vigil that begins the night before the anniversary of his death on Aug. 16, this shindig promises to be the Love Me Tenderest Elvis Week ever, Aug. 11-19. Visit website for events, times and prices. Elvis Week, various venues around Memphis and at Graceland,
DINE
Austin, Texas
Hut’s offers burger heaven on a bun with old-fashioned flair in a funky space
If you want a hamburger from Hut’s – and trust us, you do – wait until late afternoon and avoid the crush of people who have been crowding into this funky space since 1939, when it first opened its doors as Sammie’s Drive-In. The dining room was added eight years later, and it pretty much looks it. Never mind. All you care about here is maybe an old-fashioned chocolate malt and one of the 20 burger variations. This being Austin, some are named for entertainers – the Fats Domino (lettuce, chopped tomato, pickles, mayo, mustard, japaleños, onions, grated cheddar and spicy New Orleans seasonings); the Wolfman Jack (sour cream, green chiles, jack cheese and bacon); the Ritchie Valens (guacamole, grated cheese, chopped tomatoes, onions, jalapeños, mayo and mustard) – you get the point. You might want a side of peppered onion rings for an additional $1.95. There’s even “veg-out Monday,” when you can have two veggie burgers for the price of one. Ah, Austin. Hut’s, 807 W. Sixth St., 512-472-0693
DINE
Charleston, South Carolina
Slightly North of Broad brings updated Low Country combinations downtown
This temple to contemporary Low Country cuisine – note the SNOB acronym – does for New South cooking what Santa Fe’s Coyote Cafe did for the Southwest kitchen, injecting imagination and vigor into traditional dishes. Housed in a converted brick warehouse in downtown Charleston, this maverick restaurant offers stunning food: flounder stuffed with deviled crab; ahi topped with South Carolina-style mustard barbecue sauce, excellent pan-fried chicken and crab cakes. Don’t miss the revelatory shrimp and grits, seasoned with tasso ham and decked with shrimp, sea scallops and housemade andouille sausage. Open for lunch and dinner. Slightly North of Broad, 192 E. Bay St., 843-723-3424
LISTEN
La Jolla, California
SummerFest 2007 celebrates revered composers, modern-day masterworks
La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest 2007: “Bach, Beethoven … and Beyond” will feature more than 70 artists and ensembles performing 16 concerts Aug. 3-26 at two venues, the Sherwood Auditorium in the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla and the Stephen and Mary Birch North Park Theatre in San Diego. There will be three evenings dedicated to Beethoven, an American Classics evening of Gershwin, Copland and Barber, and the West Coast premiere of two newly commissioned works by resident composers Joan Tower and Marc Neikrug. Visit the website for schedules, venues and ticket prices. La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest 2007,
– Denver Post staff and wire reports
