This may come as a surprise to many, but here in the office, we like to hit the sauce. And we don't discriminate: Our sauce-love encompasses everything from Mr. Night's rum-fueled Editorial Jamborees to the addictive queso from Qdoba ("I want to eat my Qweight in it," opines a staffer who spoke on the condition of anonymity). So you'd better believe we love Sauce Magazine (www.saucecafe.com), a yummy guide to food and drink in St. Louis. Join us from 3 to 11 p.m. for the mag's first annual Sauce in the City event (www.citysauce.com), held at Soldiers Memorial Park at North Tucker Boulevard and Chestnut Street. There, you can boogie to beats (such as those laid down by the Dogtown Allstars), entertain the kids at the South City Open Studio and Gallery-sponsored art area (there's painting, collage-creating, even crown-making) and bid on the collaborative work of twelve local artists (they'll be painting on the spot!). And, of course, there's the food: topnotch noshes ($1 to $5 per sampling) from restaurants like Tanner B's, Momos, Espino's Mexican Bar & Grill and Eleven Eleven Mississippi. Wash it all down with soda ($2), Schlafly suds ($4) or vino from four Missouri wineries ($4). Tickets are just $7 at the gate ($5 in advance; call 314-534-1111 or visit www.metrotix.com). Kids younger than ten are admitted for free. -- Brooke Foster
Get Jaded
SLUMA features Chinese jade
Few works of art can withstand the test of time. Sure, paintings like the Mona Lisa have been around 500 years, but no one knows how long her smile will last. However, Chinese jade artifacts have a much better chance of holding up far into the future, and it is through works like Yaoche (pictured) that we can peek back into the artistic history of a faraway culture. To learn more about the jade creative endeavors of the Chinese, venture not to another continent but to the Saint Louis University Museum of Art (in O'Donnell Hall, 3663 Lindell Boulevard; 314-977-3399 or sluma.slu.edu). There, beginning with an opening reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, August 26, you'll find Treasured Jade: The Ronald S. Poe and Linda Laspe Poe Collection of Chinese Jade. And while the nearly 200 pieces that make up this show will exist for many years to come, this exhibit lasts only until December 11. -- Alison Sieloff
Chili, Beer and Verse
Richard Newman's Borrowed Towns
SAT 8/27
Condensing a lifetime into a moment, communicating a hard-won realization through a few hard-carved lines: That's poetry. Richard Newman has made poetry his life's mission, both in his editorship at River Styx magazine and in his own work. No ruffled shirts or swooning ladies spill from the pages of his new collection, Borrowed Towns. Instead, you get the younger version of Newman wondering if his deceased grandfather will be buried with dentures in or "If they'd stay in that bathroom jar, magnified forever to the size of horse teeth," even as he comes face to face with his grieving father in "Grampa's Liquor Bottles." Layers of callowness, astute observation, truth and tough humor are Newman's poetry. He celebrates his new book with a free reading at 7:30 p.m. at Dressel's Pub (419 North Euclid Avenue; 314-533-4541), and beer and chili are part of the evening. Make yourself at home, and pick up a book. -- Paul Friswold
A Lot of Fun
SAT 8/27
This weekend, you can absolve yourself of the paralyzing guilt you feel for never hearing local bands play anymore. That's right: After going to the Lot, Metropolis St. Louis' (www.mstl.org) annual free concert in the parking lot of the Schlafly Tap Room (2100 Locust Street), you can shed that cloak of shame! The fest runs from 6:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. and starts out with the Ded Bugs, finishes off with Riddle of Steel and includes four other local bands, acoustic musicians, belly dancers, street performers and glass blowers. Now, that's a Lot of guilt-free local fun! -- Alison Sieloff
