Best of Hot Dish: March 8-12, 2010

Aidan Jones/Flickr

You going anywhere for "Fork the Fire" on Sunday? The number of local restaurants participating in the event to benefit those affected by the fire that destroyed Heidi's and Blackbird a few weeks ago has crept up to over 80! Isn't that awesome? If you haven't booked a table yet, get on that yo! Bar La Grassa, Birchwood, Barbette, Brasa, Bryant Lake Bowl ... and those are just the B's (and not even all of them)! Each restaurant is doing its own thing to help the cause. Call ahead if you're wanting more details. Bide your time until then checking out our favorite Hot Dish posts from this week:

• Rob Barrett makes us hungry, very hungry for some coconut-crusted shrimp.
• Michelle Leon makes us thirsty, very thirsty for rosemary-and-orange-infused gin.
• Leprechaun legs and bacon and cheese-covered fries join classics like corned beef and soda bread around town this St. Patty's Day.
• Dugout Dogs and Dinger Dogs are just two of the new hot dogs that will be available starting next month for Twins games at Target Field.
• When it comes to Oreo ice cream, are you a traditionalist or more experimental? This week's Food Fight helps you find out.

Happy weekend, peeps!