Coffee & Beer Competition; GOOP's Top LA Food Trucks

CHICAGO— Earlier this summer, Uppers & Downers (an ongoing event collaboration by beer blog Good Beer Hunting and Intelligentsia Coffee ) announced an ongoing series of events that specifically focus on coffee beer. And the booze-drinking can finally begin soon: The upcoming August 6 session focus on extracting coffee for the purposes of home brewing, while the fruits of participants' labor come to a head on August 29, during the home-brew competition where an ultimate winner is crowned. More information here. [EaterWire]

LOS ANGELES— Self-proclaimed arbiter of good taste Gwenyth Paltrow has unleashed an "LA Food Truck Guide" as part of her newest GOOP newsletter, naming her Top 13 trucks in the city. Among them: Coolhaus, Kogi, and Street Kitchen, where "the menu here is more of an encyclopedia — and the dishes are equally rich." Back in February, Paltrow revealed her list of Top 13 LA restaurants, calling them "the GP13." [GOOP]

NEW ORLEANS— The Museum of the American Cocktail will hold a hybrid fundraiser and "cocktail extravaganza" on Monday, July 14, with two dozen New Orleans bartenders lending their skills to help raise money for the new museum space. (The MOTAC, which debuted in 2008, will re-open later this year as part of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.) More information here. [EaterWire]