Fabulous Fish, Tribute to Pork, Julia Child Celebration, and More

Wild Nunavat artic char. (Photo courtesy of Nunavut Development Corporation/Shannon George Photography)

The season is nearing its end for this year’s catch of wild Nunavut artic char. But you can experience this rich, complex tasting fish at a special dinner at Waterbar in San Francisco on Aug. 31.

The fish comes from Nunavut, Canada, near the Artic Circle. As you can imagine, the waters there are as pristine as can be, resulting in fish of incomparable quality.

For generations, the Inuit community there has caught the fish using traditional methods. To support the fishing community there, high-end restaurants across the country have started serving the fish. They include Daniel, Per Se, and Le Berndardin, all in New York.

Waterbar’s three-course dinner is $125 per person. It will feature the fish in spicy spring rolls, hot smoked over cedar, and baked with Pinot Noir gastrique.

To commemorate the late-Julia Child’s birthday on Aug. 20, Kepler’s book store in Menlo Park will host an open house, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m..

Champagne and cake will be served. All cookbooks also will be on sale for 20 percent off, and prizes will be raffled off.

To honor Julia’s birthday and the opening of the flick, “Julie & Julia,” the Grand Cafe in San Francisco will serve one of her iconic dishes, Beouf Bourguignon for half off during the month of August.

The special price of $13.50 is available at lunch or dinner. Just show your theater ticket stub to get the discounted price.

If you’re in an especially porky mood, you’ll want to head to Nob Hill Grille in San Francisco, Aug. 25 and Aug. 26, for a “Tribute to Pork.”

The four-course dinner is $40 per person. Wine pairings are an additional $15.

Dishes will include crispy braised pork belly with oyster mushroom risotto; and suckling pig roasted with rosemary, fresh lavender, and pork reduction.

The inaugural San Francisco Street Food Festival is coming up Aug. 22. Folsom Street, between 25th and 26th streets, will be transformed into a cornucopia of street food vendors offering specialties, none of which will be priced higher than $10.

Among those hawking tasty morsels will be Delfina, El Buen Corner, Heaven’s Dog, and Zella’s Soulful Kitchen.

Starting today at 10 a.m., the festival’s silent auction gets going. From now until 8 p.m. Aug. 27, bid on such spectacular goodies as “Chef for a Day at Chez Panisse,” and “San Francisco Culinary Tour with Absinthe Chef Jamie Lauren.”

Sent Sovi in Saratoga hosts its second annual “Heirloom Tomato Dinner,” Aug. 27.

The five-course dinner is $95 per person. Dishes include gazpacho of Early Girl tomatoes in three preparations, and “beef and beefsteak tomatoes.”

Restaurant James Randall in Los Gatos will be the venue for a “Santa Cruz Mountains Winemaker Dinner,” Aug. 25.

Wine from local winemakers will compliment a six-course dinner that’s $85 per person.

After watching all those culinary reality shows, do you think you have what it takes to compete in a major cook-off?

Then LG Electronics USA and “Bon Appetit” magazine want you to enter “Taste of Something Better,” a nationwide recipe contest and cooking competition for amateur cooks.

Those with the best original recipes will challenge each other in a cook-off in New York in September. The winner of that challenge will go on to compete in the global contest in Thailand in November.

Grand prize for the nationwide contest is a trip for two to Thailand to compete in the global competition, a premium LG kitchen for your home, and $1,000 to enjoy on your New York trip.

Entry deadline is Aug. 31.

Print This Post



7 comments

  • All sorts of fun stuff going on. We went to the Julie and Julia movie on August 15 – Julia’s birthday,and coincidently enough also hubby’s. The Balboa theater, where we saw the movie was having a cake competition, anyone who brought in a cake got to sample. My mother-law brought in a cake but it was certainly a party atmosphere after the movie with everyone sampling cakes. I have to say, I think my MIL’s sweet Marsala cake was the best!

  • I had arctic char at Bar Crudo on Saturday. Fabulous stuff.

  • What delicious options for the week. Lovely celebrations…

  • OysterCulture: How fun that they had all those cakes at the theater to commemorate Julia Child’s birthday. I bet your mother-in-law’s sweet marsala cake was a winner. I love marsala in cakes — makes them so moist and just a little bit sinful. 😉

  • I have to look for some arctic char while it’s still in season, love it! Wegmans has about five different kinds of wild salmon but not arctic char, I have to go to Whole Foods and try my luck there.

  • Agh! I am going to miss all this by the time I get to SF. =( Wait for me!!!!

  • I made Boeuf Bourguignon for my husbands birthday dinner…Julia wasn’t kidding when she said to use all of your pots and pans. I had to! A nice Pinot Noir was a nice pairing.

    Thanks for these updates on events…and the fish sounds delish!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *