Earlier this summer, the International Association of Culinary
Professionals (IACP) encouraged its membership to commemorate Julia Child`s
upcoming 85th birthday with fundraising celebrations. The IACP has created an
endowment in Child’s honor, providing scholarship opportunities for anyone pursuing a
career in the culinary arts. Individual, restaurant, and cooking school members were
encouraged to stage tribute events on or before Child’s August 15 birthday and donate a
portion of the proceeds to the endowment. Active local IACP member Tom
Gilliland of Fonda San Miguel (2330 W. North Loop, 459-4121) has scheduled a Mexican
Tribute to Julia Child on Tuesday, August 12. The four-course dinner menu will be
designed by consulting chef Roberto Santibanez and visiting chef Maria
Dolores Torres Yzabal, both of whom received culinary training at the Cordon Bleu de
Cuisine in Paris. Santibanez has been consulting at Fonda San Miguel since April and
his French/Mexican fusion-inspired dishes are popular special additions to the
restaurant’s fare. Senora Torres Yzabal is a noted cooking instructor in Mexico City and
author of The Mexican Gourmet with Shelton Wiseman. Tickets for the dinner
are $65; call 459-3401 for reservations. The two chefs will preview the menu in a
class at Central Market on Sunday, August 10. Make class reservations at
458-3068.
Many were sad to see Hyde Park Bakery close its doors in mid-July,
but a neighboring business has expanded its menu and hours to accommodate lost
souls. Dolce Vita (4222 Duval, 323-2686) is now open 7:30am-midnight and has
added a selection of sweet and savory pastries to its menu of espresso, cappucino,
desserts, gelatos, and sorbets. Several businesses are rumored to be interested in Hyde
Park’s great 43rd Street location, but there’s no word yet on whether or not the
bakery will reopen.
Chef/entrepreneur David Garrido has chosen Jackie Nothway as
chef for his new Fresh Planet Cafe. They are currently hard at work
developing fresh, light menu options for the cafe inside the Whole Foods flagship store
at Sixth & Lamar, as well as discussing the creation of a separate outside
entrance for customers not buying groceries. Look for Fresh Planet to open in mid- to late
August.
Two new downtown eateries have added lunch service, and one mid-town lunch
spot has added dinner. Fad� Irish Pub (214 W. Fourth St., 457-0172)
offers a menu of contemporary Irish cuisine, such as the hearty Irish Farmhouse
Salad ($6.95), with imported Irish farmhouse cheese on field greens with roasted potatoes,
portabello mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, boiled eggs, and pickled beets, and Boxty
($7.95), traditional Irish potato pancakes with a choice of fillings such as
saut�ed vegetables, basil chicken, or salmon with tomato and cream cheese. Hungry
Capitol-area lunch patrons have found their way to Bertram’s (1601 Guadalupe,
476-2743) for Miguel Ravago‘s Hispanic Texas food. Sample the Queso Asadso ($5)
with a choice of mushrooms, rajas, or chorizo and fresh corn tortillas or a Torta
($9) filled with pork tinga and feta cheese with beans and salad. Meanwhile,
Eddie Bernal and Tim Albright of 34th Street Cafe (1005 W. 34th,
371-3400) have quietly opened for dinner Tuesday thru Friday evenings until 9:30pm. The
new dinner menu has appetizers in the $5-8 range, their signature thin-crust
Tuscan pizzas, including one with local J*One*S venison sausage and goat cheese ($9.50), and
entrees from $12-17. The well-chosen and very affordable wine list features several
interesting vintages by both the bottle and the glass.
This article appears in August 1 • 1997 and August 1 • 1997 (Cover).