Frank Sabatini Jr. | Downtown News
The much-anticipated art exhibition, Feast: The Art of Playing with Your Food, opens at noon Oct. 13 in The New Children’s Museum. Visitors of all ages can whet their appetites on three floors of food-inspired installations that include an orange grove, kid-sized food trucks and a large bulbous-food jumpy. All of the artworks, many of them interactive, will focus on food as it pertains to health, environment, agriculture and sourcing. The event is free and runs through September of 2014. 200 W. Island Ave., 619-997-3918.
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Local breweries and food trucks will converge at Silo in the East Village from 3 to 7 p.m., October 19, for “Craft Beer + Bites” to benefit the San Diego Brewers Guild. The event is hosted by San Diego State University’s College of Extended Studies Business for Craft Beer Program. Admission is $35, which includes five six-ounce beer pours paired with five sample dishes from the food trucks. Food plates afterwards are $3 apiece. The suds will be dispensed by AleSmith, On-the-Tracks and BNS Brewing and Distillation Company. 753 15th St., 619-702-5655.
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Simon Dolinky, the newest chef at W San Diego, is teaming up with Don Julio for a four-course tequila dinner at 7 p.m., Oct. 25. The event will be held at the hotel’s ground-floor restaurant, Kelvin, which underwent remodeling as part of a $5 million renovation to the property last year. Dolinky, lauded for his global kitchen experience, arrived to Kelvin in August after working at Saltbox. The cost is $60 per person, plus tax and gratuity. 421 West B St., 619-398-3082.
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This year’s “game changer” burger series at Burger Lounge begins Oct. 1 with grass-fed bison patties served with bleu cheese, pickled onions and garlic aioli. The seasonal lineup changes every two months, continuing with wild boar burgers offered throughout December and January, followed by grass-fed elk burgers appearing on the menu during the months of February and March. The locally-based company has seven locations in San Diego, including one in the Gaslamp District at 528 Fifth Ave., and another in Little Italy at 1608 India St.
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Chef Aron Schwartz of Marina Kitchen has launched a series of intimate, wine dinners that cater to 12 customers from 6 to 9 p.m. every Saturday. Guests begin with freshly sliced charcuterie, followed by five courses comprising sustainable proteins and locally sourced organics. Marina’s Advanced Sommelier Josh Orr will oversee the wine pairings with selections from the restaurant’s award-winning wine list. The cost is $80 per person. In addition, Schwartz has added a couple of new smoked-meat dishes to his regular dinner menu such as brisket with peach barbecue sauce and New York strip with roasted steak fries. 333 W. Harbor Drive, 619-699-8222.
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Those who insist that Italian food isn’t as good outside of New York City and San Francisco are all wrong. With an ever-growing number of noteworthy pasta kitchens in San Diego, there is Davanti Enoteca, which recently made the list for “America’s 20 best Italian restaurants” by the well-respected culinary blog, TheDailyMeal.com. The Little Italy restaurant, owned by Chicago restaurateur Scott Harris, shares the honors with places like Mario Batali’s Babbo in New York’s Greenwich Village and Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles. A panel of national food judges cited Davanti for its rustic ambiance, in-house wine shop and dishes such as the “fiendishly delicious” truffled egg toast. 1655 India St., 619-237-9606.
Frank Sabatini Jr can be reached at [email protected].
