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Yum of the Irish Marin’s St. Paddy’s Day cuisine is a pot ’o gold, lads and lassies! by Pat Fu sco
CELEBRATIONS FOR ALL There’s more to St. Pat’s Day than green beer, especially in Marin where celebrating starts early. Barbecued chicken, for instance, is the draw at the annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival in Point Reyes Station (March 13, noon-4pm), a coastal custom. Folks of all ages gather at the Dance Palace for chicken dinners (pasta, too), salad and dessert; wine and beer are available for purchase. The fun includes a raffle with cash prizes, games and a downhome bake sale. Tickets, available at the door, are $18, $7 for kids... Special sweets for the saint’s day will be in good supply. SusieCakes in Greenbrae offers cookies and cupcakes frosted and decorated in green and white, a butter-toffee whiskey cream pie and St. Patty’s breakfast cake—brown butter/ oatmeal cake flavored with Irish whiskey and frosted with Irish coffee buttercream; 415/461-2253. Even the Italians will be getting into the spirit with bigne Irlandese (Irish cream puffs) from Emporio Rulli in Larkspur. These are four-leaf-clover-shaped cream puffs with a filling of Chantilly creme, dark chocolate bits and creme de menthesoaked ladyfingers; 415/924-7478... For traditional mayhem, head to Moylan’s Brewery & Restaurant in Novato on March 17 where all through the day you’ll find Irish stew, corned beef and cabbage, bagpipers and lots of brew; 415/898-HOPS. ANOTHER SAINT TO APPRECIATE March is the month when the feast of St. Giuseppe is observed, a day of indulgence in the middle of Lenten dieting. He’s the patron saint of families, the needy, the homeless— and pastry cooks. Heidi Krahling of Insalata’s in San Anselmo pays traditional homage with Saint Joseph’s Table, a huge feast created especially for families. It will take place March 20 with a buffet starring appetizers, seafood, roast meat, pasta and a separate extravagant dessert buffet of sweets. Service is 5-9pm; cost is $42 for adults, $15 for children under 12. Proceeds from the meal will be shared by St. Anselm’s Adopt-A-Family program and the Adopt-A-Family organization. Reservations are highly recommended for this popular festa; 415/457-7700. GEAR UP FOR SPRING You can see signs of the change of seasons in West Marin and The Fork at Point Reyes Farmstead is ready with its new schedule of farm-to-table events. Coming up March 18 (10:30am2:30pm) is Perfect Pairings for Spring with chef Jill Silverman Hough. An author and teacher (Copia, other cooking schools), Hough has written two books on pairing wine and foods. She will prepare dishes like
Homegrown Marin Market—where fine cuisine meets quality fencing instruction.
a perfect cheese course, duck breast with Cabernet sauce and Meyer lemon pudding cakes. After a tour of the farm and the cheesemaking facilities, students will have a guided cheese tasting and then class, followed by lunch. Cost is $75 per person; reserve by phone only at 800/591-6878. The full spring schedule is available at www. theforkatpointreyes.com. TREAT THOSE TASTE BUDS The monthly Homegrown Marin Market takes place this week (March 13, 11am5pm), a pop-up in the light-filled street level space at Marin Fencing Academy, 827 Fourth St., San Rafael. This venture is a launch pad for wannabe entrepreneurs in the food business, cooks from around the Bay Area who come together to showcase their goods. Many of them are passionate home cooks eager to test marketing skills. With ready-to-eat prepared foods and products to take home they provide a look at what’s newest on the scene. Admission for shoppers is a $5 membership at the door; for a $1 discount and more details go to www.homegrownmarinmarket.com. ROLL OUT THE WELCOME MAT Another Indian restaurant has joined the downtown dining roster in Novato. Batika India Bistro is situated in the spot vacated by Portelli Rossi (868 Grant Ave.), bright with ethnic decor. Chef Anil Shahu offers cuisine influenced by the coastal cooking of Kerala, featuring seafood along with lamb and chicken. There are interesting selections for vegetarians (look for combo side dishes) and eight breads on the menu. Open daily, Batika serves a lunch buffet (11:30am-2:30pm) and dinner (5-10pm); a special Champagne brunch on the weekend is a bargain at $8.95; 415/895-5757. ✹ Contact Pat at patfusco@sonic.net.
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FRIDAY, MARCH 11 Preseason Baseball The Giants are up against the Padres, and your high expectations. NBC. 6pm. Smallville Clark finds himself in a parallel universe where he was raised by Lionel Luthor instead of the Kents. It sounds like a less boring option.The Kents always looked like the kind of people who vacationed at Wal-Mart. CW. 8pm. City Limits Fishing A new fishing show in which the host sets out to catch fish within the city limits of major cities. It’s just like fishing anywhere else but the fish have tattoos and liberal arts degrees. Versus. 8pm. CSI: NY Investigators search for a suspect in the murder of a private school student.We’d start with the parents of kids on the waiting list. CBS. 9pm.
by Rick Polito
MONDAY, MARCH 14 Wedding Wars These are engaged couples competing to win an elaborate wedding celebration. It’s really more “Wedding Battles.”The war doesn’t come until the in-laws start arguing about the seating chart. MTV. 9pm. Harry’s Law A man locks his wife in the basement to keep her from cheating on him and authorities have to decide whether it’s a crime or an idea for a really cool reality show! NBC. 10pm. The Bachelor: After the Final Rose The fact that these couples never actually stay together is a good thing. If they did stay together, it wouldn’t be a show as much as a breeding program. ABC. 10pm.
SATURDAY, MARCH 12 7 Things to Do Before I’m 30 A woman approaching the dreaded milestone devises a list of experiences she hopes will help define TUESDAY, MARCH 15 her youth. We had a list like Real Housewives of that. Our probation officer Orange County It should still has a copy. (2008) Lifebe noted that they are casttime. 6pm. ing for a“Real Housewives Doin’ it their way, Saturday at 7. Laverne & Shirley Maraof San Francisco”edition. thon Has your Saturday It’s going to be just like all the other versions, night really come to this? KOFY TV 20. 7pm. but halfway through the season everybody Star Trek: First Contact Captain Picard and moves to Mill Valley. Bravo. 8pm. his crew go back in time to stop the Borg Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmerman from destroying Earth, arriving in the year Is“snake bile”really a bizarre food? They serve 2063 to find humans living a post-industrial it on Fox News every night. Travel Channel. existence that looks suspiciously like the 9pm. parking lot at a Grateful Dead show. ApparDetroit 1-8-7 When a graffiti artist is murently, these people have survived some sort dered, investigators must first determine if of global war and their Birkenstocks survived graffiti is art or vandalism, and if it is art, what with them. (1996) SyFy. 7pm. does it mean about man’s impermanence in an urban universe of isolation and existenSUNDAY, MARCH 13 tial decay. ABC. 10pm. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back What does R2-D2 do when WEDNESDAY, he gets to a stairway? MARCH 16 AmeriAnd do the humans can Idol The finalists. and the aliens use the You can start picking same restrooms? Are Trying to find the elevator... Sunday, 6:15pm. which one to hate there different kinds of now. Fox. 8pm. toilets? What was Jabba the Hut’s early crimi- Beverly Hills Chihuahua II In the sequel, nal career like? Was he buff and then he just Chloe gives birth to a litter. And, because this let himself go? Because it’s hard to imagine is Beverly Hills, she is immediately scheduled him making a fast getaway. (1980) Spike TV. for a tummy tuck. (2011) ABC Family. 9pm. 6:15pm. Celebrity Apprentice The teams are supTHURSDAY, MARCH 17 Blonde vs. Bear posed to write children’s books.We like that We’re betting on the bear. Unless it involves one where Donald Trump hides under the shopping. Animal Planet. 7pm. bridge and scares billy goats but then the Modern Marvels A look at the phenomthird billy goat turns out to be an SEC investienon of“supersized food”and whether there gator. NBC. 9pm. is a link with the supersized people we keep The Core When the earth is wracked by a seeing at the mall. History Channel. 8pm. series of disastrous earthquakes and tectonic Bones The forensics team tries to solve a anomalies, a team of scientists learns the murder during a blackout.There is some planet’s core has stopped spinning; they put great game show potential here. Fox. 9pm. ✹ together a plan to venture deep into the Critique That TV Guy at letters@pacificsun.com. earth to restart it, constructing a high-tech rock capsule, and a really long pair of jumper Turn on more TV Guy at cables. (2003) SyFy. 9pm. ›› pacificsun.com MARCH 11 - MARCH 17, 2011 PACIFIC SUN 19