Chef And Menu Report: Week Of 9/28/14

Falmouth, Mass.
Oceanfront restaurant Red's Restaurant & Lounge at Sea Crest Beach Hotel has kicked off the season with daily specials and a menu highlighting fall's freshest local ingredients for Cape Cod Restaurant Week, running October 13 to 19.

Red's Signature Specials are available from 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Friday, unless otherwise specified, and include warm tortilla chips, house made pico de gallo, and guacamole for just $2 per person on Sundays (from 12 to 9 p.m.); Red's famous all-you-can-eat Prince Edward Water Mussels, which are sautéed with shallots, garlic, and basil leaves, and served in a white wine and herb butter sauce at $10 per person will be available on Monday nights; on Tuesdays, diners who order any of Red's signature burgers can get a second burger for $2; Wednesday nights' special is Red's $2 line caught fish taco; The restaurant's home brewed root beer floats with vanilla bean ice cream is $2 on Thursday evenings, and finally, diners can celebrate the end of the work week on Friday nights with $1 local oysters on the half shell

New York
Beginning today through October 13, the Meatpacking District Improvement Association will host the inaugural Tour de Champagne, its first ever ten-day celebration of Champagne. Enjoy classic pairings like champagne and oysters at Bakehouse; become a champagne expert with an in-depth class led by master sommelier and co-founder of Corkbuzz, Laura Maniec, or experience this season's finest ingredients accompanied by the perfect champagne at Monday's with Jesse, an intimate 10-course tasting with Recette's Jesse Schenker. Additional events include a champagne tasting on the Hornblower, and a Champagne and wine class at the Xavier Wine Company, hosted by a Moët & Chandon master sommelier.

David Burke fabrick will launch its brand new brunch menu this Saturday, October 4. Under the direction of executive chef Adin Langille, the brunch menu will feature a blend of modern brunch classics and whimsical original dishes such as French toast nuggets with maple bourbon dipping sauce; lobster BLT steamed buns with old bay aioli, tarragon, bacon, and fries, and angry egg tacos with chorizo and caramelized onions. Brunch will be served every Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Chef David Waltuck and co-owner George Stinson lunched service at élan yesterday, October 2. Served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, the menu includes items like sea urchin guacamole with taro chips; a country pate sandwich with cornichons, pickled onions, and coarse mustard; seared tea smoked salmon with tamarind vadouvan, and autumn squash risotto with red cooked pork belly.

Chef and partner of Luoro, David Santos has been asked by diners "What do you eat on your day off?" so often that for his next Nossa Mesa supper club dinner on Monday, October 6 at 7 p.m., he has crafted a menu full of ingredients and dishes chefs crave. As Santos puts it, "You can only eat truffles and foie gras so many times." The six-course What Chefs Crave menu includes a poached duck egg with morcilla and potato hash, and chilled kimchi ramen with fried pork belly. The full menu ($55) is available below and online.

Upcoming Nossa Mesa supper club dinners in October include:

October 13: New World Ingredients dinner inspired by Christopher Columbus' journey to the New World and ingredients discovered here

October 20: Think Local (Seafood) – celebrating fall with local seafood and seafood ingredients

October 27: Dante's Inferno dinner just in time for Halloween; things get freaky with a menu inspired by scary classic books.

Pig & Khao is turning two this October and to celebrate they are hosting an adult carnival featuring a magician, a face painting and balloon-animal making clown, a tarot card reader, carnival games and prizes, DJ sets, popcorn and cotton candy machines and more. A $40 ticket gets you access to all of the above plus unlimited sucking pig lechon, sides, and drinks from an open bar. Besides whole suckling pig cooked lechón-style, the menu includes all-you-can-eat sticky wings and savory Vietnamese meatballs, lumpia (spring rolls), and Brussels sprouts

Charleston
Lowcountry classics with a gourmet spin is what's on the menu when award-winning chefs descend on the Southern Ground Music & Food Festival in on October 11 and 12. Chef RJ Cooper of Rogue 24 and Gypsy Soul will serve frogmore stew with redfish cheeks, rouille, and a shellfish broth, and Southern Ground executive chef Rusty Hamlin will present corned beef brisket in a horseradish mustard glaze. These are just a few of the dishes food-lovers can look forward to between live country and bluegrass performances at the festival.

Houston
Beer aficionados don't need to travel to Munich to celebrate Oktoberfest, as Houston is doing commemorating the festival American-style:

• Big Brew Houston, a three-day beer and food event, will run from October 23 to 25 and will feature 1,000 brews, tastings, beer and food pairings, cuisine from 40 local restaurants, and more.
• Head over to Karbach Brewing Co., where craft brews with fun names like "Sympathy for the Lager" and "Weisse Versa Wheat" are waiting to be discovered.
• For a cold one that is "unapologetically Houston," check out Buffalo Bayou Brewery. Even the flagship beer, "1836," is named after the year Houston was founded.
• Take a seat at the "community" table inside The Hay Merchant, where eighty craft beers are on tap at any given time and are being served alongside unique tavern food like meat chips and sweet and spicy pig ears.

Huntington Beach, Ca.
As fall approaches and thoughts of holiday dinners come to mind, the Watertable is launching Sunday Suppers – the latest actualization of the restaurants mantra of offering "West Coast comfort food with attitude." The "Meat+Three" gathering kicks off this Sunday with a seasonal four-course menu of appetizers to share like Spanish paprika deviled eggs, entrees such as gorgonzola walnut ravioli with sage brown butter, autumn succotash and other sides for the table, dessert like a cherry and pear cobbler, and endless rosemary cheddar biscuits.

Rutherfod, CA.
This October, in a special celebration of Relais & Chateaux's 60th anniversary, Korean cuisine will meet French gastronomy at Auberge du Soleil. The Napa Valley icon will host Relais & Chateaux grand chef Kyoung-Wong Park of the Relais & Chateaux Si-Wha-Dam in Seoul, Korea, for a culinary collaboration with executive chef Robert Curry, bringing together the spirit of Seoul with French and Californian cuisine for three nights of five course dinners.

From October 21 to October 24, there will be nightly seatings from 5:30- to 9 p.m. There will also be a lunch served on October 21. Two courses will be prepared by each chef and with dessert blending both cuisines presented by executive pastry chef Paul Lemieux. Reservations are available now by calling Auberge du Soleil.

Kate Kolenda is the Restaurant/City Guide Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @BeefWerky and @theconversant.