Restaurants Celebrating Julia Child's 100th Birthday
NoMI Lounge - Chicago
NoMI Lounge, located in the Park Hyatt Hotel in Chicago, is partaking in the JC100 celebrations by offering an exclusive three-course Julia Child-inspired menu. The meal begins with duck pâté atop toasted currant bread with sour cherry and a parsley salad. The main course is a veal dish with roasted wild mushrooms and caramelized onions, topped with a béchamel sauce and served beside ratatouille made with local ingredients. The meal is topped off with blackberry ice cream alongside vanilla custard and meringue.
Alison Eighteen - New York City
Alison Eighteen, a New York City eatery located on West 18th Street, joins the Julia Child celebration by crafting a special lunch and dinner menu offered August 8-15. Owner Alison Price Becker had met and served Julia Child at her former restaurant, Alison on Dominick, so she was eager to participate in the festivities. The lunch menu includes dishes like a rolled omelet with stuffed Provençal tomato and soup au pistou; and the dinner menu includes plates like roast chicken ratatouille and grilled aged sirloin with watercress, bordelaise sauce, and scalloped potatoes.
Bistro AIX - Jacksonville, Fla.
Bistro AIX, located in the San Marco District in Jacksonville, Fla., is going out on a limb with some exclusive Julia Child-inspired dishes. The establishment is offering a special a la carte menu for diners to choose from, which includes chicken liver pâté, vichyssoise, supremes de volaille archiduc, and bouillabaisse. This is the first time Bistro AIX is serving vichyssoise, and though they rarely make Bouillabaisse, when they do, it is always a guest favorite. Executive chef Tom Gray, like many renowned chefs, was directly inspired by Child when she spoke to his class at the Culinary Institute of New York. "She carried quite a presence," Gray said, according to Jacksonville.com. "She was very warm and friendly. You couldn't help but to be awestruck."
Brasserie JO - Boston, Mass.
Brasserie JO, one of Boston's finest farm-fresh French restaurants located at the Colonnade Hotel, is offering a special Julia Child-inspired prix fixe menu for $40.00 per person. Guests can try chicken liver pâté or braised sweetbreads with herbs, ham, and vermouth to start. Entrées include poulet au porto, a roasted chicken basted with port wine sauce and mushrooms; a mussels and shrimp dish braised with white wine sauce; and a sliced sirloin steak in red wine sauce, topped with fondant potatoes and haricot verts. Brasserie JO is also offering four Julia Child-inspired desserts, including her famous floating island treat. One lucky diner will win a copy of the chef's cookbook, Eiffel Tower Restaurant Cookbook: Capturing the Magic of Paris.
Café Patachou and Petit Chou – Indianapolis, Ind.
Café Patachou and Petit Chou are attempting the nearly impossible by replicating Julia Child's famous lardon and gruyère rolled omelet. Owner Martha Hoover and chefs Ivy Denman and Emily Kenworthy also honored Child by demonstrating how to pound and sear a chicken, deglaze and make a pan sauce, and create simple vinaigrette.
Emeril's - Multiple Locations
Chef Emeril Lagasse became fast friends with Julia Child when he appeared on her cooking show back in 1993. So it's no surprise that nine of his restaurants are participating in the Julia Child 100-year-birthday celebrations. The menu items at each location are unique, but all recipes are taken from one of Julia Child's cookbooks. Table 10, Lagasse's Las Vegas restaurant, even tells guests which book each dish came from. Click here to see all participating restaurants and their menus.
The Federal - Miami
Miami's Federal not only created a special menu inspired by Julia Child, but they are also giving back to what the great chef stood for. The prix fixe menu costs only $33, and an additional $2 will be donated to The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and Culinary Arts. The elaborate menu includes dishes like white asparagus with hollandaise, king trumpets, quail eggs, and olive crumble, a caramelized onion tart, and freshly shucked oysters with verjus mignonette and pastis pearls. For dessert? A whimsy Julia's Sweet.
JAR Restaurant - Los Angeles
Though JAR is a modern Los Angeles Chop House, owner Suzanne Tracht is honoring Julia Child with a prix fixe menu because she had a personal encounter with the beloved chef. "I was working as a chef at Campanile when Julia came in for lunch," notes Tracht on her web site. "I believe that it was Julia's 80th birthday. I had recently given birth to Max, my first child. He was only 7 weeks old and was visiting the same day that Julia was there so we were able to capture this celebration. That meeting always gives me inspiration when I'm cooking at Jar." The three-course menu includes a butter lettuce salad, garnished with breakfast radishes, parmesan, and topped with lemon garlic vinaigrette, the classic coq au vin, and JAR's signature chocolate pudding.
Marcel's - Washington D.C.
Marcel's in Washington D.C. is honoring Child by offering a special prix fixe dinner for two for just $85. All dishes are made from Julia Child's own recipes and the descriptions of each food sound delectable. Chef Paul Stearman cooks up a chicken (pictured) marinated with garlic, lemons, and herbs, stuffed with those ingredients, and roasted atop sliced onions. He also serves a gratin daphinoise, which is a baked casserole of potatoes, cream, garlic, butter, thyme, and Gruyere cheese. Marcel's is certainly making Julia Child proud.
Taix French Restaurant - Los Angeles
This Los Angeles establishment serves up French country cuisine on a daily basis in typical Julia Child fashion. To celebrate her great influence, Taix crafted a three-course menu encompassing some of Julia's most popular dishes. The meal begins with an amuse-bouche and is followed by soup du jour or salad and a choice of sole meuniere, beef bourguignon, or coq au vin. Lastly, in perfect Julia Child form, all diners are presented with floating islands for dessert.
Vertical Wine Bistro - Pasadena, Calif.
In honor of the Pasadena native, Vertical Wine Bistro in Pasadena, Calif. is offering a month-long "Ode to Julia" menu comprised of three classic recipes from her Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook. The first course is Child's famous salad niçoise, which is followed by none other than the beef bourguignon, and the meal is finally topped off with a chocolate mousse made with orange liqueur, coffee, and bittersweet chocolate.
The Pantry - Natick, Mass.
The Pantry, the flagship restaurant at The VERVE Crowne Plaza in Natick, Mass., is offering a special prix fixe menu and a selection of Julia's favorite French wines to celebrate this culinary milestone. Julia Child-inspired dishes are offered from August 14-16, with a fresh new menu each day, so returning diners can get a taste of the breadth of Julia's influence. Dishes include her famous coq au vin, a fresh tuna niçoise salad, beef bourguignon, and apple tart tatin.
Talula's Garden - Philadelphia
To celebrate Julia Child's 100th birthday, Talula's, located at West Washington Square, is going all out. They are offering an eight-course tasting menu with a French cheese selection for an even $100. Diners also have the option to pair eco-conscious wines with each dish for an additional $60.
Vincent on Camelback - Phoenix, Ariz.
Vincent on Camelback typically serves refined Southwestern fare, but this week they're trying their hand at Julia Child-inspired French food. This is no challenge for France-born owner/chef Vincent Guerithault, however, because he has used French cooking techniques to craft dishes his entire life. This week, diners will get to taste dishes like curly endive and bacon with poached egg and sautéed sea scallops à la Provençale with a true French touch.
Tavern - Los Angeles
This popular Brentwood restaurant is honoring Julia Child by offering a special three-course prix fixe menu. The set menu features a vichyssoise soup with fried leeks, chives, and olive oil, grilled lamp chops with saffron rice and haricots verts, and finally a chocolate and almond cake with coffee, rum, and vanilla ice cream.
Café Dupont - Washington, D.C.
Café Dupont, the signature restaurant at the Dupont Signature Hotel in Washington D.C., always has a French flair, but this week they're taking it up a notch. For just $50, guests can enjoy three of Julia's favorite dishes, each paired with a complementary glass of wine. The menu includes chicken liver pâté, an orange glazed roasted duck breast with chick peas and black mission figs, and finished off with peach tart tatin and amaretto ice cream (pictured), a seasonal spin on Julia's classic apple version.
39 Rue de Jean - Charleston, S.C.
This Charleston establishment is already a refined French café, so they definitely know Julia Child's work well. To commemorate the great chef, 39 Rue de Jean is offering special dishes throughout the week and crafting unique menus for each night. Dishes include lamb stew with spring vegetables, cured salmon gravlax, duck a l'orange, and chocolate brioche bread pudding (pictured).
Randolph's Bar and Lounge - New York City
This Midtown West establishment, located in the Warwick Hotel in New York City, is a cozy place for drinks, food, and now, a special Julia Child experience. Their three-course "Julia du Jour" includes blinis with crème fraiche, salad niçoise, and beef bourguignon (short ribs braised in red wine, pearl onions, carrots, lardons, and mushrooms). For dessert, Randolph's serves up a delicious replica of Julia Child's orange and almond cupcake. On August 15, Julia Child's 100th birthday, Randolph's will offer an exclusive four-course menu with even more Julia-inspired dishes. As part of the celebration, The Warwick Hotel is holding the Julia Child Sweepstakes, where one lucky guest will win a six-day getaway to Julia's beloved France.