Restaurant Week: Starting next Monday and continuing through Sunday, March 16, restaurants throughout Sonoma County will offer special lunch and dinner menus in the fifth annual Restaurant Week.
Lunch menus are new this year, and participating restaurants will feature two-course midday meals for $10, $15 or $20. Dinner menus are $19, $29 or $39 and include three courses.
This year, several new restaurants are joining in the week-long promotion.
You can see a full list of restaurants and their menus at sonomacountyrestaurantweek.org.
A few that caught our eye include Baci Cafe and Wine Bar (336 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg), with a $39 menu that includes a salad of wild arugula, endive, apples, Gorgonzola, hazelnuts, honey and lemon vinaigrette, spaghetti alla Bolgonese and tiramisu; Barley and Hops Tavern (3688 Bohemian Highway, Occidental), with a $19 menu feature dirty rice boulettes, grillades and grits and Bananas Foster bread pudding with a bourbon caramel sauce; and The Kenwood (9900 Highway 12, Kenwood), offering both lunch ($20) and dinner ($39).
To participate in Restaurant Week, simply make your reservations or try your luck walking in and enjoy yourself.
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Nerd Alert: If you've always loved science but have kept your inner nerd in check, it's time to let him or her out for a bit of fun.
Next Tuesday, March 11, is the second-to-last Science Uncorked evening at Gourmet Au Bay (913 Highway 1, Bodega Bay), when scientists from the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab make presentations and lead discussions during happy hour.
Tuesday's presentation focuses on diving at Cordell Banks National Marine Sanctuary, located off our coast.
David Dann is the presenter; he'll get started at 6 p.m.
This series has been a huge success, and there is only one more lecture planned for this year; it takes place March 25.
Admission is free; beer is $3 a glass, wine $5 a glass during the presentation.
And speaking of Gourmet au Bay, every First Friday is Oyster Night, and here it is the first Friday of March already. Shucking begins at 4 p.m. and ends when the oysters are gone.
Cost is $1 for raw oysters and $2 if they are barbecued.
Friday Night at Shed: Tonight at 7 p.m., Shed (25 North St., Healdsburg) welcomes Severine Fleming, founder of Greenhorns, and Jen Griffin for "Grange Future," a provocative presentation about the past and future of modern farming.
Greenhorns is a network of young farmers who have, among many pursuits, embraced the granges of the United States as a way to organize farming communities and further regional development and cooperation.
If you're a young farmer, you want to engage with this topic. If you're an older farmer or simply an interested individual, seeing what is up with this movement offers a great shot of optimism for our future.
Ms. Mouthful says check it out.
An admission fee of $10 includes light refreshments.
You can pay at the door or snag an advance ticket at healdsburgshed.com.
Movie Night at Sebastopol Grange: The Sebastopol Grange 2014 Film Series kicks off Sunday, March 9, with a screening of "Symphony of the Soil," Deborah Koons Garcia's documentary celebration of the mystery, complexity and magic of the soil that sustains us.
Doors open at 5 p.m., when you can enjoy a chicken-apple sausage or a veggie dog with sauerkraut for $5.
The film will be introduced by farmer Shepherd Bliss at 5:30 p.m. and, following the 104-minute film, Paul Kaiser of Singing Frog Farm, which is featured in the film, will lead a discussion.
Admission is on a sliding scale of $5 to $10; proceeds will help fund audio and visual equipment for the grange.
The Sebastopol Grange is located at 6000 Sebastopol Ave. (Highway 12), about a half mile east of town.
Art Opening: When the new Larry Simons Gallery opened in the Person Senior Wing of the Finley Community Center (2060 W. College Ave., Santa Rosa), Mary Vaughan was the featured artist. She is a longtime favorite.
The show, "A Long Line of Movement," opened on Feb. 7. On Friday, March 7, from 4 to 7 p.m., is a reception for the artist, who will give a brief talk at 6 p.m.
The show is described as "contemplating visual metaphor emerging from earth and ecology from California to Maine and back again."
Vaughan's paintings are engaging, exhilarating and enchanting, with a profound femininity - yes, we realize some will take issue with this description, but we stand by it - and depth.
They are both delicious and thought-provoking, and Ms. Mouthful suggests you not pass up the opportunity to see them.
Oyster Lovers Alert: From Monday, March 10, through Friday, March 14, Left Bank Brasserie (507 Magnolia Ave., Larkspur) celebrates the oyster and the Loire Valley of France, with specials on both the shellfish and the wine.
Oyster Bisque with asparagus and oysters on the half shelf with three mignonettes (raspberry; ginger-lime; balsamic vinegar and soy) are among the specials.
Several wines from the Loire Valley will be available by the glass, carafe and bottle.
Fried Chicken Fridays: This should probably be filed under "things we shouldn't tell you" but, honestly, we can't resist.
On Fridays, the Cheese Shop of Healdsburg (423 Center St.) sells delicious fried chicken, with or without biscuits. The chicken is prepared at Savvy Productions in Cloverdale and costs $12 a pound.
While you're there, be sure to linger over the wide array of unique and delicious selections.
We've never seen more types of caramels in one place. There are unique chocolates, one of the best butters we've ever tasted, a fabulous selection of cheeses and so much more, with great music - last Friday, it was Led Zeppelin - on the little shop's sound system.
Fried chicken, caramels and Led Zeppelin? How can you resist?
Michele Anna Jordan hosts "Mouthful" each Sunday at 7 p.m. on KRCB 90.9 & 91.1 FM. E-mail Jordan at michele@micheleannajordan.com. You'll find her blog, "Eat This Now," at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.
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