Carol Yanusevich, center and Julie Jones, right, raise their glasses to toast the 50th anniversary of Harbor Lights Restaurant, Thursday evening, August 13, 2009. Long-time patrons Ardene Mattich and husband Ed Mattich, from left were among those attending the festivities.( Janet Jensen/The News Tribune)

You may have seen C.R. Roberts' story Saturday on Harbor Lights turning 50 years old.

Over at our Bizz Buzz blog, Roberts has a list of other local restaurants and watering holes that are 50 years old or older. Check out the list and let him know if he's left anything off.

Julia Child’s birthday is this Saturday, Aug. 15. Do you have anything planned to commemorate the treasured chef? Going to see the movie "Julie & Julia" that opened last week? Hosting a dinner party, or cooking Child’s favorites?

Gordon Naccarato will host a celebratory Julia party Saturday at his restaurant, Pacific Grill (the party also celebrates the fourth anniversary of the downtown restaurant). Karyn Lindberg, a food columnist for our sister paper The Olympian, is taking a cue from Bon Appetit magazine and hosting a private dinner party at her home Saturday night toasting Julia Child with a menu of Child’s favorite dishes. Click "read more" to see the menus and memories that Naccarato and Lindberg shared with me.

Are you planning anything special? Even if it’s something small, such as seeing the movie, post a comment and let TNT Diner readers know.

=> Read more!

Associated Press photo

I took a cheese eating tour to Portland and on my way, I stopped at Burgerville in Vancouver for an asparagus grilled cheese sandwich.

I did a double take when I noticed a wine counter adjacent to the order counter. It's the first for the chain that serves burgers, fries and shakes made with locally sourced, seasonal ingredients. With Burgerville looking to open a Tacoma location, I wonder if a Burgerville here might serve wine and beer.

Click "read more" to peruse an Associated Press story about wine and burgers served in unlikely places - fast casual restaurants, including Burgerville and Chipotle; as well as coffee chains like Starbucks, which opened its first wine-coffee concept restaurant in Seattle last month. In South Sound, some locations of the coffee house chain Forza are expanding to serve wine. I wrote about the Gig Harbor Forza in March after owners Chad Roy and Scott Teodoro opened the Harbor Greens Wine Bar inside the coffee house. They've created an interesting nosh menu paired with an impressive list of affordable wine options. The Puyallup South Hill Forza also has applied for a license to serve wine, as have other Forza locations. I'll report more on that soon. Have you seen wine served at fast casual restaurants or coffee chains? I'd be interested in hearing if you have. I'm curious how to pair up wine with burgers, too. Beer seems a no-brainer burger pairing, but what kind of wine would you sip with your burger?

=> Read more!

News Tribune file

I just called Picha farms in Puyallup and they're reporting they have just a few days of raspberries left for the season (and blackberries, too).

Anthony's restaurants have been serving Picha raspberries and berries from other Washington berry farms in some of its desserts and drinks. On the menu at Anthony's: Washington Berry Shortcake and cocktails like Spiked Berry Lemonade, Northwest Berry Cosmos, Blueberry Drop and a Bumbleberry Rita.

With berry season dwindling, Anthony's soon will start serving desserts and drinks made with Washington grown peaches.

Click "read more" for the recipe from Anthony's for Fresh Washington Berry Shortcake. You can make it with Picha raspberries or you can substitute any kind of berry or fruit.

Picha Farms
Where: At the corner of 66th Avenue East and 52nd Street East, just off River Road.
Call: 253-841-4443

Anthony's Restaurants
Point Defiance: 5910 North Waterfront Drive, Tacoma; 253-752-9700
Harbor Lights: 2761 North Ruston Way, Tacoma; 253-752-8600
Other Anthony's locations: http://anthonys.com/restaurants/locations.html

=> Read more!

It seems like salad bars are hard to find anymore. They used to be in restaurants and grocery stores everywhere, then they seemed to fall out of favor.
So when I find one I haven’t tried before, I like to dig in deeply.
There’s plenty to dig at the salad bar at Marlene’s Market & Deli, near the Tacoma Mall. The bar contains 33 items, nearly half of them organic. There are seven salad dressings, all made from scratch.
And you won’t even feel guilty about packing your veggies home in a take-out container. The clamshell containers are made from compostable sugar cane.
We’d like to hear about your favorite salad bars for an upcoming News Tribune article. Where do you go when you’re craving fresh veggies?

=> Read more!

It was the summer of 1969. Men landed on the moon for the first time. Woodstock rocked.
And in Lakewood, a family restaurant was born.
Tijuana Taco opened as part of a multi-state chain, but the Lakewood location is the sole survivor, according to Kelli Van Scyoc-Gomez, daughter of Rocky and Sharon Van Scyoc, the original owners.
In August, the restaurant marks 40 years in business at the same location, off 100th Street near Lakewood Towne Center. There are celebrations and special prices all month.

=> Read more!

Sweet potato and pecan pie at B&B's Barbeque.

I'm still in search of seasonal berry pies, but I did encounter decadent Southern style pie. I dropped in at B&B's Barbeque for a slice each of sweet potato and pecan pie. And, no, I did not eat both slices by myself. I shared. Mostly.

The pies are a chewy, rich experience at B&B's Barbeque, which is located inside Freighthouse Square (also home to Cookies Your Way, a dessert emporium for lovers of straight-out-of-the oven homemade cookies).

Sweet potato pie and pecan pie are the pie choices at B & B --

=> Read more!

Our Adventure writers Craig Hill and Jeff Mayor penned a great travel food article about which restaurants in outdoor destination areas are good for loading up on calories before or after a strenuous outdoor adventure. Read the story right here.

When we were discussing the story, news editor John Henrikson asked at the news meeting if a hike from the car to Big Bubba's Burgers counts as an outdoor adventure. My answer: yes. Just don't think of the calories in a one-pound Big Bubba burger if you don't go rowing beforehand....

Peanut butter pie at Dock Street Sandwich Co.

Why does it seem to be so difficult to find pie? I’ve found exactly two places in my recent dine-arounds that serve memorable, flaky crust, delicious pie – Dock Street Sandwich Company in Tacoma and Don’s Drive-In in Puyallup

But I’ve got my pie radar set to “locate pie now!” And my radar keeps blipping empty. With berry season here and farmers markets, roadside stands and grocery stores loaded with berries – this is the time of summer we all want to dig into pie. We make it at home, but why does it seem so few restaurant serve it up for dessert? Or am I missing the restaurants that have great homemade – not prefab – pies?

Tell me where to find pie, please.

I’ll share my pie finds with you, if you share yours. Take a look at these two pie finds:

=> Read more!