Bistro Pastis celebrates Julia Child's 100th birthday

August 15 marks the 100th anniversary of Julia Child’s birth, and what better way to celebrate the woman who brought French cooking to the American masses than by trying a recipe from Child’s magnum opus, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. First published in 1961, the hefty 524-recipe cookbook became an instant bestseller and made traditional French dishes, such as beef bourguignon and lobster thermidor, accessible to the home cook.

If your idea of feting Child comes sans spatula, Bistro Pastis (2153 West 4th Avenue) executive chef Tobias Grignon will be honouring her work with a special three-course menu ($39) based on recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking starting July 3. The menu will change every two weeks and runs until the end of August.

The first menu will include Child’s recipes for artichauts avec sauce Hollandaise (artichokes and Hollandaise sauce), thon à la Provençale (Provençale-style tuna), boeuf Bourguignon (Burgundy beef stew), and cherry clafoutis (baked custard dessert with whole cherries). A second menu, starting July 17, will feature vichyssoise, poireaux et pomme de terre (a cold leek and potato soup),oeufs en meurette à la Bourguignonne (red wine-poached eggs), blanquette de veau à l’ancienne (veal with vegetables and rice pilaf), sole à la dieppoise (poached sole, mussels, and shrimp) and pêches cardinal (vanilla-poached peaches and raspberries).

When you’ve licked your plate clean of every last drop of butter, be sure to go home and watch a few of your favourite episodes of The French Chef.

You can follow Michelle da Silva on Twitter at twitter.com/michdas.

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