Weekday Planner: Urban Till Dinner, Sugar Skulls & Cerveza at D'Noche, Oktoberfest Beer Garden Dinners
Urban Till Dinner at The Dawson
Urban greens step into the spotlight for a special dinner at The Dawson on October 22. For the occasion, The Dawson's chef Shaun King has aligned with Urban Till, a 30,000-square-foot urban farm on the city's west side. The meal will consist of a three-course menu of hydroponically grown herbs, micro greens, and vegetables, and dishes are also available a la carte during dinnertime. The prix fixe is $45 per person and starts with a first course of seared walu with cucumber soup, orange, clove, sorrel creme fraiche, crispy leek, baby chive, chive flowers, and micro scallions. Second course is chestnut thyme cavatelli with Brussels sprouts, sunchoke, and carrot micro. And third course is braised short ribs with mustard greens, persimmon, parsnip, cippolini onion, and apple-radish gremolata.
Sugar Skulls & Cerveza at D'Noche
No better way to get into the spooky Halloween spirit than with a few sugar skulls. On Tuesday, October 20, D'Noche hosts "Sugar Skulls & Cerveza," an event celebrating the imminent Dia de Los Muertos. From 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m., guests will get to decorate their very own papier-mache skulls, all while enjoying two Negra Modelo beers, plus chips and salsa. The cost for all this is $20 per person, and children's tickets go for $10, inclusive of two N/A drinks. Raffle prizes will also be on hand. Tickets can be purchased on the restaurant's website.
Oktoberfest Beer Garden Dinners at Dunlay's
Oktoberfest ain't over yet! For proof, hit up Dunlay's on Clark and Dunlay's on the Square for a couple Oktoberfest beer garden dinners later in the week. Hosted as a final blowout for patio season, the al fresco dining and drinking events take place on October 22 and October 23. The former takes place at Dunlay's on Clark and the latter is hosted at the Square. Each option begets a special Sam Adams-themed prix fixe menu paired with Sam Adams brews. Each night, the dinners begin at 6:00 p.m., at which point the patios are closed off to the public and transformed into boozy oases complete with hay bales, cornstalks, lanterns, and other festive fixings. For $25 per person, guests will get a seat in the beer garden along with a four-course meal and access to a Sam Adams tap takeover. The menu at Clark includes roasted butternut squash soup and pumpkin soup with toasted pumpkin seeds and a double bock reduction; warm spinach and bacon salad with roasted Angry Orchard cider apples; Oktoberfest-marinated pork loin with seasonal roasted root vegetables; and an adult root beer float. At the Square, the menu includes beer cheese lager soup with cheddar and homemade potato chips; coffee stout bacon jam crostini with shaved radish, arugula, and pickled red onion; housemade IPA pork sausage with roasted garlic, caramelized shallots, and grilled red peppers; and lemon pound cake with Oktoberfest candied pecan streusel and Oktoberfest brown butter-lemon glaze. Make a reservation by calling the respective restaurant of your choice.
- Matt Kirouac