The Friday Buffet

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Aug 14, 2009 6:20PM

One of the highlights of last night's Taste of the Nation Chicago event: this beautiful ice cream and market-fresh berries offering from Charlie Trotter's pastry chef Della Gossett.

• Get out and enjoy Province's new outdoor patio. It opens today. (161 N. Jefferson)
• According to Time Out Chicago, Nightwood opens for brunch Sunday from 9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Now we'll get to see if the lines run Lula-long.
• No Sleep 'til Bridgeport. St. Jerome Croatian Church's 103rd annual Velika Gospa gets underway at 10:15 a.m.. Lots of cevap, oysters, hearty Italian fare and sweets to be had here. (28th and Princeton). That'll be followed by the procession of St. Rocco di Simbario on Sunday
• The 34th annual Armenian Fest at St. Gregory the Illuminator runs from 5-10 p.m. Sunday. Naha's Carrie Nahabedian will be on hand serving up the stuffed pizza bread known as pagash. This will be the first time Nahabedian has made pagash in 23 years and she's using her grandmother Rose's recipe. (6700 W. Diversey)
• Monday: Did you check out Laura's stunning photos from Carnivale yesterday? Carnivale starts their farm-to-table week with fixed price lunches featuring produce from Kinnikinnick Farm and cheeses from Prairie Fruits Farm all week (704 W. Fulton Market, 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.).
• Arcadia Brewing's Jim Javenkoski will be preaching from the Brewer's Gospel Thursday at In Fine Spirits with a $30 per person tasting pairing five of Arcadia's best ales with dishes from chef Marianne Sundquist. (5420 N. Clark St., 773-334-9469)
• Next Sunday: It's the monthly family-style beer dinner at the Publican featuring beer from New Holland Brewing, including the "Van Garde" biere de garde Paul Kahan and Michael McAvena brewed at New Holland's brewpub in late May. New Holland's Fred Bueltmann and Kahan will be in attendance. Even though the dinner is family style and will run all night, it will sell out. RSVP now.