Happy 100th Birthday, Julia Child

By Anthony Todd in Food on Aug 15, 2012 5:40PM

The food world lost its patron saint when Julia Child died in 2004. But we like to think that she's looking down on all of us foodies from that great French bistro in the sky, poking holes in pretension and correcting our technique with ghostly hands. If you want to celebrate Child or remember her legacy, there are tons of great ways to do it this week.

First, there's the videos. A remix from PBS Digital Studios hit the web yesterday and is worth watching over and over again. Last week, Mike Gebert at Grubstreet interviewed Chef Jean Joho at Everest about an epic night of culinary craziness wherein the aged Julia kept eating and eating until far into the night, then got up the next morning to do a television appearance. For fans of something a little more serious, PBS is releasing some of her recipes and episodes of The French Chef and Google has created a google doodle for her birthday.

Let's say you want to celebrate with some food. Chef Jared Van Camp is hosting a 3-course birthday celebration dinner tonight at Old Town Social. The cost is $30, and all of the courses are taken from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Even better, if you tweet at @oldtownsocial between now and Friday and use the hashtag #cookforjulia, you could win a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking marked up by Van Camp. Call 312-266-2277 for more information.

The video below is another tribute to Julia that captures some of her delightful wackiness. Best quote from the video? "We're having four vegetarians for dinner tonight! I mean, we're not going to eat them, but i have to make a vegetarian dinner."

Bon Appetit!