Around Town: Arts & Olive Festival at Canada College Around Town: Arts & Olive Festival at Canada College (September 22, 2004)

Local chefs and restaurants will take center stage with their recipes featuring olive products as part of the opening gala at this year's Arts & Olive Festival on Saturday, October 2, at Canada College in Woodside.

Restaurants taking part include Left Bank, Le Pot au Feu, Piacere, Vivace, Iberia and D'Asaro. Competitors will prepare recipes in four categories: cocktails, appetizers, entrees and dessert. The competition winner will receive a $1,000 grand prize.

The cook-off is part of the opening-night gala, "Under the Tuscan Moon," to be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, October 2.

Denise Erickson, art historian and Canada College professor, will open Saturday's event in the main theater with a presentation on Tuscan art. A Chianti wine seminar will be given by Greg St. Clair of K & L Wine Merchants in Redwood City.

After the presentations, guests may sample red Tuscan wines and the olive-inspired cuisine.

Tickets for the gala are $40 per person or $75 for two. They can be ordered by calling 306-3428. For more information, go to www.olivefest.org.

The festival will continue Sunday, October 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Canada College.

Benefit at Runnymede

The Asiya Shrine Mounted Patrol is sponsoring a tour of Runnymede Sculpture Farm from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, October 2, in Woodside.

Docents from Filoli will assist guests on the walking tour. Sculptures on the estate were collected by the Rosekrans family from throughout the world.

The tour benefits Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, a regional pediatric hospital providing free care to children throughout the Western states, Canada and Mexico.

Admission is $25 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under, and includes a barbecue lunch.

To register for the tour, send a check payable to Asiya Shrine Mounted Patrol, c/o Ron Swanson, 1925 Elkhorn Court, San Mateo, CA 94403. Include full names of those attending. For more information, call 368-1784.

Barbecue and luau

The Menlo Park job-training center known as OICW -- for Opportunities Industrialization Center West -- promises cool jazz, tasty barbecue and island dancing at an "evening in paradise" from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, September 30, at OICW headquarters, 1200 O'Brien Drive in Menlo Park. The free evening will include a short program at 5:30 p.m. R.S.V.P. by calling 330-6429.

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