Stockton Restaurant Week 2010

Stockton Restaurant Week 2010

We are just a few weeks away from the 2nd Annual Stockton Restaurant Week - a celebration of local cuisine and local restaurants. The event will be held at various restaurants around Stockton from September 19-25, 2010.

During Stockton’s 2nd annual week-long event, participating restaurants will offer special three-course menus that will showcase some of the region’s most talented chefs and the culinary diversity of Stockton. The prix-fixe menus will priced at $9.95 per person for lunch, and $15, $20 or $25 per person for dinner, exclusive of beverages, tax and gratuity. Participating restaurants may also offer other dining and beverage specials during the week.

Stockton Restaurant Week was created by the Stockton Conference & Visitors Bureau to highlight Stockton as a diverse dining destination and allow our many local foodies and families an opportunity to enjoy special prix-fixe three course menus from a diverse selection of participating local restaurants. Considering the current economic climate, this week-long event will allow diners to discover new restaurants in Stockton and enjoy all their favorites at a reduced price. With these affordable prices, Stocktonians will have the opportunity to dine out all week.

As of August 30th the following Restaurants have committed and the list is expected to grow:

• Angelina's Spaghetti House
• Bud's Seafood Grille
• Café by the Spa
• Casa Flores – Marina
• Centrale Kitchen & Bar
• Cocoro Japanese Bistro & Sushi (Miracle Mile & Brookside)
• De Vega Brothers Italian Cuisine
• Dynasty Seafood Chinese Restaurant
• Le Bistro
• Mezzo
• Midtown Creperie & Cafe
• Papapavlos
• Sass Bar & Grill
• Stockton Joes
• The Orchard Grill at the Hilton
• Whirlow's Tossed and Grilled (Miracle Mile & Lincoln Center)

2010 also welcomes two new partnerships with local arts organizations. The Stockton Symphony and the Haggin Museum will offer special discounted ticketing for diners who participate in Stockton Restaurant Week.

The Haggin Museum is offering a discounted admission of just $1 per person (valid from Sept. 19th to Sept. 30th). Just present your receipt from one of the participating restaurant locations to get the discount!

With the Stockton Symphony, receive 10% off the regular ticket price for the Symphony's September Classics Concert, "Heroism with a Heart" (September 23 & 25). Simply call 209-951-0196 to order your tickets and mention discount code "restaurant."

The official Stockton Restaurant Week website, www.StocktonRestaurantWeek.com, will list participating restaurants offering prix-fixe lunch menus and additional information about each participating restaurant.

Partners of the Stockton Conference & Visitors Bureau include: San Joaquin Magazine, Downtown Stockton Alliance, the Miracle Mile, Lincoln Center and the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce.

More information can be found at www.StocktonRestaurantWeek.com or by calling the Visitors Bureau at 209-547-2770.

Jewel of Stockton: The Haggin Museum

I have lived in Stockton for nearly five years and, until last week, I had never visited the Haggin Museum. Words can’t express how much of a mistake it was to wait that long. The Haggin Museum was built in 1931 and hosts an impressive collection of art, history and special exhibition displays. Additionally, the museum hosts various events for all ages and has a wonderful store full of unique gift items, books, posters, note cards and other merchandise inspired by the museum’s collections and temporary exhibitions.

The Haggin Museum has five permanent art galleries: the Hull Gallery with American western landscape paintings by Albert Bierstadt and other artists and the Haggin Room with Realist and Impressionist 19^th Century European and American paintings. The McKee Room with European Realist and Orientalist paintings, features works by Jean-Léon Gérôme. Many of his pieces will soon be a part of a travelling exhibition in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The New Gallery has original art works by “Golden Age” illustrator J.C. Leyendecker, who was one of the most popular commercial artists of the early 20^th century and is best known for his cover work for Collier’s magazine and the Saturday Evening Post. Finally, the Arcade hosts American landscape paintings.

Additionally, there are seven permanent history galleries: the Pioneer Room traces Stockton history from the time of early Native Americans to the modern day, the California Room includes explorers, missions, and the Gold Rush, Holt Hall features Benjamin Holt’s invention workshop and Caterpillar tractor, the Jennie Hunter Rooms feature the 1890 homestead of Miss Jennie Hunter and family who were prosperous wheat ranchers, the Storefronts are replicas of turn-of-the-century California shops and a school, the American Indian Gallery has artifacts from numerous Native America cultures, and the Vehicle Gallery has early fire engines, including Old Betsy and WWII Willy the Jeep. Throughout the museum there are pieces of furniture, pottery and other small items that all belonged to the Haggin family.

Of distinct interest to returning museum-goers are the two Temporary Exhibition Galleries. The Lower West Gallery and the Upper West Gallery change every six to eight weeks, typically displaying special exhibitions on loan from other museums or drawn from the Haggin’s permanent collections. Currently, the Lower West Gallery features California Impressionism: Selections from The Irvine Museum. The Upper West Gallery has Bustles & Balustrades: the Link between Victorian Dress and Architecture. Both of these exhibits are only featured through August 15. The Stockton Art League’s 56^th Juried Exhibition and Sale will take over both galleries from September 2 to October 31.

Whether or not you have ever visited the Haggin Museum, be sure to check out the ever-changing temporary galleries. Admission is only $5 for adults 18 and up, $2.50 for youths aged 10-17, seniors and students with an I.D. and admission is free from children under 10 with an adult and on the first Saturday of every month. The museum is open 1:30-5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 12-5 on Saturdays and Sundays and from 1:30-9 p.m. on the first and third Thursdays of every month. Check out www.hagginmuseum.org for more details and for special events coming soon to the museum.