Tacolicious School Project

You probably already know that the Bay Area’s Tacolicious turns out delectable tacos. But what you might not know is that the restaurant company is now in its fifth year of raising funds for local schools.

In fact, its Tacolicious School Project has now raised $852,000 for local public schools, and is closing in on its goal of raising $1 million.

Every Monday from now through May, all Tacolicious restaurants in San Francisco, as well as the Santana Row San Jose location, will donate 15 percent of a month’s proceeds to 36 neighboring public schools.

To see which schools will benefit each month, click here.

What’s more, this year Tacolicious will donate proceeds from its sixth annual Taco Open golf tournament to Parents for Public Schools and the San Francisco Education Fund. The tournament will be held Oct. 19 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

Tacolicious owners Joe Hargrave and Sara Deseran started the school project in 2012. With kids of their own, they knew all too well how public schools struggle these days for enough funds to operate properly.

So if you’re hankering for tacos, be sure to visit Tacolicious on a Monday, when you’ll satisfy not only your hunger, but put your dollars to work for local schools.

Santana Row’s Chef Table Dinners with A “Top Chef” Winner

Las year’s “Top Chef Mexico” champ Chef Rodolfo Castellanos will headline two chef table dinners at Santana Row this month.

Sept. 13, he will cook a $99 four-course dinner at LB Steak, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Guests for this special Oaxacan-influenced dinner will be seated on the patio to enjoy dishes such as Chilhuacle pepper crusted seared Ahí tuna, and pan-roasted duck breast with flying ant mole manchamanteles.

For reservations for this dinner, call (408) 244-1180.

Sept. 16, Castellanos will offer up a $75 four-course Franco-Mexican feast at Left Bank Brasserie. Among the dishes will be pan roasted California wild sea bass with hominy soup and chicharrón; and braised Wagyu boneless short ribs with Oaxacan herbs.

This will be an extra special event because Castellanos used to cook at this Left Bank outpost in 2009.

For reservations for this dinner, call (408) 984-4229.

Itani Ramen Adds Full Service At Dinner

Oakland’s popular Itani Ramen is now offering full service at dinner time. That means no more standing in line to order at the counter — except at lunch time.

Chef-Owner Kyle Itani has also expanded his menu of small plates and appetizers. Among the new dishes are Gindara Hobayaki (miso black cod grilled on Magnolia leaf), furikake garlic fries ($5), and spicy tuna handrolls that your wrap yourself ($11).

Look for special seasonal ramen bowls, too, such as scallop fritter ramen ($15) and Peking duck ramen with garlic chives ($20).

Winner of Last Week’s Food Gal Contest

In the previous Food Gal contest, I asked you tell me why you most wanted to win a copy of the new cookbook, “Lure: Sustainable Seafood Recipes From The West Coast” by Ned Bell with Valerie Howes.

Congrats to:

Christine Cuff, who wrote, “I would love to get my hands on a cookbook like this! I recently joined a CSF (Real Good Fish) and have been enjoying the best tasting fish in my life. Despite having grandparents who worked in the fishing industry, grandpa was a fisherman and grandma worked in a fish cannery, preparing and cooking seafood wasn’t a skill I learned from them. New and different recipes would be awesome!”