Celebrate the freshness of summer with a salad featuring the bright flavors of apple, celeriac and fennel. It goes together easily, especially if you have a mandoline to cut the vegetables and the apple to a paper thinness.

At Il Sogno, Andrew Weissman’s Italian restaurant in the Pearl Brewery complex, 200 E. Grayson St., this dish is featured among the array of antipasti.

Fennel, Apple and Celery Root Salad

1 Granny Smith apple, sliced paper thin
Celery root, or celeriac, sliced thin, to taste (see note)
1 fennel bulb, sliced thin with fronds reserved
Olive oil, to taste
Salt, to taste
Trace amount of lemon juice, to taste

Note: When slicing the celery root, or celeriac, use about as much as you use apple.

Toss apple, celery root and fennel bulb together in a non-reactive bowl with a little olive oil, a pinch of salt, or more to taste, and a splash of lemon juice. Add some finely minced fennel frond. Serve immediately.

Source: Andrew Weissman/Il Sogno

Sign is in place a Culinary Institute Wednesday. Photograph by Elizabeth Johnson-Kossick, CIA.

It took two or three crane trucks, lots of workmen and interested onlookers to get the new, 20-by-20-foot square Culinary Institute of America, San Antonio,  sign up on the newly expanded school this afternoon.

“It looks fabulous,” said one white-coated CIA student, taking photos during the placement. Under a hot sun, the sign-raising also raised some sweat on brows, but a light breeze started up just as the sign was finally being hoisted into the air.

To everyone’s relief, the breeze calmed down, so the sign, with a base made of perforated metal, didn’t try to take off. It was slowly placed in its final position above the front entrance to the San Antonio campus of the CIA.

Classes begin this month. The new school will be celebrated at an opening on Oct. 9.  Check out the CIA website for more information.

Sign approaches final positioning over front of the institute.

Photographs by Bonnie Walker

CiCi's pizza buffet.

CiCi’s Pizza has opened a location at 2335 S.W. Military Road.

The new south San Antonio location will employ 40 people, while offering patrons an endless pizza buffet for $5.49 a person.

CiCi's Pizza Italiano

“We’ve been a part of the San Antonio community for years, and we’re excited to bring yet another CiCi’s location to the area,” franchisee Tommy Marlin said. “CiCi’s endless buffet offers so many choices, there’s something for everyone in the community, and every family member to enjoy.”

CiCi’s offers a variety of unique pizzas, including Macaroni & Cheese, Mexican Pizza Olé and Spinach Alfredo. The latest is the Italiano, a thin-crust pizza with several cheeses, sausage and a special spice blend.

Hours are 11 a.m.-10 p.m. daily. Click here for more information.

The setting at the San Antonio Country Club was elegant and the service excellent for a cookbook and kitchen shower I attended a couple of weeks ago.

The top attraction at such events is, of course, the radiant bride-to-be. On the food side of things, it was a tray of cookies on the refreshments table that stole the show.

This famous cookbook title decorated one of The Cookie Lady's frosted sugar cookies.

The sugar cookies, frosted with famous cookbook titles, such as “Joy of Cooking,” Julia Childs’ “Art of French Cooking” and “The Fanny Farmer Cookbook,” weren’t just there for looks.

“It took me years to develop that recipe,” said Sandy Kelso, co-owner of The Cookie Lady, at 1031 Patricia Ave.  As any cookie baker knows, as simple as a sugar cookie might seem, a perfect recipe is a masterpiece indeed. So, we didn’t push (well, not too hard) for Kelso’s recipe, as it is an important part of her livelihood.

Kelso partners with her daughter, Hallie Rodgers at the store. The business has been in operation for six years and in addition to decorated cookies, Kelso and Rodgers and three full-time bakers, plus other part-time staff,  make a full lineup of other cookies and baked goods, such as muffins and cakes. Their chocolate chip cookies are the top sellers, with the oatmeal, dried cranberry and white chocolate cookies coming in second. She also makes snickerdoodles, two other types of oatmeal cookies, pecan sandies and more.

“We don’t do any cake decorating. We bake the cakes, but send them out for the decorating,” Kelso said.

The frosted cookbook cookies go for around $1.50 each. Decorated cookies in general are between $1 and $2, says Kelso.

Kelso also gets big orders from companies such as USAA, plus weddings and other special orders. Without a doubt, Christmas is Kelso’s busiest time.

“By mid-November, we’ll be totally booked, but we do keep a waiting list,” Kelso says.

That’s more than two months away, but I’m getting in line now.

Contact Kelso at 210-342-6428.

Photograph by Catherine Boone

Didn’t get to visit enough restaurants during Restaurant Week? Then check out one of Jason Dady’s places.

The chef and owner of the Lodge Restaurant of Castle Hills and Bin 555 among others, has announced that he’s continuing his specials through the end of September.

The menus will change weekly, he says, but three-course lunches will be offered for $15 and three-course dinners for $35. The specials will be available at the Lodge, 1746 Lockhill-Selma; Bin 555 at Artisans Alley, 555 W. Bitters Road; Tre Trattoria, 4003 Broadway; and Restaurant Insignia in the Fairmount, 401 S. Alamo St.

For more information, call 210-349-8466.

Bruce Auden of Biga on the Banks, 203 S. St Mary’s St., also reminded us that his restaurant has a three-course dinner special every evening for $37.

The official Restaurant Week concludes tonight. For more information, click here.

In other restaurant news, Freebirds World Burrito has opened a new location. It’s at 125 N.W. Loop 410 in the Plaza del Norte center.

Cuzco Salad at Biga on the Banks.

The ongoing Restaurant Week has been a great opportunity to sample the culinary riches of San Antonio at an affordable price. The latest we’ve tried was the avocado-friendly menu at Biga on the Banks, 203 S. St. Mary’s St.

The first course was a choice between an avocado soup and a Peruvian-influence Cuzco Salad. Both were well worth trying.

The soup was velvety, with plenty of avocado flavor. Offering a delightful contrast to the smoothness was some pico made from orange, jicama and shrimp that added immeasurably to an already-wonderful dish. It was also beautifully presented in a martini glass.

Halibut with cilantro rice at Biga on the Banks.

The salad, meanwhile, was a zesty assortment of marinated red onion, avocado, sweet potato, posole and more tucked into butter lettuce leaves.

For the main course, I couldn’t resist achiote pork tenderloin in a lively cinnamon-laced tomato sauce. Guacamole was perched atop the slices of moist meat, while roasted fresh summer corn and plantains rounded out the plate. Again, the presentation, this time on a banana leaf, added to the enjoyment.

Another option was tortilla-crusted halibut – which chef Bruce Auden and his staff provided without the tortilla – topped with an avocado purée and served with chayote squash and an excellent cilantro rice that had everyone raving.

A third option is quail atop multi-colored, house-made fettuccine in a lemon cream sauce. No avocado, but the dish was just fine with the pasta being a standout.

You can continue the avocado fix into dessert, if you choose. There’s a delicate avocado mousse with a lime lift that arrived with a scoop of coconut ice on top and an array of fresh fruit, including perfectly ripe cubes of pineapple, on the plate. For those who don’t eat sweet avocado on a regular basis, the flavor will be exotic, but the creaminess of the mousse is pure comfort.

Chocolate cake at Biga on the Banks.

Chocolate lovers, though, will find it hard to resist the dense, rich cake, which gives you a feeling that you’re eating both fudge and cake. A generous slice with a touch of chocolate whipped cream was gone almost before I had a taste.

The cost of the three-course meal is $35 during Restaurant Week. Many of the dishes are offered on the regular menu.

For more on Restaurant Week and the participating restaurants, click here.

The crab cake at Tost.

If you’re celebrating Restaurant Week, with its series of specially priced meals at a host of eateries across the city, then you may want to consider the four-course special dinner at Tost Bistro, 14415 Blanco Road.

The dinner menu begins with a choice of crab cake with red cabbage slaw over creamed corn (with a rich chipotle mayo on the side) or succulent Kurobata pork belly with kimchi. Second course is a choice of fresh soup (vegetable with summer corn the night we visited) or a spectacular salad with watermelon, heirloom tomatoes, blue cheese and garlic croutons.

Braised short ribs at Tost.

The main course is a choice of the fish of the day or braised short ribs that fell apart at the touch of a fork plated with mashed potatoes and fresh pickles. The evening is capped off with beignets and a chocolate dipping sauce.

The cost is $35 for the meal, plus the restaurant has a series of wine specials each evening.

Beignets at Tost.

For a full list of restaurants participating in Restaurant Week, which is sponsored by Culinaria, click here.

Big’z Burger Joint, 2303 N. Loop 1604 W., is hosting a fundraiser tonight with several San Antonio social media clubs to raise money for the children of fishermen affected by the oil spill in the Gulf.

The event, part of a nationwide effort, runs from 5 to 8 p.m.

All money raised will go to Catholic Charities of New Orleans, which will, in turn, benefit the education of the children of fishermen hit hard by the oil spill, says Jennifer Milikien, who is working on the fundraiser. “Jennifer Navarrete (@epodcaster), Colleen Pence (@colleenpence) and Luis Sandoval, Jr. (@luissandovaljr) are all actively involved in this event, and Social Media Club, Social Media Breakfast of San Antonio and TweetBabes are all organizational sponsors of the event,” she says.

The theme of the evening is Bingo for the Beach, and Texas Tide will be playing beach music and old favorites during the evening. An oil-themed bingo game and other events are scheduled during the evening.

The cost is $10 a person, which includes a bingo card as well as admission.

For more information on the national event, click here.

Pecan-crusted Fried Chicken is the featured main lunch dish at Citrus

Citrus, at the Hotel Valencia on Houston Street, stepped up to the Restaurant Week plate in fine style on Monday. On the $15 prix fixe menu was a salad of baby greens, tomatoes, pecans and olives that couldn’t have been fresher or more carefully dressed. The Pecan-crusted Chicken entrée, on mashed potatoes was full of crunch and good, nutty  flavor. It said a lot for this Texas-style preparation of chicken-fried chicken.

Citrus brought the meal to a happy conclusion with a trio of citrus and tropical sorbets that set the taste buds tingling.

This meal is featured throughout Restaurant Week for $15; a $35 per person prix fixe dinner is also on the menu.

Check out more restaurants participating in Restaurant Week, sponsored by Culinaria. The event goes through Saturday.

Photographs by Bonnie Walker

A couple of notes from the city’s restaurant scene:

• 

  Party food from Godai Sushi Bistro

  Godai Sushi Bistro, 4553 N. Loop 1604 W., is now open for lunch and dinner. For more information, call (210) 492-9262.

• Bellacino’s Pizza & Grinders, 6044 FM 3009, has closed, according to the rumor mill. The phone has been disconnected. If the story is true, it would be a loss for those who lived in the area and enjoyed the toasty grinders that they served as well as the great ice cream dishes.
• Also, Restaurant Week continues at a host of restaurants. Specials include three-course, $15 lunches and $35 dinners. Click here for more details.