Fresh Today

Seattleite Christine Bloch, who operates four Tony Roma's restaurants in the area, has acquired the local franchise for Chevy's, a San Francisco-based "Fresh Mex" chain with 96 outlets nationwide.

Bloch says she plans 10 restaurants in the next nine years, expects to open the first one somewhere in Seattle or on the Eastside by the end of summer.

RESTAURANTOURING

-- Craig Serbousek, former sous chef at The Herb Farm restaurant in Fall City, has a new berth as chef at Tini Bigs Lounge, a new spot at the corner of First Avenue and Denny Way whose owner calls it "Seattle's first martini restaurant." Serbousek will feature food meant to stand up to the stiff competition of the house cocktails. Menu samples: cured salmon with mustard-dill cream, duck confit wrapped in crisp noodles, pan-fried salmon medallions in hot herbal sherry vinaigrette, and coconut shrimp stew with cashews. Owner is Keith Robbins, who brought the 1909 Brunswick bar with him from his old Watertown, which closed in 1989.

-- Sisters European Snacks is 5 years old, and Mirala, Aruna and Mariam Jacobi - yes, they really are sisters - plan to celebrate with a party at their Post Alley bistro from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 14. Live music, hot cider and lots of Gemutlichkeit from the sisters, who are originally from Frankfurt. Sisters serves European-style grilled sandwiches and hearty soups at 1530 Post Alley, near the Pike Place Market.

-- Sur La Table, the pot palace based in the Pike Place Market, has opened its second out-of-state branch store, this one in San Francisco. The 7,000-square-foot store at 77 Maiden Lane boasts 12,000 kitchen gizmos and 700 cookbook titles, as well as a huge demonstration kitchen. It's the third expansion store opened since the Behnke family of Seattle acquired Sur La Table. The other stores are in Berkeley and Kirkland.

-- Hey, there's always room for one more pizzeria. Don Gilbert is the franchise owner of Tony Moroni's Famous Gourmet Pizza, opening Friday in the Madison Valley. It'll serve Madison Park, Montlake, Madrona, First Hill, Capitol Hill and the Central District from 2743 E. Madison St. It's the first foray into metro Seattle for the Bellevue-based chain, which has eight restaurants on the Eastside.

GOOD FOOD, GOOD CAUSE

-- Up to 30 area bakeries and restaurants will contribute cookies and other baked goods for "Cookiefest," a bake sale that benefits the Seattle Milk Fund, one of the city's oldest charities. The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 14 in the Stewart Street room of The Bon Marche. Among the participants are A La Francaise, Celestial Bakers, the Little Pastry Cafe, Schwartz Brothers Bakery and Voortman's Cookies. Kids can build their own real gingerbread house for $5. The Milk Fund was founded in 1907 to provide milk for needy children. Today, it provides food and other assistance to low-income families and the elderly.

-- The Washington State Chefs Association hosts a dinner and silent auction Monday to raise money for a children's culinary center to house the association's "Chef and Child" nutritional-education program. The dinner will be at 7 p.m. in the Art Institute of Seattle, 2601 Elliott Ave., and includes a tour of the AIS. The silent auction begins at 6 p.m. Reservations: George Koren 725-8800, ext. 32, or 722-1774.

-- Boxes of Washington apples are once again available as Christmas gifts from the Children's Home Society. But this year you can also choose to send pears, cheese, smoked salmon, gourmet coffee, scone mix and other Northwest food products to those out-of-state relatives. For a catalog, call 1-800-817-KIDS.

SHORT BITES

S&W, the folksy - and foxy - California growers' co-op, has chosen Seattle as the test market for a nostalgia product: "Home-canned" sliced peaches, packaged in old-fashioned Mason jars like grandma used to use. They're in the produce section of selected Seattle-area supermarkets. If "Growers Private Reserve Sliced Peaches" fly off the shelves here, S&W will expand the line to other markets. S&W is a cooperative of 530 Central California growers.

-- Students from the Art Institute of Seattle took top honors at the Seattle Future Chefs Competition sponsored by McCormick & Schmick's restaurants last month. The four-member culinary-arts team from the school won the "Best Entree" and "Best All-Around" categories. Seattle Central Community College's team made the best dessert.

-- Chef Greg Galuska of McCormick's Fish House is looking for good crab recipes, and is willing to give a $100 gift certificate for the best one submitted for the restaurant's annual December Crab Feed. The winning recipe will be featured on the menu for the last week of the month. Recipes can be mailed to McCormick's Fish House, 722 Fourth Ave., Seattle WA 98104.

KITCHEN CALENDAR

-- Redhook Ale Brewery offers a free class on pairing holiday foods and craft brews. The one-hour class will be at the Forecasters Public House, 14300 N.E. 145th St., Woodinville, at 7 tonight and 11 a.m. Saturday. Information: 483-3232, ext. 210.

-- Nick Stellino, the voluble Italian host of the PBS series "Cucina Amore," will sign copies of his cookbooks from noon until 2 p.m. Saturday in the Channel 9 Store in Rainier Square at Fourth Avenue and University Street.

-- Hogue After the Holidays - Hogue Cellars winery and seven Pacific Northwest chefs join forces in food/wine extravaganza benefiting Seattle's Chicken Soup Brigade. Jan. 19, 5:30 p.m. $150. The Georgian, Four Seasons Olympic Hotel, 411 University St. Tickets: 322-2273.