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Julia Child Dinner By 24 Grille In Detroit Recreates Famed Chef's Ideal Last Supper

We can't even imagine what we would make for her, but one chef has tried.
By 

Detroit Editor, The Huffington Post

** FILE ** In this Oct. 11, 2001 file photo, famous chef, cookbook author and television show host Julia Child, shares a laugh with students from her alma mater, Smith College in Northampton, Mass. Child shared a secret with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg at a time when the Nazis threatened the world. They served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt. The secret comes out Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008, all of the names and previously classified files identifying nearly 24,000 spies who formed the U.S.'s first centralized intelligence effort. The National Archives will make available for the first time all 750,000 pages identifying the vast spy network of military and civilian operatives. (AP Photo/Nancy Palmieri, File)
** FILE ** In this Oct. 11, 2001 file photo, famous chef, cookbook author and television show host Julia Child, shares a laugh with students from her alma mater, Smith College in Northampton, Mass. Child shared a secret with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg and Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg at a time when the Nazis threatened the world. They served in an international spy ring managed by the Office of Strategic Services, an early version of the CIA created in World War II by President Franklin Roosevelt. The secret comes out Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008, all of the names and previously classified files identifying nearly 24,000 spies who formed the U.S.'s first centralized intelligence effort. The National Archives will make available for the first time all 750,000 pages identifying the vast spy network of military and civilian operatives. (AP Photo/Nancy Palmieri, File)

Julia Child's Mastering The Art Of French Cooking and entertaining television specials made fine cuisine from France accessible to a generation of home cooks this side of the Atlantic.

Her culinary legacy isn't just celebrated by domestic gods and goddesses. Detroit fine dining restaurant 24 Grille, located downtown in the Westin Book Cadillac hotel, is honoring what would have been Child's 101st birthday (Aug. 15) with a seven-course prix fixe meal.

The "Julia 101" tasting event, conceived by 24 Grille Executive Chef Clifton Booth and Director of Event Sales & Marketing Tara Grey, is an inventive riff on a dream menu from the famed culinary doyenne herself. Tickets are $100 for seven courses, wine pairings and a cocktail hour preceding dinner at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 15. Call (313) 964-3821 to make a reservation.

In an interview Child gave her biographer Noel Riley Fitch, published in Appetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child, she described her ideal menu for her last supper. While Chef Booth largely based his menu on her choices, his limited access to Child's favorite wines forced the pair to improvise.

"We are taking the dishes that she loved so much, and preparing them the way that Chef Booth would prepare them for her -- had he had the chance," Grey told The Huffington Post.

So while we're pretty sure bacon-infused vodka wasn't in Child's liquor cabinet, we have a feeling she would have tossed back a few drinks. Among her oft-repeated instructions to viewers is this gem: "The best way to execute French cooking is to get good and loaded, then whack the hell out of a chicken!"

Happy Birthday, Julia... and bon appétit!"Julia 101" Dinner at 24 Grille, Detroit:

Oyster-creamed Spinach and CaviarPaired with: Bacon-infused Vodka

Foie grasStone Fruit Salad ToastPaired with: Domaine Ehrhart Gewurztraminer

Tea Sandwich (Grilled Cheese)Roasted Garlic Roquefort, Brie, MembrilloPaired with: Joseph Drouhin Chorey-le-Beaune

Pan-Roasted Duck BreastRed Onion Marmalade, Wild MushroomsPaired with: Belle Glos "Las Alturas" Pinot Noir

Pommes AnnaTacos, Creamed Asparagus, ParmesanPaired with: LaMarca Prosecco

Juniper-Encruster PorterhouseCherry, PistachioPaired with: Two Hands "Gnarly Dudes" Shiraz

Pear CrostadaWalnut and Blue Cheese Ice CreamPaired with: Beni di Batasio Moscato d'Asti

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Dan Aykroyd As Julia Child On SNL

The Life Of Julia Child

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