Seafood forecasters didn’t project a strong Dungeness crab season in San Francisco this year, but early reports, as well as our own extensive “research,” have been extremely positive. While not in overabundance this year, the good, fluffy meat is certainly out there, so it’s a ripe time for the third annual Slow Crab and Oyster Festival, a benefit for Slow Food San Francisco’s Urban School Garden Project fund. Local Dungeness crab and oysters from Drake’s Bay Oyster Farm will be boiled and shucked -- quickly, contrary to what the Slow Food name might suggest -- by students from California Culinary Academy. Bodega Del Sur Winery and Thirsty Bear Brewing Company serve the tipples and bubbles, and the San Francisco Baking Institute provides the vital sourdough. Local acoustic blues trio Mighty Mississippi will be on hand to provide the sonic accompaniment for those whose ears haven’t been filled with echoes of the sea or the furious cracking of shells, shards of which always tend to fly around in the impassioned heat of an all-out crab feed.
Sat., Dec. 5, 6 p.m., 2009
