Table talk

The 2nd Annual Local Farmer's & Food Artisan's Road Tour takes place Sept. 5 at Whole Foods Market, 1131 E. Wilmington Ave., Sugar House. Shoppers can meet and buy directly from more than 25 Utah food artisans and producers, including Amano Artisan Chocolate, Beehive Cheese Co., Caffe Ibis Coffee, Cox Honey, Laurie's Buffalo Chips and Red Rock Granola.

There will be live music, Hatch chiles roasting, Aztec dancers and children's events, such as face painting.

Slow Food Utah is hosting a public potluck picnic Sept. 7 at Jordan Park Bowery, 1060 S. 900 West, as part of a national effort to draw attention to the Child Nutrition Act. The free picnic takes place from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., and the public is invited to bring whatever foods they want to share, as well as a plate and eating utensils.

This year, Congress votes on standards for food served in public schools. The Slow Food movement wants Congress to increase school lunch reimbursements; establish strong nutrition standards for all food sold at school; fund grants for farm-to-school programs and school gardens; and give schools incentives to buy local foods (www.slowfoodutah.org).

Pei Wei Asian Diner has launched a Japanese Chile Beef Ramen dish featuring egg noodles glazed in a soy mirin-chile sauce, wok-seared vegetables and flank steak topped with a little cilantro and lime. Price ranges from $6.75-$7.95 (www.peiwei.com).

Olive Garden opened another Utah restaurant at 11364 S. River Heights Drive, South Jordan on Monday. Through Sept. 6, the restaurant will serve dinner only. The regular lunch-through-dinner hours begin Sept. 7 (www.olivegarden.com).

The Pillsbury Bake-off has added online voting to its method of choosing finalists for its $1 million grand prize.

This week, Emily Harper of Orem is vying for one of the 10 open finalist spots. You can vote for her recipe, Pizza Pretzels, at www.Bakeoff.com.

It's a giant pretzel stuffed with pepperoni, cheese and pasta sauce. The full recipe is also on www.Bakeoff.com.

The Cheesecake Factory in Murray is hosting a Drive Out Hunger Tour on Sept. 4, 7-10 a.m. The first 500 attendees to the event who each donate two cans of soup will receive a free slice of the restaurant's new Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake.