Restaurant news: Eighty Jarvis, Salem Cross Inn, Red Fire Farm, The Duck and more

Several dining events are on tap as summer begins to wind down.

Eighty Jarvis Restaurant in Holyoke is celebrating its fourth anniversary this week, offering a special prix fixe dinner menu. Each evening until Sunday, diners arriving after 4 p.m. can choose from first course options like tomato bisque and oysters Florentine, then enjoy a choice of roasted pork or lobster risotto. The special menu, which is priced at $20.12, also offers dessert options like chocolate pot de creme and fruit salad garnished with marscapone. On Saturday, live music featuring Bill Shontz will celebrate the anniversary; Shontz's "Music of Our Lives" repertoire includes swing, jazz, and classic rock favorites. For more details, contact Eighty Jarvis at (413) 534-4000. The Salem Cross Inn in West Brookfield will be presenting another recreation of a Historic Drover's Roast on Sept. 9. The event is inspired by the 17th-century cattle drives early Springfield's settlers organized to move animals to and from summer pasture in Feeding Hills. Prime ribs of beef roasted over an open fire pit is the afternoon's centerpiece. The menu also includes fish, chicken, fresh vegetables, and cobbler or pie for dessert. Participants can also enjoy live music, horse-drawn wagon rides, and crafts demonstrations. Festivities begin at 2 p.m.; the feasting starts around 3:30 p.m. Advance purchase tickets, which include tax and gratuity, are $57 per person, with children younger than age 12 admitted for $25. Tickets can be purchased on line at salemcrossinn.com or by calling (508) 867-2345. Tomato lovers, take note. Saturday is the rain-or-shine date set aside for this year's Red Fire Farm Tomato Festival. In addition to offering an extensive selection of tomato varieties to sample, the Festival, which is held at Red Fire Farm in Granby, includes guest chef demonstrations, workshops, live entertainment, and activities for the kids. Festivities begin at 10:30 a.m. with the 5K Tomato Trot; the festival itself is open from 12 noon until 5 p.m. Admission is $5; children under 12 years get in for free. More details are available by contacting Red Fire Farm at (413) 467-7645 Food & Wine Magazine has announced the expansion of its annual Las Vegas All-Star Weekend to include five resort properties -- ARIA, Bellagio, MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, and The Mirage. The weekend, which is scheduled to run from Oct. 5 to 7, encompasses a wide array of events, from lavish, multi-course wine dinners to intimate cooking demonstrations. Some of the culinary world's best-known celebrities are booked for the weekend. Details of the goings-on can be found at mgmresorts.com/foodandwine From Friday through Sept. 3 the Duck and Avellino in Sturbridge will be running a Lobster Fest promotion. In addition to a traditional boiled lobster dinner, both restaurants will be offering various lobster and seafood-based specials. For more details contact the restaurants at (508) 347-2321. On Saturday, Atkins Farms Country Market in Amherst will be hosting a New England Food and Beverage Tasting Fair. The detour that made Atkins confusing to reach is no longer in effect, since the elegant asphalt arabesques of Western New England's only double roundabout are now operational. Atkins Farms is celebrating with a daylong, free event that offers samples of specialty foods, beers, and wines from across the region. More than twenty different vendors will be in attendance, and admission is free. The Tasting Fair will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Atkins Farms answers at (413) 253-9528. Canton-based Dunkin Donuts last week released mobile apps for both Apple and Android smartphones. The most significant feature built into this new app is its transaction capability. Users can pay instantly by scanning their smartphone at the point-of-purchase (in-store or drive-thru) at Dunkin locations across the U.S. The app also allows users to purchase and send mobile gift cards to others, in denominations from $2 to $100. The virtual gift cards can be sent to recipients by text, e-mail, or Facebook Connect. Other features built into the app include a GPS store locator and access to nutrition information on the company's products. The Dunkin Donuts Mobile App can be downloaded from the respective smartphone app stores or from Dunkin's own website.