Copia: the American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts intends to celebrate the birthday of America's favorite chef, Julia Child, with special meals, tastings and a party next month.

After all, Copia does have a restaurant named for the woman who demystified French cuisine and inspired cooks across the land. Julia's Kitchen at Copia is the only project she allowed to use her name.

Child revolutionized American cuisine through her French cooking school, award-winning cookbooks and world-renowned television programs, by presenting an approachable version of sophisticated French cooking to an eager audience for four decades.

Victor Scargle, executive chef of Julia's Kitchen, and pastry chef Nicole Plue are planning special lunch and dinner menus to be offered to the public starting Aug. 2.

"We will have our traditional Nioise lunch as well as lobster bisque, duck a l'orange and lobster l'Americaine," Scargle said of several of the dining options. The pastry chef will offer a number of Child's favorite desserts. Menus will change every few days during the two-week period, Scargle added.

Lunch menus featuring classic Child dishes are being offered Aug. 2-7 and Aug. 9-14. The dinner menus are being offered to diners Aug. 3-6 and Aug. 10-13.

Napa designer Michael Holmes has been asked to enliven the dining room with some of Child's cooking memorabilia.

The Copia culinary team hosts a birthday party Aug. 13 for Child. Child's birthdate is Aug. 15, falling on a Tuesday this year, the one day each week Copia is closed.

Copia visitors will be offered complimentary birthday cake and an opportunity to purchase flights of sparkling wine and Champagne, served with one of Child's favorite hors d'oeuvres, gougres.

Her history

Child began with a sincere passion for good food and the pleasures of cooking, studying in France in the 1950s with chef/friend Simone Beck. With the help of Louisette Bertolle, another dedicated food lover, they created a cooking school called L'Ecole des Trois Gourmandes and later, in 1961, completed their groundbreaking cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

Her book and the popular television show that followed made the mysteries of fancy French cuisine approachable, introducing gourmet ingredients, demonstrating culinary techniques, and most importantly, encouraging everyday "home chefs" to practice cooking as art, not to dread it as a chore.

A tall, exuberant woman who could make lobster bisque look as easy as toast, she was respected by food professionals for the clarity with which she translated French cuisine for an American audience -- all the while not taking herself too seriously.

Her initial cooking program, "The French Chef," became a big hit with TV viewers. With help from her husband, Paul, Child appeared on a set replicating a home kitchen and cooked the dishes of the week, then served them to herself, complete with wine. "The French Chef" became the longest-running program in the history of public television; it was followed by "Julia Child & Company," "Dinner With Julia" and other series, including "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home," on which she teamed up with another well-liked chef, Jacques Ppin. And each series had its companion cookbook.

The woman who brought cassoulet to a casserole culture passed away at her Santa Barbara home in August 2004, two days before her 92nd birthday.