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As an avowed oyster nut, I feel so fortunate to live in Philadelphia. Thanks to spots like Fish, Snockey’s and Seafood Unlimited, it’s possible to get wonderful, fresh oysters easily and at good prices every day the of the week (we even have our very own Oyster Evangelist).

Of course, it’s impossible to make mention of briny bivalves in this town without referencing the Oyster House. Their daily buck-a-shuck happy hour is one of the best buys in town and they always have an amazing array plump, slurpable oysters on offer.

Coming in January, Oyster House won’t just be the best place in town to cozy up to a freshly shucked dozen. It will also be the best spot to learn how to shuck, which beers and wines go well with oysters and what regional differences exist when it comes to oysters.

The classes will be held every Saturday in January (that’s January 8, 15, 22 and 29) and run from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Cost is $30 per person and all participants will receive one of Oyster House’s famous “Eat Oysters, Love Longer” tees. Reservations are required, so call (215) 567-7683 to sign up.

Oyster House
1516 Sansom Street, Philadelphia
215-567-7683
oysterhousephilly.com

A holiday gift from a Philadelphia institution: Le Bec-Fin is extending its $40, 40th Anniversary Celebration menu, plus specially featured holiday treats, through January 13th, 2011.

The four-course menu is served from 5 to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday in the Main Dining Room and 5 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday at Le Bar Lyonnais downstairs.

During this holiday season Executive Pastry Chef Cedric Barberet is also preparing special Yule logs in three delectable flavors: the Grace log with yellow sponge soaked in raspberry punch, vanilla butter cream and raspberry red currant jam; the Le Bec-Fin log with chocolate sponge soaked in rum punch and filled with chocolate butter cream; and the Melody Log with almond sponge soaked in caramelized cinnamon punch, filled with cinnamon Bavarian mousse and diced apples. The logs serve six to eight people and are the perfect ending to any meal.

Additional holiday-appropriate truffles, treats, and special orders from the legendary dessert cart are also available for carry out, like White Chocolate Coconut Rum, Milk Chocolate Salted Caramel, or Dark Chocolate truffles.

Where to better to dine, and indulge, in style for the holidays than 40-year Philadelphia culinary scene stronghold Le Bec-Fin?

See the full Celebration menu below.

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Holiday happenings are still going strong, as we round the corner towards Christmas and New Year’s. This weekend brings ample opportunity to step up the holiday shopping (it’s coming down to the wire now), with the Piazza at Schmidt’s Winter Market and Johnny Brenda’s Procrastinator’s Holiday Bazaar. And don’t forget there are six new stores open for the holidays at The Shops At Liberty Place.

Take a rest from shopping to sit down and enjoy any of the slew of traditional holiday performances this weekend, from music like Holiday POPS! to theater like the hilarious annual Santaland Diaries.

But let’s be honest, the whole weekend is leading up to the Eagles playing the Giants, Sunday at 1 p.m.; watch on the big screen at the Piazza or take advantage of bar specials across the city.

Check out the rest of our picks for the weekend below:

Friday

Piazza at Schmidt’s Winter Market

Final Meet The Cheesemaker Happy Hour at the Fair Food Farmstand

Art After 5: Denise King at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Winter Adventure Tours at the Eastern State Penitentiary

Mummenschanz at the Annenberg Center

Christmas Village at Dilworth Plaza

Saturday

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at the Walnut Street Theatre — Closing Weekend!

Holiday POPS! at the Kimmel Center

Independence Seaport Museum’s Parade of Lights

Riverboat Tours on the Philadelphia Belle

Comcast Holiday Spectacular

Macy’s Holiday Light Show

Blue Cross RiverRink

Phillies Broadcaster Tom McCarthy Narrates The Philadelphia Orchestra’s ’Twas the Night Before Christmas

Flashpoint Theatre Company’s The Santaland Diaries — Closing Weekend!

Rock to the Future Student Holiday Concert at the Atonement Lutheran Church

Sunday

Pennsylvania Ballet’s The Nutcracker

This Is The Week That Is at Plays & Players Theatre

Eagles vs. Giants on the Piazza Jumbotron

Reading Terminal Holiday Railroad

Cabaret Red Light’s The Nutcracker at the Painted Bride

Amaryllis Theatre Company’s Dublin Carol — Closing Weekend!

Procrastinator’s Holiday Bazaar at Johnny Brenda’s

Make-Your-Own Holiday Ornaments at Hudson Beach Glass

Santa’s Hot Chocolate Booth at the Omni for the Philadelphia Fire Department
 

Photo courtesy Picture Philly.

More than 100 of Center City’s finest restaurants are participating in the upcoming Center City District Restaurant Week, once again taking place over two weeks back-to-back: January 16th to 21st and 23rd to 28th.

Check out a full list and make reservations online and, while you’re there, enter the contest to win 52 gift certificates from Center City restaurants: that’s dinner once a week for an entire year!

During Restaurant Week, each participating location offers indulgent prix fixe menus — appetizer, entree, dessert — that are both delectable and easy on the wallet: $35 per person for three-course-dinner, $20 for a three-course lunch at more than 55 restaurants. (Tax, alcohol and gratuity are not included.)

A list of parking spots discounted for Restaurant Week is online.

Center City District Restaurant Week
When: January 16th to 21st and 23rd to 28th
Where: Center City District
Cost: $35 for dinner, $20 for lunch
More info: www.centercityphila.org/restaurantweek

Real shoppers know museums are more than repositories of cultural exhibitions: they make for excellent retail, and Philadelphia’s are no exception.

With its dense array of distinguished cultural centers, the Philadelphia area offers, by extension, seriously great shopping. Check out our picks for museum shop gifts below:

• The Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia: This place stocks goods that are as disturbingly intriguing as the site’s signature exhibitions of medical oddities. Perfectly peculiar stocking stuffers include squishy skull balls, skull-shaped key caps, a conjoined gingerbread men cookie cutter after (the museum immortalizes Chang and Eng, the original Siamese conjoined twins) and an X-ray skeleton magnet set.

• Philadelphia Museum of Art: To commemorate the Alessi: Ethical and Radical exhibition of European decorative arts (through April 10th, 2011), the PMA’s gift shop is stocking finely crafted home, kitchen and office items befitting only the trendiest design mavens. Choose from ship-shaped butter dishes, a Lily Pond sushi set, a conical stainless steel kettle, a chic metallic cocktail shaker, cartoon men cut-out napkin holder and more.

• Please Touch Museum: From learning tools in the guise of toys (Uncle Goose nursery rhyme blocks made from sustainable Michigan basswood, with non-toxic ink) to both new and timeless children’s books, the “Children’s Museum of Philadelphia” offers games, puzzles, and educational toys galore befitting even the choosiest kids.

• Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: Not to be outshadowed by the city’s more in-the-limelight art museums, PAFA’s shop Portfolio is a contemporary retail destination on its own. In addition to its prodigious line of giclée reproduction prints of more than 400 of the museum’s holdings, the boutique offers artsy gifts like a richly detailed Philly skyline ornament, exquisitely crafted jewelry, and various renditions of Robert Indiana’s famous LOVE statue.

Check out more museum gift shops below.

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From exclusive dinners hosted by the city’s hottest chefs and restauranteurs to picnic baskets brimming with delicious treats, the Free Library invites you to gather up a group of friends, relatives, or coworkers to “Book a Table” and, in so doing, support the valuable programs and services the Library provides.

The 18 swank deals include, for example:

• Chifa: Chef’s table for eight with a special ceviche dinner, prepared by Latin superstar Jose Garces’ head chef Natalie Maronski. Garces will provide guests with a signed copy of his Latin Evolution cookbook. $4,000.

• Stephen Starr Events: Catered meal for eight, in the comfort of your own home. Choose three hors d’oeuvres and a three-course meal, plus one signature Starr cocktail. $5,000.

• Di Bruno Bros.: Abbondanza gourmet basket, overflowing with cheese, charcuterie and spreads. $250.

• Lacroix at the Rittenhouse Hotel: Chef’s table for four, featuring eight courses from around the world, set right in the restaurant’s kitchen. $2,000.

You can browse through the packages online but they are only available for purchase over the phone, at (215) 567-7713. Each is reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. The Library anticipates availability through at least January.

Eat, drink, be merry and be generous.

Free Library of Philadelphia Book a Table [FreeLibrary.org]

Campus Philly, a non-profit organization charged with the attraction and retention of top college students, released a report this week that divulges that more Philadelphia college students than ever are staying in the city after graduating.

From an April-May survey of 4,600 students, 48
% 
of 
non‐native
 Philadelphian college students
 reported 
staying
 in
 the 
region compared
 to 
29
%
 in 
2004.

 And 83% of respondents said they would 
recommend
 Greater
 Philadelphia as a place to go to college.

Must be all the sports pride. Or else the rich historical legacy. Or maybe the drinks?

We’ve written before about Philadelphia’s reputation as an enthusiastic college town. It’s great to hear that the students agree.

Campus Philly [Official Site]

Memoir and documentary art collective First Person Arts celebrates the holidays, and concludes its 2010 season, with a Holiday Spirit-themed StorySlam, a special edition of one of the organization’s biweekly story-telling competitions that spotlights local writers and actors.

Hosted by S.M. Shrake, a D.C.-based storyteller who has been heard on This American Life, the Mortified Show, and The Moth, the show features a festive batch of holiday-themed stories told by Philadelphians.

Entering their fifth season, First Person StorySlams are a unique breed of performance art in which people are invited to share true stories from their lives, based on the night’s theme. Ten storytellers are chosen at random from those who sign up. Each has five minutes to impress the crowd with his or her content and story-telling style. Judges, also selected from the audience, score the performances on a ten-point scale. The highest-scoring participant wins a chance to compete in one of two Grand Slams, in which winners from the monthly StorySlams vie for the title of “Best Storyteller in Philadelphia” and free StorySlam admission for life.

Partake in a night of revelations and revelry.

First Person Arts StorySlam: Holiday Spirit
When: Tuesday, December 28th, 8:30 p.m.
Where: L’Etage, 6th and Bainbridge Streets
Cost: $5 (half off the normal Slam ticket price)
More info: www.firstpersonarts.org
Note: The event is 21+

With a rotating lineup of over 40 of the area’s best musicians, The Philly Folk Parade tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. stands as a testament to our city’s musical talent.

WHYY Radio has been a pillar of the Delaware valley musical community for 50 years; they know what they’re doing when it comes to music. And The Philly Folk Parade was an honorable mention in the music category for City Paper’s Big Vision Awards this October. The paper applauded the event for working towards “building an unstoppable music community.”

So enjoy a very special acoustic showcase from performers like The Spinning Leaves, Brad Hinton, Phil D’Agostino and Allison Polans. Comp beverages will be provided by Yard’s Brewing Company and Barefoot Wine.

Live music, wine, good company — what more could you ask for to warm up a winter night?

Reserve tickets online.

WHYY Presents: The Philly Folk Parade
When: Thursday, December 16th, 7 to 9 p.m.
Where: WHYY, 150 N. 6th Street
Cost: $10 for WHYY members, $15 for non-members.

On the heels of a holiday gift in the form of Cliff Lee’s return home comes another early Christmas present. The Phillies and their wives are flourishing their cooking skills for charity, with the release of From Our Home to Yours, A Collection of Phillies Recipes, now available online and at the Citizens Bank Park Majestic Clubhouse Store.

The cookbook, $20, features over 30 special recipes and anecdotes directly from the Phillies players, their families and the team’s coaching staff. Even the Phanatic shares a tasty dish.

Recipes include the Ibañez family’s traditional Shrimp Ceviche, Roy Halladay’s Aunt Marcia’s Never-Fail Rolls, Ryan Howard’s grandmother’s cornbread and Jimmy Rollins’ wife Jahari’s “Just Peachy” Homemade Peach Cobbler.

Proceeds from the cookbook benefit Covenant House Pennsylvania, which serves homeless, runaway and at-risk children and teens.

While you’re doing your Phillies-themed holiday shopping, pick up a Cliff Lee #33 shirt or jersey, officially available at the Clubhouse store and online. As part of the Phillies’ 12 Days of Christmas shopping and event series, get 25% off all player T-shirts this Sunday, December 19th.

Phillies Online MLB shop [Phillies.com]