Tonight: Harvest week wine dinner with monkeys at Avenue Grill

​While close to forty members of the Denver Independent Network of restaurants are rolling out menus offering locally sourced products through Friday, September 18 -- the last day of Harvest Week -- a few restaurants are also celebrating the state's allegiance to the locavore movement with special dinners. At 6:30 p.m. tonight, Avenue Grill, Andrew Lubatty's place at 630 East 17th Avenue, will partner with Ben Parsons, winemaker and founder of the Infinite Monkey Theorem, a Denver urban winery that's generating a dedicated swell of grape stompers, for a six-course local product-driven dinner that spotlights the same number of wines from Parsons. The evening is priced at $75 per person (excluding tax and gratuity), and reservations are essential; call 303-861-2820 to make yours.

While you're waiting for dinner, here's a menu preview:

Eat: Asian buns filled with char su portabella mushrooms
Drink: 2008 IMT riesling

Eat: Sauteed Colorado striped bass, red carrot bisque, roasted fennel crème fraiche
Drink: 2008 IMT sauvignon blanc

Eat: Local chicken with pineapple sage, walnuts, tomatoes and lemon
Drink: 2008 IMT chardonnay

Eat: Slow-roasted pork tenderloin with spiced blackberries
Drink: 2008 IMT cabernet franc

Eat: Star anise BBQ buffalo short ribs with buttermilk mashed potatoes
Drink: 2008 IMT syrah

Eat: Dark chocolate budino with spearmint gelato
Drink: 2008 IMT, Petite Syrah