Dish

Food Police
Millennium, among the city's premier vegetarian restaurants, has taken healthy eating one step further by hiring a "roaming" staff nutritionist. John Westerdahl, a registered dietitian, herbalist, and certified nutrition specialist, will be at the restaurant beginning this month to consult with diners on health and diet concerns and provide detailed information on the restaurant's cuisine (he'll make his next restaurant call Aug. 29; phone 487-9800 for his hours). A roaming nutritionist? Just be sure that Snickers bar or secret pack of ciggies doesn't fall out of your pocket when he's around.

Bullish Market
The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, held every Saturday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in the parking lot across from the S.F. Ferry Building, has gotten so packed with vendors and buyers that its organizer, S.F. Public Market Collaborative, is about to embark on a Tuesday morning version. Because of the demand for the Ferry Building parking lot on weekdays, the new market will need to be located "somewhere in the Embarcadero Center -- most likely next to the Hyatt Regency," according to Sibella Kraus, executive director of the collaborative, who is working with "a jigsaw puzzle of jurisdictions" to get the Tuesday market off the ground. The weekday addition prefigures the collaborative's goal: "a permanent farmers market" built in the Embarcadero Center or nearby, Kraus says.

Fresh Off the Press
One of the nicest newsletters of the summer arrived from Socca, the Mediterranean restaurant on outer Geary. Called the Socca Chalkboard, it contains information about what's happening in the kitchen, including recipes, new dishes, and seasonal products, plus a page on wines. The current edition offers background on buying zucchini blossoms, a recipe for beer batter for the blossoms, and a discussion of the wines of Provence-Languedoc. The newsletter also announces that, starting Sept. 1, Socca, which now has a $19 prix fixe menu, will be open for dinner seven nights a week.

Polk Street Tropics
Julie Ring will cook up some tropical treats at her Heart and Soul Supper Club -- red snapper seviche, pico de gallo, and housemade chicken tamales -- in honor of her "Ritmo de Agosto" Festival of Latin and Tropical Jazz during the first two weeks of August. Cover ranges from $5-10 with no food or drink minimums.

By Barbara Lane