The Question: is there still such a thing as Northwest regional cooking? Is dinner at a Tacoma bistro any different from a meal you'd eat in New York, Chicago, or Atlanta? As we've imported the world, have we lost our regional identity? A few weeks ago, an out-of-town friend asked me to recommend the best place to eat in Tacoma. I started to recite a list of my favorites, but the friend interrupted. "No - we have all those where I live. I want to know where to get real Northwest cooking. Time for a refresher. Wednesday, July 9 author Marc Hinton visits the Washington State History Museum to share the history of cuisine in the Northwest - from the time of the mastodon to the molecular gastronomic revolution of today. Hear how chefs have used our region's bounty to create our local cuisine and how winemakers and brewers have carved out their own traditions in Oregon and Washington. Expect to taste samples from Hinton's book, A History of Pacific Northwest Cuisine: Mastodons to Molecular Gastronomy.

A HISTORY OF PACIFIC NORTHWEST CUISINE, 11 a.m., Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, $7-$9.50, 888.238.4373