The Gulf Coast oil spill, regardless of BP's end game, is a disaster of stunning proportions. Now you can do a small part to help the many Gulf fishermen and their families who have lost their livelihood due to the spill — by eating well at one of the best seafood restaurants town. Two of them, actually. Both The Hungry Cat in Hollywood and in Santa Barbara will be hosting Gulf benefits on Tuesday, July 27th, with a share of the day's total sales going to Adopt a Fisherman. No, chef-owner David Lentz is not from New Orleans or Florida (he's from Maryland), but he doesn't have to be. “The basic reason is just to help out,” said The Hungry Cat's GM Tim Staehling yesterday. Turn the page for the menu.

In addition to the full raw bar (crawfish, head-on shrimp), The Hungry Cat's menu will include: gem lettuces, with blue crab, egg, buttermilk and mustard; oysters en brochette; alligator beignets; gumbo with shrimp, crab and andouille sausage; trout amandine; soft shell crab po'boy; pan-roasted soft shell crawfish, with grits and fried green tomatoes; blackened redfish, with corn puree, succotash and crab pearls. Among the drinks on the cocktail menu: creole juleps; hurricanes, with Flor de Cana light and dark rum, passionfruit puree, lime and simple syrup; brother jakes, with hacienda vieja tequila, flor de cana light rum, carpano antica vermouth, lemon, and simple syrup. The menu will be the same at both restaurants.

And if you should feel a little circumspect while you're eating your alligator beignets (wow, by the way) and sipping on a vieux carre cocktail, you might consider those offshore oil platforms sitting serenely in the Santa Barbara Channel. Just a thought.

The Hungry Cat Hollywood: 1535 N. Vine St., Hollywood; (323) 462-2155. The Hungry Cat Santa Barbara: 1134 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara; (805) 884-4701. Follow The Hungry Cat on Twitter @thehungrycat.

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