Photo: Yuichi Sakuraba/Flickr

[UPDATE 12/4: The dinner has been cancelled.]

It's officially winter, and that means—you guessed it—SantaCon is just around the corner. But don't despair yet: you can gird your loins and insulate your soul beforehand with that other December calendar highlight: Saturday night's family-style Dungeness crab feeding frenzy.

Now in its sixth year, the Slow Crab dinner heralds the start of Dungeness crab season with a feast of local crab from Monterey Fish Market. Crab and its accompanying salad come prepared by students of the SF Culinary School and CCA, while pasta fixins are courtesy of HIllside Supper Club. Also included in the $80 ticket price are two beer tickets for brews from Magnolia and Speakeasy, plus dessert by Thorough Bread Bakery and bread from Acme.

The event is hosted by Slow Food San Francisco, whose mission is the connect the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment. No word yet on just how slow these particular Slow Crabs are, but you know what they say: you just have to be faster than the crab next to you.

Saturday, December 7th - 6:00-9:00pm
Woman’s Building, 3543 18th St. (between Valencia and Guerrero)
Tickets: $80, $10 off with promo code slowfood2013.