Los Angeles Area Culinary Events

Hungry? Need to fill your culinary calendar? Here is where you will find all the restaurant and culinary happenings in Greater Los Angeles. We feature a calendar of special dinners, tasting menus, prix-fixe meals, food festivals and other LA culinary events, including regularly occurring food events as well as special one-time-only L.A. events featuring top chefs. Keep checking back so you can know all that's going on in the world of restaurant and food events in Los Angeles and the surrounding suburbs.

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March 26
The Early 1900s Extravaganza at the Los Angeles Athletic Club promises to be a roaring good time with wines, tasty morsels, chocolate and live music. From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., discover wines from pioneer regions born in the early 1900s when vineyards began spreading throughout California. To pair with the wines will be "historic" cheeses from the old continent, including the Brillat-Savarin cheese created in the 1930s. Valrhona Grand Cru chocolates will also be offered. Adding to the vintage theme will be live music from The Dustbowl Revival, a folk-blues orchestra. Be sure to take advantage of the LAAC rooftop patio, with downtown views. Limited ticket packages of $88 for two people are available; regular tickets cost $66 per person. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.lawinetasting.com.
 

Through March 31
In celebration of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland film release, The London West Hollywood is offering a special Mad Hatter Tea from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily for the month of March. The four-course menu ($28 per person) is composed of teas ranging from Earl Grey to Cassis, sandwiches including tomato-cherry jam with aged English cheddar, and pastries featuring blackberry panna cotta, "Queen of Heart" tarts, "Jam Tomorrow" scones and Caterpillar Caps; finish with a "drink me" champagne toast. The London West Hollywood, 1020 N. San Vicente Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069, 310-854-1111, 866-282-4560.
 

April 30
The Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation hosts the fifteenth annual Taste for a Cure fundraiser at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel honoring Comcast Entertainment Group President and CEO Ted Harbert.  The event will feature a food and wine tasting reception with signature dishes from Los Angeles restaurants like Patina, Rivera and Bottega Louie. Barbara Fairchild, Jon Holman, Larry Maguire and Jay Sures will co-chair the event. The reception will be held from 6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m., followed by an awards program with live auction, entertainment and tasting menu. Individual tickets cost $500 per person, packages begin at $5000. For more information, call 310-201-5033 or visit www.tasteforacure.com. Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212, 310-275-5200, 800-421-4354.
 

June 4-13
During the third annual Palm Springs Desert Resorts Restaurant Week, diners can enjoy special three-course, prix-fixe dinner menus for either $24 or $36 per person (beverages, tax and gratuity not included) at selected restaurants. Palm Springs hotels and attractions will also offer special discounted rates during Restaurant Week. For more information, please visit www.palmspringsrestaurantweek.com.
 

ONGOING EVENTS

Ongoing
Out & About Tours offers a "SunGay Brunch Tour" where guests will be bussed around to enjoy food and drinks at three different locations around Los Angeles---Mexico Restaurante y Barra, Buttermilk food truck and Flying Leap Café. The tour includes highlights from their weekly Gay LA Tour, cocktails, and a three-course brunch for $85. The brunch tour will happen the last weekend of every month from 1 p.m.-4 p.m. For more information, call 323-804-4161 or visit www.outandabout-tours.com.
 

Ongoing
From 4 p.m.-8 p.m. every day, Toscanova in the Westfield Century City offers an Italian happy hour. Drinks are half off and free finger food is served at the bar. Toscanova, Westfield Century City, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Ste. 192, Los Angeles, CA 90067, 310-551-0499.
 

Ongoing
Joe's in Venice has introduced a value priced prix-fixe dinner of three courses for $45. The offerings change nightly, but a sample menu might include almond crusted St. Maure goat cheese with watercress, pomegranate gastrique and apple purée; braised lamb shank with snap peas, baby turnips and fingerling potatoes; and dark chocolate tart with pink peppercorn ice cream and white chocolate curls. In addition, a flight of three wines is priced at $25. Joe's, 1023 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA 90291, 310-399-5811.
 

Monday through Friday
Lilly's French Café & Bar in Venice offers a $12 two-course lunch deal available Monday through Friday. Diners can start with a house salad or soup of the day and then select either the grilled vegetarian sandwich, chicken sandwich, croque monsieur, steak sandwich, omelet or a daily special dish. Lilly's French Café & Bar, Venice Blvd., 1031 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, CA 90291, 310-314-0004.
 

Monday through Friday
In Beverly Hills, the Avalon Hotel's Oliverio offers a weekday happy hour from 5 p.m.-7 p.m., with all items on the cocktail and bar menus half-price. Nosh on pizzetta with goat cheese and black summer truffles, fritto misto, spicy tuna tartare and gazpacho. Cocktails include the blue Avalon, organic Margarita and classics like the Negroni or mojito. Oliverio, Avalon Hotel, 9400 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212, 310-407-7791.
 

Monday through Friday
For Melrose shoppers, Froma on Melrose, the boutique café, wine bar and gourmet marketplace, now has a weekday happy hour, which takes place Monday through Friday from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. Specials include $4 beers, $5 glasses of wine and a number of "small bites" taken from the main menu ($3-$8) including mini Kobe beef burgers, duck and pork rillette on toasted baguette, burrata cheese and antipasto. Froma on Melrose, 7960 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046, 323-653-3700.
 

Monday through Friday
La Cachette Bistro is offering a $15 prix-fixe lunch menu Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Guests can start with soup or a mixed green salad before selecting a main course from items like a zucchini and herb omelet or baked brioche with béchamel, Swiss cheese and organic ham. Dessert might feature macaroons with chocolate sauce. La Cachette Bistro, 1733 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA 90401, 310-434-9509.
 

Monday through Friday
BondSt Beverly Hills is offering happy hour in the lounge from 5 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The selection of $7 drinks and appetizers includes saketinis, a lychee martini, spicy tuna roll and beef teriyaki skewers. In addition, a $46 per person prix-fixe tasting menu is available in the dining room. The menu features spicy tuna on crispy rice; Fuji apple and artichoke salad; choice of miso cod or New York strip steak; a selection of sushi; and Fuji apple sorbet, apple soup and apple chips. BondSt Beverly Hills, Thompson Beverly Hills, 9360 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90212, 310-601-2255.
 

Mondays
Experience a more casual, "bistro-style" JiRaffe with its Monday Night Bistro when brown paper tablecloths, carafes of wine and signature dishes at reduced prices rule the evening. The bistro menu is a prix-fixe, three-course dinner for $38 per person and a carafe of wine costs between $8-$12. The regular JiRaffe menu is also available. Reservations are recommended; call 310-917-6671. JiRaffe, 502 Santa Monica Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90401, 310-917-6671.
 

Mondays
In Los Feliz, Little Dom's is featuring a $15 prix-fixe supper on Monday nights featuring seasonal dishes like fried green tomatoes with sun dried tomato pesto, white corn polenta with wild mushrooms, and Mexican chocolate budino. Bottles of Dago Red or White are $10, and Peroni beer is $2. Little Dom's, 2128 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027, 323-661-0055.
 

Mondays
Enjoy a sweet (and gratis) ending to a meal at The Bistro Garden at Coldwater. On Mondays, diners receive a complimentary soufflé with each entrée ordered. The Bistro Garden at Coldwater, 12950 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA 91604, 818-501-0202.
 

Tuesdays
Every Tuesday from 7 p.m.-10 p.m., Palate Food + Wine hosts "Le Cirque du Fromage," a weekly cheese social orchestrated by Todd the Cheese Guy, with rotating cheeses and small plate cheese concoctions hot, warm and cold. A flight with three cheeses plus one wine is $12; additional cheese dishes are around $6, with items like croque madams and Brussels sprouts risotto. No reservations are accepted, first come first served. Palate Food+Wine, 933 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91204, 818-662-9463.
 

Wednesdays
Glendale's Palate Food + Wine is offering "Offal Good," a three-course feast of innards and extremities from chef/owner Octavio Becerra every Wednesday evening from 5:30 p.m.-10 p.m. at the restaurant's back wine bar. The weekly event began with dishes such as split pea soup with crispy pig ears, sweetbreads with oro blanco, chicory and pomegranate, and braised oxtail with buttermilk pommes purée. Other weeks might celebrate other rich, delicious parts of animals, including tongues, brains, intestines, hearts and feet. The three-course meal is priced at $25, or $9 à la carte. The Offal Good menu also offers items like "porkfolio" (charcuterie) and potted lamb, chicken or pork for the less adventurous. Palate Food + Wine, 933 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91204, 818-662-9463.
 

Wednesdays
A new Certified Farmers' Market is open at Barnsdall Art Park, and takes place Wednesdays from noon-6 p.m. Located at Hollywood and Vermont, the year-round market offers Eastsiders a variety of fresh produce, nuts and dried fruits, as well as seasonal tastings, cooking demonstrations, music and crafts. This market replaces the Hollywood Lemon Grove Farmers' Market and the market formerly located in the Sears parking lot (known as the Hollywood-Sears Farmers' Market). Barnsdall Farmers' Market, 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027, 323-461-3171.
 

Wednesdays
Upstairs 2, located above West L.A.’s massive Wine House, offers a four-course dinner prepared by chef Todd Barrie every Wednesday, paired with four wines from around the world selected by sommelier Marilyn Snee. Each week will showcase a different wine region, and there will be a brief discussion of each wine and its pairing. The cost is $55 per person. Upstairs 2, 2311 Cotner Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90064, 310-231-0316.
 

Thursdays
Chef Todd Allison has put a new spark into the kitchen at Checkers Downtown, not least during FOUR, a special happy hour running on Thursdays from 4 p.m.-8 p.m. Choose from a weekly selection of four artisanal cocktails or wines and four haute small plates for $4 each. Checkers Downtown, Hilton Checkers Los Angeles, 535 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90071, 213-891-0519.
 

Sundays
To the delight of chocoholics and tea-lovers alike, The Langham, Huntington Hotel & Spa serves Chocolate Afternoon Tea every Sunday. Among the offerings are fruit tarts, mousse torts, crème brûlées, a chocolate fountain, chocolate sculptures, drinking chocolate, Champagne and fine teas. The Chocolate Afternoon Tea is offered in the Lobby Lounge, and costs $59. The Langham's Signature Afternoon Tea is still available Thurs.-Sat. for $39 per person. For more information, or to make reservations, please call 626-568-3900. The Langham, Huntington Hotel & Spa, 1401 S. Oak Knoll Ave., Pasadena, CA 91106, 626-568-3900.
 

Wine dinners & tastings at Novus Vinum.com