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Orange County Culinary EventsHungry? Need to fill your culinary calendar? Here is where you will find all the restaurant and culinary happenings in Orange County. We feature a calendar of special dinners, tasting menus, prix-fixe meals, food festivals and other culinary events, including regularly occurring food events as well as special one-time-only 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 Orange County. << Back to Orange County restaurant news
Through March
Prego in Irvine is celebrating its 25th anniversary by offering a three-course prix fixe dinner featuring dishes from its original 1985 menu. In addition, each course is paired with wines form Prego's extensive list of Italian and California wines. Some of the dishes include a rotolo di formaggi e verdure (mozzarella and fontina cheeses roled with eggplant, zucchini, basil and sun-dried tomatoes), spaghetti alla carbonara and traditional tiramisu. The cost is $19.85 per person (exclusive of tax and gratuity). Prego, Irvine Towers, 18420 Von Karman Ave., Irvine, CA 92612, 949-553-1333.
Ongoing
OngoingBrasserie Pascal offers meal deals that are available all day, every day. Diners can enjoy half a croque sandwich with the soup of the day, salad and potato chips for $10, a two-course prix-fixe menu for $15, Surf & Turf of filet mignon and half a Maine lobster for $20, and a $25 Grill Deal featuring a 14 oz. Creekstone Farm "Chateaubriand" with french fries, grilled vegetables and either béarnaise or peppercorn sauce. (All prices are per person.) Brasserie Pascal, Fashion Island, 327 Newport Center Dr., Newport Beach, CA 92660, 949-640-2700.
Wednesday-Sunday
Lucca Café, an upscale Euro bistro located in Irvine's Quail Hill Village Center, serves up the only fresh antipasto table in OC. Regulars nosh on domestic and imported cheeses, charcuterie, olives, marinated vegetables and cold salads while sipping a glass of vino from the restaurant's list of 60 wines by the glass. Lucca Café, Quail Hill Village Center, 6507 Quail Hill Pkwy., Irvine, CA 92603, 949-725-1773.
Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays
Shades at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort offers a $30 prix-fixe menu on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, in addition to the regular menu. The selections changes monthly. A green theme surrounds the March menu, with items like roasted organic vegetable panzanella salad, free-range lamb chops, white beans with roasted tomatoes and rosemary, and vanilla panna cotta with organic berries and pistachio biscotti. Shades, Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, 21100 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach, CA 92648, 714-845-8444.
Fridays
Chef John Garcia of The Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel's Restaurant 162' presents an ever-changing seafood menu every Friday evening. Using only seasonal and regional fish, chef Garcia's four-course menu includes such items as a orange-vanilla-butter-poached lobster and a rispy barramundi with pea puree, heirloom carrots, morel mushrooms, roasted shallots and beet foam. The meal ends with a dessert sampler. The cost is $65 per person. Restaurant 162', The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, One Ritz-Carlton Dr., Dana Point, CA 92629, 949-240-2000.
Fridays
Avanti Café, a gourmet eatery and deli for vegans on Costa Mesa's hip 17th Street, serves up super fresh margaritas by the glass ($5.50) or carafe ($13) every Friday evening from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. These drinks are made from fresh, organic citrus and agave juices and are always served on the rocks. Avanti Café, 259 E. 17th St, Costa Mesa, CA n/a, 949-548-2224.
Fridays
Park Ave. in Stanton features a Friday night four-course shrimp dinner, beginning at 4 p.m. For $25, the dinner includes a Caesar salad and popcorn shrimp, shrimp bisque, 10 pieces of shrimp scampi with creamed spinach and sea salt-crusted baked potatoes, plus a cappuccino crunch ice cream sundae. The price includes tax and service. Park Ave., 11200 Beach Blvd., Stanton, CA 90680, 714-901-4400. Fridays Sundays |
RESTAURANT AWARDS
Just published! Our annual restaurant issue features the Best Cheap Eats and our Top 40 U.S. selections, including including Corton in New York and more!
DINING ON A BUDGET
Splurging at top-rated restaurants is fun for special events, but where can you go for a good quality meal that won't break the bank? Gather the change out of your piggy bank and sofa cushions and take it to one of our selections for the best cheap eats in your area. Also, check out our picks for the Top 40 Cheap Eats in the U.S.
