One Pico | Seghesio Vinyards Dinner | Thursday March 4

The restaurant at Shutters on the Beach is hosting a winemaker dinner with famed Sonoma Zinfandel producers, Seghesio Family Vineyards. Peter Seghesio, the owner, will be there to tell guests about the wines, which will include Venom, Omaggio, Sonoma Zinfandel, and Arneais. Accompanying plates will include halibut crudo with jalapeno mint and zucchini flower salad, smoked and braised beef short rib with polenta and black trumpet mushrooms, and a pecorino budino with English pea puree. The dinner starts at 7:00pm, and the $85 price tag includes food and wine.
1 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405, (310) 587-1717



Vinotheque Provence | Wine Tasting | Friday March 5

This Friday, Vinoteque is hosting the largest Provence wine-tasting ever held on the west coast, featuring 12 winemakers from the region who represent 35 different labels (many not yet available here yet). To accompany tastes of the wines, which will also be available for purchase by the bottle, Chef KC Ma is cooking up traditional Provençal fare. The tasting runs from 6:00pm-1:00am, and costs $55 per person at the door, though if you buy them by today, they are discounted to $42 per person. For information and tickets, call the restaurant.
7469 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90048, (310) 860-6060




DomaineLA | Wine Tasting at Street | Monday, March 8

If there's one thing that goes better with wine than small plates, it's savvy, unpretentious expertise. Get a taste of it next Monday by joining DomaineLA wineshop owner Jill Bernheimer as she takes guests through a tasting of five Manincor Estate wines from Italy's Alto Adige region at Susan Feniger's Street. Wines on hand will include a 2005 Chardonnay, a 2006 Pinot Noir, and a hard-to-find dry, still Moscato, all from Manincor, which is one of the pioneers of biodynamic winemaking in its region. Along with the wines, there will be passed appetizers including shrimp wrapped with shizo, seaweed and crispy dough with ponzu suace and wasabi; fried plantains with yogurt and chili coconut; white bean and kale crostini wiht garlic and anchovi butter on olive bread; and lamb meatballs wrapped in grape leaves with Syrian cheese and carob-date molasses.The tasting is casual, so come anytime between 6:00-8:00pm that evening. It costs $15 per guest including food and wine.
724 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90028, (323) 203-0500



Culina | Opens at the Four Seasons

The Four Seasons Beverly Hills has recently undergone a massive renovation, and part of that is the launch of its new, modern Italian restaurant, Culina. Chef Victor Casanova (yes, that's his real name) earned his chops at New York's Gramercy Tavern. His menu is replete with California versions of Italian classics, like cream gnocchi with black truffle, pea shoots and lobster knuckle; halibut with asparagus and wild mushroom risotto; bone-in veal chop with arugula, sweet tomatoes and parmigiano reggiano; and all kinds of ocean-fresh crudo. As for the space itself, the entrance is off the hotel's driveway, so no need even to step into the lobby. It incorporates a long main dining room accented with a dramatically bubbly Czech glass chandelier, a VIP lounge, two private dining rooms, and two
(Photo via Quadrupel Brasserie)

outdoor patios (the back one has an enormous fire pit, the perfect setting for canoodling on cold nights).

300 S. Doheny Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90048, (310) 860-4000



Wolfgang Puck Announces WP 24 | Ritz-Carlton L.A. Live

After months of anticipation, it was finally announced this week that the iconic Wolfgang Puck will be the celebrity chef behind the restaurant at the new Ritz-Carlton at L.A. Live (Kerry Simon is the chef at the J.W. Marriott's L.A. Market restaurant in the same hotel complex). According to Angeleno's Brad A. Johnson, Puck's menu will be an Asian-inspired fine-dining experience. So why the odd name? WP for the chef's initials, of course, and the 24 does not refer to its opening hours, but is instead meant to remind guests that it is on the hotel's 24th floor, with views stretching from the downtown skyline to the sea. In charge of the kitchen is Puck's trusted chef de cuisine, David McIntyre, and we hear that iCrave, the firm behind Hyde, STK and Geisha House, is designing the interior.

900 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90012



Quadrupel Brasserie | Opens in Pasadena

Take Belgian beer, add in some classic French bistro dishes, serve them up at a hand-crafted mahogany bar, and you get Pasadena's newest gastropub, Quadrupel Brasserie. This isn't your average burgers and brews joint though. Instead of wings, try the steamed mussels in lobster sauce, pan-seared scallops with crab and saffron cream, paprika-crusted sea bas with wild rice, orange quail and duck confit with roasted yams, or Niman ranch flat iron steak frites with rosemary oil and molasses Bordelaise sauce. They're sure to go down even better with a sip of one of the over 70 mostly Belgian beers and ales, though if the drinks are your main draw rather than the food, you can still get some nibbles on the smaller bar menu, like pork-pancetta meatballs with bacon-tomato sauce and grilled ciabatta, or sausage with sauerkraut and mustard.
43 E. Union St., Pasadena, CA 91103, (626) 844-2922



The Lab | New | "Mad Scientist" Cocktails

Starting in March, USC's gastropub of choice is unveiling a new series of laboratory-inspired cocktails, as well as renaming some classics after elements from the periodic table (a "Hydrogen" is a mojito). Some of the new drinks include an RNA, which is a raspberry mojito; the Algae, with Stoli Blueberri, Blue Curacao, lemonade and Sprite; and a Mad Scientist Mai Tai.
3500 Figueroa Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007, (213) 743-1843



Chaya Downtown | Japanese Beer Garden | Begins March 22

From March 22 through the end of the summer, Chaya Downtown will serve a new weekly Japanese Beer Garden menu featuring simple specials like Yakitori skewers of chicken, beef tongue, short rib, shrimp or shiitake mushroom; sake-steamed mussels; grilled corn with feta; chicken spring rolls, and albacore tuna poke. Pitchers of Kirin beer will run $15. The event takes place every Monday from 5:00pm-close out on the restaurant's heated patio, which will be decorated with traditional red Japanese lamps.

525 S. Flower St., Los Angeles, CA 90071, (213) 236-9577