Top 5 Weekend Food Events: Temecula Wine Harvest, Vegan Cupcake Contest, LA Loves Alex's Lemonade, Creative Seeds, Marc Vetri Dinner

Guzzle & Nosh

Temecula wine country.

Temecula Wine Harvest Celebration
Visit more than 30 Temecula Valley wineries (yes, some of them make very good wine: Hart, Doffo and Renzoni, to name a few) during this two-day annual harvest celebration and barrel tasting.
WHERE: Temecula Valley
WHEN: Nov. 5-6
COST: $59-99 for non-residents. (Buy tix here)

Cupcakes + Art
10 bakers from around L.A. (including Babycakes NYC) face off to see who can make the best vegan mini cupcakes. Eat and vote. The competition will take place along with a cupcake-themed art show. Proceeds from the art sales will go to a charity of the winning baker's choice.
WHERE: Hold Up Art
WHEN: 3 p.m., Nov. 6
COST: $35 (Buy tix here)

LA Loves Alex's Lemonade
This annual event, which funds childhood cancer research, is a decadent chef's cookout featuring food prepared by Suzanne Goin (Lucques, AOC, Tavern) and David Lentz (The Hungry Cat).
WHERE: Culver Studios
WHEN: 12 - 4 p.m., Nov. 6
COST: $175, general; $400, VIP. (Buy tix here)

Creative Seeds: An Exploration of Hunger
Cornerstone Theatre kicks off Creative Seeds, a two-week event that features lunchtime panel discussions, evening performances and various exhibitions, all of which take a creative look at issues of food equity, resource distribution and accessibility.
WHERE: various locations
WHEN: Nov. 7 - 20
COST: varies (full schedule here)

Marc Vetri's Rustic Italian Dinner
Considered by many to be one of the best Italian food chefs in the country, Mark Vetri visits Lucques to cook a meal -- eggplant caponata, chicken liver rigatoni, lamb shoulder, amaretti semifreddo -- in honor of his new book, Rustic Italian Food.
WHERE: Lucques
WHEN: 6 :30 p.m., Nov. 7
COST: $95 (includes signed copy of Vetri's book)