Emma Lorraine

Dinner Date at Whist

Looking for dates in all the wrong places? How about discovering that the right place combines your love of political discourse, eclectic music, and a quirky look at the culinary world. Radio station KCRW is putting forth its inner yenta with Dinner Date.

For awhile now a group of us at KCRW has been noticing that the people who come to our events seem to have a lot to say to each other even if they've never met before. The singles amongst us simultaneously got a thought bubble about KCRW venturing into the date match space. This of course led to riotous laughter and a spate of catchy unusable names. And yet, the idea lingered. After all, we have this huge list of restaurants that support the station through the fringe benefits member discount program. We have DJs who love to share their favorite playlists. So there you have food and music. Doesn't Shakespeare say "If music be the food of love play on"? But in this town it doesn't really have to be about searching for love. It can just be about searching for good conversation, friendship and possibilities. And so much of what the station is exploring now is about possibility. Bringing people together is at the heart of that.

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Eiichi Takahashi

Tuna Tataki Sashimi Salad with Matsuhsia Dressing

This weekend, instead of just going out for sushi, why not add some traditional Japanese culture to your plate? The Japanese Food & Sake Collection Festival is taking place Sunday, Jan. 29, at the Hilton Hotel Sierra Ballroom in Universal City from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and should be a hijō ni ureshī good time. With the ongoing problems related to last year's tsunami, we think it's a great effort to support.

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We've already mentioned tonight's special National Donut Day menu, an annual tradition at Grace and now at BLD. But we can't write about donuts and bacon all the time.

5. Salad Days: To celebrate its three-year anniversary, fast-casual salad chain. Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop will be giving diners 50% off beer and wine selections when you purchase a salad this week. Through June 4th, they're also offering a rewards card with increasing discounts. You get 10% off your meal on your first dine-in visit and up to 30% off your meal on your 5th visit (maximum two visits per day). And at the Beverly Hills location, all meals are 30% off tomorrow, June 4th.

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thefullpint.com

From left to right - Tony Yanow, Clay Harding, Brian "The Blur" Lenzo, and Ryan Sweeney

The outdoor beer festival, in theory, is genius. Sun. Fun. Beer. But often, after waiting in lines for four-ounce pours, it's more like a torturous 10-hour day at Disneyland where, on the tram ride back to the Goofy lot, you figure out you rode five rides and are $100 lighter. A better idea comes from the four craft beer auteurs who brought us ColLAboration, their inaugural pop-up outdoor beer garden in Burbank in April. And what better place to create a sun-drenched sequel than at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Gower at high noon on Saturday, June 4.

The fantastic four of the exponentially-expanding LA beer scene are Clay Harding from 38 Degrees, Brian Lenzo from Blue Palms Brewhouse, Ryan Sweeney from Surly Goat and Verdugo Bar and last, but hardly least, Tony Yanow from Tony's Darts Away and the soon-to-open beer wonderland, Mohawk Bend. Each of these brothers-in-beer is as sophisticated in their knowledge of, and access to, great craft brews as you will find in the world. Their beer bars are as good as it gets in the L.A. area. Maybe any area.

So if your idea of an idyllic Saturday is sipping exceptional craft beer in an atmosphere as chill as your backyard, this beats the hell out of the oversized-crowd-undersized-pour-festivals that are becoming as ubiquitious as bad drivers on the Westside.

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LA Times Festival of Books

Next weekend, April 30th through May 1st, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books celebrates the book. You know, those text-y files you download and read on your Kindle or iPad or, as they were once known, those pieces of papers inked on both sides with words, bound together between soft- or hardback covers.

In addition to celebrating Madeline illustrator John Bemelmans Marciano and cobbling various authors together on discussion panels, the free Festival will feature chefs and other food personalities on an outdoor Cooking Stage. Thomas Keller, scheduled to appear on Sunday, May 1st, possibly is to the Festival as Lauryn Hill was to this year's Coachella: highly anticipated, if not a little intimidating.

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Flickt/madid#

While the rest of the country is stuck under three free of snow and ice, an L.A. "winter" means we're still able to get up early, throw on our stylish (if completely unnecessary) Uggs, beanies and gloves and head to the Santa Monica farmer's market for sweet peaches, corn, strawberries, figs and sweet peppers. That's just the tip of the produce iceberg, as crops of ripe grapefruit, mandarins, kumquats, oranges, lemons and limes are also showing up in droves, especially at Garcia Organic Farm.

If you happen to see Ray Garcia, executive chef of Fairmont Santa Monica's FIG (and no relation to the farmers) hanging around their booth, you might want to eavesdrop; the chef has partnered with the Fallbrook-based farm to host Fig's first "Farm Dinner" on Wednesday, January 26th from 5 to 10 p.m., featuring Garcia Farm's latest harvest of citrus.

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Anne Fishbein

baby artichokes with buffalo mozzarella, watercress and goji berries at Fig

If you're one of the few noble people who's actually kept your New Year's resolution, get ready to face a major hurdle. In just a few weeks, dineLA's Restaurant Week returns for its sixth season, serving specially priced three-course prix-fixe lunches and dinners from January 23rd to 28th and January 30th to February 4th. With almost 300 participating restaurants, it's time to put away the protein shakes, dust off your "must try" restaurant list, and get eating.

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Flickr/Rios-Enriquez

Lake Street Creamery, one of the food trucks at this weekend's Rotary Arts & Crafts Fair

L.A. is chalk full of holiday events this weekend -- from downtown's Artisanal L.A. to Bond Appetit: James Bond, Foodie event -- and now the Valley is getting into the mix. On Saturday, Dec. 11 and Sunday, Dec. 12 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the Rotary Arts and Crafts Fair is headed to Woodland Hills, where more than 10 food trucks will be feeding the crowd and over 50 artists will be selling their handmade ceramics, glasswork, photography, jewelry, paintings, sculpture, and water color designs.

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Flickr/Muy Yum

Monday, December 13th, may be Test Kitchen's final dinner service, but Bill Chait and Brian Saltsburg's restaurant experiment is going out with a big-time culinary (and charitable) bang. For $150/person, Test Kitchen and non-profits Share Our Strength and Gettlove, are bringing together eight Test Kitchen alums -- Ricardo Zarate (Picca), Steve Samson & Zack Pollacka (Sotto), Alain Giraud (Maison Giraud), Walter Manzke (formerly of Church & State), Michael Voltaggio (Ink), Neal Fraser (Grace, BLD), Jordan Kahn (Red Medicine), and Amy Pressman (Short Order) -- and Compartes' Chocolatier Jonathan Grahm, to create an eight-course feast with optional wine pairings (or $20 corkage).

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Flickr/Mr Chris Johnson

Malaysian Street Food: Chicken Satay

Gooey grilled cheese sandwiches filled with braised short rib. Homemade fig and mascarpone ice cream sandwiched between warm oatmeal cookies. Chunks of fresh lobster meat bursting out of a toasted roll. Three reasons L.A. street fairs -- from Downtown's Art Walk to Venice's First Fridays -- have become a breakaway hit within the city's food scene. Today is no exception, as Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade plays host to Malaysia Kitchen Night Market from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., transforming part of the three-block tourist (err, shopping) Mecca into a Malaysian street food celebration.

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