If you're not doing anything really important for dinner on Sun., March 4 -- and maybe even if you are -- you now have someplace to be. Every year for one night, Lucques co-owners Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne host a cassoulet night in place of one of their customary Sunday Suppers. This year will be their ninth, and it's a tradition we hope they'll continue for, well, as long as the restaurant is around, which is to say forever. More >>

Screenshot of David Lebovitz' Twitter page

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Quick

Two of the three Star Wars-themed burgers.

​One of Europe's bigger restaurant chains, the Belgian-based Quick is known for its mildly outlandish, limited-run sandwiches. Highlights include a burger topped with foie gras, a heart-shaped bun with two cheese-logged patties, and a salsa-topped burger. However, the latest entries really blast off into the stratosphere -- to a galaxy far, far away.

Yes, that's correct. Quick's new burgers are Star Wars-themed: The Dark Maul Burger, the Jedi Burger, and the Dark Vador Burger.

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jgarbee

Smoked Fish From Michel Cordon Bleu

​Michel Blanchet has all of the markings a pedigreed French chef, a lingering Loire Valley accent and cherubic foie gras paunch among them. But the owner of Michel Cordon Bleu fell for the Scottish side of the hors d'oeuvres plate when he opened his Leimert Park smoked fish factory 15 years ago. That's no small protein defection for the former chef of L'Ermitage, L.A.'s famed, and long shuttered, French fine-dining destination.

But there are clear French touches here. For starters, these are hardly the leathery flaps of overly smoked fish with unsettling shelf lives that Americans have come to expect on the corporate cocktail party rounds.

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jgarbee

La Cachette's Bistro Negroni And White Fairy Cocktails

​The Place: La Cachette Bistro, 1733 Ocean Ave., Santa Monic;, (310) 434-9509.

The Hours: Tuesday through Friday from 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 6 p.m. until closing at the bar.

The Deals: A well-edited selection of quality beer, wine and cocktails from $5 to $9, dozens of small plates for $6 to $12.

What did we think? Turn the page to find out...

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T. Nguyen

cappuccino at L'Epicerie Market

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Nearly nine months after opening L'Epicerie Market in Culver City, and, yes, owner Thierry Perez is still there. Perhaps not surprisingly however, the man noted for his "culinary ADD" is still tinkering and improving his French restaurant-slash-market-slash-cafe. His one-stop shop is two-thirds of the way towards being everything he envisioned: the restaurant, he feels, is doing well with its classic French dishes and popular brunch menu. The market, particularly the wine section that relies on his experience as a sommelier, also is thriving. Until recently, it was his coffee bar that he felt needed a jolt. And so, he focused his trifurcated vision on L'Epicerie's bean counter.

The first step was to find the perfect coffee to complement the market's bistro atmosphere. Perez sampled many a brew until he finally picked Weaver's Coffee, a San Rafael-based roastery started by a veteran roaster at Peet's Coffee & Tea. Perez chose Weaver's Coffee in large part because of the company's commitment to sourcing organic, certified fair trade beans. Owner John Weaver's enthusiasm for his product was the clincher: "John is passionate about his product from A to Z. All the way. I want to work with that kind of person."

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Farid Zadi

Rib Steak or Côte de Boeuf

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Suggesting a hunk of grilled meat for Father's Day seems predictable. But the weather is perfect just about this time of year and bonding with dad outdoors over an open fire seems like an almost universal pastime. Besides, grilled steak tastes better than a neck tie or a wrench set (or a rat!). If you can't find côte de boeuf at your local butcher shop, just buy a rib steak (also called cowboy steak or prime rib), which is basically the same thing. The main difference is that the French cut has a longer bone that's trimmed at the end.

Sommelier David Haskell of Magnum suggests three wine pairings from France, Italy and America for a more global take on Father's Day.

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Pascal from Flickr

Morels

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When we think of morels, we think of Fricassée de volaille de Bresse aux Morilles. We grew up just ten miles north of Paul Bocuse's restaurant, near the Pont de Collonges, a place that is world renowned for Bresse chicken in cream sauce with morels. Bocuse is the grandmaster of Cuisine Lyonnaise, after all. But we're in Los Angeles now, and the classic rich and hearty dishes of Lyon sometimes look like fussily plated potential heart attacks. We'll save a fricassée recipe for the winter months, when a rich sauce invigorates the soul and an extra layer of body fat will help us stay warm.

Today, we made pasta in a light cream sauce with sautéed morel mushrooms and a cherry frangipane galette, both inspired by Felicia Friesema's recent Market Report. Turn the page for the recipes.

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The opera.

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When you write about food, you read a lot of press releases. Regardless of the level of journalistic integrity your gig requires and your willingness to write about what you're asked to write about, you'll receive enough p.r. emails to strain your wireless connection. Frequently, the emails read like movie trailer voice-overs. You're compelled to believe that each new opening will shake up the scene, when, like most movies, most restaurants retread familiar terrain. The most absurd release we have ever received arrived this week. We're hoping it's a fake. The subject line is a good start: "The most long-awaited restaurant of all time is getting ready to open its doors."

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Patricia Escusa

French Fruit Tart Prepared by Patrica Escusa, Test Kitchen Assistant

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Every year, during elementary school, we made something for Mother's Day as a class project. If your mother really did you love you, she probably still has a stash of butterfly and heart shaped cards as reminders of how sweet you were before you entered puberty and stopped making gifts out of construction paper and glitter glue. In France, a tart is a traditional gift for Mother's day. A French tart with a tender sugar cookie like crust, filled with chilled pastry cream and topped with cold raw fruit is worth turning the oven on for, even in this heat.

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