Georgio's Cucina. From Gilt City.

Georgio’s Cucina: From New York chef Gary Robins and Chris Heyman, restaurateur behind Table 8 and 8 oz. Burger Bar, comes a Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes dinner at this new Studio City restaurant. The 7-course prix fixe ($65 per person, with a $45 wine pairing supplement; $15 children’s menu also available) will feature oysters on the half shell with prosecco gelée and black caviar, giant shrimp, big eye tuna, clams with pancetta, lobster risotto, roasted branzino and a selection of desserts.

Eva Restaurant: For a family-style dinner, hit up Eva’s prix fixe ($39 per person) on Christmas Eve to enjoy a prime rib roast, roasted organic chicken, creamed spinach, butterscotch pudding and more. Given the high quality of the food here, this meal looks like one of the best deals out there!

Gladstones Malibu: Looking for somewhere to nosh during the day? This SBE takeover is offering a Christmas Eve Dungeness crab feast ($70 per person; $30 for children 12 and younger) from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. You’ll also get Caesar salad, boiled new potatoes, steamed corn, asparagus and eggnog golden raisin brioche bread pudding. There’s fun for the whole family, too — new hopscotch courses and a sandbox, as well as a coloring contest for a chance to win special holiday treats.

Whist at Viceroy Hotel: Can’t decide which day to eat out? No worries because Whist is offering its Christmas menu ($75 per person) on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. You’ll start out with a smoked sturgeon salad with the option to add on foie gras torchon or raw oysters, and for the main course, choose two whole roasted meats, including a pork rack, organic turkey, prime rib and wild European turbot. There will be all kinds of sides, too, including black truffle, chestnut and pancetta risotto, and ricotta and spinach lasagna, in addition to a variety of desserts — even roasted chestnuts in a brown paper bag to go.

Oliverio at Avalon Hotel: Chef Mirko Paderno (a bit of a character, if you’ve ever met him) will be serving up some of his family’s Italian traditions on Christmas Day this year ($48 per person). These include marinated salmon in pink peppercorns with a citrus salad, a cauliflower soufflé topped with parmesan sauce, tonnarelli pasta made with crabmeat broth, and veal cheese and truffle fondue ravioli. Choose from either the roasted Mediterranean sea bass (AKA branzino) with cabbage and porcini mushrooms or the baked chicken served with artichoke and potato. Enjoy a cranberry parfait drizzled with dark chocolate sauce for dessert.

Junior Drake Shina bag

Junior Drake warehouse sale: The purveyor of handbags is at it again. Seems like JD has this sale every other week, but no matter. From Dec. 17 through Dec. 19, get bags at prices as low as $14.95 and even a three pack of leather bags for $99. Can’t make it to the sample sale? Get 60 percent off online purchases plus a free leather coin purse (discount is taken at checkout).

740 E. 60th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90001
Dec. 17 and 18: 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Dec. 19: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Oliverio‘s Choco-Sutra: Avalon Hotel’s tasty restaurant just got tastier: now there’s an unlimited chocolate buffet. Every Friday and Saturday, indulge in everything from triple chocolate truffle pizzettas made with Nutella, dark and milk chocolate, and topped with white chocolate shavings, to a dark chocolate, cinnamon and red chili pot de crème.

9400 W. Olympic Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
$28 per person ($17 with dinner) or $50 per couple

Hilton HHonors Any weekend, Anywhere sale: Hilton HHonors members who book stays between now and Jan. 31, 2011, at the Hilton family of hotels can save from 20 percent to 50 percent on a future weekend stay any weekend in 2011. Current HHonors members will also receive double base points on completion of their stay.

The Bridge. Courtesy of The Bridge at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

The Bridge at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel: This Thanksgiving meal ($49 per person, $25 per child) includes chestnut agnolotti with crispy sage, ameritti cookies and shaved parmesan; squab-roasted root vegetables and foie gras remoulade with huckleberry jus; and chocolate cake with salted caramel.

Delphine at the W Hotel Hollywood: The brasserie-inspired prix fixe menu ($45 per person) includes the run of a raw bar with a selection of oysters, prawns and ceviche; butternut squash soup; a variety of hors d’oeuvres; an entree of roasted turkey with wild mushrooms, sweet potato puree, stuffing, and haricot vert and almonds; and dessert of pumpkin pie with brown sugar bourbon ice cream or chocolate pecan pie with nutmeg pear ice cream.

Cézanne at Le Merigot Hotel: A three-course dinner ($49 per person) with choices including lobster chowder; persimmon salad with arugula, burrata and speck; braised short ribs en cassoulet; roast turkey; black pepper crusted filet mignon, duck breast and confit duck leg; rum baba; banana cream pie; pumpkin pie; pecan pie; and chocolate ganache cake.

Whist at the Viceroy Hotel: The meal ($68 per person) features a buffet including butternut squash soup topped with sage and prosciutto; a turkey and poached char carving station; and a risotto station (!).

Oliverio at the Avalon Hotel: The menu ($40 per person) features a winter pepita salad with pumpkin seeds, goat cheese and walnut dressing; roasted turkey; and apple pie topped with cinnamon ice cream.

Oliverio's Budino di Polenta

Oliverio, the delightfully sleek yet comfortable restaurant at the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills, is celebrating its first anniversary by offering a special prix fixe menu through Nov. 20:

That’s four courses AND a glass of wine for $40 per person. This is an amazing deal, especially when you consider that the chicken dish normally goes for $24 on its own. The tuna tartare on a crispy risotto cake, the truffle pizzetta and the budino are some of my favorites. Check out my previous post on Oliverio’s happy hour menu for more dining recommendations.

Oliverio at Avalon Hotel. From Curbed LA.

Oliverio, the restaurant that took over the old Blue on Blue space at the Avalon Hotel last fall, now has a twice-weekly happy hour. On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Oliverio’s bar and cocktail menus are half-off, which means all cocktails are $7 instead of the regularly priced $14. The Lombardia made with bourbon, apple, cinnamon and orange sounds good to me (I love bourbon!). Food includes a goat cheese and black summer truffle pizza for $11 (normally $22) or truffle and parmesan fries for $4 (normally $8).

Note: I haven’t been to the Avalon’s restaurant since it was Blue on Blue under Chef Scott Garrett. Now that the space is Oliverio under Chef Mirko Paderno, I’ll have to go back and check it out.

The food was pretty. The drinks were colorful. But neither impressed me much.

While some of the food was prepared creatively – mini potato cups filled with creme fraiche and caviar, fruit sushi – few items actually stood out in terms of taste. The fruit sushi  – fruit and fruit-flavored rice fashioned to look like sushi – pieces looked pretty, but in the end it’s fruit-flavored rice. There weren’t enough hot hors d’oeuvres, either. The fried risotto balls were great, and I saw some kind of taco being passed around, but they never made their way to me, nor did they seem to make a reappearance. I saw scallops being prepared, but whenever I asked for them, I was told they were for “later.” They never appeared.

Potato cups

Fruit sushi

Samples of the rooftop’s cocktails were passed around, and I had the Electric Lemonade (Ketel One Citron, lemonade and Sprite) and the Pama Mojito (10 Cane rum, Pama pomegranate liqueur, lime juice, sugar and mint). The Electric Lemonade wasn’t bad, though it was light on the vodka. The Pama Mojito, on the other hand, tasted like straight-up rubbing alcohol. It takes a lot for me not to drink an alcoholic beverage, and I could not drink this one.

Now, most of this stuff, with the exception of the cocktails, isn’t even on the Chamberlain’s menu. I would have liked to have tried food that’s actually served at the hotel, such as the madras curried french fries or grilled Angus and avocado sliders. Call me crazy.

Another kicker: The Chamberlain offers a Grand Cabana Package with fresh fruit, spa water, body mist spray, chilled hand towels, cable television and use of a Nintendo Wii for either four hours ($250 rental fee plus $375 minimum food and beverage spend) or eight hours ($500 rental fee plus $750 minimum F&B spend). That seems like a lot for not very much, especially in this economy. But the cabana fits up to 12 people, so I guess it’s not that expensive if you split the cost.

The Chamberlain is part of Kor Hotels’ Urban Retreat program, which offers discounts on room rates, food and beverage, cabana rentals, spa services and parking at select Kor properties (Chamberlain, Maison 140, Avalon, Loden Vancouver and Viceroy Palm Springs). Yearly membership costs $500, but it’s being offered for $200 for now through the end of the year. Attendees of this event got the discount cards for free. Maybe I’ll use it sometime to try out some of the menu items I didn’t get to try at the party. Maybe.

Poolside at the Avalon Hotel

Avalon Hotel’s restaurant, Blue on Blue, has just introduced its version of a chef’s table – the chef’s cabana. The poolside dining experience starts with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres that lead into a four-course family-style dinner. There’s a special menu that includes ingredients from local farmers markets and herbs and greens from the hotel’s rooftop garden. I had a chance to experience the cabana menu last week (along with e*starla, Pocket Lint and Ritz Bites), and some of the standout dishes were the smoked trout crostini, golden beat tartare, quinoa and hericot vert salad, and spiced pork tenderloin. The Elixir martini, made with house-infused cucumber-dill vodka (made with rooftop dill that’s infused with the vodka for six days), sweetened lime and white cranberry, is excellent (this martini is available on blue on blue’s regular drinks menu, too).

There is a downside: Only those with deep pockets will be able to afford eating here since spots at the cabana are $150 per person. For those with even deeper pockets, an additional $250 will get you a private shopping trip with Chef Scott Garrett, who will accompany you in buying your dinner at either the Santa Monica or Hollywood farmers market. Since you are paying so much, Garrett, formerly with Viceroy’s Whist, says he will accommodate off-menu requests. And he’s married to a pastry chef at SusieCakes, which means the bakery’s super-moist coconut cake can accompany Blue on Blue’s soft chocolate chip cookies (the secret: they’re undercooked).

Earlier: News from Avalon Hotel

Elixir martini

Rooftop garden

Smoked trout crostini

Spiced pork tenderloin

The pool at the Avalon Hotel

Avalon Hotel – that little boutique hotel almost hidden at the weird intersection of Beverly Drive and Olympic Boulevard – has recently introduced some new menus at its restaurant, blue on blue. In addition to Executive Chef Scott Garrett’s new chef’s cabana experience (more on that later – sooner rather than later, I promise), blue on blue has introduced a DJ-spun poolside weekday happy hour and a similar weekend event.

• Groove on Blue: Every Thursday night from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., blue on blue hosts a poolside happy hour with DJ Grand Marquee providing mood music in the form of indie and electro. Small plates and drink specials, including mini bacon cheeseburgers with garlic aioli and punch made from house-infused alcohol, are $8.

• Detox/Retox: DJ Grand Marquee will also spin poolside every Sunday from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. when guests can choose from a “Detox” hangover-cure menu and a “Retox” party-going menu. Some of the items on the Detox menu are peanut soba salad, shrimp and watermelon gazpacho, and sparkling pomegranate lemonade. The Retox menu includes fish tacos, scallop carpaccio and a bloody mary, among others. All food and drink items are $8.

And for the ultimate Avalon poolside experience, you can rent a 10-person cabana for $150, which doesn’t include the $500 food and beverage minimum. I’d stick with the $8 specials, which won’t break the bank, especially since valet parking is free for blue on blue guests. In Los Angeles, that really is special.