Akasha food from Great Chefs of L.A.

Friday is the first day of Akasha‘s Hanukkah meals, which include slow-roasted brisket; potato pancakes made from Yukon gold potatoes with gravlax, wasabi tobiko and horseradish crème fraiche; and Israeli doughnuts. There will even be special cocktails, including the Winter Mary made with celery-peppercorn vodka, carrot juice and pickled carrot. The special holiday food is available through next Friday, Dec. 18, during happy hour (small plates and cocktails) and dinner.

On Saturday, join in the Loopt Holiday Scavenger Crawl, which is part pub crawl, part scavenger hunt that promises to take participants to speakeasies, galleries and coffee shops on a hunt to be the first to find a “VIP” party. Along the way, you’ll win prizes from the locations you’ll scurry to, as told to you by the Loopt iPhone/BlackBerry app that guides you. The top three players from each city (there are also scavenger hunts in New York and San Francisco) will $200 gift cards to the retailer of their choice, and the grand prize for the top player out of all the cities will get a round-trip ticket to Hawaii.

Wrap up your weekend on Sunday from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Cynthia Vincent and Sid Vintage sample sale at Code C boutique, where there will be one-of-a-kind of pieces available only at this sale. Bonus: Bring an unwrapped toy to donate to L.A. Family Housing and receive a free Coolhaus ice cream sandwich. Shopping and ice cream? Yes, please!

Re Collection dress. Photo courtesy of Re Collection.

If you feel the need to spend some dough after work today, check out these two sales:

Re Collection trunk show: Code C boutique on Sunset Plaza is hosting a trunk show with Re Collection, a clothing line that repurposes vintage garments into new pieces. There will also be an art installation from The Sustainable Sirens, a public service campaign committed to educating the entertainment industry through the design of unique costumes from recyclable items from film shoots. From 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m, shop for sustainable clothing while sipping on champagne. It’s so L.A.

Multi-designer sample sale at Malo restaurant: Stop by the popular Sunset Boulevard Mexican eatery between 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and go upstairs to shop (cash only) through items from Ezekiel, Raven Denim, Jenny Han, Akiko, Jessica Elliot, Victoria Tea, Rhys Dwfen and Junk Food. Prices will be 50 percent to 75 percent off retail. While you’re at it, enjoy $1 tacos, happy hour drink prices and tunes from DJ My Shimoda.

And just so you have these on your radar:

Rebecca Minkoff sample sales: The eponymous handbag designer is kicking off the holiday shopping season with a Black Friday online sample sale from Friday, Nov. 27, at 12:00 a.m. to Monday, Nov. 30, at 11:59 p.m. And showing some love for Los Angeles, Minkoff is having a sample sale at 7961 W. 3rd St. (at Edinburgh Ave.) from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6, 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily.