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Drago Centro charcuterie plate. From Dig Lounge.

Whether you plan on celebrating Valentine’s Day or not — or just haven’t made up your mind yet — here are some special meals that will be happening around Los Angeles.

To Celebrate

Drago Centro: From Feb. 12 to 14, Drago Centro is offering a four-course dinner for $55, with wine pairings for an additional $35. (Limited à la carte menu items will be available, too.) Here are the menu choices:

First course — beef carpaccio, hearts of palm and candied almonds, or antipasto plate

Second course — butternut squash ravioli with lemon brown butter, or shrimp and scallop agnolotti with cioppino foam

Third course — roasted lamb with artichoke hearts, brown butter pomme purée and rapini, or Dover sole, baby vegetable ragoût and lemon beurre blanc

Fourth course — strawberry semifreddo with basil and white chocolate, or chocolate cake, candied Marcona almonds and raspberries

Also, on Feb. 14 the restaurant will be hosting a masquerade carnival with live music, and guests are encouraged to dress up, too.

Cecconi’s: The West Hollywood eatery is offering its full à la carte menu, a tasting menu for $85, and an optional wine pairing for an additional $45. The tasting menu includes wild mushroom cappuccino; dungeness crab, ahi tuna and avocado; winter black truffle and ricotta ravioli; chateaubriand for two, winter root vegetables and a peppercorn sauce; and a layered chocolate cake, kirsh cherries and whipped cream.

Pourtal: The Santa Monica wine bar is offering two-for-one glasses of bubbly on Feb. 14 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Choose from the featured selection of Marquis de Perlade Blanc de Blanc or a Kir Royale. Cupid will be there to pass out secret Valentines to guests who purchase bubbly or a tasting card; they will receive a free pour ranging from on Pourtal’s Enomatic machines.

Cube: Head over to Cube Marketplace’s cafe on Feb. 13 for a fondue party. Ok, not really, but you can get the fondue special and make it your own party! For $35, you can get prosecco, cheese fondue, roasted farmers market vegetables and fresh fruit, house-baked bread, Meyer lemon coeur a la crème, farmers market berries, citrus cookies — and house-made dark chocolate truffles and confections to take home.

Not To Celebrate

Charlie’s Malibu: On Feb. 13, Charlie’s will host “Bitter, Party of 1” for singles (or as its press release says, “couples welcome, but we may mock them”) with tunes from DJ Kid Wycked from 9:00 p.m. to close. And on both Feb. 13 and 14, the restaurant will offer a four-course chef’s tasting menu for $75, with a $20 wine pairing, along with the regular à la carte and lounge menus. The tasting menu includes dishes such as poached pear with herbed goat cheese and candied walnuts, filet mignon, and lobster tail. You don’t have to eat with a Valentine, you know.

Rush Street: On Feb. 13, the Culver City bar and restaurant will host a Meet Your Valentine party with specialty cocktails and artisanal chocolates. There will be no prix fixe menu. On Feb. 14, diners can enjoy half-off featured wine and champagne all day long.

Akasha: Take home a box of 12 mini cupcakes for $20 from the Culver City restaurant’s bakery to serve at your anti-Vday party — or eat them yourself, I don’t judge. Flavors include chocolate and vanilla cakes with different frosting and icing. The chocolate with Gianduja (that’s a chocolate/hazelnut combo) filling, chocolate glaze and fleur de sel sounds awesome!

Pourtal, the Santa Monica wine bar with those fancy-schmancy Enomatic wine dispensers, is offering a month-long in January “wine tour” featuring Malibu-made wines. The best part is you don’t have to actually trek to Malibu to taste the wines because Pourtal will have them all in one place for you. Even better? A free launch party tomorrow night, Jan. 6, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., to kick off the tour. Admission is free, but you do have to buy a $15 tasting card, which gives you access to all 10 of the featured Malibu wines and additional hand pourings from off-list wines by representatives of the wineries (there will also be free appetizers).

Here’s the list of the 10 wines that will be available any time for a “tour” throughout January, as well as during the launch party:

2006 Hoyt Family Vineyards Chardonnay
2008 Republic of Malibu Pink Lady Rosé
2007 Cielo Malibu Rouge
2001 Semler Cabernet Sauvignon Library Release
2005 Semler Syrah
2005 Rosenthal Malibu Newton Canyon Merlot
2004 Rosenthal Surfrider Red
2007 Griffin Family Vineyard Malbec
2007 Malibu Vineyards “Vortex” Sangiovese
2008 Malibu Sanity Pinot Noir, Schetter Malibu Vineyard

Here’s the schedule of additional hand-poured tastings from individual wineries:

Jan. 13, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Semler and Saddlerock
Jan. 20, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Cielo
Jan. 21, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Rosenthal
Jan. 27, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Hoyt and Malibu Sanity
Jan. 28, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.: Malibu Vineyards and Griffin Family Vineyards

I’m not a big wine drinker, but I’ve had the Semler Cabernet Sauvignon (I can’t remember the exact year), and it was amazing. So $15 for access to 10+ Malibu wines sounds like a great deal.

Fred Segal Santa Monica is hosting an eco-friendly/sustainable shopping event tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 3, from from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., to benefit Toys for Tots. Shop from brands including Greenbees, Love Heals, Linda Loudermilk and Be Sweet, while enjoying mini makeovers from Tarte Cosmetics, food from O! Burger, Cream by Crystal and the Border Grill truck, drinks and music. The event, which will be hosted by actress Rachel Leigh Cook, is free, though a donation of a new, unwrapped toy valued at $10 is suggested. To get on the list, RSVP to giftsgivingback@gmail.com before 11:00 p.m. tonight, Dec. 2.

I have never been to the original Fraiche in Culver City, though I had heard good things. So when Marshal and Will of FoodDigger invited me and other foodies to a “mini” tasting event at the new Santa Monica location, which recently replaced Riva, a small-plates concept that shared owners, it sounded like a great way to compare the old Riva to the new Fraiche.

I’ve been to Riva once, but it was right before the announcement was made to convert the space into Fraiche, so I didn’t blog about it. I enjoyed my meal there, though I did feel it was a bit overpriced, which may have contributed to the restaurant’s demise. No matter; the new Fraiche under Chef de Cuisine Sydney Hunter (who was also with Riva) is elegant yet accessible, a great combination.

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Casa del Mar, a 1920s Santa Monica hotel with beautiful unobstructed views of the beach, recently introduced a $29 Sunday brunch, with your choice of an appetizer, entree and all-you-can-eat dessert buffet. Sounds great, right? I thought so, too, so I invited a bunch of my friends to try it out yesterday. Boy, were we disappointed.

It wasn’t so much the food, which was fine for the most part, though some of it had its problems, too. It was the extremely slow service that really got us. Since I made the reservation for the meal, my experience with the hotel started before anyone else’s, and it didn’t start off well.

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I started using Code.ai’s Lash Extend Serum and Brow Boosting Shaper a little more than a month ago, so when I was invited to attend the brand’s official launch party at Fred Segal Santa Monica, of course I jumped at the chance to go. Food, drink, beauty products and fashion? Yes, please!

While I didn’t take a “before” photo of my lashes and brows (those pictures creep me out, though I’m not sure why), I can say I have definitely noticed a difference, especially with my lashes, which are longer and fuller. Now, I started out with a respectable set of lashes, but now they’re even longer, making it even easier to not have to wear mascara — just curl and go, that’s my motto. As for my brows, I just starting noticing new growth, and the Brow Boosting Shaper has made the existing hairs longer. Tara of When Tara Met Blog, who represents the company and who I served on the Blogger Prom committee with, has been using the brow booster with very noticeable results, so I have hope that this bald patch I’ve been trying to grow in forever will be bald no more.

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Where can you get a glass of cold beer, a bowl of crawfish and play nostalgic games all in once place? Try West 4th/Jane in Santa Monica. The newish bar opened in June just across the street from Border Grill in the old 3 on Fourth space. It’s an understated place, which is kind of refreshing for Santa Monica, but that doesn’t mean it’s totally no frills. The beer list is vast and includes everything from Schlitz to Allagash, and the food menu is just as varied, from tater tots to mussels.

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Pomegranate cosmo (foreground), Berry belini

Like any smart hotel, Le Merigot’s Le Troquet bar in Santa Monica is now offering a happy hour deal, but it’s slightly different: it’s a late-night happy hour, from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Food on the bar menu is 30 percent off, and well drinks are 50 percent off.

I had never been to Le Merigot, so when the hotel invited me in to experience the new happy hour deal, I accepted the offer. The hotel is on Ocean Avenue near the Viceroy and Loews hotels, so I figured it would be a nice property and possibly a place I’d go to when I’m in the area.

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Copa d'Oro's Vincenzo Marianella (back, left) at the bar

If you’ve been following the L.A. cocktail scene, you know that the art and science of mixology is in full effect. One of the best places to experience the fruits of this resurgence is Copa d’Oro in Santa Monica. The man behind the bar, Vincenzo Marianella, formerly of Providence, takes great care in his creations. I mean it. I’ve watched him measure, eye and taste cocktails numerous times before sending them out, just to make sure your drink has the right balance before giving it to you. This means it takes longer to get your drink, but it’s well worth it. Rome wasn’t built in a day, folks (that may be overstating it a bit, but you get the picture).

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Feeling frazzled already, and it’s only Tuesday? If you’re looking to take a load off after work or just like to enjoy a drink on a weeknight (because who doesn’t, really?), there are specials aside from a normal happy hour that you can partake in.

If you’re in downtown Los Angeles, you can head over to The Association for its Twitter Tuesdays special, which I recently told you about. And if you’re clear on the other side of town, try out Viceroy Santa Monica’s Taste of Tuesday, which I’ve also mentioned before.

But there’s more!

The Westside Pavilion mall in West Los Angeles has a $20 Tuesdays event every week. For $20, you can get a Landmark Theater movie ticket, a  glass of wine and an appetizer. And there are $20 deals at select retailers throughout the mall. But hurry; the deals are done at the end of August.

There’s also an evening-into-night happy hour at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. Tapas Tuesdays in the lobby lounge features live music, and $7 tapas and wines from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. And with a view of the ocean, how can you go wrong?

Know of more Tuesday goings-on? Let us know if the comments.

Update: Just saw another Tuesday deal, this time from Daily Grill. Say “Twitter” to your server after 4:00 p.m. on Twitter Tuesdays and receive 20 percent off your dinner check.