Wine? Why not! Photo by Christina Lam.

This Friday, Feb. 18, is National Drink Wine Day. Now, we all know that you don’t need a special reason to drink wine, but now you can say you’re doing your civic duty when your boss asks why you’re having that bottle — er, glass — of pinot at 10:00 a.m.

Here are a few ways to celebrate.

While not technically happening on National Drink Wine Day, Pourtal wine bar is hosting tonight a screening of the documentary “Merlove: A Documentary about Merlot” with writer and director Rudolf McClain. As you watch, sip on some of the bar’s merlot Merlove and white wine Labor of Love-themed wines. Screening is free, but the wine costs money.

Pourtal
104 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Wednesday, February 16, 2011
8:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.

On Friday, downtown Los Angeles’ Corkbar will offer a specially-priced flight of three wines for $10. And if you check in on Foursquare and unlock the Swarm badge, you’ll get extended happy hour specials, including $2 off drafts, $8 select wines and half-priced select appetizers, for the rest of the night.

Corkbar
403 W. 12th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Also, Napa Valley Grille in Westwood will host Friday a “Guess the Grape” game led by Wine Director Christina Sherwood. Guests will be invited to sample a grape varietal not listed on the menu, and if they answer correctly will be rewarded with a complimentary glass of wine. Free wine, woo!

Napa Valley Grille
1100 Glendon Ave. Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90024

Smashed Irishman at Les Deux

The nightclub formerly known as Les Deux (of “The Hills” fame) is now the gastropub Les Deux. Les Deux Estate, actually, but you can keep calling it Les Deux. Anyway, the folks behind The Buffalo Club in Santa Monica took over the former nightclub space and turned it into a classy restaurant and bar with a more-than-respectable food and drink menu.

I recently visited the new Les Deux during happy hour, which goes until 7:30 p.m. but applies only to food. Boo. But the cocktails are really pretty great, so that makes the $12 to $15 price tags a bit more bearable (not really; those are steep prices!). Anyway, if you’re going to shell out for one of the drinks on the menu, try the Smashed Irishman made with Jameson whiskey, lemon, basil, red bell pepper, honey and a Guinness reduction float. It’s reminiscent of Rivera’s Blood Sugar Sex Magic, which is one of my favorite cocktails. If you’d like something custom made, ask the friendly mixologist behind the bar for a Dealer’s Choice, which he will create for you based on your preferred flavor profile.

The grilled cheese with caramelized onions is also a good choice, though the tomato soup that comes with it is just OK. When I was there, it seemed that the staff was still working out some kinks: I ordered the grilled cheese off the happy menu, which listed fries as the accompaniment, but got the soup, which is part of the dish on the regular menu. Oh, well. The mac and cheese is another worthy menu item, with its topping of bread crumbs and a bruschetta-like mixture giving it a little something special.

Grilled cheese sandwich with caramelized onions

Mac and cheese

Les Deux is definitely going to become one of my go-to Hollywood happy hour spots. Now, if only the cocktail menu were part of the discount…

Further reading: Les Deux Estate, a Hollywood Sequel You Need to See by Thirsty In LA

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.

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.

Drago Centro's celery root panna cotta

The 24th Annual Great Chefs of Los Angeles event at CBS Studio Center in Studio City was good times. The “Go Green, Go Organic” event benefited the National Kidney Foundation through a fancy-schmancy auction that was too rich for my blood. Good thing I had tasty food to keep me occupied. While there were some repeat participants from last year’s event, I managed to find some new favorites this time ’round.

Drago Centro‘s Sommelier and Beverage Director Michael Shearin served up mini Smitten With Britain cocktails of Tanqueray gin, fever tree tonic, and fresh chives and lime. The drink was nice and light yet had a nice kick. Chef de Cuisine Ian Gresik served up an interesting celery root panna cotta topped with pancetta and a basil crouton. I’ve never had a savory panna cotta before, so this was definitely intriguing.

Drago Centro's Smitten With Britain cocktail

Locando del Lago in Santa Monica brought all kinds of deliciousness to the Valley that day. Braised beef bone marrow with a saffron risotto cake and mustard greens? Yes, please. How about burrata with housemade pink lady apple gelato and prosciutto? Yes, yes and yes.

Lago's braised bone marrow

Lago's burrata, apple gelato and prosciutto

Harry’s Oklahoma Style Smokehouse BBQ served up some comforting peach cobbler, which was perfect on that cloudy day. So perfect, in fact, that a complete stranger bullied me into giving him some of my portion, which happened to be the last. Who does that? Someone who recognizes the peachy goodness of soul food, that’s who. (It was weird, no doubt.)

Harry’s Oklahoma Style Smokehouse BBQ's peach cobbler

Stefan’s at L.A. Farm probably offered up the most complicated bite of the day — ice cream lollipops made by alternately dipping pineapple chunks in passion fruit puree and vanilla ice cream, with a dip in liquid nitrogen in between. I only got a quick taste of someone else’s pop because the man in this photo gave mine away to couple of girls he apparently thought were cuter than me, even though I was clearly waiting for one. Boo! Oh well, the lollipops were a cool idea anyway. Next year, I plan to shame him into giving me more than one of whatever he’s making to make up for this offense!

Stefan's at L.A. Farm's liquid nitrogen lollipops

Blogger Prom

Pinkberry: The ever-present purveyor of tart frozen yogurt is now offering a take-home container that holds the equivalent of five small servings (prices range from $9.95 to $10.95, depending on the store). You can also purchase toppings to go for $1.95 per container, too. I’m not too sure how the froyo would hold up if placed in a home freezer, but I guess it could work if you were having a party and were planning on eating it soon. The fruit bowl is also a new offering; from the description, it sounds like a reverse cup of froyo, with mostly fruit topped with what Pinkberry is calling Swirly Whip, which is made from the Original tart flavor.

Eat, Breathe, Shop at FIG, Fred Segal Couture and Exhale: Spend more than $500 at Fred Segal Couture and get a complimentary week at Exhale Spa in the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows as well as a complimentary FIG Fit breakfast at the hotel’s FIG Restaurant. The FIG Fit menu features health-conscious items such as scarlet quinoa with diced apples, and house-made power bars blended from dates, acai, gogi, pomegranate and hemp seeds. Exhale combines fitness and movement with spa and healing therapies, and if you sign up for one of Exhale’s memberships, you’ll get a $100 credit to Fred Segal Couture. It’s a pretty nice cycle.

Official L.A. Fashion's Night Out shirt designed by FIDM student Marc Blaskovits. From Transmopolis.

There are like a gazillion events happening tomorrow, Sept. 10, for Fashion’s Night Out, and you can find a great list at Mondette. Here are some others that are taking place in Santa Monica, for those of you on the Westside:

Fluxus: The Santa Monica Place store will have a guest DJ, complimentary cupcakes and champagne, an exclusive preview of the Fluxus fall/winter 2010 collection, and a Buy 2, Get 1 Free discount.

395 Santa Monica Place
Santa Monica, CA 90401
6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Fred Segal Santa Monica: While the Melrose location does its thing (see the Mondette post), this store will be hosting giveaways and gifts-with-purchase from JET, Sharon Segal, ICON and Line & Dot. There will also be personal styling by Kahi Lee, a debut wall installation by KSwiss, art by ICON, music by DJ OMG and cocktails.

Fred Segal Santa Monica
420 Broadway St.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

There’s also a bunch of stuff happening at The Grove, which Kelsi of Dedicated Follower of Fashion and Two Point Oh! L.A. has explained. There’s so much going on, I don’t know where to go!

I was invited to try out the food and drink at both places last week, and I came away from the experience pleasantly surprised. These restaurants — the Mexican La Sandia and the Latin-Asian fusion Zengo — are nicer than your usual mall joints, with some pretty respectable cocktails, too.

We started out with cocktails and appetizers at La Sandia. My favorite drink was the cucumber-serrano martini made with mezcal, cucumber, serrano chili, citrus and chili piquin salt on the rim. I love spicy hotness as well as cucumber in my drinks, so this was the prefect combination. I also really enjoyed the shrimp quesadillas made with shrimp, Mexican cheeses, black bean puree, chipotle aioli and topped with crema and avocado. So tasty!

La Sandia cocktails

Moving on to Zengo, which is a small plates concept, where I ordered an orange and jalapeno cocktail that I liked for its combination of sweetness, tanginess and spiciness.

Orange jalapeno cocktail

As for the food, the edamame slathered in X.O. sauce (Chinese spicy seafood sauce) is a nice twist on the traditional soy bean appetizer. The fusion sushi rolls — both the Volcano Roll, with seared salmon, peekytoe crab, cucumber and chipotle aioli, and the Vegetariano Roll, with grilled asparagus, red pepper, avocado and lemon-sake aioli — were surprisingly good (I’m always a little weary of fusion-y rolls, you know).

Edamame with X.O. sauce

Volcano Roll

Other menu highlights include the Peking duck-daikon tacos with duck confit, orange-coriander sauce, curried apple slaw and daikon slices, and the crispy tofu topped with napa cabbage, lemon aioli and sesame-chili sauce. Both were light in flavor, mostly because of the lack of carbs. The Scallops Al Mojo de Ajo, with seared scallops atop a bed of bacon-corn-edamame salsa, roasted garlic soy and yuzu-sriracha aioli, were also good, though I found the contrast between the warm scallops and the cold “salsa” to be a bit off-putting. Too bad, because the flavors were nice.

Peking duck-daikon tacos

Crispy Tofu

Scallops Al Mojo de Ajo

Overall, while I didn’t love every dish that I tried, there was enough good food and drink between the two restaurants that I would definitely go back. Next time I’ll try the guacamole prepared tableside at La Sandia. I’m a sucker for guac.

One of those special grand opening events will be taking place at Bloomingdale’s (yes, Bloomies!) with Nation LTD, the luxe basics brand. Designer Jen Menchaca will be offering styling tips, and there will be a giveaway contest with the chance to win one of three “Summer Survival Kits” filled with Nation LTD tees (retail value $325). The first 50 purchasers will receive a free denim Nation LTD tote, and Bobbi Brown makeup artists will be on hand to offer beauty tips and to give out mini Crystal Lip Glosses. If only I didn’t have to go to work tomorrow!

Friday, Aug. 6
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Bloomingdale’s at Santa Monica Place
395 Santa Monica Place
Santa Monica, CA, 90401

I had been meaning to try FIG Restaurant in the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica since it opened early last year, so when I was invited to dinner there, I jumped at the chance. The restaurant’s seasonal, farm-to-table concept sounded good — how could a place that places its emphasis on fresh local ingredients not sound good? The good news is this philosophy isn’t just lip service: Chef Ray Garcia knows his ingredients, and his kitchen can really cook.

The meal started out on the right foot with mini baguettes served with arugula butter, something I had never seen or heard of before. It was light and flavorful — I kind of wanted to take a spoon to it and eat it straight out of the container.

Arugula butter topped with cracked black pepper and sea salt

If you like cheese and charcuterie, I highly recommend getting the charcuterie sampling ($25) and Eric’s Stash ($25) cheese plates. They’re not cheap, for sure, but they’re worth every penny. The selections were well-balanced and complementary to each other.

Charcuterie sampling and Eric's Stash cheese plates

This is where the cheese comes from -- the bar.

The corn-stuffed squash blossoms, relatively new to the menu, were also a nice way to start off the meal. Though the flowers were breaded and fried, the overall effect wasn’t as heavy as their appearance may lead you to think. The sauce was also surprisingly light yet creamy.

Corn stuffed squash flowers

The cocktail menu also follows the farm-fresh philosophy, and it pays off here, especially in the Blackberry & Sage made with Mitcher’s bourbon, muddled blackberries, green chartreuse, crème de cassis, fresh lime juice and fresh sage.

Blackberry & Sage

The appetizers at Fig are strong, including the Pacific mussels, the grilled artichoke with Meyer lemon aioli, and — my favorite — the snap peas with mint and parsley. The artichoke was grilled to perfection, and the mussels cooked in Chablis wine and tarragon served with a grilled baguette could easily and happily feed two to three people. But the fresh snap peas, still delightfully crisp, were a revelation, considering how simply they were prepared.

Pacific mussels

Snap peas

The standout main dish for me was the carrot pappardelle with braised rabbit, peas and mint. Actually the description is a little misleading as I thought the pasta was made with carrot, but really the carrots are just another component in the dish. No matter; this was amazing, especially with a rich sauce made from chicken and rabbit broth.

Carrot pappardelle

Another dish that I enjoyed was the short rib and pancetta meatloaf served with mashed potatoes, carrots and broccoli di cecco. After the very disappointing meatloaf I had a week before this meal, this hearty dish was more than welcome. It stuck to the basics and didn’t try to do too much in reinventing the dish.

Short rib meatloaf

The weakest part of the meal was dessert. Though nothing was bad, most of what we tried that night tasted either too rich or not rich enough. However, there was one item that hit the spot: the chocolate pot au crème. This chocolate custard is not too thick or heavy and has just enough of the chocolate flavor to satisfy.

Chocolate pot au crème

Note: This meal was hosted.