ShopEatSleep

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

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Velvetine Clyde Bag. From Shopbop.

Ah, if only I had an extra $725 lying around, I would be the proud owner of this gorgeous Clyde bag by Velvetine. The fold-over front flap and the cute chain detail really got me, as did the optional long strap (I like options). The pebble leather is also a nice touch, as it gives the bag a little something extra, which I think is important when the dominant color is a neutral.

My only concern with a fold-over bag is ease of entry. The fact that you have to unfold the flap and then unzip the bag to get into it — something that requires two hands — makes me think you wouldn’t want to use this if you were planning on doing any multitasking. But it’s so pretty!

What do you think? Do you choose form over function, or is usability paramount?

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.

I was skeptical of CHAM at first. Whenever there’s a contemporary take on Asian food, I wince a little. Not because I’m against the idea, per se, but because such a feat is usually poorly executed. Not so at CHAM, which offers a mix of traditional Korean dishes, such as bulgogi and japchae, and Korean-inspired dishes, including a persimmon salad and fried calamari tacos. OK, so the execution is decidedly for American palates, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. Actually, CHAM’s food would be a great introduction to Korean food for those not familiar with it.

My favorite dish of the night was actually a non-traditional one. The watermelon salad with arugula, watermelon, feta cheese, figs, mint and a mint vinaigrette was refreshing and all kinds of delicious. My only complaint was the large watermelon cubes, which made it a bit hard to eat, but the combination of the juicy fruit with the other juicy fruit of figs, along with the saltiness of the feta and spiciness of the arugula, made me overlook that. This is a must-order salad.

Watermelon salad

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Splendid Thermal Stitch Long Sleeve Cuff Sweater

Sassy City Chicks, a seasonal fashion and beauty event, is holding its fall get-together this Thursday, Nov. 4, with discounts on designer labels, beauty demonstrations and Chevrolet ride-and-drives. The shopping will feature deeply discounted designer styles from Splendid, Paige denim, Hudson and Current/Elliot, among others, at 30 percent to 80 percent off retail prices.

Also, the Chevrolet Lounge will spotlight two of Sassy City Chicks’ favorite designers and will offer the opportunity for all attendees to participate in the Chevrolet and Buick test drives or ride-alongs before and during the event. If you sign up ahead of time, you’ll have access to Chevy’s newest vehicles from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., as well as pre-event mini spa treatments, extra swag, and early entry to shop the event before doors open to the public. If you can’t make it that early, Chevrolet and Buick will also offer chauffeured rides to and from a local restaurant in either a Chevy Camaro, Traverse, Cruze or Malibu, or the Buick Regal or Buick LaCrosse.

There are two levels of entry for the event: a $25 Tote Ticket will get you entry, a gift bag, complimentary spa services and complimentary cocktails, and a $10 ticket gets you general admission without all the goodies. You know you want the goodies, right? Since you’re such a devoted ShopEatSleep reader, you can get a FREE Tote Ticket by going to the ticketing page, choosing a Tote Ticket and entering the code CHEVROLET at checkout. But hurry — only the first 50 people will get one!

Petersen Automotive Museum
6060 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
5:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

What kind of food and wine event makes you say, “Camels, zebras and buffalo, oh my!” upon pulling up to its venue? Los Angeles magazine’s The Food Event, that’s what kind. No, these animals weren’t on the menu but were residents on Saddlerock Ranch, home to Malibu Family Wines, where the eating and drinking festival was held.

This was my first time at The Food Event, which I thought was ambitiously named but pretty much lived up to it. The venue — nestled in the Malibu hills among vineyards — was beautiful, even on that gray and rainy day, and the food and drink were excellent. It wasn’t too crowded, either, which made the experience much more enjoyable (the weather may have had something to do with it).

Here were my favorite tastes and moments from that day.

Sweetsalt Food Shop‘s duck confit slider with lavender butter. Yes, yes and yes.

Sweetsalt Food Shop's duck confit with lavender butter

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Fig pizza

In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Osteria La Buca is donating a portion of its proceeds earned through the end of October to the Susan G. Komen Foundation to support breast cancer research. Because many of the restaurant’s friends and family have been affected by this disease, they decided to team up with Komen and painted the exterior of the eatery pink to draw even more attention to the cause.

So you have one more week to eat here for a good cause, or go anyway because the food is good! Some of the dishes I enjoyed at a recent media dinner were a pizza with multi-colored cherry tomatoes, figs, a leafy green (kale, I think) and mozzarella cheese; asparagus spears topped with parmesan and a fried egg; osso buco risotto; and tiramisu.

Tiramisu

Asparagus spears with parmesan and egg

Note: This meal was hosted.

Bakelab goodies. From Bakelab.

Artisanal L.A.: This weekend-long shopping, tasting and educational event comes from those who brought you the L.A. Street Food Fest and Unique L.A., so you know it’ll be fun. Artisanal L.A. will showcase the city’s finest local, sustainable and handmade edibles, including treats from Bakelab, Cake Monkey Bakery, Bonadea Drinks, Scoops and The Oaks Gourmet, among many others. For $10 (advance purchase; $15 at the door), you’ll get unlimited entry for two days to enjoy all this plus local craft beer and spirits tastings, a one-of-a-kind tote bag for the first 1,000 attendees, arts and crafts workshops, speakers and chef demonstrations, giveaways, Pitchfork’s Mud Baron giving out seedlings, and gift wrap hosted by Uncouth Gourmands benefiting the LA Regional Food Bank. Partial proceeds will benefit Los Angeles Unified School District’s Edible School Gardens.

The Cooper Building
860 S. Los Angeles St., 11th Floor Penthouse
Los Angeles, CA 90014

Oct. 23 and Oct. 24
11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The Barkley Pet Hotel & Day Spa: Billed as the Ritz-Carlton of pet hotels, The Barkley is opening up this weekend in Westlake. While there are other shi-shi pet hotels, including D Pet Hotels, what makes this place unique is its inclusion of birds and exotics in its description of “pets.” Now you can house your dog, cat, bird and snake all at the same place! There are overnight accommodations, grooming and spa services, day camp, obedience training, and pick-up and delivery service. The full-service day spa services include baths, body massages, mud-masks and “pawdicures.” Prices start at $45 per night. Not too shabby, huh? If you’d like to check it out, there will be sneak preview tours this weekend with entertainment, auctions, raffles and food with all proceeds benefiting local pet charities. Advance tickets are free with registration.

The Barkley Pet Hotel & Day Spa
31166 Via Colinas
Westlake Village, CA 91362

Preview tours Oct. 23 and Oct. 24
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Grand opening Oct. 25

The Food Event: Los Angeles magazine’s annual event will also be celebrating the magazine’s 50th anniversary and its November “Mexican Food Lovers Guide” issue. The day will feature chefs, culinary experts and sommeliers with lots of unlimited food, wine and other treats, including the Top Chef Masters panel in the Conversation Lounge. Some of the luminaries scheduled to appear are Susan Feniger of Street and Border Grill, Mark Gold of Eva Restaurant, Laurent Quenioux of Bistro LQ, Ian Blackburn of LearnAboutWine and more. On top of all that is the location of the event, Saddlerock Ranch in the Malibu hills, home to Semler and Saddlerock wines. Nice!

Saddlerock Ranch
31727 Mulholland Highway
Malibu, CA 90265

Oct. 24
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
$95 in advance (for $5 more get a one-year subscription to Los Angeles magazine, too); $110 at the door

Alice + Olivia Voula Ombre Sequin Dress

Love to shop? Love free return shipping? Then you no doubt already know about Shopbop, the online retailer of all brands luxe and hip. If you don’t, then consider this your friendly introduction to the fun shopping website that carries everything from J Brand and Rich & Skinny to Thakoon and Alice + Olivia, all of which you can find on the site’s designer clothing sale page. This Alice + Olivia Voula Ombre Sequin Dress (shown at right), on sale at 30 percent off, is a personal favorite of mine.

Would you like some help with buying some of your personal faves? Then you’re in luck because I’m giving away a $100 Shopbop gift card. With that kind of cash, you could put it toward some of the flow-y pieces from Thread Social or a cute one shoulder dress. Or maybe one of the Tibi dresses is more your style — the black and white Cap Sleeve Dress and the Madeline Cap Sleeve Dress are two that I would definitely consider.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post by Oct. 27 at 11:59 p.m. PST stating what you would spend your $100 on.

2. Either follow me on Twitter or “like” me on Facebook.

3. Either tweet “I entered to win a $100 gift card from @shopbop on @shopeatsleep! http://su.pr/1dOcTs” or post on your Facebook page “I entered to win a $100 gift card from Shopbop on ShopEatSleep [and tag the Facebook page]! http://su.pr/1dOcTs”

That’s it. I’ll pick a winner at random and make the announcement on Oct. 28. Good luck!

**This contest is closed**

Note: The winner is Hanh of HungryHungryHanh. Congratulations!

Emily the Strange. From SlashFilm.

Emily the Strange at Royal/T: Starting today through Nov. 11, Emily theStrange — the ever-moody black-haired cutie cartoon — will be at the center of a pop-up shop and exhibit at Culver City’s Lolita-inspired Royal/T cafe space. During the exclusive retail engagement, books, artwork and one-of-a-kind collectibles will be on sale. Proceeds from the Emily the Strange pop-up shop will support the brand’s altruistic efforts — encouraging teens to be empowered individuals. When it’s time to take a break from shopping, you can order up a Strange Brew Chocolate Pangea Tea and Emily the Strange-themed black kitty cupcakes by Hot Cakes Bakes. The official opening party will take place on Friday, Oct. 26.

Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232

Macy’s Shop for a Cause: On Oct. 16, donate $5 to charity online or in-store and get a shopping pass that gives you 10 percent to 20 percent off items you purchase that day. You can also use the in-store shopping pass for 25 percent off one regular, sale or clearance item in men’s, women’s or kids’ apparel or accessories (some exclusions apply). In any case, you’ll save. Sounds good to me!

Junior Drake Warehouse Sample Sale: Clutches for $40? Bags for $60? Yes, please! Head down to the South L.A. warehouse this weekend for a cornucopia of bags, wallets and even belts. Make any purchase on Friday or Saturday, and get an additional 10 percent off to spend on Sunday. You can enter a raffle to win a free handbag, and if you spend at least $150 you’ll get a free canvas tote. Munch of free hot dogs, cookies and drinks, too.

Friday, Oct. 15, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 16, 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 17, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Junior Drake Warehouse
740 E. 60th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90001