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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!

I’ve been to Rush Street a few times before, but I had never been for brunch. So when I was invited to try out the Chicago-themed restaurant’s weekend menu, I figured, Why not? There’s a bloody mary bar, after all, and even though I’m not a big bloody mary fan, I like the idea. So I went to see what else Rush Street had to offer.

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Plan accordingly.

• Friday: Get into the fall spirit with a free 12 oz. pumpkin ice blended or latte from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Oh, and did I mention it’s free? It’s free. I love free!

• Saturday and Sunday: Nurse that hangover with a Brats and Beer special at Rush Street in Culver City. For $10, you’ll get a brat, fries and a PBR. You’ll even have your choice of truffle fries, sweet potato or seasoned tater tots. And if that PBR isn’t strong enough for you, for $20 you can get bottomless mimosas or Bloody Marys (you can even build your own at the restaurant’s Bloody Mary bar).

• Sunday and Monday: 25 Degrees, home to a very tasty burger, now hosts NFL nights with game-time specials of $2.50 cans of PBR, half-off all other beer (which comes out to $3.50), $8 for half dozen and $12 for a dozen wings (either buffalo or spicy soy BBQ), and $10 for a plate of chili cheese fries. And for the rest of the week, 25 Degrees has happy hour deals every day — yes, you read that correctly — from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (early, I know) of half-off selected wines and cocktails, beer, milkshakes, and side dishes.

• Rush Street’s Christmas in August: On Friday (that’s today!) and Saturday, Aug. 14 and 15, the restaurant that is a little bit of Chicago in Culver City is holding a Christmas celebration. Why? They say it’s an homage to a summer camp tradition, but I wouldn’t know anything about that since I’ve never been to summer camp. Sounds like the restaurant is trying to capitalize on recession spenders’ nostalgia, eh? Anyhoo, expect nights full of holiday food and cheer, including Christmas tree decorating and Santa on Friday, and a white elephant gift exchange on Saturday. Dinner will feature holiday favorites such as maple-roasted turkey breast with cider gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing and glazed brussels sprouts. Friday night’s festivities start at 5:00 p.m., and Saturday’s start at 7:00 p.m. Drink specials on Saturday, too.

• L.A. Sake Festival: With a karaoke room, how can a sake event be bad? On Sunday, Aug. 16, taste from more than 100 sakes, including some in cocktail form, at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. There’s also an introduction to sake class from a pro so you’ll understand what you’re tasting. Or just chug and sing, whatever.  Entrance fee is $50.

• Gnosh Pit at Verdugo Bar: This is where I’ll be Sunday, Aug. 16. The Glassell Park bar will be home to the vegan culinary stylings of Hot Knives, two former line cooks and current food bloggers who will be serving up “pulled pork” sandwiches, curry seitan bahn mi, homemade potato chips, cole slaw, and beer — yes, beer — popsicles. Get the food for about $4 each from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. [Full disclosure: Evan George, one-half of Hot Knives, is a former colleague of mine. No, we didn’t work at a restaurant together; we worked at a newspaper. Nuts, I know. So go to this event and support local journalism at the same time supporting local eats!]

Hey, party people! The biggest prom just for bloggers (OK, it may be the only prom just for bloggers) this year is fast approaching on July 22, and if you’ve been lucky enough to score an invite — we’ve reached capacity, though there’s a wait list — there are tons of goodies and fun waiting for you next week at the Andaz hotel on the Sunset Strip.

So if you’re attending, you’ll have lots of great (and free!) food, drink and take-home goodies to look forward to, all to be enjoyed in the chic setting of the Andaz’s rooftop with its killer views.

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Still looking for something to do (or someplace to eat) this July 4 weekend? I’ll be in the Sacramento area for my best friend’s wedding (woo hoo! maid of honor time!), but here are some options for those of you sticking around in L.A.:

• Rush Street: Visit Chicago via Culver City this Independence Day weekend and partake in food and drink specials. Friday has $5 Jack Daniel’s drinks (from 10:00 p.m. to close); Saturday has specials on all domestic beers and hot dogs, lamb lollipops and spicy glazed ribs (all day!); and Sunday has $6 mojitos (from 9:00 p.m. to close).

• Le Merigot Hotel: In the courtyard of this JW Marriott in Santa Monica you’ll find upscale BBQ food, i.e., organic fingerling potato salad, kobe beef hot dogs, sweet white corn on the cob with ancho chili lime butter, etc., on July 4 from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Cost is $35 for adults, $17.50 for kids 12 and under.

• The Resort at Pelican Hill: For a fancy way to celebrate our country’s birth, hit up Pelican Hill in Newport Beach. For $250 (yeah, I know) you can get a round of golf, either breakfast or lunch, and a $25 gift certificate for the resort’s golf shop. Fancy, indeed.

Caroline on Crack via LAist has a great list of places to eat and drink today for Cinco de Mayo. Rush Street in Culver City – a place I like on non-alcholidays (Caroline on Crack’s word!) – is selling $1 tacos from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. tonight.  I love me some $1 tacos!