Friday Quickies #76: October Ahoy!

Mini-sandwiches filled with uni and foie gras from the Bazaar, where I went for DineLA Restaurant Week last time around.

Yay, it's October -- and so ends my dine-out dieting (though I had no shortage of good eats at home, and on invites out to assorted events in the past month). Since one'd have to live under a rock to not hear about the two biggie events of the month, namely the 27th Annual American Wine & Food Festival this weekend and the DineLA Restaurant Week promotions, I'll highlight some of the less-well-known, but no less tasty, events going around town.

But first, time for an open call to recommendations: Where's a good Sunday Brunch to be had in or around Ojai? I will be up there this Sunday for a running event and will definitely be in the mood for some feasting afterwards. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Started yesterday - in case you missed the three lobster fests (Long Beach, San Pedro & Redondo Beach) that went on consecutive September weekends (like me!) or you just didn't feel like the long drive or the long lines in the sweltering heat, Savannah Chop House in Laguna Niguel and Chimayo on the Huntington Beach waterfront are doing Lobster Fest celebration of their own! For $29.99 you can enjoy a 1.5-pound whole Maine lobster prepared just the way you like it, whether it's steamed with drawn butter and a baked potato with all the accompaniments, roasted with garlic-herb butter and jalapeno cheddar potatoes, tempura-fried and tossed with a garlic-ginger sauce alongside coconut jasmine rice, or a lobster mac 'n cheese with a three-cheese sauce and a crispy parmesan breadcrumb topping. And best of all, you can actually sit, enjoy the views and have a nice lil cocktail with your lobster. Here are the slightly different menus for Chimayo and Savannah.

Sundays - Meanwhile, Downtown L.A.'s Water Grill is doing their Lobster Clam Bake, a $55pp feast that includes mini lobster rolls, steamed 1.25 pound lobster, bowls of shellfish baked with sausage and potatoes, finished off with a cobbler and homemade root beer float (with house made root beer); FoodGPS was recently invited to check it out, so you can read more about it here.

Monday, Oct. 5 - While Campanile's Monday family dinners have been a longtime tradition, this coming week's affair coincides with the launch of Chef Mark Peel's book "New Classic Family Dinners" so you can savor his fare and then recreate them at home! The $45pp menu includes pasta carbonara with asparagus, a seafood stew with lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels sea bass and white beans and a refreshing concord grape granita.

Thursday, Oct. 8 - Can't score a seat for Dudamel's Hollywood Bowl concert? Don't get mad, get full . . . at Pinot Grill or Kendall's Brasserie and Bar, both of which will offer a live simulcast of the much anticipated inaugural Dudamel performance and serving three-course prix-fixe meals at $30pp and $40pp, respectively. And for the lucky peeps who scored tix to the Music Center simulcast, Patina Restaurant Group will be grilling up assorted Dudamel-inspired specialties right outside, from bacon-wrapped "Street Dogs" topped with caramelized onions and grilled jalapenos for $6 to Venezuelan shredded beef with rice, beans and roasted plantains for $12. Cool it all down with some jamaica and paletas!

Thursday, Oct. 8 - for those further out West, Border Grill will be partnering with Tequila Corralejo for a festive four-course, margarita-paired dinner for $45pp (or $38pp if you're in their recently-debuted Border Grill Locals club). The tasty menu includes a duo of meatballs (kobe beef in a spicy salsa brava and shallot aioli, lamb with curried yogurt, oregano chimichurri and onion marmalade) paired with a curried margarita, seared diver scallops with creamed corn, serrano ham and blood orange reduction with a blood orange margarita, finished with a coconut tequila cheesecake and a tequila-spiked horchata. As an extra perk, participants will also get a Corralejo goody bag!

And as always, my favorite of foodie reads this week:

Slashfood interview culinary celebrities about their food-guilty pleasures

Meanwhile, Slate published a provocative piece on how the Internet democratize the world of wine criticsm

All the food pornage of LA County Fair (ends this week, btw) minus the artery-clogging act of actually eating them, brought to you by LA Weekly

And LA Times answered a reader's request for recipe to make Cole's fantastic bacon potato salad

Citysearch LA got the scoop on local high-end happy hours where you can eat cheap-chic at the likes of XIV and Drago Centro.

Finally, there's no noodling around this -- LA Times covers the debate between Asian pasta manufacturers against the health dept. and their refrigeration rule. And no, I am not related to H.C.Foods (one of the companies cited in the article)