Jessica Ritz

The James Beard Foundation Awards is the Big Night Out for an industry that's all about nights out. Cooks, writers, restaurateurs, sommeliers, and others in the service of making great food and interpreting it for a hungry public gather in New York City every May for medal-bestowing, eating and drinking......

Restaurateur Greg Morris has plenty of ideas about what his latest venture, The Oaks Gourmet, should be. It definitely helps that he owns several other food businesses around town (Belmont, Stonefire Pizza Cos., Spanish Kitchen, and soon the restaurant space at Luckman Plaza on Sunset and Doheny). Perhaps more important,......

Sunday Supper at Lucques is a standing weekly event that brings new surprises to help chase away the Sunday-night blues. Now the restaurant eases the weekday doldrums with a prix-fixe lunch. A two-course lunch is $25; three courses is $30. From now through May 5 they're kicking it off with......

Anyone who's done serious eating in and around Orange County's South Coast Plaza knows that the well-heeled mall's food offerings go way beyond your basic Hot Dog on a Stick. (PS: Anyone who thinks that only the ladies can wear the iconic rainbow-brite outfits, check out Frank Furter, below. Does......

Joachim Splichal's Patina Group presents prix-fixe dinners on its Tuesday-night Tasting Menu series at its Disney-Hall-adjacent flagship throughout the spring and summer. Tonight's California Wines dinner at Patina -- five courses with wine pairings -- costs $150 per diner (including wine, exclusive of tax and gratuity) and begins at 7......

Coming up on the calendar of big summer blow-out food events is the L.A. BBQ Festival. These Drink Eat Play ticketed gatherings sometimes sell out ahead of time, so plan in advance. Deets: Saturday and Sunday May 9 and 10. Costs $10 each day (entrance only, food and drink cost......

Most feverishly anticipated restaurants get one big shot at an opening splash. It's the rare case where a food business can get two chances to make a major impression, let alone three. Mozza, however, is an exception. First, salivating palates anxiously waited for and then mobbed the Pizzeria when it......

Mashed up avocados for a super-deluxe natural body moisturizer? Yeah, done that at a retreat up north. Olive oil in your hair and on your scalp? Sure, add it to the ever-growing list of Mediterranean organic miracles. Cucumber slices over the eyes? A silly cliché, of course, but we'll admit......