Kathy A. McDonald

Chalk one up to green. Overlooking traffic-heavy Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Silver Lake, community activists have transformed a former school parking lot into vegetable, herb and flower filled garden at L.A.U.S.D's Micheltorena Street Elementary School. Every Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., volunteers are welcomed to taste......

Experience has taught us that there's no such thing as a free lunch -- and the almost free, cheap eats version often verges on inedible. However, in L.A.'s Thai town and Hollywood's eastern edge you can find some lunch plates that defy economics and satisfy for as low as $4.99......

America's favorite wine is getting the star treatment. This weekend, July 22-23, the second Chardonnay Symposium in the scenic Santa Maria Valley puts the spotlight on all aspects of the wine varietal: where it comes from (clones!), what it goes well with (Santa Maria barbecue, of course) and who makes......

Three Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons are posed dynamically, hovering over a skeletal carcass -- this is the dramatic centerpiece of the Natural History Museum of L.A. County's new Dinosaur Hall, which opens to the public tomorrow, July 16. It seems the largest meat eating dinos favored duckbills and other horned dinosaurs......

Japanese lanterns, a special pub-style menu and cold pints combine at Chaya Downtown's outdoor beer garden. A summertime-only set up -- now through September 2 -- it's a casual spot that's an amiable contrast to the downtown eatery's elegant interior. Open Monday through Friday, the sheltered patio buzzes most nights,......

Substance outshines style at Santa Barbara County's low-key Lompoc Wine Ghetto. A semi-industrial office park that's in the heart of land-that-time-forgot Lompoc, California, Lompoc Wine Ghetto has great wines and value make up what the setting lacks in amenities. An off-the-beaten path alternative for wine tasting, there's a good chance......

Jeff KirshbaumFamed winemaker Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon Vineyard at his winery's tasting room.Bonny Doon Vineyard's founder and winemaker Randall Grahm wants to do something really different. Once he ran the 28th largest winery in the U.S.; these days he's on a quest to grow grape vines from seed. That......

Melding Western flavors into traditional Japanese dishes is Tokyo-based Chef Tsutomu Konishi's passion. Acting as a culinary ambassador, this month the classically trained executive sous chef from the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo at Marunouchi (near Tokyo Station) has popped in as a visiting chef both at the Beverly Wilshire's The......

Despite the June gloom, summer is officially here and that means Los Angeles hotels go a bit Vegas when hosting poolside parties. Although people don't always go into the pool (and there's no European-style sunbathing), they do lounge poolside in style, sipping fine cocktails and eating very well. Here's where......

Beer and barbecue are definitely on the Memorial Day Weekend agenda but with three days to fill, make some room for a glass or two of wine. In Santa Barbara, one of the region's most illustrious winemakers Jim Clendenen opens a tasting room after decades in the biz, stocks it......