LA's fab fall foodie fest

Who says LA doesn’t have a heart? The 27th American Wine & Food Festival, hosted by the Puck-Lazaroff Charitable Foundation, is held each fall in Los Angeles and serves up a world-class culinary celebration. It all goes to benefit Los Angeles Chapters of Meals On Wheels. With California’s job and budget woes, the need is greater than ever now. Yes, the tickets are pricey but they're a passport to a marvel of feasting and fundraising (and costs should be tax deductible-check with your tax advisor). Stay overnight, tour the backlots, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Beverly Hills and make a weekend of it.

This star-studded festival runs October 2 - 4 and features world-renowned chefs, vintners and spirit purveyors. Don't wait: the event usually sells out in advance, so start your planning and get your tickets now.

Here’s a brief lineup:

Friday, October 2, 2009 - 7 p.m.
Red Hot @ Red Seven Kickoff Event
Location: Red Seven by Wolfgang Puck at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood
Designed to whet the appetites of Festival first-timers and alums alike, this party offers chic eats and innovative libations in an intimate lounge setting. Mingle with philanthropists and foodies alike. Be part of the LA scene.
Cost: $150 per person.

Saturday October 3, 2009 - 5-11 p.m
Saturday Evening Event at Universal Studios Backlot
Location: Universal Studios Backlot.
Includes a Wolfgang Puck VIP Cooking Demonstration, and an unrivaled epicurean feast prepared by world-renowned chefs, superb libations including fine wines and smooth spirits, and a silent auction filled with luxury items - all set to swinging sounds of live bands. Cost: $300

Sunday, October 4, 2009 - 6:00 p.m.
Chefs Grand Tasting Dinner
Location: Spago Beverly Hills
Okay, if you can spend the big bucks, you can hobnob with celebs at Spago Beverly Hills and dine on exquisite dishes paired with select wines. Celebrity chefs who will each prepare one course for the grand gala dinner : Thomas Keller of Bouchon; Dean Fearing of Fearing's at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas; Jereme Leung of Jereme Leung Creative Concepts Pte Ltd; Laurent Gras of L2O; Nobu Matsuhisa of Matsuhisa & Nobu LA; Gina DePalma of Ristorante Babbo. Each Reservations for the Chefs Grand Tasting Dinner are available for $750 per person or $7,000 per table. Call Ellen Farentino, Spago, at 310/ 385-0880.


Details: For info or to purchase tickets, visit www.AWFF.org.

Fee-free fun in the national parks

Tired of the 'staycation' but can't afford a big weekend splurge? So go take a hike... in a beautiful national park (that's me in Yosemite's Mariposa Grove, at right). The National Park Service is offering up one more fee-free weekend this summer. All 147 National Park Service sites that charge entry fees (ranging from from $3 to $25), will waive them on August 15 and 16.

Their goal: to encourage cash-strapped families to visit national parks (and thereby boosting local economies). Your goal: free fun, of course. *Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.

A sampling of free national parks in California on Aug 15-16:
Death Valley
Kings Canyon
Lassen
Muir Woods
Pinnacles
Yosemite

Details: Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.

Save money when you travel

So I was cruisin' around the CNN Money site, when I found this interesting tidbit: "In a typical family sedan, every 10 miles per hour you drive over 60 is like the price of gasoline going up about 54 cents a gallon. "

Yikes! As if the price of gas isn't high enough. It's something to keep in mind during your summer driving season. So if you’re going to the wine country deal for foodies I wrote about, or to see the wildflowers in Tahoe I blogged about earlier, and especially if you’re driving up to Lassen Volcanic National Park for the upcoming free weekend I mentioned earlier, you'll want to keep your cruise control set to 60 MPH.

I knew 'speed kills', but I didn't know speeding could kill your fuel efficiency so effectively. The article concluded that the cost is even higher for vehicles with poor fuel efficiency to start with (hear that, SUV and RV drivers?).

Details: To read the whole fuelish story, go to the CNN link.

An Italian master comes to Palm Springs

If you like the works of glass sculptor Dale Chihuly, you’ll probably flip over Lino Tagliapietra in Retrospect: A Modern Renaissance in Italian Glass, the show coming to the Palm Springs Art Museum this fall. We don’t usually mention happenings this far ahead, but this show is such a big deal, you’ll want to plan ahead for it.

Tagliapietra is widely revered as the master of glass blowing, a teacher and expert who is credited with shaping the course of international studio glass. This is the first exhibition to provide an overview of Tagliapietra’s work, which has influenced glass centers around the globe.

You’ll marvel at some 169 art works that range from a room-size installation of the 35-piece Endeavor boat series, to groupings of goblets, to elegant and evocative sculptural forms. The exhibition features works from Tagliapietra's own collections and collections around the world. Some of these delicate objects will be on show for the first time anywhere.

There is no doubt Dale Chihuly was familiar with the Italian master’s work: Chihuly studied glass in Venice before founding the Pilchuck Glass School near Stanwood, Washington in 1971; in 1979, he invited the master to demonstrate his techniques at Pilchuk.

Details: Running Sep 26- Dec 27 at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Call 760/322-4800 or visit www.psmuseum.org.

EVENTS: On November 14 and 15, the museum will feature a Mobile Hot Shop, a fully equipped glass blowing studio that was designed by the Tacoma Museum of Glass. The Mobile Hot Shop will offer an interactive glassblowing demonstration from highly skilled artists working with molten glass while a trained commentator explains the art and science of glass. On December 1 at 10:30, Tagliapietra will appear for a panel discussion that is open to the public and includes a tour of the exhibition (admission $10). An optional luncheon with the panelists following the tour will be offered for $75.

Wildflowers in North Lake Tahoe

When the weather is just right, the alpine wildflowers around Lake Tahoe (left) can put on quite a show (hey, free fun!), and they're bursting into bloom this month—at these high elevations, it's still spring. And an early summer hike is the best way to get great views of Big Blue while checking out the blooms.

“Several weeks of unusually wet and cool weather last spring has resulted in one of the best wildflower seasons on record,” says Tourism Director Andy Chapman of the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association.

Result: the trails and paths throughout North Lake Tahoe are offering up an unusual bounty of colorful displays. But go soon:right now is the perfect time to hike the trails of North Lake Tahoe, when the days are sunny but cool. The region’s wildflowers are expected to hang around until the end of July.

Jump on the Tahoe Rim Trail, a 165-mile loop trail that traverses the ridgelines around Lake Tahoe. You’ll get easy way to access higher elevations ablaze with wildflowers; some of North Lake Tahoe’s best flower-spotting spots: the area northeast of Marlette Lake between the Tahoe Meadows and Spooner Summit trailheads; Paige Meadows, between Barker Pass and Tahoe City trailheads.

Don’t want to hike, or have toddlers in tow? Then stick to the heart of Tahoe City; within walking distance from restaurants and retail, you’ll find the Gatekeeper’s Museum and the Marion Steinbach Indian Basket Museum at the Tahoe City Dam, both home to lush grounds bursting with wildflowers. And just about one mile north of Tahoe City, at Lake Forest Beach and at the end of Bristlecone Avenue, the lupine are blooming with what many local residents are calling the best showing in the last 30 years.

Details: For hiking trails, lodging reservations, recreation and special event details, call North Lake Tahoe at 877/949-3296 or visit www.GoTahoeNorth.com.
PHOTO CREDIT: Zikas, North Lake Tahoe Resort Association