Welcome to the weekend. It’s last call for German Beer and lederhosen at the Alpine Village Oktoberfest. If you’re looking to head out of town and love wine, check out the Saarloos & Sons Crush party in Los Olivos with lots of wine and great food. Or bring out your dead at Dia De Los Muertos, get your kids to eat their veggies, eat with LA Mag, learn about Farm to Table cooking, start Halloween early in Downtown, or go shopping for antiques in Torrance. There is something for everyone this weekend!
Don’t forget to check out our Halloween Guide. It’s filled with spooktacular events throughout the month of October!
Friday, Oct 23
Oktoberfest at Alpine Village
Torrance (Fri 6:30pm-1am, Sat 6pm-1am, Sun 12pm-8pm)
Oktoberfest needs no explanation. The celebration at Alpine Village is largest and longest Oktoberfest in So Cal. Starting Sat at 6pm, then taking place on Fri, Sat, Sun through October 25, the event features lots of beer, Omm Pa Pa music, sausages, and dancing. Compete in wood sawing, stein holding, and cow milking contests. Unfortunately local beer maker Angel City Brewing has been replaced this year by the German Beer Spaten. Admission on Fri and Sat is $8, the family friendly Sunday events are $5.
Saturday, Oct 24
Crush Party ‘09
Los Olivos (5:30pm)
The Saarloos & Sons Crush ‘09 is the hottest wine lovers party of the crush season. Featuring music from Josh Payne, Allen Stones & Sunshine Brothers. Saarloos has some of the best small production wines coming out of the Santa Barbara area. This weekend’s party is gonna be the place to be for winos and foodies, with lots of the purper stuff flowin’, live music, DJ’s and food. Admission is $40, or $95 for the special VIP lounge. Get your tickets now. Mention Dig Lounge and get a free hug from Keith.
Dia De Los Muertos
Hollywood (4-11pm)
Dia de los Muertos at Hollywood Forever is a must see event. Partake in various sacred ceremonial tributes and memorable altar creations with a vibrant traditional procession in the home of Hollywood’s Immortals. There is tons of food, 3 music stages, many themed parades around the cemetery, vendors of all kinds of Day of the Dead items and an altar contest, not to mention a lot of great costumes. Admission is $10 and the event is from 4-11pm. Lines are guaranteed, so get there as early as you can.
Play With Your Food, How to Get Kids to Eat Their Vegetables.
Sherman Oaks (3-5pm)
Good Food host Evan Kleiman turns kids into chemists by teaching them how to make their own salad dressing, adjusted exactly to their likings. Then she’ll show them how farm fresh produce tastes when dipped in their concoctions. Takes place at the Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks from 3-5pm. This event is free
Sunday, Oct 25
Farmer’s Market Farm to Table Tour
Brentwood (9am-2pm)
The Toyota Hybrid Farm to Table Tour concludes at the Brentwood California Certified Farmers Market. Toyota created the Farm to Table Tour to highlight farmers markets around the country and the benefits they offer their communities, and to celebrate the food produced by each market’s farmers and vendors. During the event, local chefs and farmers will be paired together for a day that highlights the Market’s offerings. The chefs will prepare special tastings showcasing their partner farm’s fresh ingredients and visitors will have the opportunity to sample the chefs’ offerings from 9:30-1:30.
The Food Event
Malibu (1-4pm)
At The Food Event 09 From the Vine, 25 of Los Angeles’ top restaurants and 25 top wineries will get together for a day of relaxation and “foodie” entertainment in Malibu. Los Angeles magazine welcomes you to spend an afternoon discovering the vineyards of Saddlerock Ranch and taste the best that culinary giants from California have to offer in both food and wine. Master Sommeliers will give lessons in the art of pouring and palate-pleasing, Celebrity Chefs will perform demonstrations and a diverse group of wineries will pour their best selections. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to benefit the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and Kids Courage. Tickets are $90 ($70 for LearnAboutWine members) and can be purchased online.
Cicada Club Halloween Costume Party
Downtown Los Angeles (6pm)
Dean Mora and his Orchestra will get your bones dancing with favorites from the 1920s and 1930s with vocalists Kayre Morrison and Damon Kirsche. Featuring a spooktacular floor show starring The Satin Dollz Pinup Dancers. Dress in Roaring Twenties or Depression Thirties era costumes as they remember the 80th anniversary of the great stock market crash of 1929. Tickets are $50, available here.
Torrance Antique Street Faire
Torrance (8am-3pm)
The Torrance Antique Street Faire takes place on Sartori Avenue and Torrance Blvd in Downtown Torrance. Come celebrate their 11th year anniversary while you search for wonderful antique furniture, mementos and artifacts from over a 100 monthly vendors and sellers Dave Brownlee, a professional appraiser at Estate Sellers, will offer verbal antique appraisals for $5.00. Admission is free.
Continuing:
palate food + wine Sunday Session and Supper
Glendale (12-5pm & 5-9pm)
This Sunday at palate food + wine try the featured “Single Dish” at Sunday Session for $12. Or do the full Sunday supper for $35 which includes an appetizer, a main course, and dessert. Wine flights available for $12.
Upcoming:
November 5 – At the Stars of Cabernet, taking place at the Peninsula Hotel and hosted by LearnAboutWine, enjoy fine cabs from wineries like Cakebread, Frog’s Leap, Paul Hobbs, Rudd, Fisher and more. A silent auction taking place will benefit TJ Martell Foundation and Cancer Research at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Food will be provided by The Peninsula Hotel. Buy your tickets before Oct. 1 for $75, otherwise its $79, or $100 at the door. Only $69 for LearnAboutWine members.
November 13-15 – The 5th Annual Tamale Festival makes a move from MacArthur Park to the Los Angeles State Historic Park. It’s gonna be bigger and better than ever with a Tamale Cook-off, Art & Crafts Booths, Best Commercial Tamale Contest & Best Homemade Tamale Contest (anyone can enter), Tamale Eating Contest, and a Tamale Making Demo. Bring your canned food items for the House of Ruth Food Pantrie and The River Food Pantrie.
November 14 – Since the beginning of summer, Evan Kleiman has been baking a pie a day. Join Evan at the KCRW Good Food Pie Bakeoff at the Westfield shopping center in Topanga Canyon. At the event from 2-4pm, home cooks and pastry chefs will compete at the first ever pie bake-off. Hosted by Good Food’s Evan Kleiman and judged by a panel of celebrity chefs (Top Chef’s Stefan Richter from LA Farm, Eric Greenspan from The Foundry, Mark Peel from Campanile and Russ Parsons, LA Times Food Editor). Registration begins on October 1st.
November 21 – At the Thanksgiving Cooking Demo Extravaganza, Good Food host Evan Kleiman prepares five easy to make Thanksgiving side dishes, and pastry chef and cookbook author Cindy Mushet joins the fun. Takes place at the Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks from 3-5pm. This event is free.
Fri, Oct 23, 2009
City Beat