Taste Art at Cecconi’s

Taste Art is a one-of-a-kind cultural dining experience that brings together fine art and haute cuisine. Created by The Avenues: Art, Fashion and Design District, it pairs the city’s hottest chefs and art curators to produce a memorable evening. The next Taste Art event will be held at Cecconi’s on March 24 at 6:30 p.m. Cecconi’s West Hollywood will pair with Trigg Ison Fine Art and Hamilton Selway Fine Art, one of the largest dealers of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Longo. A multi-course traditional Italian meal with wine pairings will be presented in a gallery-like atmosphere. A portion of the $180 per person event will go benefit the West Hollywood Library fund. Cecconi’s is located at 8764 Melrose Ave. For tickets, go to www.avenueswh.com.

St. Patrick’s Day Cocktail

Drago Centro is offering a B2 Stealth Irish Car Bomb created by beverage director and sommelier, Michael Shearin. The cocktail has Bushmills Irish Whiskey, Harp Irish Lager, Bailey’s Irish Cream, mint foam, fresh mint and apple juice for $12. 525 S. Flower Street, Suite 120. (213)228-8998.

St. Patrick’s Day Lunch & Dinner

Celebrate today with a three-course meal at The Belvedere, Club Bar or Living Room of the Peninsula Beverly Hills. Executive Chef James Overbaugh has  prepared chilled lettuce soup with smoked salmon and dill crème fraiche. His traditional corned beef and cabbage is served with roasted potatoes. For dessert, his sticky toffee pudding with malt ice cream and Irish whiskey jelly is an ideal finish to the meal. Lunch is $35 per person and dinner is $45 per person. 9882 S. Santa Monica Blvd. (310)551-2888.

Marie Callender’s Fresh Creations

Four new dishes have been added to the menu. Each dish is 670 calories or less. Selections include fresh avocado and shrimp stack (610 calories), grilled mahi mahi cabo tacos (670 calories), grilled rosemary chicken and spring salad (610 calories), and hearts of romaine and grilled shrimp salad (380 calories). 5773 Wilshire Blvd. (323)937-7952.

Greco-Roman Happy Hour

In honor of the upcoming LA Marathon on Saturday, March 19, the art deco Hotel Shangri-La is offering a runners prix fixe menu the night before the race in the dining room starting at 6 p.m. For $34 per person, the menu will feature truffled duck empanada, beef stroganoff or truffled fettuccini and toffee bread pudding or baklava. On race-day, the hotel opens its doors at 6 a.m. with an early-bird breakfast featuring Shangri-La breakfast specials of lemon silver dollar pancakes and farmers market fresh fruit. The dining room will serve their signature brunch, featuring $12 bottomless Bloody Marys and Mimosas until 3 p.m. After the marathon, the hotel’s 10,000 sq. ft. pool deck and roof top lounge, Suite 700, will have a Greek themed happy hour from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Specialty food and cocktail items start at $7. Highlights include the Shangri-la lamb chop lollipops with grilled nectarine chutney, grilled eggplant rolls with tabouli and feta and party platters with traditional pita bread, falafel and pita chips. 1301 Ocean Ave. (310)394-2791.

BLT Cooking Class

On March 19 at 1 p.m., join BLT Chef Brian Moyers for an interactive cooking class to learn how to prepare some of the most popular BLT classics including BLT popovers, Caesar salad, tuna tartare and a signature BLT steak. Enjoy a three-course lunch paired with California wines in the restaurant. The cost of the class is $80 per person. 8720 W. Sunset Blvd. (310)360-1950.

Bakery Grand Opening

La Monarca Bakery in Santa Monica opens to the public on March 19 serving authentic, made-fresh-daily Mexican baked goods and specialty items. From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., complimentary passed pan dulce, traditional Mexican beverages and live mariachi music will be performing. March 19 through June 30, La Monarca Bakery will host “Cakes for a Cause” by donating 20 percent of its revenue from all cakes purchased to ECOLIFE Foundation. This organization is committed to protecting the Monarch butterfly habitat in Central Mexico through reforestation and building fuel-efficient stoves to reduce wood usage among the indigenous community. 1300 Wilshire Blvd. (310)451-1114.

dineLA Restaurant Week Success

The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau and American Express announced an estimated $6.2 million boost to the local economy stemming from the recent dineLA which ran from January 23-28 and January 30-February 4, 2011. Los Angeles maintained its title as the largest restaurant week in the nation with 193,000 diners enjoying specially priced three-course prix-fixe lunch and dinner menus at 295 restaurants throughout the city. That’s a 72 percent increase in over the Winter 2010 dineLA

M Café Cooking Demonstration

On March 24 from 7 to 9 p.m., Chef Lee Gross will teach guests how to renew and revitalize meals without any refined ingredients, meats, poultry and dairy products. The spring menu will include split pea and barley soup, spelt berry salad with a light creamy dressing and a spring seaweed salad with a soy-ginger sesame dressing. The cost of the class is $35 per person. It includes dinner, recipes to take home and a Q & A with Chef Lee. Space is limited. Call for reservations. 9433 Brighton Way, (310)858-8459.

Healthy Options at Sizzler

Sizzler has switched from frozen steaks, burgers and salmon to all new, fresh products.  Their signature salads, salad dressings, soups and appetizers are made from scratch. The new menu boards include calorie counts with several steaks, seafood and chicken entrées less than 500 calories when paired with vegetable medley or steamed broccoli as side dishes. 1323 N. Highland Ave. (323)467-2353, 710 S. Western Ave. (213)385-4747, 2920 Los Feliz Blvd. (323)660-1559.

Great American Bake Sale

Share Our Strength, a leading national organization ending child hunger in America is having their eighth annual Great American Bake Sale. Nearly one in four children in America face hunger. Now through October 3, Bake Sale founder Debbie Shore offers a website with resources for hosting a bake sale at your home, school, place of worship or office. The site includes a checklist with types of successful locations, top ten tips for having a bake sale, photo and pricing tips. For a $10 donation, you will receive a bake sale poster, informational booklet, table tent card, balloons and coupons from sponsors. The money you receive from your sale supports Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign to end childhood hunger in American by 2015. To learn more, go to www.greatamericanbakesale.org.