Food + Wine Festival Palm Desert

Top culinary experts from around the country will participate in the Food + Wine Festival Palm Desert running from Friday, March 27 through Sunday, March 29. More than 50 restaurants and 80 wineries, breweries and spirit purveyors from the Coachella Valley will participate. Cooking demonstrations and intimate tasting seminars, with epicurean stars representing the national food and wine community, will be offered. New to this year’s festival on March 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. is “A Salute to Women”, a special luncheon featuring a multiple course menu prepared by celebrity chefs Cat Cora, Gale Gand, Lulu Powers and Brooke Williamson, with returning guest Mark Davidson, of Wine Australia, paring wines. The chefs will present interactive cooking demonstrations while attendees dine on featured dishes. Proceeds will benefit the Friends of James Beard Foundation. The special lunch will be held in the Grand Tasting tent at the Food + Wine Palm Desert campus on Larkspur Lane at El Paseo, Palm Desert. General seating for the luncheon is $125 per person; $150 for reserved seating. Tickets for individual demonstrations and seminars are $25 per event. (888)596-1027, www.palmdesertfoodandwine.com.

Passover and Easter at Petrossian

Petrossian executive chef Giselle Wellman is preparing special dishes for Passover including savory matzo brei served with traditional milk-soaked matzo sautéed with mushrooms and onions, and finished with 20 grams of caviar. It is available from Friday, April 3 through Saturday, April 11, and will also be available on the weekend brunch menu through the end of April. For Easter, Wellman will prepare egg royale featuring a soft scrambled egg and vodka whipped cream topped with the restaurant’s signature caviar. The dish will be served in a dyed eggshell for lunch and dinner throughout April. 321 N. Robertson Blvd. (310)271-6300.

Jar Passover and Easter Menu

Jar is holding Passover seders on Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4, with seating at 5:30 p.m. Guests will enjoy an appetizer of house-cured salmon and chopped liver, followed by a first course of matzo ball soup in lemongrass broth, asparagus and spring radish salad and hard cooked eggs. The main course will include Jar’s signature pot roast with carrots, caramelized onions and fingerling potatoes; sautéed Alaskan halibut; and fava bean, scallion butter and horseradish mashed potatoes. Assorted macaroons and chocolate eminence lemon cheesecake will be served for dessert. The seder, led by Rabbi Ellen Nemhauser, is $130 for adults and $65 for children ages 12 and under. The price includes tax and gratuity, house wine, coffee or tea. An a la carte menu will be offered during Easter Sunday brunch on Sunday, April 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 8225 Beverly Blvd. (323)655-6566.

Mud Hen Tavern Passover & Easter

Mud Hen Tavern is offering a special Passover dinner menu beginning on Saturday, April 4 at 5 p.m. for $45 per person. Diners can start with the house-cured gravlax plate with fava beans, horseradish sauce, marinated beets and caraway matzo, or a vegetarian version made with shaved marinated cucumber. Guests can also enjoy deviled eggs and parsley leaf and apple salad with pickled mustard seed and honey vinaigrette. The slow cooked Moroccan spiced lamb shoulder is served with carrot salad in harissa and lemon, and a vegetarian option is available with roasted cauliflower steaks in Moroccan spices. Black Forest matzo brownies will be served for dessert. Pre-order seder plates are available for $15 and include matzo, charoset, eggs and salt water. Items from Mud Hen Tavern’s full regular menu are also available. Mud Hen Tavern is also offering an “All About Eggs Easter Brunch” on April 5. Diners can start with house-cured gravlax with deviled “Easter eggs” made with beets, turmeric, nori deviled eggs cream cheese, rye, tomato, sprouts and capers. Scotch eggs — which are boiled eggs wrapped in homemade sausage and coated in herb breadcrumbs, fried crispy and served with mustard aioli — are also available. The scalloped potato eggs in the hole are made with bacon and cheddar scalloped potatoes with a fresh egg baked in the center, and served with roasted pepper salsa and watercress salad. Mud Hen Tavern is also serving a spring salad with poached harissa egg shaved asparagus, baby carrot and pea shoots in lemon tarragon vinaigrette, and topped with a harissa draped poached egg. Guests seeking something sweet are encouraged to try the “Sunny Side Up” apricot and ricotta Danish. 742 Highland Ave. (323)203-0500.

Spago Passover Seder Dinner

Spago Beverly Hills will host its 31st annual Passover seder dinner on Saturday, April 4 beginning at 5:30 pm. Restaurant co-founder Barbara Lazaroff began the tradition at the original Spago Hollywood to bring members of the Jewish community together on the festive holiday, as well as guests of different faiths. The meal will be led by Rabbi Arnold Rachlis and Cantor Ruti Briar, from University Synagogue. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the nonprofit, Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger. The cost is $190 for adults and $85 for children under 9 years old. 176 N. Canon Drive. (310)385-0880.

Easter at Tanzy in Westwood

Tanzy in Westwood is offering special dishes with its regular Sunday brunch menu on Sunday, April 5. Guests can start with bottomless strawberry mimosas for $14. Specials include spinach and smoked ham tart with frisée salad and bacon vinaigrette, and butter-poached lobster Benedict with baby artichokes and morel mushrooms served on an English muffin with Hollandaise sauce. Carrot cake whoopie pie is available for dessert, and all guests will receive Easter bunny cookies. 10840 Wilshire Blvd. (310)307-7004.

La Boheme Easter Buffet

Enjoy bottomless mimosas for $9.99 and an extensive Easter buffet on Sunday, April 5 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at La Boheme in West Hollywood. Selections include sweet ginger and heirloom carrot soup, cobb and organic market salads, airline chicken breast with mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts, and seared salmon filet. Meat lovers will enjoy a carving station with roast beef and maple glazed ham. An assortment of Easter sweets and cookies are also included. The cost is $49 for adults and $29 for children 12 and under. 8400 Santa Monica Blvd. (323)848-2360.

Fig & Olive Easter Brunch

Fig & Olive’s three-course brunch will be offered on Sunday, April 5 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features French Riviera inspired fare for $40 per person. Holiday dishes include Riviera salmon with grilled asparagus, and Coratina olive oil and panna cotta a l’orange with cookie crumble. Signature favorites include traditional French omelets and crab cake Benedict. Fig gorgonzola tartlets will be served for dessert. 8490 Melrose Place. (310)360-9100.

Adult Easter Egg Hunt

Taste at the Palisades is offering a three-course brunch and dessert buffet on Sunday, April 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for $29 per person. An Easter egg hunt with prizes will also be held, and bottomless mimosas or glasses of champagne are $15. 538 Palisades Drive. (323)459-9808.

Easter Treats at Little Dom’s

Pasty chef Ann Kirk has prepared Easter egg sugar cookies and bird’s nest coconut cupcakes that are available through Easter at The Deli at Little Dom’s. 2128 Hillhurst Ave. (323)661-0055.

Bourbon Steak Los Angeles

Chef Kyle Johnson has created a prix fixe menu for $59 per person at Bourbon Steak Los Angeles. Guests can select cocktails priced at $14 from a bloody Mary cart with a choice of vodka, tequila, mescal or gin. Menu options include grilled asparagus with a sunny-side-up egg, hollandaise sauce and prosciutto; and the shredded kale “Waldorf” salad with shaved fennel, grapes, walnuts and lemon yogurt dressing. Second course dishes include fried chicken and doughnuts; smoked salmon Benedict; deep-fried Monte Cristo sandwiches with Black Forest ham, Gruyere and dusted sugar; and the “Bourbon Steak” omelet made with three farm-fresh eggs, mushrooms, Swiss cheese and chives. Desserts include creamsicles made with vanilla cremeux, double vanilla meringue and tangerine sherbet, and praline chocolate bars made with devil’s food cake, sponge candy and bittersweet chocolate. 237 S. Brand Blvd. (818)839-4130.

GC Marketplace

GC Marketplace, Hollywood’s new multi-concept gourmet market, is launching a chef’s table experience. The unique, reservation-only dining experience is hosted by executive chef Gary Arabia inside the market’s state-of-the-art kitchen. A 12-seat table offers an intimate dinner with Arabia, who will curate a special multi-course menu based on guest preference. The menu will showcase seasonal ingredients and innovative twists on GC Marketplace classics. Pricing will vary based on group size, but will start at $85 per person with optional wine pairings by an in-house sommelier. Guests are encouraged to sample the pan-seared diver scallops served on a bed of curried polenta with shitake mushrooms, seared foie gras, and Kobe beef topped with truffled mashed potatoes. 3315 Cahuenga Blvd West. (323)645-5269.