Welcome to the "805 Eats" dining blog where we'll keep you up-to-date on restaurant and food happenings in the 805. To send tips and comments, email edit@805Living.com.

Rosenthal Fall Festival

Saturday, Oct. 2nd, 1-4 p.m.

Rosenthal Winery’s Fall Festival takes place on Saturday at the Malibu vineyard.  They will debut their 2009 Surfrider Chardonnay which features surfer Sunny Garcia on the label.  Duke’s Malibu is cooking up a Hawaiian feast for the afternoon.  And guests will have the chance to ride the RoboSurf, so bring your swimsuit.  The price is $95.  Tickets can be purchased here.  Proceeds benefit the Mauli Ola Foundation.

Dine LA Restaurant Weeks

October 3-8 & October 10-15

Dine LA is a program sponsored by American Express and the L.A. Convention & Visitors Bureau designed to get people into restaurants en masse during the first weeks of October.  Participating restaurants agree to offer 3-course lunch and dinner menus for a set price ranging from $16-$44.  You can search for participating restaurants here.  The restaurants in our area which have signed up include Tra di Noi in Malibu, The Sunset in Malibu, Duke’s Malibu, Fleming’s in Woodland Hills, Onyx at Four Seasons Westlake Village, The Grill on the Alley Westlake Village, and Wolfgang Puck Bistro in Westlake Village.

Oktoberfest at Ojai Beverage Co.

Saturday, Oct. 2nd, 2-10 p.m. & Sunday, Oct. 3rd, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.

The parking lot of Ojai Beverage Company will become a beer garden this weekend in honor of Oktoberfest.  Oompah bands will play, beer will flow (by the boot or liter), and food from chef Jarret Gilden will be available for purchase.  He’s making specials like Weisswurst (white veal sausages), giant pretzels, rotisserie chicken, and potato salad.  Both ladies and gents are encouraged to wear either lederhosen or beer maiden costumes.  Admission is $5.

California Avocado Festival

Friday, October 1, 4-10 p.m.

Saturday, October 2, 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Sunday, October 3, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

The California Avocado Festival takes place in downtown Carpinteria from Oct 1-3.  The 3-day festival features the famous green fruit which grows in abundance in Santa Barbara County.  Expect music from Spencer the Gardener and contents for best guacamole and the largest avocado.

This event is part of epicure.sb: a month to savor santa barbara.  For more epicure.sb events and package deals from participating hotels and restaurants, visit epicuresb.com.

Cat Cora at Sol Food Festival

Saturday, October 2nd, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Celebrity chef Cat Cora, a Santa Barbara resident, will demo a recipe or two from her newest cookbook Classics with a Twist at the Sol Food Festival in downtown Santa Barbara’s Plaza de Vera Cruz Park on Saturday across from the Farmer’s Market.   The focus of the one-day festival is sustainable (S), organic (O), and local (L) food.  In addition to Cora’s cooking demo, there will be a beer and wine garden, a petting zoo, and workshops on bee keeping, backyard poultry, composting, and canning.

This event is part of epicure.sb: a month to savor santa barbara.  For more epicure.sb events and package deals from participating hotels and restaurants, visit epicuresb.com.

Interactive Wine Dinner at Fleming’s Steakhouse

Wednesday, September 22nd, 6:30 p.m.

Instead of flying winemaker Chuck Wagner in to Woodland Hills from Caymus Vineyards in Napa Valley, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar will feature him via live video feed at their winemaker dinner tonight.  The Woodland Hills location will serve the three-course dinner with passed hors d’ oeuvres while Wagner and Fleming’s Wine Director Marian Jansen op de Haar discuss the wines on screen. Welcome to the 21st century.  The price is $125.

Savor the Central Coast

September 30th - October 3rd

Sunset Magazine (with a little help from 805 Living Magazine) is sponsoring a huge food and wine festival celebrating California’s bountiful Central Coast.  Savor the Central Coast will showcase chefs, farmers, winemakers and other food artisans over a three-day eating and drinking extravaganza.  Chefs, including Food Network’s Tyler Florence, will demonstrate recipes.  Sunset editors will lead tours of Ocean Rose abalone farm, Morro Bay Oyster Co., Happy Acres Goat Farm, Pasolivo Olive Oil, Thomas Hill Organics, Talley Winery, and Cal Poly’s Escuela Ranch.  There will also be seminars on cheese making and Central Coast wine appreciation.  On October 2nd there will be multiple winemaker dinners scheduled.

Great American Dine Out Week

September 19-25

The charity Share Our Strength has put together Great American Dine Out Week in order to raise funds to help feed hungry children.  Each time you dine out at participating restaurants, you help raise funds for Share Our Strength.  The participating restaurants in our area include:

Corner Bakery in Thousand Oaks, Calabasas, Woodland Hills, and Simi Valley

P.F. Chang’s in Thousand Oaks and Woodland Hills

Claim Jumper in Thousand Oaks

El Torito in Thousand Oaks, Woodland Hills, Simi Valley, Oxnard and Santa Barbara

Bogart’s inside Muvico Theatres in Thousand Oaks

Elephant Bar in Simi Valley and Goleta

Grotta Azzurra Italian Restaurant in Moorpark

Joe’s Crab Shack in Ventura

Malibu Family Wines Harvest & Crush Event

Sunday, Sept. 19th, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m.

Malibu Family Wines is holding its annual harvest and crush party on Sunday.  As usual, there will be a huge grape stomp, plenty of wine, and tastes of food from plenty of restaurants including a hot dog bar and a hot fudge sundae bar.  Tickets, which can be bought online, are $75 for adults, $25 for kids.

Discover Santa Maria Valley 2010 Event

Sunday, Sept. 19th, 1-4 p.m.

The Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum in Santa Maria is holding its 12th annual fundraiser event on Sunday.  Discover Santa Maria Valley will offer tastes of beer, wine, cheese, jams, jellies and other foods.  Live music will be provided by the Mark Roberts Band.  A piece of artwork commissioned from artist Nat Fast will be unveiled, and Fast will be on hand with other examples of his work.  Tickets cost $60 per person and can be purchased online or at the museum.

Central Coast Avocado & Margarita Festival

Saturday, Sept. 18th, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

The Embarcadero in downtown Morro Bay is the site of the 4th annual Avocado & Margarita Festival on Saturday.  Besides live music and margaritas, plenty of other happenings ought to entertain you like the Best Dressed Avocado contest, the Best Guacamole contest, and the Farmer’s Market.  There will also be arts & crafts, local wines, and recipes from the California Avocado Commission.

Watercolor Show at 71 Palm

Saturday, Sept. 18th, 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.

71 Palm French American Restaurant & Brasserie is showcasing watercolor paintings by Gail Faulkner on Saturday.  Chef Didier Poirier will serve appetizers for the event.

Danish Days in Solvang

September 17-19th

It’s that time again!  Solvang is putting on its 74th annual Danish Days Festival.  Starting Friday at 4 p.m. all sorts of fun activities are planned like watching men carve things with chainsaws, listening to a live Danish music concert, and marching in the Torchlight Parade.  Saturday morning there’s a Danish breakfast of aebelskivers and sausage.  If you’ve never tried aebelskivers, little round pancakes topped with jam, do yourself a favor and check them out.  Over the weekend you’ll get plenty of folk dancing and Danish music.  On Sunday there’s a demo of Viking-age weapons.

Robert Parker Loves Foxen

Wine reviewer Robert Parker has written a lovenote to Foxen Winery’s Pinot Noirs:

“Four brilliant Pinot Noirs have emerged from Foxen in what could have been a very challenging vintage.  These are some of the best examples of Pinot Noir I tasted from this vintage.”

The 2008 Foxen Pinot Noir, Sea Smoke Vineyard earned a whopping 94 points from Parker.

Safire’s New England Dinners

now through October

Safire American Bistro in Camarillo is bringing lobster to the people.  Dinner specials priced from $19 include chilled lobster, stuffed lobster, and whole Maine lobster.  Here’s the link to their events page which talks about it.

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