CHEZ MIMI
548 Palisades Drive, Pacific Palisades • (310) 393-0558
Chez Mimi is now offering a three-course prix-fixe dinner menu for only $29.50. Starters include a selection of three soups and three salads, while entrée choices include roasted lemon and rosemary chicken served with a corn soufflé; trout with roasted almonds; meat loaf (your choice of meat) served with a tomato basil sauce, mashed potatoes and carrots; or a sole meuniere. A traditional ‘Quebec’ sugar pie, flourless chocolate cake, lemon tart, or simple ice cream or sorbet are the dessert offerings. For the excellent quality found at Chez Mimi, this menu is a terrific buy. Mimi also has a new lunch menu featuring salads, quiche, crepes, sandwiches, even hot dogs and hamburgers, along with lunch entrees of steak, mussels and more.
SAM’S BY THE BEACH
108 W. Channel Rd., Santa Monica Canyon • (310) 230-9100
Save Thursday, August 15 to celebrate Sam’s 13th anniversary dinner featuring Skinner wines. Hors d’oeuvres will be offered from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. with select white and rose wines. A buffet-style menu will follow offering seared yellowfin tuna salad with wild arugula and fresh avocado dressing; poached cauliflower and carrot salad with cumin and cardamom dressing; grilled wild Alaska salmon; wild boar and porcini mushroom crepe; grilled New Zealand lamb loin; and seasonal vegetables and roasted heirloom potato. Four wines will accompany the buffet menu and there will be an assortment of desserts. The cost is $69 per person.
The elegant Rhone-inspired Skinner wines come from Skinner Vineyards & Winery in the Sierra foothills. Their winemaker, Chris Pittenger, is working with Sam’s chef to create pairings for the evening.
TIVOLI CAFE
15306 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades • (310) 459-7685
After 24 years in Pacific Palisades, owner Sohail Fatoorechi has designed a new menu full of healthful foods. His staff uses natural beef, with no hormones, steroids or antibiotics, all-natural chicken and Shelton free-range turkey. Even their shrimp and scallops are wild- caught. The eggs are organic and the menu also has gluten-free pasta.
Best of all, if you love pancakes but cannot take much sugar, their low-carb, gluten-free, almond-flour pancakes are light and fluffy and filled with blueberries. You can also order gluten-free lemon ricotta pancakes. Or, try an egg-white omelette with veggies or with Mary’s organic chicken. These are just a few of the tasty breakfast offerings. There are many pastas, pizzas and burgers including a salmon burger and a gluten-free veggie burger, both served with a side salad. If you don’t want a sandwich, try a wrap in a sun-dried tomato tortilla or a wheat wrap.
CHAYA VENICE
110 Navy St., Venice • (310) 396-1179
From August 5 through 31, Chaya Venice is hosting a crustacaean food fair featuring an inventive menu of seafood delicacies. Guests can share plates from the Raw Bar including such oysters as Fanny Bay ($15), Blue Point ($15) and Kumamoto ($24). There is also a Baja Jumbo Blue Shrimp cocktail ($15), or a starter like the Kari-Kari Soft Shell Crab ($17), or the Maine Lobster entrée ($48), and more, such as my favorite: steamed PEI Black Mussels ($22). Dining hours start at 6 p.m. and the classic dinner menu will also be available.
AKBAR
3115 Washington Blvd., Marina del Rey • (310) 574-0666
Akbar owner/chef Avinash will host a wine dinner on Saturday, August 24 at 6:30 p.m. featuring the wines of Pride Mountain Vineyards with international wine expert Peter Kerr providing commentary. The five-course menu is $89 per including tax and gratuity. Reservations guaranteed by credit card are required.
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