Food and wine events

HIGHLIGHTSan Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival. Nov. 14-18. Cooking classes, winemaker dinners and wine tasting classes held throughout the five-day festival. Class prices vary; festival packages available. Grand Tasting Event, Nov. 17, 11 a.m to 4 p.m. $100 in advance, $125 at the door.

For more information, call (619) 342-7337, or visit www.worldofwineevents.com.

THURSDAYLatke ladies: Join cookbook authors Joan Nathan (“The New American Cooking”), Judy Bart Kancigor (“Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes From the Rabinowitz Family”) and Judy Zeidler (“The Gourmet Jewish Chef”) for a presentation and kosher dinner. 7 p.m. American Jewish University, 15600 Mulholland Drive. Reservations:(310) 440-1246; www.celebrationofjewishbooks.com. $45 per person.

FRIDAYBarolo nights: Wine writer Anthony Dias Blue hosts a five-course tasting dinner at Valentino Ristorante with guest winemaker Danilo Drocco of Italy’s Tenimenti Fontanafredda. 7 p.m. 3115 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica. Call (310) 459-7570, Ext. 4, or e-mail rsvp@bluelifestyle.com. Reservations required, $150 per person.

SATURDAYFork it over: Darra Goldstein, founding editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, presents a lecture sponsored by the Culinary Historians of Southern California titled “From Entremets to Sotelties: The Orchestration of the Meal, 1500 to 2005.” 10:30 a.m. Central Library, 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles. Call (213) 228-7201, or visit www.culinaryhistoriansofsoutherncalifornia.org. Free.

Autographs to go: Nigella Lawson signs her new cookbook, “Nigella Express,” at the Pasadena branch of Williams-Sonoma. Noon to 2 p.m. 142 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena. Call (626) 795-5045. Free.

MONDAYPort for paws: Taste more than 150 varieties of Portuguese wines and Ports at a fundraiser celebrating the Society for Prevention of Cruelty for Animals Los Angeles 130th anniversary. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Ritz-Carlton, 4375 Admiralty Way, Marina del Rey. Call (323) 730-5300, Ext. 232, or visit www.spcala.com. $25 per person.

Submit items two weeks before publication to Food Datebook, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; or e-mail to: fooddatebook@latimes.com.