Gather Some Truffle Skills

Learn from a master chocolate truffle-maker how to create your very own confections to give to your valentine. Today, from 10 a.m. to noon, Russell Armstrong, past winner of Le Meridien’s Truffle of the Year contest, will demonstrate three recipes at a free seminar at his Trees Restaurant in Corona del Mar. You’ll observe how to make the whiskey-laced, Italian-inspired Truffle Spazza-camino , as well as the Tropical Chocolate Passion and Bangkok New Year Truffle, made of white chocolate and ginger. At 440 Heliotrope Ave. Information: (714) 673-0910.

The Orange County chapter of the Single Gourmet Club has scheduled four dinners this month. The group will gather today at 6:30 p.m. at the Stuft Noodle in Newport Beach; on Wednesday at the Magic Castle, Hollywood (bus leaves South Coast Plaza at 5:30 p.m.); Feb. 19 at Bistro 201 in Irvine; and Feb. 25 at the Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Center, Costa Mesa. Dinners average about $45. Information: (714) 854-6552.

Winemaker Mike Grgich will introduce his Grgich Hills Cellar wines at a dinner in Restaurant Antoine at Le Meridien Hotel on Friday at 7 p.m. The five-course dinner, featuring Chardonnays and Cabernets, is priced at $85 per person, plus tax and tip. Reservations: (714) 476-2001. The hotel is at 4500 MacArthur Blvd.

Guy Sockrider will transport diners to the Burgundy region of France on Tuesday, when he presents his second international dinner at Monique in Laguna Beach. The menu, at $28 per person, will feature an entree choice of poached Norwegian salmon with mussel and mushroom sauce or fillet of beef Bordelaise. Choose a dining time between 5:30 and 10 p.m. Monique is at 31727 Coast Highway. (714) 499-5359.

Though, as reported in an earlier column, Alfredo’s in the Westin South Coast Plaza is closed weekdays (it’s being used for private functions), the restaurant at 666 Anton Blvd. continues to serve buffet brunches on Sundays and holidays. Brunches ($23.95) run from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Reservations: (714) 540-2500.