Chamber Series Serves Art and Music on Multicultural Menu

Poulenc, pork loin and pre-Hispanic Panama: Say it three times fast, then sign up for the Pacific Symphony Orchestra’s chamber music series at Bowers Museum of Cultural Art.

The package, involving concerts this week and in May, includes a complimentary glass of wine upon arrival, a dinner buffet at the museum’s Topaz Cafe, admission to museum exhibitions and chamber music by some of the orchestra’s finest musicians. Concertmaster Sheryl Staples and principal cellist Timothy Landauer, for example, will be featured on both programs.

The first program (see story, Page 8) includes works by Bruch, Ravel and Mozart and will be presented Friday and Sunday; dinner is a German buffet. A French buffet precedes music by Mozart, Poulenc and Dvorak on May 5 and 7. Currently on display at the museum are “Between Empires: The Artistic Legacy of Prehispanic Panama” and “River of Gold: Precolumbian Treasures From Sitio Conte.”

Dinners begin at 6:30 p.m.; galleries are open exclusively to chamber series subscribers at 7:15, concerts follow at 8. The packages are $50 per person each evening.

2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. (714) 755-5799.

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It’s a six-pack for sure: Karnival of Beers, a brewing competition and beer-tasting celebration, takes place at a half-dozen separate sessions this weekend at Fullerton Hofbrau Brewery & Restaurant. Beers from more than 25 microbreweries will be available for tasting.

Proceeds from the Karnival benefit the Food Distribution Center in Orange. Each session is $20 per person, which includes unlimited coupons for beer tastings (but not, said management, to the point of excess), a collector’s pint glass and unlimited buffet of mostly German foods. The cost for designated drivers, $12, includes food and non-alcoholic beverages. The center distributes food to 278 charities that help feed 180,000 people in Orange County each month.

Session times are Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (home brewers), 1 to 3 p.m. and 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 to 3 p.m., 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.

323 N. State College Blvd., Fullerton. (714) 870-7400.

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Spiga Trattoria in Costa Mesa is suddenly a family affair, with newly hired general manager Mondo Trombini hiring his sister, Ulderica Trombini, to hand-make the pasta each day. Hats off to the Trombinis--or rather, hats on: Menu additions include capeletti alla crema, hat-shaped pasta stuffed with meat in cream sauce, and tortelloni di ricotta e spinace, larger hat-shaped pasta with ricotta cheese and spinach in fresh tomato sauce ($10.50 each). Spiga is operated by the Italatin Restaurant Group.

All in the famiglia, Italatin also operates Antonello Ristorante in Santa Ana. That restaurant is run by Antonio Cagnolo, a co-owner of Spiga and a partner in Italatin. He’ll be the guest of honor at the sixth annual Culinary Extravaganza in Mexico City, a two-week food fest beginning March 15; Cagnolo and Antonello executive chef Franco Barone will take over the kitchen of the Intercontinental Hotel. They are in good company; previous honorees have included Michel Richard of Citrus in Los Angeles and Wolfgang Puck.