From Screen to Table

Alberto Morello, the executive chef of Prego in Irvine, is an avid moviegoer. And when he saw “Big Night,” his taste buds yearned for the foods of his native Sicily.

The chef turns teacher on Sunday, when he demonstrates a four-course menu from the film. Recipes include timpano di pasta in crosta (Sicilian pasta-filled drum) and brutti ma buoni (hazelnut cookies). Registration is required through UCI Extension and the class will be held at the restaurant. Cost: $115, including lunch and recipes. Prego, 18420 Von Karman Ave., Irvine. (714) 824-5414.

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Zin Fan: Joe Miller has a thing for Zinfandel. “It’s the only grape indigenous to California. It grows like a weed and winemakers willing to experiment with it are producing some exciting tastes,” says the chef-restaurateur.

Miller and his partner in wine, Guy Gerlach, are so inspired by the year’s crop of newly released single vineyard Zinfandels, especially the ‘94s from Elyse Howell, Ravenswood and Ridge Geyserville, that they’ve arranged a marriage with food. A three-course menu ($38 per person) debuts Friday and runs through the month. Venice location only. Joe’s, 1023 Abbott Kinney Blvd., Venice. (310) 399-5811.

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New Energy: A new chef and an approaching birthday are accelerating life at Michael’s in Santa Monica. New to the brigade is Chris Bocchino, who replaces Chris Millman as chef de cuisine. (Millman is now at the Beverly Prescott Hotel.) Formerly the executive chef of Remi on Third Street Promenade, Bocchino is responsible for the new daily specials (halibut with braised artichokes, smoked trout with lemon vinaigrette). “[Restaurateur] Michael [McCarty] and I are going to update the whole menu soon and bring the food into the 21st century.”

Plans are set for the restaurant’s 18th anniversary party on April 27 from 2 to 6 p.m. McCarty’s fund-raiser will spotlight more than 22 of Los Angeles’ brightest new chefs, pastry chefs and winemakers. Or “the next generation,” as he refers to the group that includes Octavio Becerra (Pinot Bistro), Angelo Auriana (Valentino), Suzanne Tracht (Jozu) and Josiah Citrin and Raphael Lunetta (JiRaffe ). Proceeds will benefit the Museum of Contemporary Art, Disney Hall, the L.A. County Museum of Art and the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Reservations are suggested. Tickets ($125 per person) can be purchased at the restaurant or by phone. Contact: Delilah Staton at (310) 458-3000.

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Classic Update: American classics such as veal oscar and lobster Newburgh will get an update when Legacy opens this fall in the former Scandia Restaurant space. The new Sunset Boulevard restaurant-entertainment complex will house six dining venues, including a cigar lounge, garden room, cabaret and wine tasting room.

Partners in the venture are designer Danna Moore, maitre d’ Katherine Howard (formerly of Drai’s, Eclipse and Spago) and sommelier Christopher Moore (Eclipse and Hamilton’s). Executive chef David McMillan, formerly of the Peninsula Hotel, will create the menu of “new American classics.”

Better haul out those retro threads: The ambience will be a revival of Hollywood in the Golden Era of the ‘40s.

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White Stalk Alert: It’s that season when Germans, Swiss, Austrians and Dutch get uppity about white asparagus.

The vegetable arrives this week and chefs are competing to do something special with this delicacy.

Here’s what’s in store: Yujean Kang’s shows off the fat white spears in a Beijing-style lunch menu Friday at the West Hollywood location. $18 per person. From noon to 3 p.m. . . . Restaurateur Hans Rockenwagner is in Germany as you read this buying his stalks for Spargel Karte, his asparagus menu that debuts at Rockenwagner in Santa Monica April 10 through the month. . . . Bambu in Malibu offers a Tower of White, a salad of white beans and asparagus framed against red and yellow pepper coulis. . . . La Cachette in Century City will rotate salads (how about poached quail eggs and asparagus with white truffle vinaigrette?) and asparagus-inspired soups throughout the month. . . . Gary Clauson, executive chef of Hotel Bel-Air, offers his four-course homage to the “Queens of Darkness” on April 17.

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Such a Deal: On Atlantic’s regular menu, a lobster cake appetizer usually costs $11. But on the three-course Twilight menu, offered from 5:30-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, it’s part of the prix-fixe deal at $21. Atlantic Restaurant, 8256 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 951-1949. . . . It’s bottoms up every Thursday from 6-8 p.m., beginning April 10, when the Wine Merchant of Beverly Hills presents a tasting of hard-to-get wines by the glass. Overstreet’s, 9715 S. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 278-0347. Price depends on wines. . . . The cuisine and wines of Bordeaux are featured from Monday through April 13 at 72 Market Street, Venice. (310) 392-8720. . . . Dying for a great time? Try the Murder Mystery dinners every Friday at Spencers in Pasadena, $68 per person, including dinner, show and gratuity. Reservations required through Dial M Productions. Spencers, 70 S. Raymond Ave., Pasadena. (818) 953-4256.