DATEBOOK

TODAY

Times for Lunch: Times Food Editor Russ Parsons will be the guest at lunch at the Restaurant at the Getty Center. He will sign copies of his book “How to Read a French Fry” before. 11:30 a.m. 1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles. (310) 440-7300. Lunch is $35, or $50 paired with wines, tax and gratuity not included.

THURSDAY

Beer Here: This wine store switches gears and hosts a beer tasting between 5 and 7 p.m. The tasting room of the Wine Exchange, 2368 N. Tustin Ave., Orange. (800) 769-4639. $8.

Wine Here: Four wines from Castello Banfi are served with four courses of food. Start with seared scallops and move to roasted Cornish hen and rack of lamb. 7 p.m. Le Cafe, at the Westlake Village Inn, 32037 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills. (818) 889-9105. $65.

SATURDAY

Flavor of India: This cooking class takes place on the restaurant’s patio. Learn to make green-coconut chicken curry, a green vegetable, rice and salad. Eat lunch afterward. 9 a.m. Flavor of India, 9045 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. (310) 274-1715. $25.

Beer Class: Cal State Northridge offers a class on beer--how to create it, ferment it, bottle it and taste it. Class includes a field trip to a brew pub. Must be 21 or older to enroll. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cal State Northridge Extension, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge. (818) 677-4607; www.csun.edu/exl. $94 for three-part course (continues on March 9 and 16).

The Grill on the Hill: Restaurateur Gerri Gilliland invites students to her home, Rancho Chiquita, and prepares grilled beef and wild mushroom skewers, eggplant and goat cheese Napoleons, glazed sea bass and stuffed chicken. 11 a.m. Address given upon registration. Call (310) 306-9305, Ext. 2#, for reservations. $65.

SUNDAY

Flavored Vinegars: Debbi Dubbs shows how to cook with those pretty bottles of flavored vinegars you have lying around. She makes marinated portabello mushrooms, caramelized onion and balsamic marmalade and more. 3 p.m. Spaghettini Cucina, in the Marketplace, 6467 Pacific Coast Highway, Long Beach. (562) 431-3606. $55.

Gallo Dinner: Mary Gallo and winemaker George Thoukis visit Newport Beach for this five-course dinner featuring their wines. Food looks like this: oysters on the half shell, squash soup with lump crab, mushroom ravioli, filet mignon and New York strip steaks, apple-Cheddar cobbler. 6:30 p.m. Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse, at Fashion Island, 455 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. (949) 720-9633. $80.

MONDAY

More Vino: Gerry Moro of Morovino Fine Wines is on hand at this wine dinner. The five courses of food include fettuccine with oyster mushrooms and grilled rib eye. 7 p.m. Jackson’s Village Bistro, 517 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach. (310) 376-6714. $69.