Girl Scout cookie season is back! And there's an app!

I've already finished a box of Tagalongs, with a box of Thin Mints underway. They got me on my way off the slopes at Big Bear mountain Sunday. Yes, Sunday...

It's Girl Scout cookie season and favorites such as Samoas, Do-si-dos, Shout Outs and Trefoils are now literally a touch away with the Official Girl Scout Cookie Finder iPhone app.

The free app helps users find cookies by way of the iPhone's GPS to read your location and show cookie sales nearby, or by ZIP Code to find them in areas other than your current location.

The app also features data such as the start and end of local cookie seasons and specific locations of sales to satisfy those cravings before the season ends March 25.

Whether you buy for yourself or those in your office, proceeds from the seasonal sugar addictions support Girl Scouts in your community. www.girlscoutcookies.org.

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Plan Check opens today in West L.A.

West L.A.'s Little Osaka neighborhood welcomes a new addition to Sawtelle Boulevard with Plan Check, which opened its doors to the public Wednesday.

The restaurant incorporates architectural elements to make for an industrial appeal -- kudos to the neighborhood's culture bustling with architects, developers and designers -- and features communal tables, booths and a large outdoor patio.

Chef Ernesto Uchimura of Umami Burger takes the reins at this new joint alongside barmen Steve Livigni and Pablo Moix of Harvard & Stone, La Descarga and Black Market Liquor Bar.

The menu features American comfort food with dishes such as the blueprint burger ($11) with smoked blue cheese, pig candy bacon, fried onions and steak sauce; smoky fried chicken ($12) with gravy, yam preserves and spicy pickled okra; and short rib pot roast ($15) with red wine, bone marrow turnover pie and sweet n' sour mirepoix. The bar program includes cocktails like the godzilla ($10) and bento box ($10); craft beer, wine and a variety of Japanese whiskeys. The moonshine house soda, with flavors like yuzu and tangerine, is pretty good, too.

Plan Check is open 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

1800 Sawtelle Blvd., L.A., (310) 288-6500, plancheckbar.com.

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Photo: Plan Check. Credit: Howard Wise

Make a trip for cheese: California's Artisan Cheese Festival

California's Artisan Cheese Festival will take place March 23-25 in Petaluma, Calif. The sixth annual event draws artisan cheesemakers, cheese experts, brewers and wineries from all over for a weekend of seminars, demonstrations, tastings and pairings.

The three days of cheese will also feature farm tours around Sonoma and Marin counties, a cheesemaker dinner featuring chef Cindy Pawlcyn of Mustards Grill in Napa, a Lagunitas Brewery tour followed by a six-course, cheese-filled meal with beer pairings and a brunch hosted by Zazu's Duskie Estes, winner of last year's Cochon 555.

Participating artisans at this year's festival include Cowgirl Creamery, Marin French Cheese, Laura Chenel's Chevre, Bleating Heart, Bellwether Farms, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co., Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery, Valley Ford Cheese Co. and Weirauch Farm & Creamery, among many others.

Tickets are $45 per person.

745 Baywood Drive, Petaluma, (707) 523-3728, artisancheesefestival.com.

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Photo: California Crottin made at Redwood Hill Farm in Sebastopol, Calif.

Credit: Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times

Orange County restaurant week kicks off this weekend

Orange County restaurant week starts Sunday. Multi-course menus with three price categories for lunch ($10, $15 and $20) and dinner ($20, $30 and $40) will be offered by 100 participating restaurants throughout the county.

Participating restaurants to anticipate include Pizzeria Ortica in South Coast Plaza, the Crow Bar and Kitchen in Corona Del Mar and French 75 Bistro in Laguna Beach, among others.

The event runs through March 3. Diners can search participating restaurants by location and price point as well as make reservations online.

For more information, check out www.orangecountyrestaurantweek.com.

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Photo: Pizzeria Ortica. Credit: Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times

James Beard Foundation announces 2012 semifinalists

On March 19, the James Beard Foundation will announce the five final nominees for each of the 20 restaurant and chef award categories at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. Finalists are narrowed down by a panel of more than 550 judges from a group of semifinalists chosen from over 57,000 entries received this year.

Southern California semifinalists for this year's awards include M.B. Post and Picca, nominated for best new restaurant; Rivera, nominated for outstanding bar program; Suzanne Goin of Lucques and Nancy Silverton of Mozza, nominated for outstanding chef; and Dahlia Narvaez of Osteria Mozza, nominated for outstanding pastry chef.

Also in the running for Beard restaurant and chef awards are Patina, nominated for outstanding restaurant; Piero Selvaggio of Valentino Restaurant Group and Caroline Styne of Lucques, A.O.C. and Tavern, both nominated for outstanding restaurateur; Providence, nominated for outstanding service; and Patina, Hatfield's and Cut at Beverly Wilshire, all in the running for outstanding wine program.

Best chef nominations for the Pacific region include Josef Centeno of the Lazy Ox Canteen and Baco Mercat, Michael Cimarusti of Providence, David Feau of the Royce at the Langham Huntington, David LeFevre of M.B. Post, Matt Molina of Osteria Mozza, John Rivera Sedlar of Rivera, Paul Shoemaker of Savory and Hiroyuki Urasawa of Urasawa in Beverly Hills.

Nominees for this year's rising star chef of the year award include Angelenos Chad Colby of Mozza2Go, Joshua Drew of Farmshop, Casey Lane of the Tasting Kitchen and Micah Wexler of Mezze.

Finalists will be honored at the James Beard Foundation awards ceremony and gala reception on May 7 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York City.

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Photo: James Beard Foundation

5 Food Events: Moveable Feasts; HopHead Heaven; Can You Dig It?

Moveable Feasts: The Los Angeles Nomadic Division hosts its second Moveable Feasts dinner on Feb. 19. Last month, the dinner was held at Lucques and this month it will take place at Soho House in West Hollywood. This month's event honors Andrea Bowers, an L.A.-based multimedia artist and activist whose work makes political statements by focusing on social issues. Tickets are $200 per person and includes a three-course dinner with wine as well as a special, artist-designed object. RSVP by contacting laura@nomadicdivision.org. 9200 Sunset Blvd., L.A., (310) 432-9200, sohohousewh.com.

HopHead Heaven: Library Alehouse in Santa Monica is celebrating local bitterness with an 11-day fest featuring hoppy brews from Southern California. The alehouse will be pouring beers like Eagle Rock Populist, Bootlegger’s Knuckle Sandwich, El Segundo Blue House Citra Pale, Smog City IPA, Ladyface IPA and Golden Road Point the Way IPA, among others. Small bites like street tacos, sriracha honey wings and habanero shrimp ceviche will be available to pair. 2911 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 314-4855, libraryalehouse.com.

Can You Dig It? On Feb. 24, M.B. Post's chef David LeFevre is kicking off a quarterly series where he'll be hosting a guest chef and featured farmer. The program will feature a three-course meal of small plates at $65 per person with optional wine pairing. For the inaugural event, LeFevre is hosting chef Giuseppe Tentori of Boka and GT Fish & Oyster in Chicago to highlight produce from Maryann Carpenter of Coastal Farms in Santa Paula. 1142 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, (310) 545-5405, eatmbpost.com.

Colman Andrews dinner: Brentwood's Farmshop is hosting a four-course dinner on Feb. 28 with dishes from "The Country Cooking of Italy" by Colman Andrews. Andrews, co-founder of Saveur magazine and the recipient of eight James Beard Awards, will be present at the event to sign copies and discuss his latest release. The event costs $90 per person and includes dinner and a signed copy of the book. 225 26th St., Ste. 25, Santa Monica, (310) 566-2400, farmshopla.com.

Zinfandel Festival Paso Robles: Paso Robles is hosting the 2012 Zinfandel Festival March 16 to 18. The festival turns 20 this year and will celebrate with barrel tastings, winemaker dinners and vineyard tours throughout the weekend featuring Zinfandel blends from more than 150 wineries. See pasowine.com.

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Culinary workshop on Gothic desserts at the Getty in March

On March 1 and 2, Getty Center educators Nancy Real and Robin Trento are leading a culinary course that explores the world of Gothic art and cuisine.

The group of 20 participants will tour the exhibition "Gothic Grandeur: Manuscript Illumination, 1200–1350," with their hosts before preparing desserts similar to those found in the medieval courts of Europe.

Real and Trento are incorporating recipes to enrich the historical components of the course and will discuss Gothic history that influenced the time period's desserts, such as the uses of spices and sugar. Panforte di Siena, for example, contains cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper, evidence of the Arab countries' influence on European cuisine because of the use of spices.

After the tour, the class will retreat to the Getty's private dining room, where participants, with the help of their instructors, will prepare desserts representative of the period and countries of origin of the manuscripts featured in the exhibition, such as lavender pudding from England, krapfen from Germany, torta bonissima and panforte di Siena from Italy, marzipan from Spain and pignolat from France.

The workshop is $75 per person.

1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A., (310) 440-7300, www.getty.edu.
 
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Image: "The Dragon Pursues the Woman Clothed in the Sun Who Receives the Wings of an Eagle," about 1255-1260. Credit: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. Ludwig III 1, fol. 21v

Mezze and the Bruery team up for dinner on Feb. 22

Chef Micah Wexler of Mezze, the contemporary Mediterranean eatery that opened last March on North La Cienega Boulevard, is collaborating with longtime friend Ben Weiss of the Bruery for a four-course meal with beer pairings on Feb. 22.

Mezze's signature small plates, which incorporate flavors from Lebanon, Syria, Morocco and Turkey, will be complemented with the Bruery's suds -- not to mention new, limited edition brews.

Anticipate dishes such as baby yellowtail crudo with pomegranate gremolata; duck gallantine with pistachio and medjool dates; Tunisian fish stew with spiced tomato jus; veal dumplings with beer broth and ras al hanout (a Moroccan spice blend); and a black and Indian lime pie.

Seating is limited -- only 50 tickets are being sold at $85 per person.

401 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 657-4103, mezzela.com.

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Photo: Micah Wexler. Credit: Mezzela.com

Angeleno wins Almost Famous West regional competition

Joseph Johnson, of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles, is the winner of this year's S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef West regional competition in Hollywood.

The event, one of 10 held regionally, serves as a mentoring program for culinary students with a mission to help launch careers for today's chefs-in-the-making. Aspiring chefs are not only exposed to a fast-paced, high-intensity cooking environment through the competition but also experience a glimpse of the limelight while making connections with established chefs and the media.

In late January, six students from  half a dozen participating schools across the West -- the International Culinary School at the Art Institutes in Hollywood; Le Cordon Bleu Colleges of Culinary Arts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Ore.,  and Seattle; and the Culinary Institute of America, St. Helena, Calif. -- competed in the event.

Johnson will be heading to Northern California for a three-day finals competition at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone from March 9-12. In celebration of the competition's 10th anniversary, Johnson will join and work alongside nine past winners to vie for the 2012 S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef title.

www.almostfamouschef.com

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Photo: Student competitors with winner Joseph Johnson. Credit: S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition

Valentine's Day dining guide

Whether you celebrate Valentine's Day the weekend before or the day of--with your significant other or your best friends--L.A. restaurants are paying homage to love with prix-fixe menus and aphrodisiac foods and spirits to enhance the experience. See our list on the next page.