Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival Returns

The Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival, scheduled for August 9 to 12 this year, returns for a second year with favorite events like the Celebrity Chef Power Lunch Series and I Heart Champagne & Caviar making a comeback along with new marquee events added to the four-day event.

Andrew Zimmern of Travel Channel's Bizarre Foods America is hosting Friday's Asian Night Market at Downtown's L.A. LIVE, where Roy Choi, Floyd Cardoz, Susur Lee, Ming Tsai, Charles Phan, and Ricardo Zarate are whipping up Asian-inspired dishes. Tickets are $75-$125. On the same night, 16 chefs will meet under the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalow's fig tree for a wine tasting featuring 150 pours. Tickets are $150-$195.

More Friday night fetes include the $350 Indulge Santa Monica at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows' ballroom, which features three of the city's most prominent chefs — host Ray Garcia of FIG Santa Monica, Joseph Miller of Joe's, and Raphael Lunetta of JiRaffe — and the $500 five-course Delicacy Dinner hosted by The Montage Beverly Hills.

The Celebrity Chef Power Lunch Series on Friday brings together high-profile duos to create lunches. The pairings include Michael and Bryan Voltaggio at Ink., Scott Conant and Michael Chiarello at Scarpetta Restaurant, Joachim Splichal and Hubert Keller at Patina Restaurant, Ari Rosenson and Lydia Shire at CUT, Wolfgang Puck and Charles Phan at WP24 and Nona Sivley and Kerry Simon at LA Market. Tickets are $125.

The happy hour, I Heart Champagne & Caviar, returns with caviar dishes paired with champagnes at the Montage Beverly Hills on Friday. Tickets are $195.

Other events include Giada's Festa Italiana on Thursday, Lexus LIVE on the Plaza with Wolfgang Puck & Friends on Saturday, and the Lexus Grand Tastings on Saturday and Sunday.