The best restaurant and bar events in Los Angeles

If you've ever wondered about miso—that crucial, silken Japanese ingredient that packs so much flavor—now's your time to not only learn about it, but learn how to make it yourself. In this installment of Japan House's Japanese Food Lab series, author and Japanese-food authority Nancy Singleton Hachisu will teach you the history, usage and legacy of the fermented soybean paste, then lead a demo on how to make it, and finally, host a miso tasting so that you can dig into some miso yourself. 

You should always be keeping your eye on new and so-whimsical-and-colorful-it-hurts pop-up Pretzelette, but you should especially keep your eyes on the pretzel purveyor this Friday. That's because April 26 is National Pretzel Day (it's a thing), when baker Samantha Klein will be bringing her so-cute baked goods to Fiona, and you'll find some twisty treats perfect for the occasion. From noon to 4pm she'll be selling her pretzels in a variety of flavors: everything bagel; furikake; the sweet, sprinkle-flecked, frosting-coated cake bomb; a classic salt variety; and even a salami-and-cheese version. It's the best sprinkle-topped way to spend National Pretzel Day—and while you're there, good luck resisting Nicole Rucker's usual Fiona baked goods (undeniably some of the best in the city), or some lunch from chef Shawn Pham. 

Sample bites from all 30 Major League Baseball teams during this tasting flight of ballpark food. Held at the Magic Box at the Reef, you’ll have a chance to nosh on familiar fare like sisig fries from Dodger Stadium and Kung Pao chicken from Angel Stadium, along with items like the Mariners’ toasted grasshoppers and the D-Backs churro dogs. You’ll also be able to try some items from this season’s international host cities, like the fish and chips with mushy peas from London, the sultanes de Monterrey “Monster Dog” from Monterrey, Mexico and the Japanese curry from Tokyo. Presale for Mastercard cardholders begins on April 2 at 9am, with general sale April 3 at 9am.

The NoMad Hotel is bringing back red-sauce tropes in a big way during their month-long pop-up, Mamma Guidara's. Every Friday and Saturday night in April, the hotel's sleek coffee shop flips to become an Italian-American dream: red-and-white checkered tablecloths, a Dean Martin-filled playlist, a fountain spouting house-made limoncello, plus negroni sno cones and other cocktail delights and, of course, ample food.  While cocktails are the focus of the new pop-up series, don’t expect to walk away hungry. Look for à la carte snacks like rosemary-and-orange–marinated olives; mini stromboli filled with with ricotta and basil; arancini packed with truffle and fontina; chicken parm sliders on chive buns; and—you know it—cannoli and rainbow cookies. Eat, eat—Mamma Guidara would be proud. 

L.A. is home to a few storied restaurants, but few have managed to train and elevate as many famed chefs as Michael's has in the last 40 years. This weekend, the Santa Monica stalwart celebrates its birthday with a stellar kitchen cast: Some of its most notable chefs from throughout the years are coming back to cook a one-night only dinner of their favorite and trademark dishes. Jonathan Waxman, Sang Yoon, Mark Peel, Miles Thompson, John-Carlos Kuramoto and more will join the restaurant's new co-chefs, Jeff Lustre and Matthew Wilson, and they'll all be setting up food stations throughout Michael's. Even current beverage director Gabriel Perez is teaming up with the restaurant's former sommelier, Roni Ginach, and together they're putting together a list of pairings to carry you through the afternoon. Tickets not only include the tasting, wines and a copy of chef-owner Michael McCarty's cookbook—a portion of the proceeds also benefit No Kid Hungry, so go on and celebrate for a good cause. 

Taste of the Eastside is back at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens for an evening fit for the Eastside-dwelling foodie (alright alright, Westsiders are welcome, too). The festival features tastings from over two dozen restaurants. Last year's lineup included Mediterranean hot spot Momed, modern Mexican restaurant Malo and the neighborhood joint, Little Dom’s. Wash down food samples with wine flights and listen to live music from KCRW DJs.

For all of America's vast fields of farms and—especially here in L.A.—our fantastic produce, an unfortunate percentage of perfectly edible, delicious food goes to waste (millions of pound per year, in fact). But Imperfect Produce, a boxed delivery service, is helping cut down on this number by delivering visually-imperfect (but still excellent) mushrooms, citrus, peppers, carrots and whatever other produce you can imagine. Of course if you're free on Saturday, May 4, you don't even need to wait for a mail shipment: From 10am to noon, Imperfect Produce is popping up at the Line hotel in K-town for a morning farmers market, where you can shop their goods for yourself. Then, from 1 to 3pm, Michelin-starred chef Josiah Citrin—of the Line and Melisse—will cook up a special Imperfect Produce–laden lunch with guest chef and holistic nutritionist Sophia Roe. Tickets to the lunch run $45 per person, and we can't imagine a cooler pair to put these fruits and veggies to use.  

If there's great food and comedy all rolled into one natural-wine–focused party, there are only so many Angelenos who can be behind it. And if you guessed that Karl Hess—co-host of the wildly fun L.A. food podcast Yelling About Pâté—is the organizer of Melody's Amuse Bouche, well, there's gotta be some sort of prize out there for being right.  On May 7, head to the Virgil Village wine bar for a Hess-hosted party packed with tapas from Highland Park's favorite Spanish spot, Otoño, and pizza from Atwater Village gem Hail Mary. Starting at 8:30pm there'll be live comedy from Reggie Watts, Max Silvestri and Beth Stelling, plus a DJ set from Them Jeans running all night long to keep the party vibes going. Oh, and that natural wine? That's all Melody, whose team will be pouring from an à la carte selection they've curated just for the night.   

The hedonists of Disco Dining Club are back with their latest glitz-and-glamour dinner party, and this time, they're giving you some sugar, baby. At The Dreamery event, the focus is all about delectable, devilish, cannabis-laced desserts for a "candy-coated weed feast." A collab with cannabis media company Nice Paper, each ticket includes custom cocktails, the decadent, dessert-heavy meal featuring cakes, ice cream, pies and more and, of course, something to take you sky high. The location is top secret—they'll let you know where you'll be dining once you've got your seat secured—and whether you're sampling the dosed goods on May 9 or 10, there are only 75 seats available each night, so jump on those tickets for some sweetness.

The team behind the Infatuation is returning this summer with its annual food fest, named after its popular #EEEEEATS hashtag. Attend panels at Santa Monica's Barkar Hangar with top chefs and sample plates from Freedman's, SLAB, Mariscos Jalisco, Everson Royce Bar and more.