Publishers of all stripes are selling books of all types. Jules Asner signed Whacked (she is gorgeous in person), Alan Cheuse signed The Fires, and Garth Stein signed The Art of Racing in the Rain. From fiction and business books to green books and cookbooks (and wine guides -- a bonus for this Wine Novice), writers, publishers and booksellers are hob-knobbing and handing out invites to tonight's biggest book parties. more ›

I should hate Pinkberry for a million different reasons: what it does to neighborhoods, the mom & pops it shuts down in its wake, its fake-yogurty ingredients that are likely very, very bad for me and its off-putting, sour flavor that foodies abhor and I, strangely, adore. I know and I agree and I held out as long as I could. more ›

Bodega Wine Bar is all about making wine as unpretentious as possible. The owners opened the bar after searching high and low for "a casual place to grab a glass of wine...somewhere that didn't require us to be wine experts, spend a lot of money, or even talk about wine much (if at all)" but found nothing. Ah - a wine philosophy this wine novice can get behind entirely! So, of course, I had to check it out. more ›

For many years, I was a Veuve girl. As in, Veuve Clicquot. But that's so obvious now and it's expensive. Then I became a Heidsieck (Charles or Piper) girl. Much nicer, less obvious, but still pricey for the good stuff. With the holidays mere seconds away (and with all my "wine novice" locations shutting down their wine tastings until next year) I thought it would make sense to tap into the one area of the wine industry I do know something about - bubbly! The challenge? Finding good bubbly at a very good price. At a price so good, I'd buy cases. Here's what I found: more ›

My brother is a wine snob. What I love about him though, with all his tattoos and his refusal to wear anything other than shorts and flip-flops regardless of weather, is that he isn't a real snob. He knows good wine. He seeks it out. But he's all about finding the best wine at a great price. When he's in town, he wants to visit every wine bar, wine boutique and wine warehouse in LA.... more ›