Your sweetie have a thing for chocolate? Seduce with a dab of Lychee Mousse ($42), Pistachio Ganache ($45) and Bergamot Truffle ($48) behind your ears (or elsewhere). Each perfume evokes a signature Payard creation. Available online from www.payard.com.

Me, I’m not so sure I want to smell like a chocolate bonbon. Truffles or an aged aceto balsamico might be more my style

-- S. Irene Virbila

Photo credit: S. Irene Virbila

TUESDAY

You say it's your birthday The Original Farmers Market celebrates its 75th birthday with a week's worth of activities and an evening's worth of fun called "Taste of Farmers Market," which includes food samples and discounts from dozens of vendors, book signings and live music. The Original Farmers Market, 6333 W. 3rd St., L.A., 5 to 9 p.m. Tickets $20. (323) 933-9211. www.farmersmarketla.com.

It's beer time Akasha restaurant hosts a New Belgium beer dinner featuring summer dishes made with local farmers market ingredients and prepared by Akasha Richmond, paired with beers crafted by Eric and Lauren Salazar of New Belgium Brewery. On the menu: Carlsbad Aqua Farm oysters, beer-battered calamari and okra, Niman Ranch beer-braised pork shoulder and flourless black ale chocolate torte. A vegetarian menu is available upon request. Akasha restaurant, 9543 Culver Blvd., Culver City. 7:30 p.m. $45 for dinner and drinks. (Wow!) Reservations required. (310) 845-1700.

I freak for France Finally, a true Bastille Day celebration can be had, at Maison 140, where the hotel's Parisian-style Bar Noir is teaming up with Club Culinaire of French Cuisine to present a party worthy of this town's most committed Francophiles. A DJ will spin French tunes while guests sip on French wine and Champagne and nibble on French cheese and fruit. The party is co-hosted by Sophie Gayot of Gayot.com and the hotel is offering a special overnight rate of $75 for revelers who'd rather not drive home. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Hope Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Maison 140, 140 S. Lasky Drive, Beverly Hills. 6 to 11 p.m. $85. (310) 281-4000. www.maison140beverlyhills.com.

A decade of the tasty Melisse restaurant is turning 10 years old, and to celebrate it's throwing a birthday dinner party on Bastille Day. Chef Josiah Citrin will put together a special four-course menu to be served for $100 that evening. Then, for the remainder of July, the restaurant will offer a 10-course menu featuring Citrin's favorite dishes from the last 10 years, priced at $150 per person and accompanied by the option of a $10 corkage fee. House specialties include Mandarin tomato soup, egg caviar with cauliflower mousseline and lemon-chive creme fraiche. Melisse, 1104 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. (310) 395-0881. www. melisse.com

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Absinthe is prepared at Bar Noir in Maison 140. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times.

• Heart Attack Grill: A hospital-themed diner in Arizona "famous for embracing and promoting an unhealthy diet of extremely large hamburgers." The Telegraph
• U.S. worker dies in chocolate vat at New Jersey cocoa plant. Courier Post
• Local food blogger Matthew Kang launches his Pantheon of Animals, the beginning of a complete and exhaustive guide ranking the animals that delight us at the table. Food GPS
• Potatomato delves into Polish food at Eagle Rock's Polka, which reopens after a two-week vacation on Wednesday.
• Artist sculpting NASCAR racer in chocolate. Chicago Tribune
• Food rich, nutrition poor in California's Central Valley. NPR
• Blackburn + Sweetzer sneaks a peek at Bistro LQ in former Mimosa space.
• Melting Pot food tours expand to Pasadena. Eating LA

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: In this photo taken July 8, food sculptor Marie Pelton, wife of Philadelphia artist Jim Victor, works on a life-size chocolate replica of the No. 18 Toyota Camry "M&M" stock car driven by Kyle Busch. Credit: John Starks / Daily Herald / Associated Press.

If you have an awesome photo of yourself with some of the stars of the Bravo TV show, re-creating one of the dishes, or from your own viewing parties, send them to krista.simmons@latimes.com, and I'll do my best to post them. Take it as your chance to become a celebrity chef.

-- Krista Simmons

Photos courtesy of Matthew Cain

Jenn Garbee, a well-known local food writer and blogger who freelances for the L.A. Times and contributes to Eat: Los Angeles, wrote in to say: "In the past year, it's been increasingly disturbing to see the ethics values become even murkier not only in the blog world, but also in the print world. I get a lot of "huhs?" when I remind folks that I cannot take a comp for the LA Times. That's not new. But what is new is this response now surprises a lot of PR folks and even other freelancers; it didn't surprise anyone as recently as a year ago. That disturbs me. Yes, there is little to no pay in the blog world, but that doesn't mean you can toss ethics out the window. Heck, there's little pay in the freelance newspaper world these days. It just means you have to diversify more, but diversify ethically."

Almost no one is suggesting that food bloggers should adhere to the same standards as restaurant critics at newspapers. That would be absurd and impractical. And bloggers will bristle at any attempt to impose a uniform set of ethics, whether it's from a government entity or self-appointed ethics watchdogs. As Pat Saperstein of Eating L.A. pointed out on yesterday morning's Air Talk on KPCC, "blog" is a word that describes so many different kinds of writing that no one standard fits all.  

So it boils down to this: Blogging about anything, but especially food, is a highly subjective and personal experience. People should be transparent about their ethics policies. People should be fair when reviewing. People should be thoughtful about what they publish. But if they aren't, no one can do much about it. It's up to users to be skeptical when reading.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo credit: Randi Lynn Beach / For The Times

The theme of the restaurant will remain Latin but the focus will now be on 100% blue agave tequila. The kitchen will stay open late and Alix says the prices will be low. (Alix's business partner Jessie Singh owns Cuba de Oro, which shares a glass door and bathrooms with 1739.)

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

It's the "play with your food" edition of Sampler Platter, dishing out amazing food art links.

• Fourth of July fireworks done with food. PESFilms
• 28-year-old Thai art student Kittiwat Unarrom makes eerily realistic mutilated body parts out of dough and other ingredients. Bangkok Day Tours
• Adorable balloons shaped like hot dogs, fried eggs and other food. David Sykes
• A whole bunch of bento box goodies, including a woman wearing an avocado face mask. Toxel
• A Tim Burton-esque mermaid made out of bok choy, an eggplant narwahl, a green onion praying mantis and other vegetable-based food art. Edith Zimmerman

--Elina Shatkin

Survey says ... Taco Bell is a better money-saving deal than Chipotle. Well, I can't argue with dollar signs (or WalletPop readers, who were asked to weigh in on the best fast food values). But I find Chipotle's fresh guac and salty-crunchy chips hard to resist. Here's one finding I cannot argue with: McDonald's coffee comes out on top. Read the rest of WalletPop's survey results here. 

-- Rene Lynch

Join us on Twitter @LATimesFood

This week's home of the week is a lovingly restored 1929 Spanish Colonial Revival in San Clemente. The kitchen is cozy -- and awfully cute. Check out the rest of the home -- with its Mission-style arched double doors, Moorish-style wood-burning fireplace and a stunning staircase tower with circular wrought-iron chandelier -- here.

-- Rene Lynch

Photo: George Briggs

Join us on Twitter @LATimesFood

You may recall Ludo’s disastrous beet dish from Episode 3, which resembled a crimson crime scene. Well, this week, James Oseland, TCM judge and editor in chief of Saveur Magazine, referred to Anita Lo’s surf-and-turf dish as “the Texas chainsaw massacre” when he cut into it.

The episode was filmed at the Magic Castle, which is a fine location for a murder mystery, except that wasn’t the challenge. The quickfire required the chefs do something snazzy with an egg. With one hand tied behind their backs. Fast.

Peel proved his mastery of Mediterranean cuisine by making duck egg pasta. The other chefs were wowed by his ability to do so single-handedly, but ultimately he got shut down by the judging panel, which included Nickel Diner's Monica May, because he forgot the olive oil.

Peel wasn’t the worst off in the quickfire though — John Besh only managed to put out one plate for the three judges, which they thought tasted like a poorly cooked fried egg. Lo delivered a stunning presentation of a soft-boiled egg placed on a shot glass filled with rice. She was off to a great start.

Peel confessed that he secretly fantasizes about over-salting all of her food because she's the one to beat. (I secretly fantasize about Peel's grilled cheese sandwiches.) Where's David Blaine when you really need him? But I digress...

For the elimination, the big dogs had to cook for Dougie Howser, who apparently is taking a stab at a dual career as a magician and television food critic. The contestants were given the assignment of making dishes based on magical words. Peel pulled "mystery," Besh got "surprise," Rodriguez drew "spectacle" and Lo was left with "illusion."

Rodriguez’s coconut spectacle was a flop and wouldn’t light, and Besh’s half-star score from the elimination left him out of the running. Peel’s papillote (parchment paper wrapped around Thai snapper) with sake pairing seemed to be a hit, but in the end it wasn’t enough to pull him through.  Lo’s “seascape” dish was a bit too reminiscent of Sandra Lee for my liking, but I can’t be mad that a woman brought all the male chefs into submission.  

While our local chef might not have managed to weasel into the finals, he definitely stole the show with his commentary and good nature.  We Angelenos know that if the quickfire were a grilled cheese challenge, Peel would have had it in the bag.

-- Krista Simmons

Photo credit: Bravo TV

Voltaggio recently left his position as chef de cuisine at the Bazaar by Jose Andres at the SLS Hotel, which thrived under his guidance, earning four stars from Times restaurant critic S. Irene Virbila and attracting attention from around the country. Not at a loss for things to spend his time on, Voltaggio is also a contestant on Season 6 of Bravo's "Top Chef," and he can be found cooking as a guest chef July 30 during Breadbar's Hatchi series.

For now he'll stick with the menu on offer but is expected to unveil a new one in August. The new menu will be featured through the end of the year. Come 2010 the Dining Room will be renovated and unveiled with a fresh, as of yet unannounced, twist.

-- Jessica Gelt

Photo: Michael Voltaggio, right, at the Bazaar by Jose Andres. Credit: Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times

Restaurateur and art collector Michael Chow, a.k.a. Mr. Chow, filed a lawsuit against Philippe restaurants this week in U.S. District Court in Miami that lists claims of "misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition and trademark infringement," among others. The lawsuit states that Philippe Chow (formerly Chak Yam Chau), chef and partner of Philippe restaurants, willfully caused brand confusion partly by changing his name. 

Philippe Chow and partner Stratis Morfogen have opened Philippe restaurants in New York, Mexico and Miami, with one in Las Vegas in the works. Another is scheduled to open in West Hollywood this fall in the former Dolce space on Melrose Avenue. Michael Chow has Mr. Chow restaurants in New York, Beverly Hills, London and soon Las Vegas and Miami.  

Philippe Chow worked at Mr. Chow in Manhattan from 1980 to 2005. According to the lawsuit, Philippe went by the last name "Chau" until 2005 before switching to "Chow."  Defendants say he changed his name in 1977 when he arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong. 

Morfogen called the lawsuit meritless and without substance.

"It’s unfortunate that we have to take this action,” said Michael Chow. “Philippe has aggressively and shamelessly worked to confuse people into thinking our restaurants are connected, even to the point of referring to himself as 'Mr. Chow.' " 

The lawsuit recalls the brouhaha dubbed "battle of the Wolfgangs," when Wolfgang Puck unsuccessfully pursued a suit last year against Wolfgang Zwiener after Zwiener opened a steakhouse called Wolfgang's Steakhouse in the same Beverly Hills turf as Puck's Cut steakhouse.

“I specifically chose to name my restaurant Philippe to alleviate any confusion with Mr. Chow," said Philippe Chow in a statement. "I have nothing but respect for Michael Chow, and the fact that we have the same last name is pure coincidence."

Updated at 6:49 p.m.: Comment from Michael Chow was added to this post.

-- Betty Hallock

Photo: Michael Chow Credit: Roger Karnbad/Celebrity Photo Agency

The O.C. "Super" Fair kicks off tomorrow. For some, that means Ferris wheels, pig races and chart-topping 1980s bands exploiting the power of nostalgia. For others -- you know who you are, fellow gluttons -- it's an annual pilgrimage to the mecca of deep-fried food.

Last year, I hardened my arteries by sampling nearly every fried food item at the O.C. Fair. (Make a beeline for deep-fried zucchini, apple sticks and Reese's Whips. Avoid deep-fried White Castle burgers, frog legs and Tootsie Rolls.)

This year, you can expect some brand new fried fare at the fair:

• Zucchini Weenie: a hot dog inside a hollowed-out zucchini that's battered and deep-fried. ($5.75)
• Pizza Bites: battered and deep-fried mini-pizza bagels. ($5.75)
• Smores: graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate that's sandwiched together, battered and deep-fried. ($5.75)
• Zucchini Nachos: battered and deep-fried zucchini curls that are covered in cheese, bacon and jalapenos. ($8.75)
• Jumbo Mexican Funnel Cake: made with churro batter, this massive, ridged and coiled funnel cake is topped with whipped cream and strawberries. If you eat it by yourself in 20 minutes, you get it for free. ($9)
• Chocolate-Covered Bacon: bacon is coated in semi-sweet chocolate, frozen, sliced into small strips and served in a Chinese food container. ($4.50)

The O.C. Fair runs July 10 through Aug. 9.

--Elina Shatkin

Photo credit: Orange County Fair

FRIDAY

Latin love You'll find plenty of it at the fourth-annual East L.A. Meets Napa celebration at Union Station. The event, which is sponsored by AltaMed Health Services, features 40 wine and food-tasting stations, live music and an auction. The hook is that the event showcases the wine of Latino-owned or operated Napa wineries, paired with Latin food from local restaurants. Begone margaritas, it's wine time. Union Station, 800 N. Alameda St., L.A. 6 to 9 p.m. $125. (323) 889-7886.

It's a block party Yes it is, and for a good cause, no less. It's the Concern Foundation's 35th Annual Block Party to raise money for cancer research. More than 2,500 foodies are expected to chow down on tasty morsels from more than 57 restaurants, including Ammo, Brooks, Chaya Brasserie, Pink's and Rustic Canyon. Billy Vera and the Beaters will play, there will be casino-style gaming and a bunch of tempting silent auction offerings, including vacation packages and spa treatments. (OMG, I need a spa treatment!) The New York back lot at Paramount Studios, 5555 Melrose Ave., L.A. 6 to 11 p.m. $350. (323) 852-9844.

Walk this way We've got another do-good event for your radar. It's for the local non-profit Walk With Sally, which helps mentor kids whose lives have been shaken up due to the cancer of a parent or a sibling. Its yearly fundraiser is called "White Light, White Night." Sponsored by South Bay BMW, the evening features a performance by Gavin Rossdale, a silent auction (with more awesome vacation packages) and a variety of food stations as well as wine and beer from local restaurants and bars. Best of all? If you can make a basket from half-court, you may win a BMW convertible 128i. Yeow! Southbay BMW, 18800 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance. 6 p.m. $100 presale, $150 at the door. www.walkwithsally.org.

SUNDAY

Pour me a Pinot Noir Palate Food + Wine, the restaurant that put Glendale's car-lot row on the map, hosts winemaker Hank Skewis for a special afternoon of wine tasting and an extravagant winemaker dinner. Skewis will pour and discuss his delectable Pinot Noirs before settling down with guests to consume a wine-paired meal featuring dishes such as local sea bass with pork belly cracklings, roasted beets and violet mustard; grilled Sonoma lamb with forbidden rice; and artisan cheese with roasted grapes. I'm freaking out because it sounds so good. Palate Food + Wine, 933 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Afternoon tasting 1 to 4 p.m., $12; reception and winemaker dinner 5:30 p.m., $125. (818) 662-9463. www.palatefoodwine.com.

--Jessica Gelt

Photo: Gavin Rossdale and his wife, Gwen Stefani. Credit: Getty Images

• No Wienermobile at Oscar G. Mayer's funeral. TMZ
• I can has cheeseburger-shaped cupcakes? Yes, you can. Flickr
• Boulevard Lounge closed for "remodeling," liquor license suspended. Blackburn & Sweetzer
• Sinosoul welcomes Sugarfish to Brentwood.
• Someone really doesn't like Trader Joe's fish. Traitor Joe
• Mozza's grease makes candles and soap. The Chic Leak, Los Angeles
• All roads lead to the Trails, Griffith Park's snack bar. LA.com
• Gourmet Pigs, Wandering Chopsticks and Kung Food Panda visit Indo Kitchen in Alhambra.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Sushi at Sugarfish. Credit: Robert Olding

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: Smitten Kitchen

If one neon-colored, highly sweetened, semi-frozen drink isn't enough, show up on Friday night at the North Hollywood 7-Eleven on Vineland Avenue and Vanowen Street, where the first 100 die-hard fans will receive a one-year supply of Slurpees. (Officially, that means one Slurpee per week for one year.) Talk about brain freeze.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: A child drinks a Slurpee at a 7-Eleven store in Canoga Park. Credit: Francine Orr / Los Angeels Times

Heart Beet Gardening's pilot program for an urban CSA is well underway. With two gardens at homes near Larchmont Village, the community supported agriculture project is providing a weekly basket of produce to 10 subscribers who are each paying $25 a week.

Sara Carnochan, one of the three women who run the gardening business, says the subscribers "are really excited when they pick up their baskets." And she and her two partners are still assessing whether the pilot program is a success.

They'd like to expand to more gardens, but they haven't decided whether it can work logistically and financially for them.

CSAs usually have members who pay a share in the operation of a farm in return for a share of the harvest. Heart Beet is trying an urban twist, using city yards to grow the food.

The subscribers have received chard, cucumbers, eggplant, squash and other items. The first planting of lettuce was eaten, perhaps by birds, but this week the baskets should include lettuce from a second planting, Carnochan says.

-- Mary MacVean

Photo of CSA basket, courtesy Sara Carnochan

Join us on Twitter @LATimesFood

Photo: Caroline Blumberg / European Pressphoto Agency

I imagine they’ll find no shortage of similar-minded wine lovers out there. “We think of it as a conversation lounge,” writes prospective owner Lev Gertsik, director of psychiatric services at California Clinical Trials Medical Group in Glendale and one of the shrinks in question.

They’ll have 48 bottles hooked up to an Enomatic wine dispenser -- 12 whites and 36 reds, plus a number of house wines at the bar. Because it’s a wine bar, not a full-fledged restaurant, the plan is to serve charcuterie, cheeses and desserts only.

The address is 146 S. Lake Ave. in Pasadena in the Commons Mall next to Williams-Sonoma, NapaStyle and Crocodile Cafe; no phone as yet. Sign up to receive an announcement when Wine Detective opens its doors.

--S. Irene Virbila