A Valentine’s Day Contest for Those Who’ve Made Marry the Longest

The Newport Dunes Resort is looking for Orange County’s longest-married couple as part of a Valentine’s Day celebration. The winning couple receives $300. Second prize is an RV site at the resort and two tickets to Disneyland, or another of several prizes. Third-prize winners will be treated to breakfast or lunch at the resort’s Back Bay Cafe.

To enter, couples must photocopy their marriage certificates and mail them by Feb. 11 to Longest Marriage Search, 1131 Back Bay Drive, Newport Beach, 92660.

Pascal Olhats, chef/proprietor of Pascal restaurant, has been chosen to join a team of chefs who will prepare a meal for Julia Child to celebrate the 30th anniversary of her television debut. Child, who is credited with popularizing French cuisine in the United States, will be fete d at a dinner at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Marina del Rey on Feb. 7. The event is called “Merci, Julia!”

Olhats said he plans to prepare grilled salmon au cabernet as an appetizer, along with one of the dinner’s entrees. Pascal is at 1000 Bristol St., Newport Beach. (714) 752-0107.

Chef John McLaughlin of JW’s restaurant at the Anaheim Marriott will teach a six-session course about contemporary French cuisine at UC Irvine during February and March. Each session will concentrate on a different gourmet menu and will include sauce-making and food presentation, plus sampling of the dishes prepared. The cost is $125. For information, call the school at (714) 856-5414.

McLaughlin also plans to offer a three-session class in the kitchens of JW’s on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., beginning Jan. 30, for $60. The focus is on innovative continental cuisine, and students eat the dishes they prepare. For information, call the restaurant at (714) 750-0900. The address is 700 Convention Way, Anaheim.

David Wilhelm’s Diva restaurant will offer dinner to circus-goers on opening night of Cirque du Soleil’s Costa Mesa visit, Jan. 30, at Crystal Court. Tickets are $100 per person and include seats in the big top plus a three-course dinner at Diva. Ticket-holders can order from Diva’s regular Continental-American menu; alcoholic beverages are not included in the ticket price. Diva is at 600 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa. (714) 754-0600.

Prego Ristorante is hosting a jazz band on Sundays from 6 to 10 p.m., through Feb. 7. The Dan St. Marseille Quintet plays original compositions as well as jazz favorites from the 1950s and ‘60s. In addition to the regular menu, Prego will offer family-style dinners on Sundays for $22.50 per person. The four-course dinner menus change each week but always include a variety of antipasti, pastas, entrees and desserts. Prego is at 18420 Von Karman Ave., Irvine. (714) 553-1333.

Orange Coast College’s culinary arts department captured two gold medals, a silver and a Best of Show award at the 1992 Palm Springs Culinary Salon. College teams and professionals throughout the Southwest entered the competition, which was held last month at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

The Best of Show award, which is given to just one entry each year, went to Bill Barber, a culinary arts instructor with Orange Coast, for his entry in the professional cooking category. Barber prepared a full meal, featuring influences from the Mediterranean, Latin America and the Pacific islands.

Oysters will host Bryan Babcock of Babcock Vineyards for a dinner and wine-tasting on Monday. The reception for the four-course dinner begins at 7, and the price is $60, tip included. Dishes include oak grilled Baquetta sea bass, which will be served with 1988 and 1989 Grand Cuvee, and chocolate terrine, which will be served with 1991 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc. Oysters is at 2515 E. Coast Highway, Corona del Mar. (714) 675-7411.

Oodles, which calls itself an American noodle-house of the ‘90s, opened late last month in Costa Mesa. The restaurant is intended to provide affordable food for the health-conscious.

The menu features noodle-based entrees embellished with homemade sauces, authentic seasonings, vegetables, meat and seafood. One entree, for example, tops the noodles with curried chicken and creamy pesto; another features “firecracker” pork and garlic shrimp.

The restaurant, which is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., is also offering free home-delivery within a five-mile radius. Oodles is at 427 East 17th St., Costa Mesa. (800) 2-OODLES.

Last week, this column incorrectly reported that Zagat’s new guide to Southern California restaurants rated the food at 20 Los Angeles restaurants superior to that of any Orange County restaurant.

Actually, six Los Angeles County restaurants received a score of 27 or 28 out of a possible 30 for food quality, according to Zagat’s, and there were two in Orange County--Pascal and Antoine--that rated as high.

Zagat does not compare restaurants between counties, explained guide spokesman Allan Ripp. A rating of 28, say, in Orange County is comparable to the same numerical rating in Los Angeles County. The difference is that Zagat’s receives more votes for Los Angeles restaurants, so the opinion represented by the numerical score there is more statistically valid.