City of Lights, City of Angels

My favorite film industry events are those with a culinary tie-in -- the "Sideways" premiere, the Cinema Epicuria festival in Sonoma -- and the opening night cocktail for the City of Lights, City of Angels French film festival was no exception. Before the opening night film, Claude Lelouch's "Men and Women," some very distinguished members of the Club Culinaire brought in hors d'oeuvres. Josie LeBalch served her famous mushroom quiche, and Jean-Francois Meteigner of La Cachette brought a wonderful crispy tomato tart.

Jean-Francois Meteigner's savory tarts
The most unusual presentation was the Jonathan Club's smoked salmon cones topped with ginger ice cream. Opinions varied on how well the combination worked -- I thought the sweet ice cream was a little too jarring with the salty salmon, but it could have worked if there was no sweetening in the ice cream.

Liz tries the salmon cones
The Club Culinaire of French Cuisine has events all year long open to non-members, including $45 bistro dinners and the French picnic June 12 in Griffith Park. These sound like fun, since the Club members are some of L.A.'s finest chefs.