Farewell Hawthorn’s. Hello West Coast Tavern. The space has been largely reconfigured by entrepreneur David Cohen and the San Diego-based Verant Group in an effort to make it more approachable to its North Park digs. Chef Matt Gordon takes the lead in the kitchen, serving up comforting tapas-sized dishes. Among the raves so far: chicken and waffles, lamb sliders, flatbread pizzas and grilled ahi. The new interior design has given way to a front-room bar and two jumbo circular booths on a raised platform geared for large parties. Renaming the place was a cinch. The owners took their cue from the 80-year-old “West Coast” sign that used to be on the back of the building when it was the Fox West Coast Theater. The sign is now incorporated into the interior scheme. Kitchen hours are noon to midnight daily; the bar stays open until 2 a.m. most nights. 2895 University Ave., 619-295-1688.

A free cooking demonstration by Jay Porter and his Linkery chef team will be conducted at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Bloomingdale’s in Fashion Valley Mall. Attendees will get a lesson in making cannelloni from fresh pasta and hand-made cheese, seared fish salad in soy vinaigrette and pork belly BLTs using bread made from scratch. 7007 Friars Road.

Su-Mei Yu, chef and owner of Saffron restaurants on India Street, will discuss and sign copies of her new book, The Elements of Life (Wiley Hardcover), beginning at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 27, at Warwick’s Book Store in La Jolla. The book delves into the Thai concept of “food as medicine,” complete with an interactive wheel for determining such home elements as earth, fire, wind and water – and how eating certain foods plays into them at different times of the year. If the far-out concept doesn’t grab you, the book’s food and travel photographs will. Yu has included more than 150 authentic Thai recipes throughout the pages, plus secrets for making facial masks and massage oils. 7812 Girard Ave., 858-454-0347.

Exhibit space for the upcoming San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival has sold out – a telling indication of good things to come as hundreds of winemakers and chefs will blanket Embarcadero Marina Park North, from noon to 4 p.m., Nov. 21. The grand tasting is part of a series of food and wine events taking place throughout town Nov. 18- 22. Now in its sixth year, the festival ranks as the largest celebration of its kind in Southern California. Admission to the grand tasting is $125 in advance and $150 at the gate. For more information, call 619-342-7337 or visit worldofwineevents.com.

A new restaurant with old roots called BICE, is set to open next week in the Gaslamp District. The restaurant is nicknamed after Beatrice Ruggeri, known for her kitchen savvy when she operated a trattoria in Milan in the 1920s. BICE’s American debut was in New York City in 1987, followed by a failed San Diego location in the Paladion in 1990. Its return ushers in a menu of homemade pastas, whole Mediterranean sea bass and veal Milanese served to the tune of moderately affordable prices. 425 Island St., 619-239-2423.