RESTAURANT ROUNDUP:

The Five Crowns restaurant in Corona del Mar will have some choice wines on the menu at its special dinner Nov. 15. Other than that, the staff can’t say much about them.

Every year on the third Thursday of November, winemakers in the Beaujolais region of France release their latest batch of Beaujolais Nouveau, a light, fruity red wine that ships out to restaurants nationwide.

Five Crowns expects to receive its supply Thursday morning and put the wines on the menu that evening — meaning the people who shell out $89 for the four-course meal will be the first in town to try them.

“The whole premise is the opposite of what you do at most wine dinners,” said General Manager Chris Szechenyi.

“The element of this dinner and the whole Beaujolais concept is that you’re the first to try it. We’re opening the wines right that night.”

On the menu for the one-night dinner, which begins at 7 p.m., are four courses including baked brie en croute, coq au vin and frisee salad, blackened chateaubriand and Creole bernaise, with dried cherry Charlotte for dessert.

Call (949) 760-0331 for more information.

The Camp to celebrate all things squash

The vegan restaurants at The Camp in Costa Mesa are getting into the seasonal spirit Sunday, as Native Foods and 118 Degrees plan to join forces for the second annual Squashfest.

From noon to 5 p.m. in front of Native Foods, chefs from both restaurants will give cooking demonstrations and free samples, with the dishes spotlighting different kinds of squash.

The reggae band Jah Rasta Yogis will perform and children will have an opportunity to make chalk art.

Monet Quick, a spokeswoman for The Camp, said Native Foods head chef Tanya Petrovna dreamed up the Squashfest last year, and the turnout was so high that the restaurant decided to make it an annual event.

118 Degrees, which serves all raw food, opened at The Camp this summer.

— Michael Miller