Chef Gael Lecolley of Ojai’s Wheeler Hot...

Chef Gael Lecolley of Ojai’s Wheeler Hot Springs will host the second Chef A’Table Dinner, presented by the newly formed Central Coast Culinaire Chefs Assn., Wednesday beginning at 7 p.m.

Lecolley will prepare a four-course meal featuring an appetizer of salmon tartar in a smoked salmon purse with cucumber salad and fresh dill sauce. That will be followed by sea bass baked in a fresh herb crust and served with grilled endive, tomato salsa, and beurre de champagne rose .

After a palate-cleansing cactus pear sorbet, Lecolley will serve the main course: medallions of beef tenderloin with a puree of celery root and sun-dried cherry brandy sauce. And for dessert, it will be an almond tuile with Kahlua sabayon and Tres Amigos de Chocolate (three chocolate truffles).

While Lecolley spends the evening in the kitchen, the other chefs in attendance will circulate from table to table to talk food and mingle with guests. Cost is $65 per person. Call 646-8131 or (800) 9-WHEELER. Wheeler is located at 16825 Maricopa Highway.

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Kmart in Moorpark has gotten into the holiday spirit by committing to donate 20 food baskets to needy families in the area. Each basket will contain a turkey, potatoes, canned vegetables, bread, stuffing mix and a pumpkin pie.

The folks heading up the drive are looking for assistance to get more baskets out to the community. Those interested in helping can call Kathy Colton-Reed or the Good News Committee at 529-3555.

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For do-it-yourselfers, Mabel Chase, owner and head baker of Ventura’s City Bakery, will show how to make sourdough bread without using commercial yeast during her cooking class Saturday.

“I’ll be showing them how to make the starter (the ingredient that makes the bread rise) using the skin of organic grapes,” Chase said. “You capture the yeast from the skins and blend it with flour and water.” Then, Chase will teach the budding bakers to let the bread rise in a linen basket before baking.

Chase also plans to show how to make a loaf of five-grain bread by mixing in a piece of dough saved from the last batch baked. “It gives the bread a more interesting flavor,” she said, “like an aged wine.”

Class time is 3 p.m. Cost is $35, and class size is limited. Call 643-0861. City Bakery is located at 2358-C E. Main St.