Hundreds of restaurants participate in dineLA Restaurant Week, offering three-course meals for a lower price for the next two weeks

With America’s obsession with good food, restaurants and chefs have become the edible equivalents of runways and fashion designers. You say Gianni Versace? I say Mario Batali. You say New York Fashion Week? I say Los Angeles Restaurant Week.

Sunday marked the beginning of dineLA Restaurant Week, a two-week event during which restaurants across the city offer three-course meals for a reduced price. Depending on the restaurant, a meal of appetizer, entrée and dessert will cost between $16 and $28 for lunch and $26 and $44 for dinner.

This doesn’t cover drinks, tax or gratuity, but when you consider the fact that a normal dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s Spago Beverly Hills can cost $60 to $100 per person, Restaurant Week presents a rare opportunity.

Hundreds of restaurants, from Santa Monica to downtown to Silver Lake, will participate between Jan. 23 and Feb. 4, from Sunday to Friday. With the event’s huge popularity, making a reservation early is a necessity. You want to taste Spago’s dungeness crab raviolini with chervil and basil-scented shellfish broth and not just hear about it from your friend who called early.

A full list of the restaurants can be found on the dineLA website (http://www.dinela.com/restaurantweek —> discoverlosangeles.com/restaurantweek), but here are five restaurants in Westwood that are participating:

Blvd. 16
10740 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Dinner $34

Napa Valley Grille
1100 Glendon Ave., Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Lunch $22, Dinner $34

Ninethirty at The W Hotel
930 Hilgard Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Lunch $22 Dinner $34

Palomino
10877 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Lunch $22, Dinner $34

The Glendon Bar & Kitchen
1071 Glendon Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Lunch $16, Dinner $26