Every Monday night from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. the vintage tiki bar the Tonga Hut offers Absinthe-Minded Mondays, featuring absinthe cocktails concocted by Lisa Marie. 12808 Victory Blvd., North Hollywood. (818) 769-0708, www.tongahut.com.

Copa d’Oro recently introduced several new cocktails to its menu, including the Custer Cocktail (Sazerac Rye, Galliano, Cynar, celery bitter and rhubarb bitter; $13), the Black Rosemary Diamond (gin, Crème de Cassis, blackberry, fresh lime juice and rosemary; $12); the Jersey Pie (applejack, vanilla and fresh lemon juice; $11); and several others. Copa d'Oro, 217 Broadway, Santa Monica. (310) 576-3030, www.copadoro.com.

A peach tart won Platine's recent Julia Child recipe contest. You can try the bakery's version of it from now through Saturday. 10850 Washington Blvd., Culver City. (310) 559-9933, www.platinecookies.com.

-- Elina Shatkin

Photo: The Tonga Hut in North Hollywood. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

If you're a fan of Pitfire Pizza's BBQ chicken salad or their mac 'n cheese, you should hurry and place an order before April 2. The local mini-chain with outposts in North Hollywood, downtown L.A. and Westwood (which recently acquired a beer and wine license), is changing its menu this Thursday and will eliminate both of those popular dishes. Pitfire is also getting rid of the Baked Ziti, Fiery Chicken Soup, Dixie Chicken Penne, Papardelle Pasta, Pumpkin Pizza, Folded Sausage Pizza and Folded Chicken Pizza. (The folded pizza is their approximation of a calzone.)

They'll be replaced by approximately 15 new dishes created by chef/owners David Sanfield and Paul Hibler along with executive chef Mark Gold of Café Pinot and the Water Grill. (Gold earned three stars from Times Restaurant Critic S. Irene Virbila when he cooked at Leatherby's Café Rouge in Costa Mesa.) The new dishes include the signature chicken salad ($9.75) featuring sous vide chicken on a bed of baby arugula topped by toasted pine nuts, pickled currants, shaved scallions and hand-torn bread crumbs tossed in a champagne vinaigrette; clam and bacon linguine featuring littleneck clams and Zoe nitrate-free bacon in a tomato broth. And a new mushroom pizza ($9.95)-- with more whole mushrooms--will replace the old version, which had shaved mushrooms.