Some of New York’s most favored chefs were upstaged Tuesday night by a darling of the restaurant scene in Los Angeles, Suzanne Goin.

Ms. Goin came to town to celebrate the publication of her first cookbook, “Sunday Suppers at Lucques” (Knopf), which presents 32 dinner menus that could easily convince the most ardent “I don’t cook” New Yorker to buy a pot or two.The text is witty and informative, the photographs, all in natural light, are beautiful, and the recipes, which emphasize fresh and organic produce, promise pure and simple flavor.

The title refers to the popular Sunday suppers at her West Hollywood restaurant Lucques.

“Our joke in the kitchen is that Sunday is the new Saturday,” Ms. Goin said.

Ms. Goin has two restaurants in Los Angeles: the charming Lucques, in a converted carriage house that was once the home of silent film actor Harold Lloyd, and A.O.C., a sexier boite (Vanity Fair throws their pre-Oscar party there) with a wine bar, small plates, and a vast selection of cheeses.

She doesn’t think she’d open a restaurant in New York – she couldn’t stand being six hours away from her home. But she loves eating here. “We were drinking wine and eating paninis at ‘inoteca until 4 in the morning last night,” Ms. Goin said. “That would never happen in L.A.”

Ms. Goin writes that when she opened Lucques in 1998, she and her partner, Caroline Styne, “envisioned a place where food would be the catalyst for so much more.”

But she hadn’t thought she’d meet her husband there.

One day, David Lentz, a strapping chef new to town, saddled up to the bar. Ms. Goin’s sister, Jessica, the restaurant’s manager, immediately identified him as boyfriend material for her sister, who was more familiar with the fruit kind of date than the romantic variety.

Both have a healthy California glow about them despite their high-stress jobs as restaurant owners. Mr. Lentz’s venture is the Hungry Cat, a seafood place named after the malnourished kittens the couple brought home from Venice, whose names are Yoda and Tweety.

The couple will celebrate their second wedding anniversary on February 22.Their wedding cake was a hazelnut-brown butter cake, which is the last recipe in the book.

There’s one recipe Ms. Goin makes for Mr. Lentz that isn’t in the book, nor is it served at her restaurants. It’s a breakfast dish: scrambled eggs, shallots, and fresh herbs.

Ms. Goin’s industrious publicist at Knopf, Sheila O’Shea, has tested several of the book’s recipes and recommends the Guinness Stout Cake, the onion tart, and the blood orange salad.

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Get your charitable chow on. The nonprofit Careers Through Culinary Arts Program yesterday announced the restaurants participating in its celebrated fund-raising event Wednesday, March 1, at Pier 60. Aureole, Bouley, Blue Hill, Daniel, Payard, Tabla, Telepan, and 25 other food destinations will be offering tastings. In between bites will be remarks by the event chairman, the chief executive of Related Urban Development, Kenneth Himmel, who oversees the Restaurant Collection at the Time Warner Center, and the event honoree, chef Thomas Keller, whose restaurant Per Se was the first to open at the Time Warner Center. The Careers Through Culinary Arts Program trains high school students for careers in food service. Tickets start at $375. (Call 212-974-7111 for more information.)

agordon@nysun.com