RESTAURANT ROUNDUP:

Looking for a happy hour that you can actually make it to? A number of local restaurants provide just that for those who can’t make it out in the early evening.

The Daily Grill at Fashion Island holds its Late Night Happy Hour from 9 to 11 p.m. every Friday and Saturday. On the weekdays, the restaurant’s happy hour runs from 3 to 7 p.m. and features appetizers starting at $2.95.

The Yard House at Fashion Island also has a Late Night Happy Hour, from 10 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Wednesday. Appetizers are half-priced until 11:30 p.m.

Lastly, Sage on the Coast at Crystal Cove features a Late Night Sweet Tooth Happy Hour, offering special prices on desserts and beverages after 8:30 p.m. Each dessert and drink is $5, though a combination of two runs for $8 and three for $12.

— Jack Salisbury

Local culinary contest offers $5,000 purse

Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar offers $10,000 in cash prizes for a culinary competition celebrating the restaurant’s 10th anniversary.

Contest applicants must be enrolled and pursuing a degree in a culinary school professional cooks program in the fall of 2008 at OCC, the Art Institute of California in Orange County, Cypress College or Laguna Culinary Arts.

Six finalists will be selected based on a short essay and a menu they create. Those finalists will compete in a contest at Fleming’s in October.

The first-place winner will receive $5,000, second place is $3,000, and third is $2,000. Submission deadline is Sept. 2. For info, go to flemingssteakhouse.com/NewportBeachCC.

— Daniel Tedford