Greer’s Best Buys:

Dine at your favorite Newport Beach restaurants for “Savor The Flavor,” a weeklong culinary celebration in which you can order bargain three-course prix-fixe lunches and dinners.

Newport Beach Restaurant Week starts today and runs through Thursday. Nearly 75 of the finest Newport Beach restaurants are serving special menus at $10, $20, $30 or $40. And the more you dine out, the more you’ll be rewarded.

When your bill comes you’ll receive a gratuity card worth 20% off food orders redeemable after Restaurant Week ends, and a complimentary bottle of Perrier.

Gratuity cards are good Oct. 23 through Nov. 30; however, the 20% discount offer is good for food orders only.

Advance reservations are recommended and can be made by calling restaurants directly, or by visiting NewportBeachdining.com.

For a complete list of participating restaurants, menus, online reservations or special promotions and parties taking place during Newport Beach Restaurant Week visit www.NewportBeachDining.com.

Culture in Orange County

Carnegie Hall is offering its programming outside of New York City and has chosen Orange County! Take that, Los Angeles!

Ancient Paths, Modern Voices is a six-week celebration of Chinese culture in Orange County.

Carnegie Hall’s epic partnership with the Philharmonic Society of Orange County will feature performances by leading international musicians, including some artists and ensembles traveling outside China for the first time.

The festival will include Western symphonic and chamber music influenced by Chinese culture, traditional folk music, contemporary music, traditional marionette theater, film screenings, art exhibitions and much more.

Events will take place at Orange County Performing Arts Center, South Coast Repertory, Orange County Museum of Art, the Bowers Museum and South Coast Plaza.

A few of this week’s highlights include video work by contemporary Chinese artists Gao Shiqiang and Chen Qiulin whose artistic visions capture the collision of tradition and modernity in China.

The video will be shown at Orange County Museum of Art. A photo exhibit of Christian Dior’s collaboration with celebrated Beijing-based fashion photographer Quentin Shih will be on display at South Coast Plaza’s Jewel Court.

For ticket information and programming updates, visit www.philharmonicsociety.org/ chinafestival.

‘Rent’ onstage

This could be my one and only chance in a lifetime to sit in the front row of anything (except for maybe a sold out movie).

Front-row seats for “Rent: The Broadway Tour” are available for $20 the day of performance only at the center box office at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Seats in the front two rows of the orchestra will be made available for $20 for every performance of “Rent: The Broadway Tour,” the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning musical, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center Tuesday to Oct. 25.

The $20 tickets go on sale at the box office on the day of each performance only, two hours prior to the show, and are available to anyone, cash only, with a limit of two tickets per person.

The tickets will be distributed two hours before curtain on a first-come, first-served basis. The available seats are in two rows of chairs that have been set in front of the first rows of the house.

The box office is at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Regular tickets are $20 to $70 and are on sale at www.ocpac.org.

Saks Fifth Avenue deals

Shop, save and feel good at Saks Fifth Avenue charity shopping weekend, Key to the Cure, now through Sunday. And take advantage of Saks’ Friends and Family Shopping event, too! Just mention the event and receive 25% off nearly everything in the store (20% off jewelry, 10% off beauty and fragrance, some exclusions apply).

Saks at South Coast Plaza says it will donate a portion of sales to local and national women’s cancer organizations and research centers.

Special guests at the Key to the Cure include Kilian Hennessy of By Kilian fragrances and Marco Bicego signing jewelry purchases from 2 to 6 p.m. today.

Saks Fifth Avenue is at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa. For information, call (714) 540-3233.

GREER WYLDER writes Best Buys, which runs Fridays. She’s the founder and president of www.greersoc.com , a free daily e-mail service that provides the latest in Orange County fashion, dining and trends.