NEW & NOTEWORTHY.

Byline: - Daily News Staff and Wire Services

KITCHEN TOUR: Take a peek into five kitchens and see what's new and chic during the self-guided 14th annual Showcase of Kitchens and Interiors Tour on Oct. 21 and 22. Presented by the Pasadena chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers, the tour spotlights homes in Pasadena, Arcadia and La Canada. Tickets are $16 in advance and $20 at the door. For reservations and information, call the ASID chapter office at [phone]. Proceeds from the tour will benefit the chapter's scholarship fund and community service projects.

FINDING THE BEST: For the third time, twins Allison and Margaret Engel have updated ``Food Finds: America's Best Local Foods and the People Who Produce Them'' (Quill; $18), which describes some great locally produced foods across the country. The two searched out handmade jams, candies, cookies, cheeses, dessert sauces, smoked fish, pastas and more - and have included bits of local lore and food history. Many of the purveyors have 800 numbers, fax lines and Web sites to facilitate ordering.

DINING OUT: Celebrating its first anniversary, Cayo restaurant, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena, next to the Pasadena Playhouse, offers a six-course Laurent Perrier champagne dinner on Oct. 18 featuring Francois Peltereau-Villeneuve, Laurent Perrier's vice president and general manager; and wine merchant/author Dennis Overstreet.

Five separate Laurent Perrier bubblies will be poured plus a '97 Gevery-Chambertin with a duck breast dish.

Chef-owner Claud Beltran will also prepare a foie gras plate and two fish dishes (John Dory, and a salmon and whitefish combination). Dessert is pear Charlotte with Sambuca mousseline cream.

Cost is $80. Information: [phone].

CONTEST: Do you have a great original chicken recipe? If not, there's still time to develop one to enter in the 44th National Chicken Cooking Contest. A finalist from each state will be selected and receive an expense-paid trip to Sacramento to compete in the cookoff April 6, 2001. Winning recipes will be judged on taste, appearance, simplicity of preparation and overall appeal. Recipes must include chicken, make 4 to 8 servings and take no more than three hours to prepare twice. (No grilling recipes allowed.) The winner's pot is $25,000. Get in on the fun. Deadline for entries is Oct. 15. Mail to Chicken Contest, Box 28158, Washington, D.C. 20038-8158; fax to [phone] or send electronically to www.eatchicken.com.

FREEBIE 

Confused about the basic principles of diets and eating? Get a free copy of a ``The New American Plate,'' a 36-page brochure from the American Institute for Cancer Research. It includes info on portion sizes, standard servings, diet and health guidelines for cancer prevention, along with several recipes. Call [phone], Ext. 22, between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more info, go to AICR's Web site at www.aicr.org.

WINERY

Chateau St. Jean, one of the premier wineries in the scenic Sonoma Valley, has opened its new Visitor's Center just in time for the 2000 harvest. The new wine tasting and retail room is at the center of an elegant garden with terraces and fountains. Beginning this week, the Chateau St. Jean Visitor's Center is offering a Wine Education Program consisting of classes such as Wine 101 and Blending Seminars.

The Visitor's Center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Chateau St. Jean is located at 8555 Sonoma Highway (Highway 12) at the northern end of Kenwood. For more information, call [phone] or log on to www.chateaustjean.com.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo: (1 -- 2) no caption (restaurant interior)

(3) no caption (``FOOD FINDS'')

(4) BELTRAN

(5) The New American Plate