Just got the heads-up about this from Goldstar: discounts off a couple of the hottest food festival tickets! Only problem? They’re both for the same day, Sunday, September 5! Oh, the humanity! So to help you decide, here’s a quick breakdown of each event’s discount offer.
Food Network Lounge surrounded by food trucks from The Great Food Truck Race, like Nom Nom Truck and Crepes Bonaparte.
More food trucks, including Coolhaus, Ahn Joo and Buttermilk Truck.
Mixologist demonstrations, panel discussions and book signings.
Concert by indie pop duo, She & Him, which is awesome if you like them. If you don’t, well, you can skip this.
All day (8 hours) versus ToBH’s five-hour event. LAT’s general admission $33/VIP $75 vs. ToBH’s $62.50.
You can buy VIP or general (or just for the concert). But I’d go with the VIP ticket which is $50 less than the regular price of $125. This way you get unlimited tastings as opposed to just 8, AND you have access to the VIP tasting area.
Tickets: $20-$75, not including fees (regular $40-$125). Sunday 12-8pm. Paramount Studios, 5555 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles (map).
So which is it going to be? ToBH or LATCFW? Speaking of which, you still have til 3pm today to get your entries in for a chance to win tickets to the LA Times’ event.
Forget the beach bbqs during Labor Day Weekend, people, you’re going to want to save your appetite for the good stuff: the LA Times‘ first food fest, Los Angeles Times Celebration of Food & Wine, is all day Sunday, September 5, at Paramount Pictures Studio Backlot in Hollywood.
It’s going to be a potpourri of foodie goings-on and I’ve got the exclusive on some of the specifics! (I’ve always wanted to say that.)
Pick up secret recipes from the Times’ test kitchen
Listen in on a wine chat with Bar Covell‘s Dustin Lancaster and Matthew Kaner
Put LA Times food editor Russ Parsons in the hot seat for the Q&A
Salivate over the farm-to-table cooking demos featuring Suzanne Goin of AOC/Lucques/Tavern and Mark Peel of Campanile
Discover how John Sedlar (Rivera), Jimmy Shaw (Loteria Grill) and Ricardo Zarate (Mo-Chica) reinvented Latin cuisine, via a panel moderated by Russ Parsons
Of course you’ll get to sip and nibble as there will be over 100 food and beverage exhibitors. And after the demos, there will even be a concert featuring indie duo She & Him. Man, what a lovely and exhausting eight hours it’s going to be!
Tickets: General admission tickets ($55 advance, $65 door) give you access to eight tastings, the panel discussions and demos, the Food Network lounge, the concert and the food trucks (you have to pay for the additional food from the trucks). VIP tickets ($125 advance, $135 door) get you all that plus unlimited samplings of the food and drinks and access to the VIP tasting area!
OK, so who wants two free general admission tickets (value: $110) to LA Times Celebration of Food & Wine food festival on Labor Day Weekend? You do, you say?
Well, for your chance at the tickets all you have to do is the following:
Leave a comment below (one entry per person) with your email address and your Twitter handle as well as who’s your favorite chef in all of LA.
Tweet this: “I’m hungry, @carolineoncrack! Gimme tix to #latfoodwine! http://is.gd/enLO6”
And lastly become a fan of (aka “Like”) my Facebook page.
**You have to do all of the above for your contest submission to be valid.**
Contest ends next Wednesday the 25th at 3pm PST. I’ll then plug the entries into the Randomizer, pick a winner and notify them the next morning on the 26th. If I don’t hear back from the winner by 10am I’ll pick another name, so make sure to keep an eye on your inboxes! The winner will then be announced at noon that Thursday.
Good luck, all!
EVENT: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 from 12pm to 8pm
Paramount Studios Backlot
5555 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, California 90038 (map)
As I am a boozer on a budget, I tend to avoid hotel bars because they normally charge $15 and up for their cocktails. But I wasn’t about to turn down an invite to check out the new cocktail menu at schmancy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills. It was hosted anyway, heh. Before I go on, yes, the cocktails here range from $14 to $16 so if that’s way beyond what you’d comfortably spend on a cocktail, believe me, I understand if you don’t want to read more. To all others who are looking for a fancy but chill place to tipple, stay with me.
At the Lobby Lounge for the cocktail tasting.
Now L’Ermitage is undergoing some changes where it will become the Viceroy L’Ermitage next year. Even though the walls of the lobby bar still display famous screenplays like Jaws and Good Will Hunting as art, the bar’s name has been changed from The Writers’ Lounge to just The Lounge.
And the brand-new 10-cocktail menu is a reflection of the new and the old, classic and modern concoctions. The night I went they were doing a tasting of just four of them — two Classicals and two Contemporaries — with a brief intro of each one by Josh Golden, L’Ermitage bartender who was trained by renowned barman Sasha Petraske of Milk and Honey in New York.
Here are the four with some of my notes.
Bertha:Hacienda Mexicana Blanco, agave, lemon, egg white, club soda. This vintage cocktail was actually my favorite out of the four. The tequila here is not harsh or overpowering.
India Fizz:Broker’s Gin, Zirbenz Stone Pine Liquor, lime, blackberry, mint, club soda. Although the most photogenic of the four cocktails we had, it was a bit too light for my taste. But remember that I’m a Manhattan drinker so the hint of mint and the bit of fizz just doesn’t do it for me. No strong flavors and was just so light. Others may find it refreshing on a hot day, though.
Moscow Mule:Russian Standard Vodka, lime, cane sugar, Reed’s ginger beer. This was everyone else’s favorite but I thought there was way more ginger beer than vodka. The way I could tell? That sugary, acidic coating it left on my tongue, like when you drink soda. But props to them serving it in its proper copper mug. The gin Moscow Mule I had the following night at 8 oz Burger Bar on Melrose Avenue was actually more to my liking, plus it was on the $4 happy hour menu!
Tropical Elder:Pineapple-infused vodka, St. Germain Elderflower Liquor, Crème de Banana, grapefruit, grapefruit bitters. This crazy, weird, exotic cocktail was aromatically intriguing and surprisingly tasty. Although, I don’t think I could drink a whole cocktail glass of this stuff. It’s syrupy sweet with a sharp finish.
After the event, our hosts asked me if I wanted to have a full cocktail. Since I wasn’t particularly enamored by any of the four we tasted, I opted for the Tumbleweed with Sazerac 6-Year Rye, Laird’s Applejack, Amaro Ciociaro, Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Tawny Port, Xocolatl Bitters. So warm, complex, rich and aromatic. Definitely my favorite of the bunch with its chocolate finish. Even though it’s $15 I’d choose it as the drink to sip on while hanging out in the lobby lounge.
Bartender Josh pouring the tastings.
By the way, if for some reason you don’t see anything you like on the menu now, give it a month when the bar will reveal another cocktail menu, except with more of a focus on signature cocktails to supplement this one.
During my visit to this Beverly Hills hotel, I was amazed to find, not old, moneyed types or slick agent types or even recovering plastic surgery patients but rather youngish, hip, good-looking folks lounging about. And they weren’t all dressed up but casual, making it feel actually comfortable to be here. Sure, one look at the menu will probably make you feel otherwise. But if you do want to just split a plate of apps with a couple of friends and splurge on a cocktail whilst sitting on the patio near the fireplace or the waterfall, you could actually do that with nary a condescending glance your way. However they will still tell you “No pictures allowed” should you decide to whip out your camera. You know, to “protect the privacy of their guests.”
For fellow cheapskates: If you don’t want to spend any more money than you have to, the hotel offers Lobby Lounge guests free valet parking for 2 1/2 hours or there’s plenty of free parking on the street after 6!
L’Ermitage Beverly Hills
9291 Burton Way
Los Angeles, California 90210 (map)
(310) 278-3344
Zengo's Tamarind-Togarashi Margarita, say that 3 times fast.
Earlier this week I was invited to check out the restaurants on the Dining Deck of the new, improved and now outdoor Santa Monica Place mall that opens today at 10am. When I arrived the security detail led me to the elevator that took me upstairs to one of the most beautiful mall food courts I’ve ever seen, The Dining Deck which houses six chef-driven restaurants plus an area for “fast-casual” eateries like Fatburger, Pinches Tacos and CrepeMaker.
Media folk were divided into groups and then taken on a tour of all six restaurants — Xino, Zengo, La Sandia, Pizza Antica, Sonoma Wine Garden and Ozumo — where they would sample the cuisine and booze as well as check out the new digs. It was such a whirlwind tour that it felt like the foodies’ edition of The Amazing Race as we basically had only 15 minutes to get the gist of each place. By the way, eating while running? Not a good idea. Erp!
All restaurants here are Vegas-huge and I couldn’t help but wonder if they’ll be able to fill all the seats. In any case the venues were airy with gorgeous and distinctive décor and it was hard to believe we were in a mall. The only real reminders are the beautiful views looking down Third Street Promenade. And sure, you may not know how to pronounce the names of some of the restaurants and may end up referring to them as “That [insert cuisine here] restaurant at the Santa Monica mall,” but you’ll remember the food and cocktails.
Here’s a rundown of the six new Santa Monica Place restaurants:
Xino, a Chinese restaurant that’s owned and operated by Chris Yeo, is a far cry from the Panda Express of yester-mall. Here, you’ll find a selection of starters like crispy chili calamari, Maine lobster and prawn potstickers as well as entrees like Mongolian cowboy rib eye, live crab and Chairman Yeo’s Crispy Chicken with kumquat compote and Fiji apples. No orange chicken here, sorry! On the dinner menu, prices range from $12 for a tureen of wonton soup to $38 for the classic Peking duck. As for the cocktail situation, the restaurant has a bar and lounge. At the preview I sampled their strawberry lemon drop cocktail which was this red, syrupy concoction rimmed with sugar. Suffice it to say, I couldn’t finish it. But at least the food was good and the space gorgeous. By the way, the Chinese beauty in that huge photo plastering the wall on the way to the outdoor patio is actually Mr. Yeo’s wife! If you want to get some air, there is an outdoor patio with dining banquettes and a full bar that overlooks the Promenade.
Zengo, a Latin-Asian restaurant owned by chef Richard Sandoval and my favorite tenor Placido Domingo, has an outdoor patio that also overlooks the Promenade as well as the Xino patio across the way. This venue offered a tamarind-togarashi margarita with a spicy salted rim which ended up being the fave of the bloggers in my group, myself included. The handcrafted beverage program here will have a range of tequilas, mescals, cachacas, sake and soju and cocktails like a Mekhong Pina Horchata, that’s a mouthful! They’ll have a happy hour Monday through Friday from 4 to 7pm. The food here promises to be a beautiful marriage of Latin and Asian cuisine as it uses ingredients shared by both cultures. Check out the Peking Duck Daikon tacos and the Apple-aji Amarillo Corvina Ceviche.
La Sandia Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar, Richard Sandoval’s second restaurant on the dining deck which is located right next door to Zengo, focuses on Mexican cuisine. That’s all well and good but I’m excited about the tequila library which will offer 250 tequilas and mescals! And they’ll have Latin-inspired cocktails like Horchata Blanco with tequila reposado, tropical fruit margaritas and mojitos. We had the Mescal con Pepino with cucumber, Serrano, lime and chile pequin. So spicy and refreshing. The food is your usual Mexican fare with even some combinations where you can get two tacos and an adobo shrimp quesadilla with refried beans and Mexican rice for $12.95. And here, their Chile Relleno is $12.95 compared to the $16.50 one at Border Grill around the corner on 4th Street. The space itself with its white stucco, azure wall of talavera tiles, and retractable glass sky light offers a nice respite from the bustling mall.
Pizza Antica, a California-Italian restaurant which specializes in thin crust Roman-style pizza, was a favorite of the tour. Even though at this point I was stuffed, I couldn’t say no to the pizza with heirloom potatoes, caramelized onions and truffle oil. It actually made blogger Diane Takes a Bite cry, it was so good. Pizzas here are available in small ($9.50-$11.25) and large ($15.25-$17) sizes for their specialty pizzas or you can make your own pizza starting at $9.25 for the small and $14.75 with tomato sauce and mozzarella. Additional toppings like fennel sausage, roasted garlic paste and Portobello mushrooms are $1.25-$1.75 each. There are also pastas and entrees if you want some variety. But at least split a pizza first!
Sonoma Wine Garden may give Pourtal Wine Tasting Bar up the street on Santa Monica Boulevard a run for its money as here they, too, have enomatic machines where you can conduct your own tasting but their food menu is more extensive with small plates like Sonoma foie gras, Manila clams linguini and grilled salmon and bib lettuce as well as hearty Dungeness crab BLT, Snake River Farms Kobe Bavette steak sandwich and truffle fries with parmesan! They will have weekly specials, too. The space itself is beautiful with walls seemingly covered with panels from wine crates. By the way, they will offer Sonoma beach picnic baskets should you want to take a stroll down by the pier past all the hordes of tourist families and thrown down a blanket on the sand for a romantic picnic.
Ozumo, a Japanese cuisine restaurant and sake bar, is surprisingly run by gaijin. Its owner is Jeremy Umland, who also owns Sonoma Wine Garden, and its sake sommelier is a sushi chef-turned-sake sommelier named Jess. But Umland says that they make sure they stack up to anyone including the Japanese in terms of their knowledge and appreciation of the cuisine. When you walk into the restaurant you immediately step into a sake lounge with a bar in the center that’s surrounded by wooden stools and seating areas all around. Further in is the sushi bar where you’re greeted by friendly sushi chefs. At this point in the tour, unfortunately, I was too stuffed to eat the sashimi and sushi they were offering but the other bloggers there did seem to like the food.
The mall will be celebrating its grand opening all day today with retail-hosted evens, live music and a happy hour with KCRW DJ Jason Bentley spinning some tunes.
Santa Monica Place
1453 3rd Street Promenade
Santa Monica, California 90401 (map)
(310) 394-5451
Facebook: Santa Monica Place
Check me out eating caviar at my desk this morning. That’s right, me, Ms. Foodie on a Budget. True, these three tins of caviar were left over from my tres fancy and comped Caviar 101 dinner which was created by chef Ben Bailly at Petrossian in West Hollywood last night but still! Who would have thought I’d suddenly be savvy in caviar? Not me.
Before the dinner, my only encounters with caviar had been few and far between. After all, it is a luxury I cannot afford. Besides, meh, fancy fish eggs. But after getting schooled on how to enjoy the fish eggs, let alone the different farms and even history of them, I’ve come away from my dinner an appreciator of the salty pearls.
Petrossian had invited me as well as media types like Javier of Teenage Glutster and Pat of Eating LA to partake of this educational supper as a way to show that caviar is more accessible and affordable than we all thought.
Sure, we started out with a trio of tins each containing 30 grams of caviar ranging in price from $63 to $170 and the restaurant’s monthly Monday Caviar 101 tasting session is $100 a person but there are also more “affordable” and approachable options on the Petrossian menu, like the $26 smoked salmon pizzette with caviar or the $18 blinis with caviar, trout roe and salmon roe should you feel like treating yourself without putting your rent check at risk.
And if you ever want to treat that special someone, i.e. Mom, to a decadent brunch, check out the champagne and caviar brunch which is $69 for champagne and three courses such as an egg salad caviar sandwich, caviar pizza and crème brulee.
So during this special tasting, which Petrossian admits is above and beyond what they usually do for their monthly tastings — i.e. they flew out caviar from New York just for us — I learned 10 things about caviar and Petrossian that I’d like to share with you should you ever want to give caviar here a go.
Do not eat caviar with metal as it will transfer a metallic taste to the eggs. The tins Petrossian uses are actually coated with a nonreactive metal. Their boutique also sells a special caviar paddle, the cheapest one is $65.
Champagne actually isn’t the drink of choice to go with caviar. Traditionally it’s vodka but Petrossian doesn’t currently have a full liquor license so, alas, champagne will have to do. Aw.
Petrossian has their own smoke house outside of Paris where they smoke their own salmon.
Once you open a jar/tin of caviar you only have a day to eat it before it goes bad.
At $170/30 grams, the Tsar Imperial Ossetra is the most expensive caviar the Petrossian boutique carries.
Petrossian doesn’t serve their caviar with red chopped onions which is how some places mask the taste of inferior caviar.
The nicer the caviar the less “bells and whistles” you need, like having it on toast with crème fraiche. Premium caviar can be enjoyed on its own.
The way to eat caviar is 1) get a scoop and put it on your tongue to “feel the earthiness” of the caviar, 2) breathe it in before crushing it against the roof of your mouth, 3) let it sit on your tongue for a moment or two to give your tastebuds time to react to it. Mmmmm!
For the month of August, if you “Like” Petrossian West Hollywood’s Facebook page and tell them at the restaurant, you can get a free order of caviar blini with your meal.
I can actually get full by eating three tins of caviar with toast.
I’m going to sound like an old fogey for saying this but the older you get the faster time flies. And it seems like it was just yesterday when my friend, Michael Talarczyk, who happens to be a Web designer, made me start a blog. He thought that my hobby of researching fun things to do in L.A. would be of interest to someone out there. It’s good to know that five years later he was right.
In this half decade (eesh!), I enjoyed accolades and criticism. Sure, I was banned from a certain downtown whiskey bar and Schmink Schmeat Schmlay events but received two LA Weekly Web awards, got some cool writing gigs, made LOTS of new blogger friends and enjoyed the support of my crackhead readers. It was a great five years.
It’s funny also looking back on my really old posts, especially that very first one on August 2, 2005 about the Beverly Hills Soda Fountain Shoppe, which is now called the Beverly Hills Fountain Coffee Room. Yes, that post is 95% quoted material from Girl’s Guide to City Life but I was just starting out and eventually got the hang of it. Eventually. I also went from completely leaving my personal life out of my blog to admitting that, yes, my BF is my DD.
In any case, I thought to commemorate this blogiversary it would be fun to list the top 5 popular CoC posts of all time.
Thanks again, everyone, for your support and encouragement. I couldn’t have gotten this far without you. Big up to Tiny Nancer of The Wanderkind for giving my ol’ blog a fresh, new face. And a special shout-out to my LA bartender friends, for providing me with drink for thought.
BTW, if you’re in the vicinity of downtown tomorrow, I’ll be celebrating at First and Hope’s Fedora Lounge at 9pm. Hope to see you there!
I’ve got another special Edison Downtown giveaway for you. More nights of cocktailing and dining! And this one is only for Twitter and Facebook users. Sorry, non social media types.
To kick off their #FF@TheEdisonLA summer contest, I’m giving away not just one but TWO prizes this time. The first prize is dinner and cocktails for two (worth $100) at the Edison and the second is the more casual Dog Days of Summer for two which includes two beers and two hotdogs with rings (available Wednesday-Friday; 5pm-8pm).
All you have to do is the following:
Tweet this today and/or tomorrow and most definitely Friday as much as you want: “LA cocktails #FF @TheEdisonLA @carolineoncrack http://bit.ly/bfumE1”
**You have to do both of the above for your contest submission to be valid.**
You have til Friday at noon PST to get all your Tweets up and like my FB. Then later at 4pm I’ll pull a couple of Tweets out of a hat (the Randomizer) and the first winner will get the dinner and drinks while the second one the Dog Days. I’ll notify you via Twitter and post your names on my Facebook page so keep an eye out! Good luck!
The Edison
108 W. 2nd Street
Los Angeles, California 90012 (map)
(213) 613-0000
Twitter: @TheEdisonLA
Facebook: The Edison
