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.
You’ve heard of beer-paired dinners and even Kahlua-paired dinners but rarely the dinner with vodka, I bet. I guess it sounds like it would be too easy. I consider vodka the tofu of the spirits, it can mix with pretty much anything. But at theGrey Goose Vodka dinner at Checkers Downtown this Wednesday, the cocktails they’re pairing with the food sound, well, complex and savory. Consider their use of ingredients like cardamom bitters, lemongrass and crème de griotte. Hmmm and mmm.
And the five courses created by their Chef de Cuisine Dave Baker are just as exotic with flavors like chili oil, red curry risotto, ginger bbq glaze. Sounds like they had fun coming up with the dishes and drinks.
So a seat at this special dinner will cost you $80, and the price is not too shabby considering most downtown cocktails nowadays cost about $12. So it’s basically like you’re spending about $72 on cocktails and $8 on five courses!
Check out the menu:
Reception cocktail is Motown Cocktail with Grey Goose Le Citron, peach liqueur, passion fruit syrup and apple juice
Seared Japanese Hamachi with chili oil and mango sashimi paired withYukuzu with Grey Goose Le Citron, Yuzu juice, orange curacao, agave syrup, mango puree
Tempura Caledonian Prawns with grilled tofu and green bean salad, lemongrass vinaigrette paired withIndia Summer with Grey Goose L’Orange, blood orange puree, egg white, cardamom bitters, curry syrup
Crisp Confit Jidori Chicken with red curry risotto paired with Cloud Nine with Grey Goose La Poire, sake, lychee fresh juice, lime juice, lemongrass
Braised Natural Beef Shortribs with Napa cabbage slaw, ginger bbq glaze paired with Green Eye with Grey Goose La Poire, St Germain Elderflower, pear nectar, lime and cucumber juice, mint, basil, oregano, agave syrup
Valhrona Chocolate Panna Cotta with toasted hazelnuts and a cherry-balsamic glaze paired with Le Temps des Cerises with Grey Goose, Morello Cherries, crème de griotte, Licor 43, lemon juice, Frangelico, Dry Sherry, chocolate bitters
I’m not a big vodka drinker but I’m feeling those Yukuzu and India Summer cocktails.
Grey Goose vodka brand ambassador and master mixologist Guillaume Jubien will be on hand to discuss the thinking behind each pairing during the dinner.
EVENT: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25 at 6:30pm
Checkers Downtown
535 S. Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90071 (map)
Reservations: email tylerd at hiltoncheckers.com or call (213) 891-0526
Facebook: CheckersDowntown
Twitter: @checkersdt
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)
In the VIP hour before the food fest, we had gathered in a staging area near the bungalows overlooking the Pacific Ocean where we toasted and clapped as each award recipient took the stage to receive their award plate. Never one for standing around and clapping in the hot sun, I impatiently sucked down my Oxley Gin cocktails, antsy to get started on the eating already.
Finally they turned us loose on the grounds surrounding the Fairmont’s famous fig tree where all the restaurants were set up to dole out the tasting portions of their signature dishes. I immediately set out to find the highly desired plates first before the lines got too long and they ran out of food. Fortunately that never got to be a problem for me. What did become problematic, however, was the fact that my stupid stomach is too small. By the time I reached the halfway point of the event, I was done! Fortunately my friend, blogger Busy Beth was able to go on for me and let me know what I was missing out on. Argh.
In any case, here are the highlights of the evening for me:
Those Oxley Gincocktails: 1) That there was a seemingly neverending supply, 2) that Aviation was particularly tasty.
Petrossian’s creamy cauliflower panna cotta with caviar which I thankfully ended up having again at the Petrossian’s 101 Caviar dinner. And one fellow diner made no attempt to hide the fact that he was on his 6th visit to the Petrossian table.
Chef Ludo’s heirloom tomato smoothie, squid ink vodka jelly and seaweed tartar. Mmm, if only they could start serving this delicious concoction at Jamba Juice. Heh.
123 Tequila’s tequila and chocolate pairings, which were deliciously ingenious. Who would have thought that the two would go together so beautifully? Especially that dark chocolate with liquid cardamom and caramel center and the anejo!
Stumbling down the red carpet after one too many Aviations much to the amusement of my friends snapping pictures.
The unofficial after party on the hotel’s Sunset Terrace where I enjoyed another cocktail with friends while dipping my toe in the fountain and watching the sun set.
This truly was an event not to be missed, made even better by the gorgeous setting, the quick lines and the hordes of foodie friends.
To celebrate the launch of its “Poketo for Target” accessories collection, the artsy collective will be throwing an ice cream meetup at the Target West Hollywood store on August 14 from 1 to 3:30pm where you can also chat with Poketo co-founder Ted Vadakan. The first 100 folks to show up will get a free scoop of tasty Lake Street Creamery Truck ice cream! After that they’ll sell the ice cream, including Poketo-inspired flavor, white chocolate cherry.
Afterward, shop browse the cutesy limited-edition collection in the store. I love that Tar-jay makes affordable versions of designer brands but OMG when it’s Poketo. Colorful, adorable water bottles, wallets, iPod cases and more by artists like Betsy Walton, Maki and Silvia Portella. Click here for the complete list of artists.
UPDATE: Because of Target’s recent support of anti-gay politicians and groups, I can’t support them, as much as I used to love them. So, yes, to the free ice cream and supporting Poketo, but not so much to actually patronizing the store. Boo.
EVENT: SATURDAY, AUGUST 14 from 1 to 3:30pm
Target in West Hollywood
7100 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood, California 90046 (map)
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
I’m going up north for another edition of 24 Hours of Lemons but I’m not leaving you blind. In addition to Saturday’s KBBQ cook-off you’ve got these events.
Thursday, August 5
BreadBar Hatchi Mix: Comme Ca’s Cedilla — A Suite of Cocktails
Max Seaman and Jeff Knudsen, the mixology team at Comme Ca in West Hollywood, are featured in this month’s edition of Hatchi Mix. They’ll serve up eight cocktails for $8 each. Yummy-sounding concoctions like Hot Pepper Smash with rye, lemon, honey, Serrano chile and mint and Sergio Leone with tequila, Campari and Sweet Vermouth. Classics like Penicillin and Bloody Mary will also make an appearance.
6-10pm. BreadBar Century City, 10250 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles (map).
Friday, August 6
Santa Monica Place’s Grand Opening Celebration
Finally! The Santa Monica mall is back. AND it’s so new and improved that it’s now an outdoor mall, complementing the 3rd Street Promenade nicely. Celebrate at this all-day party which kicks off with a morning ribbon-cutting ceremony and ends with happy hour on the gorgeous Dining Deck where KCRW music director Jason Bentley will be spinning a two-hour set! And throughout the day there will be live music and retailer-hosted events from the likes of Bloomingdales, Disney and Charlotte Russe.
Starts 10am. Santa Monica Place, 1453 3rd Street Promenade, Santa Monica (map).
Saturday, August 7
OC Foodie Fest’s Pub & Grub
I know this is a bit beyond my jurisdiction but the OC is having its own “Foodie Fest” on August 28. And in anticipation of that, it’s throwing a special preview party this Saturday at Proof Bar in Santa Ana where presale OC Foodie Fest ticket holders will get a sneak peek of the OC food trucks attending the food fest as well as get to enjoy an Azunia Tequila tasting, giveaways and music. If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, you can do so at this event for a discounted price!
7-10:30pm. Free. Proof Bar’s parking lot, 215 N Broadway, Santa Ana (map).
Win $500 at Westfield Culver City for Being the Most Stylish Shopper
Yeah, I thought this sounded weird and am not really sure how a “stylish shopper” would dress. But maybe just show up like you’re dressed for the Oscars and strut your stuff on the red carpet at the mall while the hosts of weekly entertainment show, On the Red Carpet, provide the running commentary, and you can’t lose. Participant photos will be posted on the mall’s Facebook page. The winner, who will be chosen by a panel of judges, gets a $500 gift card for the Culver City mall. Easy peasy.
12-4pm. Westfield Culver City, 6000 Sepulveda Boulevard, Culver City (map).
SusieCakes Celebrates Its 4th Birthday
To celebrate its 4th birthday, SusieCakes will be giving out a free box of four mini cupcakes to the first 100 customers to show up between 1 and 4pm. If you miss your chance for the freebie treat, the cupcakery will offer retro-priced goodies like 40-cent cookies!
