Daily Archives: May 22, 2013

I’ve been attending a lot of food themed events and food festivals as of late, but tonight, for this foodie, Bite Nite at LA Times building was quite possibly the coolest by far. The “Belly of L.A.” Mr. J Gold threw a special gathering of 20 or so of the best L.A. eateries, which not-so coincidentally happen to be featured in LA Time’s first annual Best Of dining guide, (to be released Thursday, May 23rd) and will feature these specially selected restaurants among others. So, what will this ultimate L.A. food guide be called you ask? “Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants,” of course.

These chefs all brought their A-Game, bringing out fantastic dishes to encapsulate the flavors and styles that they do best. And it’s a good thing too, the $101 ticket price for Times members was the entrance fee for sampling and sipping during the 2-3 hour long tasting… I’d say it was well worth it.

So what made this evening so cool? Besides getting to sample goodies from familiar favorites like Guisados, Guelaguetza, Salt’s Cure, Sqirl and Chichen Itza, I was introduced to dishes from other great local restaurants like the Ethiopian, Meals by Genet and Mayura Indian cuisine.

Also, a few on my To-Dine list of Must-Visit restaurants were here as well. They included Tar and Roses, Ink, Hart and the Hunter, Corazon y Miel, Cacao Mexicatessen and Bestia to name just a few. My suspicions of deliciousness were confirmed by every amazing bite. Each plate was tastier than the next, and although I came hungry, I left very, very full.

Best of all, I got to meet many of my food/chef/writer heroes, (Evan Kleiman, Russ Parsons, Michael Voltaggio, Wolfgang Puck and of course Jonathan Gold) all of whom were super cool, approachable, friendly and willing to oblige this starstruck food fan with a picture. These are the people who inspire me and motivate me to learn about how food moves us, feeds us and shapes our lives. It was thrilling to meet them in person and be able to say, Thank You.

Here are some photos to recap the great evening!

18th Street Arts Center · 1639 18th Street · Neighborhood: Santa Monica, CA 90404

Those who know me, know that I love a good food festival. Throw in some Artisanal wines and art from local artists and I’m a happy lady. This past Sunday I attended the Crush Artisanal Wine, Art, Food Tasting event which took place at the 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica. As an “art head” I was surprised I hadn’t heard of these artist studios before. Founded in 1988, these working studios offer a range of public events including artist talks, presentations, concerts, movie screenings, etc., and are subsidized to provide artists with affordable work studios.

So, this was the location for the event. It was smallish in terms of LA food festival standards, but big for an art party, and perfect for a Sunday afternoon of drinking and mingling with other art heads (but mostly foodies).

Standouts included wines from Enology, an educational wine company which made it’s debut at the festival and a chardonnay from One Hope which donates 50% of all proceeds to a variety of charities including Hope for the Warriors, a charity that supports post-9/11 service members and their families. Aside from this fantastic cause, this wine was actually one of my favorites among the other local vendors.

I also loved the BBQ from Spring Street Smokehouse, samplings from Krave Jerky and of course the spicy Italian sausages from Maestro Sausages, whom I recently discovered last month at the Taste of Eastside festival.

I ran into fellow blogger, the Minty at this event and we decided to stop into a coffee class which was being held in one of art studios.

The sponsors of the class were the micro-roasted, organic and fair trade coffee coffee purveyor, Wise Coffee. They explained why pour over is better than french press and gave other tips and tricks for brewing a great cup. I’ll post more on that another time.

I do wish that more of the art studios were open for viewing… perhaps all the artists closed up shop to sample the food and wine?

All in all, it was a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Cheers!

Here are some pictures to recap the day. Click here for a list of other participating vendors and wineries.

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