Amy T. Shuster

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LOCAL LOS ANGELES EVENTS AND BEYOND

Summer is in full swing, but just in case you still haven’t fully gotten your festival fix, here are a few up and coming events to make sure land on your foodie radar.

Wine, food, travel? It’s all here – read on for my must-do list:

// #1. Learn About Wine’s Rosenthal Private Estate Visit: Tour, Wine Tasting & Picnic · Sat, Aug. 10th 11AM and 2:15PM

Are you a wine-o-phobe? Make sure to check out the 10th annual tasting and picnic lunch at the Private Estate of George Rosenthal, owner of one of the premier producers in the region. Wine Educator Ian Blackhurst sure knows his wine, and by the end of one of his wine classes, you will know yours too.

SESSION 1 – 11:00 AM – 1:00 AM click here // SESSION 2 – 2:15 PM – 4:15 PM click here.

Read about one of my recent experiences with Learn About Wine, here.

Or check out their Calendar of Events for a list of ongoing sessions.

// # 2.  THE TASTE · Friday, Aug 30th-Sept 1st

How about sampling all of Los Angeles’ best in one place? The Taste is back again at Paramount Studios lot and this year features five distinctive events across Labor Day Weekend.

There’s an Opening Night kick-off celebration on Friday, a Flavors of L.A. event hosted by Jonathan Gold on Saturday and a Cocktail Confidential party with Matthew Biancaniello on Sunday — that’s just a few of the many TASTE events featuring unlimited tastings, specialty cocktails, wine seminars, live demos… etc. The Taste is always a fun day/night for a food lover… get tickets while you can and make sure you come hungry (and don’t forget to bring the Tums)! You will eat, and eat…

  • Opening Night: $125, limited availability
  • A 20% discount on individual tickets is available to all Los Angeles Times members
  • For those looking to make a weekend out of it, select area hotels are offering ticket and accommodation packages
// #3. California Beer Festival, Frank G. Bonelli Park, San Dimas, CA · Sept. 7th
“This lake side Craft Beer festival features over 70 craft brews on tap, food trucks, live music and bikini Bocce Ball. CBF is the event of the year for any beer enthusiast. CBF’s main goal is to shine a light on the craft beer movement and celebrate great beer!”
Tickets start at $45 and include booze and entertainment. Sept. 7th  12:30-5PM
// #4. 20th Annual Los Feliz Village Street Fair · Sat, Sept. 7th 12 noon-11 PM

“Started in the early 1990’s by a few restaurant owners who wanted to thank the community for their patronage, the fair has grown into an explosion of talented local shop & restaurant owners, artists and musicians bringing their very best to attendees more diverse than most cities in the U.S.”

Walk the neighborhood and check out local musicians, dancers, circus acts and great local food. The event is family friendly and best of all, admission is FREE!

// #5. 626 Night Market · August 31st and September 1st 4 PM-1 AM

For another event on the cheap, check out 626 Night Market at the Santa Anita Race Track in Arcadia, this festival touts itself as “the largest Asian night market in America.” With over 150 vendors featuring  Asian street foods, merchandise, beer & spirits, live musical acts, artists, films and games. It’s a delicious – DO.
Final Event Labor Day weekend! August 31st: 4pm – 1am
Tickets are just $2-$3 and parking is FREE. Think globally, eat locally 🙂

// #6. 4th Annual BAM Festival · Sat, Oct. 5th 1-5 PM at the 18th Street Arts Center

“30+ Breweries, 3 Bands, Contemporary Art Galleries, Open Artist Studios, 4 Wineries & Gourmet Food Trucks…” Need I say more?

Check out their Facebook page for more info, here.

BONUS EVENTS!!

FAR AND NEAR – FANCY A WEEKEND GETAWAY??

// #7. Hawaii Food and Wine Festival · Sept. 1-Maui; Sept. 5-9

O’ahu, HI is just a hop, skip and jump across the Pacific Ocean (about a 4.5 hour plane ride from Cali) so for those of us looking for a weekend getaway (who wouldn’t like to be in Hawaii right about now!?) there are two festivals around Labor Day weekend to get your tummy grumbling.

This year, you’ll find local LA chefs like Nancy Silverton, Celestino Drago, Sang Yoon and Ricardo Zarate cooking up some special treats with local chef celebs (Top Chef’s Sheldon Simeon, Iron Chef Morimoto) for guests in attendance to this year’s fest.

For tickets and accommodations visit their website. (hint: I’ll be there!)

// #8. Kā’anapali Fresh · Friday & Saturday, Aug. 30th and Aug. 31st
For a more “local” Hawaii experience  Kā’anapali, MAUI is holding their second annual food festival, Kā’anapali Fresh, a 2-day summer event highlighting Kā’anapali’s “grown-on-Maui” products, local farmers and chefs.
Check out their website for tickets and accommodation info. Here’s a video recap from a recent Maui festival I attended this year.

There’s lots to do. Get to eating people!

Crème Caramel LA Booth, Silver Lake Farmer’s Market, Silver Lake , CA

Stop #2 of our Filipino tour takes me and blogger pal Karena Higgins to the Silver Lake Farmer’s Market to Créme Caramel LA, where Pinoy baker Kristine de la Cruz introduces us to her adapted family recipe of the French chilled custard. Along with her traditional crème caramel, she uses Filipino inspired flavors like Buko Pandan, Ube (purple yam) and Mango to present desert lovers with a fresh take on the classic dessert. Her flavors are rich, sweet and tasty and are sure to turn any previous notion of flan you may have had, upside down.

Growing her company from a solid business plan, utilizing her marketing skills from a previous job, and applying the aid from her local community, Kristine is one savvy bussiness owner who knows the secret to success: Patience and Perseverance.

When we first met with her early this Spring, Créme Caramel LA was in nine local California farmer’s markets and as of this post, she has booths set up in 14 with plans to be in 20 markets by the end of the summer.

Watch her story and be sure to look out for Créme Caramel LA at your neighborhood farmer’s market!

It’s so good. Trust me, you’ll swoon.

Hungry for more Filipino food? Click to watch Episode 1.

Summer is in full swing and you know what that means… Temps are heating up, BBQ grills are in their ON position and too tight speedos are being worn by hairy men everywhere. Yikes!

This past Spring, I was lucky to get to taste some island fun on Maui. It was my first time there, and I’m already itching to go back. I heard this from people on the plane going, but once there, I figured out for myself… there is simply not enough time to see and eat everything that Maui has got going on in just one visit… though I sure did try! I was kicking myself for not heading out here sooner. Behold, this beauty…

I had a lot of adventures during my 6 day trip there, and there were definitely were some highlights.

Here’s my top 5 list of Awesome things to do on Maui this summer:

1. Take a relaxing Breath of Fresh Air: Ali’i Kula Lavender

Situated in the uplands of Maui, this 13.5-acre working lavender farm resides at an elevation of roughly 4000 ft. and is home to approximately 55,000 lavender plants and 45 different varieties of lavender among other plants and vegetation. General Admission is 3 bucks and there are extended tours available around the gardens. I took a peaceful stroll around the property and couldn’t say no to a lavender-infused coffee sample in the gift shop. I also took home some lavender oils a lavender-red alae salt and macadamia nut seasoning packet and lavender jelly, all of which you would imagine smelled, AMAZING.

2. Feed the Goats: Surfing Goat Dairy

Everyone I talked to while on Maui told me that I had to check out Surfing Goat Dairy farm while I was there. Although it wasn’t a scheduled stop on my busy itinerary, I made a point to squeeze in a visit to the little goat dairy farm which was located in UpCountry Maui. The drive from Ka’anapali was about an hour and the views along the coastline and through the countryside were breathtaking. Once up there, I took a tour of the little farm, fed some baby goats sampled some cheeses and truffles. Surfing Goat Dairy is the only commercial producer of goat cheese truffles in the US (Yum!) and partnering with Maui Ocean Vodka they even have a line of organic vodka infused truffles. (Double Yum!) A great stop for families and foodies alike.

3. Get Laid: Take a Lei making class

I got more action during my 6 days on Maui than I had in the last  few months. (Sad, I know!). Giving Lei’s are a Hawaii tradition dating back from the 19th century and is a way of showing affection to someone, upon someone’s arriving or leaving. Never having been to Maui before, I was expecting I might be lei’ed when I got off the plane like how you see in movies. That didn’t happen, but I WAS lei’ed when I arrived to my hotel AND since May 1st was “Lei Day“, I got lei’d AGAIN the very next day. It’s pretty cool to take part in such a fun tradition, not to mention the fresh flowers smelled great! Many hotels offer the classes or if you are staying in Ka’anapali, you can always check out the ones at Whaler’s Village. There are lots of opportunities to make one for yourself while on the island.

4. Try Spam Musubi: Snack on Spam

The first time I sampled Spam musubi was actually not in Hawaii, but in Portland Oregon on a food cart. A simple sandwich-like roll up of rice, seaweed and spam, It’s a great grab and go snack and I’ve been searching for a good place to get it in LA to get it ever since. In Hawaii, Spam became a popular food after World War II as a meal for troops. Locals have since adopted it into many recipes like musubi or loco moco and I’ve found that it’s a super tasty local treat. If in Lahaina, check it out at this low-key local deli.

5. Pick a Pineapple: Maui Gold Pineapple Tours

Pop quiz! Where do Pineapples come from? If you said your local grocery store, you might be right, but technically… wrong! One of my last stops on the island was to visit Maui Gold Pineapple and see just how pineapples were actually grown and harvested. Locally owned and operated, Maui Gold Pineapple Co. is a  1,350 acre farm that is famous for growing super sweet pineapples low in acidity. What’s the secret? Quality of land and skill of the grower, of course. I got a true education and a peak at their facilities, farm-to-box.

Want more Maui??

Click to read about my experiences as a judge at the Maui Onion Festival!

or what I thought when I saw Saturn for the first time Stargazing on the rooftops!

…

[I was a guest of the Maui Visitors Bureau and their partners and thank them for their Hawaiian hospitality. All comments and opinions expressed are strictly my own. Mahalo Charlene, Maui Visitors Bureau, Hyatt Regency Maui all the new friends I made on Maui!]

 

144 N Catalina Ave · Redondo Beach, CA 90277 · Neighborhood: Redondo Beach

Venturing outside of my usual Los Angeles vicinity, my food partner in crime and I found ourselves driving around Redondo Beach in search of a new neighborhood gem.

Not really knowing what we had a taste for, we used Yelp to search a few popular places in the area. We happened upon a spot with a very high Yelp rating 4.5 out of 5 stars and some amazing pictures of greasy and cheesy goodness. We thought we’d drive over and check it out…

Arriving at the Catalina Liquor Store parking lot, I looked around and scratched my head. Hmm… Where is The Standing Room? This is where my GPS brought me…

Then I noticed the little sign above and the whale window just below. Nice. Gem achieved.

Locals in bikini tops, locals on skateboards, boozy youngsters and families alike were coming out the front door of the liquor store with brown paper bags of food. I inhaled deeply and noticed the smell of french fries permeating the air. Yep. This was indeed the place.

Inside, it’s your average liquor store finds; booze and beverage, chips and cigarettes, and oh look, a take out restaurant in the back!

They have good looking “sammies” and “plates” but you’ll want the burger. Which to choose? There are so many hawaiian-asian inspired flavors, that bizarrely work together really well with the burgers. Fried egg? Check. Short rib? Check. Lobster? Yep. Bacon? Yes, Please.

It’s a bit confusing to order as there are a couple of different menus. Look, up here!

No, look down here!

Hey, over here!

Also, since they serve up burgers and fries… you have the inclination to call it “fast food” but a note of warning it’s definately not – I waited 35 minutes for my burger as it was cooked to order. The Danger Burger was legit. ½ pound patty, miso sauce (oh, the sauce!), tomato and onion tossed in spicy vinaigrette & fried egg… You’ll lick your fingers clean because it’s so tasty (and because it’s really messy).

Before.

After.

The parmesan truffle fries were outrageously flavored, cheesy and intense…

Even The Naked Burger, a basic tomato, lettuce and cheese burger was rockin’.

Where to sit? There are some tables and chairs underneath the red umbrellas to save you from the hot sun, Though, a lot of people were taking their lunch to-go.

BYB Tips:

It’s a messy Burger! Bring some wet-wipes. You might end up wearing the burger on your face.

Locals call ahead with their orders for faster service.

 

Where to DineLA?

I recently attended a launch party for DineLA’s Restaurant Week featuring some tasty bites from BLD, littlefork, Paichẽ and SBE’s Cleo and Mercado di Vetro. The event was held at The Redbury’s beautiful outside terrace and it was the perfect backdrop as fellow blogger pals and I mingled and sampled a bites from each participating restaurant.

See below for the slide show recap.

[portfolio_slideshow id=5502]

I often think of DineLA as an opportunity for non-foodies, to get out of their usual eating habits and explore their neighborhoods or perhaps venture out a little and try something unexpected. I personally use Restaurant Week as a vehicle to wrangle old friends and fellow food aficionados I haven’t seen in a while to get together and try some new dishes with me.

The chef’s specials and discounted menus are what initially get me in the door, and of course I end up ordering way too much. Lunches are always a great bet if you really want a steal. There are a few restaurants this week on my “To Try” list and hopefully I can check them all off this time around (also, fingers crossed, I wont split my pants!).

Here’s a short list of who’s on my radar for Restaurant Week.

Cleo: A Mediterranean date spot located in the heart of Hollywood, this is one of those places that I need to frequent more as it is so close to where I live! I’m looking forward to trying their chicken tagine and sticky toffee pudding. Dinner: $35.00

RivaBella: This place has been getting a lot of attention lately and not just for the amazing Italian food, but for it’s beautiful ambiance and decor. Located on the Sunset Strip, in the former Hamburger Hamlet space, Jonathan Gold raves how the menu is the “greatest hits” of Italian food, namely the swordfish carpaccio, eggplant parmigiana and spinach pappardelle with lamb ragu. Lunch $25.00

K-Zo: A French-Japanese sushi spot in Culver City, chef and owner Keizo has got the right stuff. I’ve been meaning to try out this neighborhood spot for a while now. They are offering $25.00 lunch and $45.00 dinner specials during restaurant week.

littlefork: Another one that’s been on my radar, chef Jason Travi cooks up Mediterranean-style, tapas-like bites. Hailing from New England, you better believe, the man knows his seafood. $35.00 dinner specials.

FarmShop: Located in the Country Mart, this Brentwood sweet spot serves up everything from fried chicken to French toast with berries, creme fraiche, pistachios, and bacon. It’s a great place for brunch with friends on a lazy Sunday. Having worked formerly for Thomas Keller, chef Jeffrey Cerciello knows how to highlight local produce. This place is known for being a bit pricey, that’s what makes the DineLA deal worthwhile. Dinner $45.00

Mo-Chica: Chef Ricardo Zarate cooks up traditional Peruvian comfort food. Looking forward to trying the Arroz con Mariscos and yes, the Willy Wonka Cake. Lunch: $25.00 – Dinner: $35.00

Check out the rest of the participating restaurants and tell me who’s on your list…

334 S Main St · Ste 1101 · Los Angeles, CA 90013 · Neighborhood: Downtown

Some days I crave a greasy, cheesy, bacon-topped meaty hamburger. Other days I channel my inner diet conscious buddah, vegan, rabbit and seek to salads and vegetables for solace from my hunger cravings. After a recent deep dish pizza, hotdog-laden, heavy (but delicious) food’cation in Chicago, I was looking for something milder to soothe my belly grumblings.

Cue Dr. J’s Vibrant Cafe.

I was invited to a special preview tasting of this new health-minded cafe located in the old bank district downtown, Los Angeles. Dr. J (Dr. Juliet Tien) is a renowned holistic health practitioner and author from Taiwan who believes that good health = happiness. Her newly opened café offers a health minded menu which follows 8 basic principles.

Are you up to the challenge? Read on for the Rx…

Dr. J supports a food regimen that follows strict principles of no sugar, dairy, wheat, yeast, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine or chemicals. Her 100% clean way of eating may sound like no fun, but it’s good for you (and surprisingly darn tasty too!). Think: Simple organic, macrobiotic ingredients that are easily accessible and digestible. In a nutshell, it’s just a straight up, healthy way of eating all the stuff we all should be eating anyways — it left me feeling satisfied and invigorated without the gluten bloat.

So, who can benefit from this way of clean eating? Everyone. Just a few days earlier, my brother (who has been struggling with trying to loose some pounds) was instructed by his doctor to stay free of the following foods: No sugar, No bread, No pasta, No rice, No potatoes… sound familiar? Turns out bingeing out on these types of foods can make us fat and in turn, make us feel sick.

Some of Dr. J’s menu items include slow cooked soups like Spring Sea Vegetable or Ginger Mustard Greens, fresh vegetables, tofu, kale and quinoa, raw food that undergoes a rigorous cleaning process with pure reverse osmosis water, and sandwiches made with Dr. J’s signature yeast-free “Pure Bread.” Yeah, this place isn’t messing around.

Sweets treats like Carob Brownies and Dr. J’s (rolled oats, sunflower seeds, and dates) Super Snacks are vegan, gluten-free and made from scratch, in-house.

Detoxifying is at the foundation of Dr. J’s herbal program. I’m down with their herbal teas and cleansing smoothies which are nourishing, healing and not to mention super tasty!

Never mind Café Gratitude or other “vegan”-type restaurants, Dr. J’s is healthy eating for the rest of us. The best part about her menu is that while it is focused on “real food,” you don’t have to be a practicing vegan to want to eat here.

I’ve been craving fried, sugary foods less and less these days and instead I end up seeking some healthier bites… you know,  in between visits to The Pie Hole or Wurstkuche 🙂

Good thing there’s a place like Dr. J’s to bring me back to earth…

The grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled July 22nd! Be sure to check them out!

Although I was a bit exhausted from travel, I couldn’t help but venture out to explore my surroundings around the hotel. It was a resort after all so there was a lot to do. That night after the sun had set, I ventured up to the roof of the Hyatt for a little stargazing…

Director of Astronomy, Eddie Mahoney has been showing visitors the stars since 1988. He uses a computer to locate and identify over 1,000 objects in the sky including the North Star, Sirius, planets, nebulae and constellations. He led a group of 10 or so of us up to the roof of the hotel building in complete darkness. There was nothing but a rail with little lights to lead the way.

Once in position, I looked up and… wow.

Just being able to look up and see stars was an amazing sight. In LA, I often forget that stars even exist thanks to the fog and smog that clogs up the night skies. We took turns looking through the various high tech telescopes and then I saw the raddest image I had ever seen through a telescope… Saturn. Woah!

Saturn is probably the most recognizable planet thanks to its unique rings. It was simply awesome to be able to look up into the night sky and see a planet! I think I understand now why Trekkies get so excited about the idea of space travel. I felt like I was in grade school again and all these questions about the universe came flooding to mind.

I remember I once asked my dad so many annoying questions about space that he went out the next day and got a VHS called, “The Universe, What Up with That!?” (At least, I think that’s what it was called) and plunked it into the VCR. Of course, I watched it a billion times and afterwards I had even more questions.

In that moment, in pitch-black darkness, on the roof of the Hyatt in Maui, I found myself suddenly aware once again of our teensy existence. This dude was pointing out clusters of stars that had been around for billions of years before people even existed. The thought of that just blew my jetlagged mind.

The next morning, I ran into Mr. Mahoney in the lobby and thanked him again.

Seeing the stars in the night sky, on a rooftop, in the middle of the ocean really just put it all into perspective. We are simply a grain of salt in the grand kitchen of life. (Sorry for the food metaphor – this is a food blog after all…) 🙂

Click to read about my experiences as a judge at the Maui Onion Festival!

…

[I was a guest of the Maui Visitors Bureau and their partners and thank them for their Hawaiian hospitality. All comments and opinions expressed are strictly my own. Mahalo Charlene, Maui Visitors Bureau, Hyatt Regency Maui all the new friends I made on Maui!]

On the plane to Maui, I sat next to a (very) long limbed 8-month old baby boy and his grandparents. For most of the trip he was quiet, but when he wasn’t outstretched and sleeping, he was awake doing what babies do best: banging on things, throwing his toys, crying, etc. He even took delight in grabbing and yanking my afro a few times (It has that effect on people).

Looking out my window, I smiled. It was a funny situation. I really couldn’t complain…

After all, I was getting to live a dream of mine going to Hawaii. I was going to get to explore (and eat!) all that Maui had to offer. I was headed to paradise.

Upon landing at the Kahului Airport, I walked off the plane and the first thing I saw were these amazingly beautiful mountains. The air was thick from the heat and the white fluffy clouds sat on top the green lush mountains like sombreros. It must have just rained or was raining over on that part of the island. Living in Los Angeles (where it hardly ever rains), I don’t get to see many clouds often, so when I do, it is such a lovely sight.

I took the shuttle to the Budget rental car and after fiddling with my keyless Chevy hybrid for a few minutes; I finally asked someone how to start the darn thing! “Step on the gas and press the button,” a worker explained to me. “Ohhhh!” Okay, crisis averted. Onwards …

Hello random rooster on the road…

A pretty red rooster greeted me upon leaving the rental car station and I proceeded to get friendly with Siri’s GPS system and Google Maps, which would prove to be my best friends, helping me get around the island.

The first thing I noticed was all the beauty. Driving, I would turn a corner and see a beautiful vista over looking the water, I’d follow the road through an amazing mountain, an open stretch of green, drive under lush canopy like trees or spy a gang of surfers catching some crashing waves. Each sight was more jaw dropping than the next.

I turned on the radio to hear lovely Hawaiian music and a mixture of Bruno Mars (a Honolulu boy) and American classics remixed with Ukulele playing in the background. It’s just what you’d expect to hear on the radio here.

Meeting my gracious host Charlene at Sam Satos, a local favorite and diner/cafeteria-style restaurant, we dined on basic local eats – cheeseburgers, fries, deeply flavored, tender, beef teriyaki skewers and a popular bowl of thick noodles called dry saimin – it comes with a little bowl of soup broth, but I liked it dry (hence the name!).

After our meal and a little conversation about what to expect on the island, I hit a bit of traffic on my way to my hotel. Nothing to get worked up about. It allowed my fresh visiting eyes to soak up the island paradise around me. Plus, it’s nothing compared to LA traffic!

At last, arriving at the Hyatt in Ka’anapali, relaxation…

I didn’t stay in my room for long. I was eager to explore around the hotel…

Tonight, the sunset and night stars await…

Next up: Star gazing on Maui at the Hyatt. Check back tomorrow for more of my island adventure…

or click to read about my experiences as a judge at the Maui Onion Festival

…

[Special note: I was a guest of the Maui Visitors Bureau and their partners and thank them for their Hawaiian hospitality. All comments and opinions expressed are strictly my own.

Mahalo Charlene, Maui Visitors Bureau, Hyatt Regency Maui all the new friends I made on Maui!]

Cinefamily · Silent Movie Theater · 611 N Fairfax Avenue · Los Angeles · 90036

Remember Morgan Spurlock? That mustached documentarian who ate a bunch of McDonalds for a month and got sick and fat and showed us why we should all to stop ordering supersized fries at the drive-thru? Yeah, that guy.

Super Size Me came out around the time I was in film school, and I remember it being very inspiring for me. I went to  Columbia College Chicago and studied doc filmmaking among many other concentrations. In the course of my studies, I had to watch a lot of different films. Super Size Me was one that particularly stood out because it was one of the first mainstream documentaries that I watched that focused on food. It really hit home for me because like a lot of kids, I used to eat a LOT of McDonalds. (It’s a wonder how I didn’t end up with weight or health problems!)

Regardless, whether you liked it or not, the movie inspired change. A McRevolution, have you. The doc inspired people to think before they put stuff in their mouth and it also got McDonalds to take the Supersize option off the menu. So, that’s pretty cool…

So, anyway. I had one more stop on my Eventbrite blogger tour and I chose to check out a Q & A at Cinefamily. I used to live down the street from this silent movie theater and never once stopped by there. I thought it was time I check out the space and listen in for a little inspiration from the prolific filmmaker…

KCRW’s Matt Holzman moderated an hour long conversation with the clever and shameless documentarian and I learned a bit about his backstory and new projects…

Spurlock has been quietly building his storytelling empire, on the web (Hulu’s a Day in the Life), on the big screen (Mansome, This is Us) and now once again on TV with his CNN show, the Inside Man. He’s a busy guy, producing, directing, writing, hosting – a product of two “serial entrepreneur” parents.

His new show, The Inside Man takes him into the work of dirty jobs and gives audiences perspectives from the underbelly of American professions. Being that a few of his first couple of episodes were focused on farms and migrant workers, I wanted to see what he had to say about the business of food, once again.

On the show, he deals with topics like marijuana, guns, immigration, education, elder care, unions, and worked alongside immigrant workers in Florida picking oranges...

As a filmmaker and storyteller myself, I got a lot out of this talk.

Here were 5 quotes from the Q&A that particularly stood out for me:

On being in his films: Spurlock says, “Once you put yourself in the film, they (the viewers) are not just judging the film, they are judging you… (then it becomes) not just about the narrative of the movie, but about you as a human being… The quality of the story ultimately is what I hope is the most important thing, and isn’t overshadowed by what I’m trying to do (on screen) in getting you to watch.”

On getting the story: “We go in with a plan, talk about the beats that we want to hit… but with all the stuff that we shoot, we never shoot things twice… I want them (the characters) to be real in the moment that they are in… We shoot for the day, and there are times when we shoot a conversation and maybe it didn’t end the way we want and you know, we just didn’t get it, it didn’t happen, and we move on and have to trust that we’ll figure out a way to tell story and put it together later.”

On characters: “Great characters trump everything, because out of them will come great story.”

On his new show Inside Man: “It’s not reality television, it’s a show that deals with reality, in television… (when filming a documentary) Either you get it in the can or you don’t – when you try to manipulate it you start creating Honey Boo Boo type shows… and that’s not documentary, that’s reality television.”

On using humor in his docs: “If you can make someone laugh, you can make someone listen.”

After the Q and A, viewers were invited to hang out in the back patio for horderves and drinks with the filmmaker. Such a cool event happening right in my neighborhood. Check out IDA for their awesome doc talk series and Thanks eventbrite for facilitating!

Special Note:

[This post is part of an ongoing partnership with Eventbrite LA. Eventbrite enables people all over the world to plan, promote, and sell out any event. It’s also a destination for people to discover awesome events going on in THEIR city! Whatever your desires, hobbies, or interests – from photography workshops and wine classes to food festivals and industry conferences, there’s an event on Eventbrite waiting for you to attend! Keep up on the goings-on in LA by following Eventbrite LA on Twitter, liking them on Facebook, or signing up for their monthly newsletter! Planning an event? Go ahead and create an account to get started.]

 

There’s a new app in town and lucky for me, (filmmaker/ foodie/ blogger/ host) it’s right up my alley. You might be rolling your eyes and grumbling, “oh, no, not another social media thing!” But for food lovers, this one is just too good to pass up.

Imagine if Instagram and Yelp had a baby and that baby made videos about food, it might look something like this…

Created by Demand Media founders Steven Kydd, Joe Perez and Larry Fitzgibbon, Tastemade is a Web TV Channel (ala FoodNetwork), an app, and a way to visually share what you’re eating with friends and followers… instantly.

I had the pleasure of beta testing the app prior to it’s July 12th release and got to play around with all the video functions. It’s pretty easy to use. I was thrilled to get to step away from my Final Cut pro project I had been working on and create something awesome, in an instant, without all that render and lag time.

There’s a formula. You shoot some clips with your iPhone, select some background music, choose a filter and voilá! Instant video. You are limited to 1-minute, but that’s also a good thing. As a visual person, a foodie and someone who likes to show and tell, I was an instant fan of this app.

Suddenly, everyone gets to channel their inner Guy Fieri and show us what’s on their plate (hopefully minus the bad hair and backwards sunglasses though).

Download and try it for yourself. What do we think? Oh no!? or Yummy, yay! Comments welcome.

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