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Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival #LAFW 2012 Countdown

The second annual Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival, Los Angeles ’premier culinary extravaganza, is taking place next week August 9-12 in Downtown, Hollywood , Santa Monica and Beverly Hills. Headquartered at L.A. LIVE, the event, which benefits St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, features culinary experiences, demonstrations, and exclusive dining experiences. 

The Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival also revives the Celebrity Chef Power Lunch Series, featuring notable chefs Wolfgang Puck and Charles Phan at WP24; Joachim Splichal and Hubert Keller at Patina Restaurant and Ari Rosenson and Lydia Shire at CUT.  Santa Monica plays host to Summer At The Shore Hosted By Graham Elliot and, in Beverly Hills , I Heart Champagne & Caviar will take place at The Montage Beverly Hills. 

Rounding out the weekend are the marquee events hosted at L.A.  LIVE; Giada's Festa Italiana hosted by Giada De Laurentiis, Asian Night Market hosted By Andrew Zimmern, Lexus LIVE On The Plaza With Wolfgang Puck & Friends featuring a musical performance by Third Eye Blind and Saturday and Sunday’s Lexus Grand Tastings. Presented by Coastal Luxury Management (CLM), Los Angeles Food & Wine spans the length of the city and offers guests the chance to sample the cuisines and products from some of the world’s most prominent epicurean influencers, while enjoying the sights and sounds of the entertainment industry’s brightest film and musical talents.

For more info and to Purchase Tickets, visit  www.lafw.com

See Food Fashionista's photos from last year's LAFW LEXUS Grand Tasting HERE

In-N-Out Burger Secret Special Menu Items

On a recent visit, I asked for extra cheese at In-N-Out and got EXTRA cheese (as shown above), but did you know that this insanely popular burger chain has its own secret menu? I'm not talking "animal style" or "grilled cheese", which most regulars already know about. I'm talking about the "Flying Dutchman", "Chopped Chilis", or did you know you could order a Neopolitan shake? Well, now you do. For a full list, visit HERE.

Ma Po Tofu at Mission Chinese Food - San Francisco

 

 

Brief Dish Blurb:  Not for the faint-hearted. Hot, spicy, scorching…those are just a few words to describe the heat that comes from Mission Chinese Food’s Mapo Tofu.  Served with a side of steamed white rice, this bowl of ground Kurobuta (Japanese translation “black pig”), cubes of silky tofu, and blazing red peppers will have you shouting “Fire”!

 

San Francisco Cocktail Week Returns 9/19- 9/25 - Get your drink on SF!

 
 

We are now just a few days away from the much-anticipated Fifth Annual San Francisco Cocktail Week taking place during September 19-25, 2011. Last year was literally one of the best and booziest weeks in S.F. with non-stop seminars, cocktail parties, culinary events, and festival galas throughout the seven-day celebration. Hard to imagine, but it looks like this year is going to be even more memorable (well depending on how much liquor you consume) and intoxicatingly epic. With the addition of the Cocktail Dinners at some of S.F.'s favorite restaurants, attendees will be fortunate enough to experience the pairing of drinks and dining with some of the city's top mixologists and chefs. If you appreciate a truly memorable liquid libation and all things cocktilian, this week was created for you.

 
  Cocktails at last year's Boothby Center for Beverage Arts Launch

 

THE TASTE - Food Noir Downtown L.A.

For my last recap of THE TASTE, I'm sharing pics of the film-inspired Food Noir which took place in Downtown Los Angeles. A number of local restaurants such as Takami, Rivera, and The Raymond served up alcohol-absorbing bites while the jovial crowd, including chef Michael Voltaggio enjoyed a clear, near-perfect L.A. evening adjacent to the bright, colorful, neon lights of the historic Orpheum Theatre. 

Broadway, between 8th and 9th streets were blocked off, and the cocktails flowed for the block party of the Summer. Here are some photos:

 
                 L.A.'s top mixologists were mixing it up

 
                      DTLA + THE TASTE = Happy Angelenos

 

                Notice the Ice Cubes from Cole's & The Varnish

                          Dengue Fever performs for the crowd
 
        Inside the Orpheum Theatre (tiffany rose photo)

 
                                     Caña Rum Bar

 
                         Never a dull moment at Pinches Tacos

 
   Mixologist Joel Black was serving up Moonshine Sours 
 
                 Seven Grand concocting a Ward 8

  

-For more Food Noir and THE TASTE photos, visit our Facebook Page

 

 

        

 

 

THE TASTE - Street Eats, Hollywood

 

Fabio Viviani, Jet Tila, Marcel Vigneron, Sang Yoon, Kajsa Alger and plenty more were in attendance as fellow chef Susan Feniger hosted THE TASTE's Street Eats party at The Studios at Paramount. Food Trucks and booths lined the streets and it was here that I finally got to try the cheesy goodness of the Grilled Cheese Truck. Perhaps tried is an understatement. I probably consumed like five of them with additional fillings including shredded short rib and macaroni and cheese. Coolhaus sweetened up the celebration with their ice cream sandwiches, along with Créme Caramel LA and their, you guessed it...creamy créme caramels.

 
         Short Rib Grilled Cheese from The Grilled Cheese Truck

 
             Everybody wanted a Coolhaus Ice Cream Sandwich

 
                        Créme Caramel LA's creme caramel

Sommelier Jesse Rodriguez (Addison Restaurant, Grand Del Mar) and Michael Shearin (Drago Centro) gave us useful, professional tips in their "Navigating a Wine List" seminar. While in the same tent prior, a panel discussing "Food City: The New Language of L.A." moderated by Betty Hallock drew a packed crowd curious to hear all that chefs Roy Choi (Kogi), Jet Tila (Wazuzu), Sang Yoon (Father's Office) and Mario Alberto (Chimu) had to share.

 
                   Street Eats panel discussion at THE TASTE 
                       Palate Food & Wine's Lamb Flatbread

        Mika Takeuchi, Joann Cianciulli, Jet Tila, Sang Yoon, Caryl Chinn

 
                          No shortage of carbs at Street Eats

The Chew hosted a food truck-inspired photo booth, which was deliciously entertaining with snaps getting even more incriminating as the night went on (aka more liquor consumed). A favorite find of Street Eats was Pitfire Artisan Pizza who brought their own wood burning oven to the festival. Their pizza was so good, that I've visited their restaurant in NoHo twice since the event. And to think I was going to detox after this four day culinary extravaganza. Umm, not so much.  

 
             Marcel Vigneron, Robert Montano, Haru Kishi

 
                         Pitfire's Heirloom Tomato Pizza

 
                        Food truck photo booth shenanigans

 

Guelaguetza's Tamales Oaxaquenos w/ black mole & chicken breast in banana leaf

 

-For more Street Eats and THE TASTE photos, visit our Facebook Page

-Check back for more photos and features of THE TASTE weekend!

Pancho Villa Taqueria's Garlic Prawn Platter - San Francisco

 
Brief Dish Blurb:

Forget the wharf, the Garlic Prawns at this Mission District Taqueria are the quintessential San Francisco seafood fix. Served with your choice of refried, pinto, or black beans, and a side of rice and warm tortillas, this is a complete meal in one.

 

Food Fashionista Loves Good Food

 

There's nothing quite like a great-tasting dish. It can spark a smile from the grumpiest of faces and has the ability to strike a sudden conversation among strangers. Food is a common bond we all share. It doesn't matter if you are living in California or Zimbabwe. Eating is a shared habit and necessity we all participate in across the mighty globe. If you are on Facebook, join our page and get in on our daily culinary conversation.

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Hungry Night Owls - Culinary Trends Magazine

 

Here is a recent article I wrote for Culinary Trends Magazine. In this piece, I featured a topic that many food-industry professionals and night owls (including myself) are quite familiar with - the practice of late-night dining. Enjoy!

 Late-Nite Dining Caters to Chefs & Discerning Diners Alike

by Mika Takeuchi