FOOD FASHIONISTA - OFFICIAL SITE

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

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!

Vegas Uncork'd - Shinkansen to Shibuya at MGM Grand

This year’s Bon Appétit Vegas Uncork'd sushi and sake tasting event, From Shinkasen to Shibuya, took place at trendy Mgm Grand restaurant, Shibuya. The sake soiree featured more than one hundred and fifty bottles of sake as well as a generous selection of innovative appetizers, desserts, and drinks including Ramune(Food Fashionista’s favorite childhood Japanese soda that features a floating glass marble inside of the bottle).

 

    Who doesn't love some fresh shucked oysters! 

 
 

Dozens of eager taste testers waited patiently to sample their sake of choice, while other guests headed straight to the food platters. Culinary highlights of the night included baked kushi oysters drizzled with orange ponzu sauce, savory Japanese okonomiyaki pancakes, spicy rock shrimp tempura and colorful lychee jelly “push-pops” sprinkled with crackling Pop-Rock like candy. Go-go dancers clad in fuzzy white bikinis encouraged attendees to groove  to the hypnotic dj sets under the bright and colorful Tokyo inspired neon signs . However, if you preferred snacking to dancing, food stations hosted by live sushi chefs made sure no guest went home hungry.

Post by Isabelle Pleno, Edited by Mika Takeuchi for Food Fashionista

Hadley's Fruit Orchard - Coachella Valley

Many of you know Coachella as the three-day music festival that happens every Spring in Southern California, but did you know that Coachella county is the date capital of the United States? No not the Match.com kind of dates, but rather the delicious Medjool and other edible varieties. I was surprised to find out that 95% of dates produced in the U.S. come from the Coachella region. That fact, along with the multitude of delightful treats is why a stop at historic Hadley's is a must-do when in the area.