The chefs at Saturday’s “Field to Fork” event at Paramount Studios took the theme to heart. Summer’s bounty showed up in AKASHA’s Reiger Farms Peach Salad with arugula, pistachios and goat Gouda, elote-style roasted corn from BOA, and a salad from Whole Foods that took advantage of the seasonal fresh corn and heirloom tomatoes. The Culver Hotel went light with an organic Farro salad with seared tuna and a mini fruit tart.Girasol’s C.J. Jacobson paired melon and stone fruits with his rabbit rillette with charred juniper. I think that was the only game in town.
Red meat is always a crowd-pleaser. Besides the roasted corn, BOA Steakhouse was also freshly carving sirloin steak. Mi Piace served generous portions of short ribs with a tomato salad while the Venice Whaler served short rib bahn mi and adorable teensy tiny key lime pie slices. Blvd at The Beverly Wilshire served a delicious flank steak with soba noodles. Wood and Vine had a tempting array of daring house-made charcuterie, including chicken liver, blood bologna and porchetta di testa (pig’s head). The most flavorful contribution came in the form of Spicy Beef Ribs and “Koi Soi, or “Thai Beef Salad from Lum-Ka-Naad Thai Restaurant. The Thai beef was hot enough to melt your lips off.
Fred 62 stayed true to its diner tradition with both vanilla and chocolate milkshakes to accompany their short rib pastrami sliders. Chef Fred Eric is back in the kitchen and has revamped the menu to include more sandwiches, gluten-free options and delicious late-night eats like lobster tacos.
It wouldn’t be LA without tacos, and Chef Jim Shaw of Loteria Grill got buggy with cricket tacos as one of his menu items. Diablo seved both a traditional Kurabuto Green Chile Taco and a nouveau Frog Hollow Peach Tostada with burrata and cilantro pesto. If you were hankering for a burger or hot dog on this patriotic holiday weekend, Umami Burger’s truck was serving truffle burgers and Dog Haus brought the heat with spicy Thai red currywurst.
Choctal was ready to sate any sweet tooth with its specialty ice creams. They are flavored from a single source, so there are flavors like Costa Rican Chocolate and Madagascar Vanilla. Even on a hot summer day they were frozen solid. Much needed after that spicy Thai beef.
Just about every spirit now has a flavored version, and we enjoyed flavored vodka from Star and flavored sake. Don Julio is one of my favorite tequilas, and they did not disappoint They were serving cocktails on draft from a tricked-out Airstream. Kirin now has frozen draft machines they use to top off your beer. It is kind of like a beer slushee.
It was definitely a promising start to what was going to be a flavorful weekend.
