Photo by Elise Thompson
Prepare yourself a four day spectacular of unrivaled food events. The Food & Wine Festival, presented by FOOD & WINE and Lexus, returns once again to celebrate the finest chefs and restaurants in Los Angeles and from around the United States. The primary location is on Grand Avenue next to the Disney Concert Hall, but there will also be demos, dinners, lunches brunches and seminars taking place all over town. The big three are Thursday night’s Ultimate Bites of LA hosted by Chef Curtis Stone of Maude, featuring DJ Questlove, The Asian-inspired Lexus Grand Avenue Night Market on Friday showcasing tastes from 50 chefs, hosted by Tyler Florence, and Saturday night’s Lexus Live on Grand featuring The Roots.
Friday’s Power Lunch series allows you to enjoy intimate meals prepared by LA’s star chefs in their own restaurants. There are some difficult choices to be made, with options including LA Beat favorite Michael Fiorelli collaborating with Zach Pollack of Alimento at Fiorelli’s seaside eatery, Love & Salt. Another favorite is Chef Neal Fraser, who will be partnering with Chef Markus Glocker from Bâtard, NYC which recently claimed the title of “Best New Restaurant in The United States” at the 2015 James Beard Awards. Lunch at Chef Fraser’s gorgeous Redbird “will be paired with exceptional wines.” Just to make it harder to decide, Chef Bruce Kalman’s Union Restaurant in Pasadena, will host a culinary collusion between Chef Kalman, who you may remember from the television show, “Best New Restaurant,” and Dallas Chef John Tesar of Knife.
Other exciting happenings are a cooking demo with Curtis Stone, A dinner with Carlo Mirarch, supper with Michael Chiarello, and interactive lunch with Antonia Lofaso, wine and beer seminars, and the Definitive Boozy Brunch by James Beard award-winner Michelle Bernstein with live music by DJ Questlove.
Some notable chefs that we personally love are participating in the 4-day extravaganza, including Jet Tila (Pakpao Thai), Freddy Vargas (Scarpetta), Jessica Koslow (Squirl), Tin Vuong (Little Sister), Chris Oh (Seoul Sausage Co.), Vartan Abgaryan (Cliff’s Edge), Alvin Cailan (Eggslut, Ramen Champ), David LeFevre, (The Manhattan Beach Post, Fishing with Dynamite, The Arthur J), Jerry Su (Eagle Rock Public House), Rory Herrmann and Michael Kahikina (Barrel & Ashes), Steve Samson (Sotto), Genevieve Gergis (Bestia), Viet Pham (Ray’s and Stark Bar), Kris Morningstar (Terrine), Brendan Collins (Birch), and Steven Fretz of Churchkey, who always manages to put on a dazzling show.
See the website for a full list of events. Prices range from $100 to $195 per event with special VIP options available. Get your tickets now! It is selling out quick! The Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival supports The Berkley Foundation, which distributes funds to organizations like Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign, St. Vincent Meals on Wheels “and other L.A. based charitable endeavors.”
