Fresh sourdough topped with burrata and sun gold tomatoes from Manhattan House (All photos by Elise Thompson for The LA Beat)
The Taste had another great weekend at Paramount Studios. The first of four themed events, Field to Fork, celebrates fresh, locally grown food. Naturally there were a lot of dishes prominently featuring fruits and vegetables. One of the more striking dishes was a fresh sourdough topped with burrata and sun gold tomatoes from Manhattan House. Another stunner was a golden beet ceviche from The Beverly Hilton that was vegan, gluten-free, and insanely delicious.
Restauration hit it out of the park with a deep-fried crab-stuffed squash blossom. Neighborhood favorite, Eagle Rock Public House offered an Esquite with fresh pickled corn, cotija cheese, a bacon/avocado aioli and smoked chicken cracklin’s.
Also taking advantage of bright, ripe tomatoes was Pinche Tacos, who gave you a choice of a soft taco-truck style taco and an old school crunchy taco. Appam, one of Jonathan Gold’s 101 Essential Restaurants, composed an Indian buffet-style plate with a fantastic Chicken Tikka Masala. And who can resist naan?
Belcampo Meat Co. served a satisfying pork slider while Maple Block Meat Co. went with the classic pairing of pickled peaches and sausage with smoked yogurt. Possibly my top taste of the night was the housemade cavatelli with ragu served by Cafe Pinot. And we always love the lamb barbacoa from Aqui es Texcoco.
Fruit was baked into B Sweet’s various bread puddings, from Bananas Foster to Ube with Pandan. Fruit also came in the form of cocktails from Knob Creek, who concocted six different drinks. The Kentucky Peach contained Knob Creek Single Barrel, fresh peaches, simple syrup and tarragon. The Forbidden Rose was also a winner with Knob Creek rye, sweet vermouth, housemade clementine cordial, forbidden rose and wild lime bitter.
We took a break from the afternoon sun to watch demos by Salazar’s charming Edras Ochoa and sushi legend Katsuya Uechi. The rep from Japanese Tourism told me that they only expected Chef Katsuya to do the demo, but he brought his kitchen staff and made sushi in their booth for the duration of the event.
