Legumes a la Grecque from Church & State Bistro Taste of the Nation 2014 (Elise Thompson)
Taste of the Nation for No Kid Hungry, one of our favorite benefits, is returning Saturday, May 4th, to Media Park in Culver City. This strolling event features unlimited delicious bites, sweets and cocktails crafted by more than 40 of Los Angeles’s top chefs and mixologists. Beautiful trees shade the many comfortable hangout spaces in the bucolic park. As you wander the rolling grassy knolls, enjoy live music, interactive games, raffles, and live cooking demonstrations.
Event Chairs are Brooke Williamson, television personality and executive chef/owner of Playa Provisions, and fellow Top Chef alumni Mei Lin, executive chef/owner of daybird, known for their exciting use of Szechuan peppercorns that make your mouth tingle and go numb. Chef Mei Lin will also present a cooking demo, as will LA Beat fave, Bricia Lopez of Guelaguetza, who will teach you the secrets of mole.
Other chefs making a personal appearance include Suzanne Goin, chef/owner of AOC, Stephanie Izard, chef/owner of the hotspot of the moment, Girl & the Goat, the charming Jazz Singsanong, chef/owner, of Jitlada, serving the spiciest Thai food in LA, Candace Nelson, Founder of cupcake gamechanger Sprinkles, Shirley Chung, chef/owner of Ms Chi Cafe, known for their inventive dumplings and mochi donuts, Greg Dulan, chef/owner, of Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen, which dominates all of the top ten lists, and Michael Reed, chef/owner of the awesome Poppy & Rose.
The LA Beat’s favorite participants also include Filipino-inspired sweets from Chef Barb at B Sweet, the international flavors of Chef Akasha’s self-named Culver City spot, the celebrated salsas and seafood of Pez Cantina, family-owned restaurant with inventive Indian food from BADMAASH, Michelin-starred CAMPHOR, a French bistro with a Southeast Asian twist, Texas BBQ from Maple Block Meat Co., plus the “Two Hot Tamales” Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken’s Santa Monica So Cal Mex spot, SOCALO, and Venice Beach icon, Rose Cafe (and bakery!).
General Admission tickets ($135) give you event access from 1pm – 4pm. The All-Access Pass ($160) grants you early admission at 12:30. Entry is $35 for kids ages 6-16. Kids 5 and under are free. The event tends to sell out, so get your tickets now!
The cause: “One in five kids in the US is living with hunger. No Kid Hungry is working to make sure every child gets three meals a day by advocating for programs that give kids the healthy food they need to thrive, and supporting communities with the resources they need to feed children.”
