Dulan’s plating funky banana pudding at the Concern Foundation Block Party. All photos by Bob Lee for the LA Beat.
A hot ticket in LA for forty-nine years, The Concern Foundation’s Annual Block Party took over the Paramount Studios backlot for a night of Star Wars-themed fun and excitement, as well as a stunning variety of LA’s favorite eateries.
Nobu of Malibu was one of the evening’s stars, serving up delicious sushi handrolls along with what must be some kind of bar snack of a pork bao that resembles a sandwich. Of the places new to me, Settecento DTLA was a clear favorite, serving a truly memorable raviolo carbonara with a touch of guanciale – a little friend pork chip – on the outside. We will be keeping an eye out for the opening, this is the kind of Italian food I crave when in actual Italy.
Of the old favorites, Dulan’s was a memorable plate on a summer night, mac and cheese, greens and fried chicken made with the care and skill that marks a neighborhood institution. Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill makes a luscious lamb lolly, the best red meat on offer. Porto’s is always a winner with smooth summer concoctions that end of being the perfect complement for a summer meal, not too sweet, slightly unfamiliar but interesting flavors, soft on the palate.
This is the kind of event that seems to be a social calendar must-do for a large number of people, who packed the lot solid and bid on a series of charitable donations that reached peak opulence when a five-figure bid on a pair of tickets to The Masters was followed by a similar mount raised on a personal test drive from the president of Ferrari in their brand new car – let him take you anywhere you want to go, in this car, for a few hours. Just listening to the numbers go up on this stuff, while luxuriating in all the high class grub, is entertaining.
