Los Angeles Times The Taste (Part 1)

Over Labor Day weekend, Mr. K and I attended Los Angeles Times The Taste. The weekend featured several different events and you could purchase tickets to individual sessions or a weekend pass to all the sessions on Saturday and Sunday. I received a complimentary press pass, but also purchased a full weekend pass so that Mr. K could attend with me.

On Saturday, the first event we attended was Field to Fork. As the name suggests, the theme of this event was seasonal cooking and using locally sourced ingredients.

All the events took place on the Paramount Pictures lot. At each of the events, there were unlimited bites and drinks, as well as various culinary demonstrations or panel discussions going on.

Some of our favorite bites and drinks:

Beer from Stella Artois– The Stella Artois station had some of the longest lines of the event, especially since they were giving out their signature chalice glasses to take home.

Another Night in Bangkok from DogHaus (spicy thai red currywurst, peanut sauce, asian slaw, crushed peanut)- The sausage was snappy, and I loved the spicy curry flavor.

Bloody Mary Ice Pops from Diablo Taco– Diablo Taco had a brilliant idea to serve these refreshing ice pops. They were a welcome treat in the 100F+ heat.

Steak with Yakisoba from The BLVD– The steak pieces were quite tender and paired nicely with the yakisoba stir fry.

Cocktails from Don Julio– The Don Julio Airstream Speakeasy truck has been on tour (they were in San Diego a few weeks ago). Love the look of the vehicle and the cocktails they were mixing up were delicious as well.

Truffle Burger from Umami Burger– I was thrilled to see the Umami burger serving up a slider version of their truffle burger. Unfortunately, the patties were overcooked. I really missed the incredible juiciness I experienced when I had their full version.

Kettle, Cheddar, and Jalapeno Popcorn from LA Times– I loved the packaging of the popcorn, which was put in bags with newspaper print.

Vanilla Ice Cream from Choctál – Choctal offered four types of luscious vanilla ice cream. The ice cream texture was perfect- light, creamy, smooth. I loved the rich flavor as well. I had no idea vanilla beans from different regions could vary so much in taste. This was by far one of my favorites, and I went back to this booth several times to try all the different flavors. The ice cream is carried at Bristol Farms and I’m definitely going to be buying some on my next trip.

One of the celebrity chefs doing a cooking demonstration was CJ Jacobson (Top Chef). We had just watched him win his Top Chef Duels episode, so it was a thrill to see him in person. After seeing his cooking demonstration, we ran into him while he was at the Girasol booth (his restaurant) and I was able to meet him. Yay!

One really cool thing I learned from this event was the existence of caviar limes. They were paired with some of the American Star Caviar Lime Vodka. So much fun!

After this event, there was about a four hour break before the next event. Of the four events we attended, this one was the least crowded, making it easy to access the food. It was probably less crowded due to the extreme heat. The heat wasn’t fun, but obviously not something the event could control. There was plenty of tables to sit at in the shade though to enjoy your food, and the event did a good job of constantly clearing the tables so there wasn’t garbage everywhere.

Stay tuned for my future posts on recapping the rest of the weekend.