Los Angeles Food & Wine | 2014
Los Angeles Food & Wine: A four day #EpicureanAdventure that brings the best chefs and wineries from across America to to the City of Angels. From Downtown to Santa Monica, and everywhere in-between, LAFW hosts a variety of events from Grand Tastings presented by Lexus to cooking demonstrations by top chef talent such as Scott Conant, Richard Blais and Lorena Garcia - to name only a few culinary geniuses present throughout the festival. Smaller events such as "Champagne + Caviar" presented by Los Angeles's own Sang Yoon provided guests more caviar than the chefs could get rid of while grander scale tasting events featured musical acts such as Grammy Award winning artist Common. If you were lucky enough to attend this years' event you most certainly left with a highly satisfied and inspired palate. Here are some of our favorite moments from the once-in-a-lifestime culinary fete:
Chef Jerry Su pouring a beer from his family's flagship brewery - Eagle Rock Brewery at the Lexus Grand Tasting.
Fergie stopped by with her father to support her family's winery, Fergusson, which poured at Saturday's LEXUS Live On Grand and a Power Lunch at Faith & Flower featuring chefs Dominique Crenn and Michael Hung and presented by The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
To close out the LEXUS Live On Grand event, Common graced the crowd with his lyrical stylings.
Over at the Center Studios Saturday Grand Tasting, Chef Michael Voltaggio of INK. helmed the VIP area, serving up nitrogen-based coffee ice cream with on-site made waffles.
Attendees could chat with their favorite chefs throughout the events such as "Chopped" star and Chef/Owner of Scarpetta, Scott Conant.
In between food booths and wine tastings, patrons could sample a selection from Stella Artois, paired with bites from Top Chef Alum Casey Thompson.
Steven Fretz of The Church Key quick freezes chunks of watermelon in a bath of liquid nitrogen.
Several chefs were available for cookbook signings such as SPQR's Matthew Accarrino.
Over at Sang Yoon's Champagne + Caviar event on the rooftop of the L'Emeritage in Beverly Hills, attendees could gorge on more briny decadence than the chefs knew what to do with.
Chef Greg Hozinsky prepared one of the evening standouts: Waygu Tartar topped with California Caviar + served with Housemade Potato Chips.
Chef Hozinsky passing off a tin of his luxurious Waygu/Caviar combination.
Perhaps the best bite of the evening was by event host Sang Yoon himself, a lobster bahn-mi with paddlefish caviar, wrapped in pig-ear terrine and sandwiched between buttery, toasty bread. This is one bite we'll be craving this one for a long time.
Throughout the weekend, various Los Angeles chefs partnered up with other top culinary talent from across the nation at their restaurants for intimate meals dubbed Power Lunches. One such event paired Walter Manzke of Republique + Petty Cash Tacqueria with San Francisco's Michael Tusk of Quince. Above is a Fagotelli of Zucchini + Their Blossoms with tomato and fior di bufala.
Chef Manzke countered with a preparation of Pork | Gala Apple | Boulangere Potato + Cider-Peppercorn Sauce. Watching the execution of this dish was phenomenal. 8 cooks lined up at a table, each plating an individual component of the dish.
To close out the weekend, we spotted Chef Lorena Garcia giving a cooking demonstration on traditional Venezuelan cuisine highlighting the country's traditional dish: arepas.
Every year Los Angeles Food & Wine gets stronger with events brimming with the nation's most inspiring chefs. The culinary-packed weekend featured incredible food, the opportunity to meet some of our favorite chefs + we feel honored to have been able to attend this magnificent event. It goes without saying that we cannot wait for LAFW 2015!