PARTY HEARTY: SUMMER FOOD FESTIVALS IN LOS ANGELES
By Leslee Komaiko
For dineLA.com
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Considering the slate of food festivals this summer featuring local chef heavy hitters like Josiah Citrin of Melisse and Michael Cimarusti of Providence, we suggest you simply stop eating. As in now. You’ll want to work up an appetite.
Things kick off June 1 with one of the most anticipated events of the year, Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation (tasteofthenation.com) at Culver City’s Media Park. Funds go to local charities in the fight against childhood hunger – and the big guns are coming out. In addition to Citrin and Cimarusti, among the 40 plus chefs are Joachim Splichal of the Patina Group, David Myers of Sona, Tom Colicchio of Craft, Ben Ford of Ford’s Filling Station, Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD, and Mary Sue Milliken of Border Grill and Ciudad.
This year, for the first time, Pulitzer Prize-winning food writer Jonathon Gold of L.A. Weekly will be in the house to answer all those pressing questions live and in person. Dying to know his favorite falafel or his top pick for Korean barbecue? Here’s your chance.
As with the majority of charity events, chefs are asked to donate their time and all of the food they serve. In this case, it means tastes for several hundred people. Some pursue sponsors or ask purveyors for donations to offset the costs. Yet despite the expense, the organizers field lots of calls in the preceding months from chefs and restaurants who want in. And very few restaurateurs turn down the request to participate.
“They get exposure to 1,500 foodies who love to eat, who might not have been to their neck of the woods,” says Mary Sue Milliken. “It’s a chance to schmooze them and hand them a menu. The other thing is [chefs] love the community. It’s a chance to hang out together.”
But the main reason chefs come out for events like this is simple goodwill.
“I think a restaurant is a good vehicle in general to get a message out,” says Neal Fraser, who is participating in several of this summer’s events, including Share Our Strength’s fundraiser, which he has done for some 14 years.
“We do as much as we can afford to do,” adds Fraser. “But it’s tough. It’s expensive for us, me being out of my restaurant on a Saturday night. I have to pay someone to work at the restaurant [instead of me] and someone to help me at the charity event. You have to weigh all those things out.”
Next on the calendar, the 28th Annual Picnic des Chefs (clubculinaire.org) taking place June 8 at Griffith Park is a must for French expats, Francophiles and anyone mourning the fact that a jaunt to Paris isn’t happening anytime soon due to the diminished dollar. Rather than highlighting individual restaurants, chefs will be grouped to prepare food from various regions: Paris, Alsace, Burgundy, Provence and Brittany. Michel Richard of Citrus at Social and Jean Francois Meteigner of La Cachette are among the chefs who will be cooking up traditional French fare in this benefit for the local Club Culinaire, which has the easy-to-swallow mission of promoting French cuisine.
The following weekend, on June 14, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel plays host to the annual Gourmet On Fire! (gourmetscoop.com/fire), a celebration of grilled foods with a handful of Los Angeles’ most celebrated chefs. Joe Miller of Joe’s and Bar Pinxto, Govind Armstrong of Table 8, Akasha Richmond of Akasha and Fraser are among those who will be working the grills at this most civilized poolside barbecue.
July brings the Concern Foundation’s 34th annual Block Party (concernfoundation.org) at Paramount Studios with some 60 restaurants such as The Grill on the Alley and Fogo de Chao serving up small tastes. Intelligentsia and La Mill Coffee Boutique will also be on hand to serve up premium coffee. The July 12 evening will also feature four stages of musical entertainment, casino gaming and a live auction. And because all the monies go to cancer research, you can spend shamelessly.
This same weekend is the 3rd annual L.A. Wine Fest (lawinefest.com) at Raleigh Studios. More than two dozen wineries, in addition to several local retailers, will be pouring a range of beverages. Expect everything from an Israeli pomegranate dessert wine to small production French Champagnes, and even tequilas and vodkas.
August is a bit slow. Consider it a time to regroup, go on a diet and get ready for September’s festivities: the L.A. Greek Fest (lagreekfest.com) September 5, 6 and 7 at Saint Sophia Cathedral west of Downtown Los Angeles, the Italian Feast of San Gennaro (feastofla.org) September 26, 27 and 28 in Hollywood, and perhaps Los Angeles’ most chichi food festival of the year, the American Wine & Food Festival (awff.org) at the Universal Studios Backlot benefiting Meals on Wheels. Spearheaded by Wolfgang Puck and his ex Barbara Lazaroff, the event attracts not only some of the best chefs in Los Angeles – Nobu Matsuhisa and Piero Selvaggio, among others – but some of the biggest names in the country, including Michael Mina, Eric Ripert and Paul Prudhomme. Sure, the $300 ticket price may be steep. But think of it as the ultimate all-you-can-eat buffet with a really good cause to boot.
