Archive for 'Event'

Join Us For A Special Screening of The Search for General Tso + Q&A and Free Food

What’s better than Chinese food on a Sunday night?  A great movie about Chinese food on a Sunday night.  Join me and Evan Kleiman from KCRW’s Good Food this Sunday night, January 4th, at the Arena Cinema in Hollywood (1625 N Las Palmas) for a special screening of The Search for General Tso, a great new documentary about Chinese food in America.  After the screening there will be a Q&A with the film’s producer Jennifer 8 Lee (author of the Fortune Cookie Chronicles) plus free General Tso’s chicken and beverages in the courtyard.  The screening starts at 5:10pm and you can buy tickets here>> 

Check out the trailer, here

Related:
China Catering Unlocks the Mystery Behind General Tso

Come See Food is the New Rock Podcast Live on Stage for the First Time in L.A. at the Eastside Food Festival

If you haven’t heard about it yet… super excited to be involved in the Eastside Food Festival November 9th at Mack Sennett Studios to benefit PATH. Admittedly our definition of east side might be a little broader than most, but when else are you going to be able to drink micheladas from Guelaguetza, and eat food from Carnitas el Momo, Pine & Crane, Alimento, and Starry Kitchen all in one place.  We not only helped to curate the 20+ restaurants that will be serving food at the event, but there will also be a Food is the New Rock stage with demos and panels featuring chefs, musicians, and artists from the neighborhood.  Evan Kleiman (from KCRW) will be moderating a restauranteurs panel that includes Jessica Koslow from Sqirl, Craig Thornton from Wolvesmouth, Ari Taymor from Alma, and Terri Wahl from Auntie Em’s Kitchen.  And I’ll be moderating an artists panel featuring comedian Eric Wareheim, and musicians Morgan Kibby from M83, Stella Mozgawa from Warpaint, and Mark Trombino from Donut Friend, which will be recorded and released as a podcast.  There will also be an oyster shucking demo featuring Spencer from L&E and Matt from Bar Covell that’s hosted by Jason Stewart (aka DJ Themjeans) and Skylight Books will have a booth featuring book signings throughout the event.

Get more info and tickets here>>

Who’s Joining Me (and Food is the New Rock) at The Taste This Weekend!

If you’re going to be in Los Angeles this weekend, come hang at L.A. Times’ The Taste!  Food is the New Rock will be podcasting from a booth tonight at the Opening Night Party with old and new chef and musician friends… so stop by and say hi.  But if not tonight, there’s tons of other events throughout the weekend worth checking out.  Go here for all the details>> 

Food is the New Rock: Roy Choi, Ecuadorian Food & the L.A. Street Food Fest

Just a couple of things to let you know about this week…

First… Food is the New Rock, the podcast I do with Chuck P from KCRW where we talk to chefs about music and bands about food, turned one year old this week.  And to celebrate our 50th episode we had Chef Roy Choi on the show.  Midtown Lunchers will know Roy as the genius behind Kogi & Chego, but there’s also Sunny Spot, A-Frame, and the soon to open Line Hotel in Koreatown. But we didn’t really talk about all that.  We talked about hip hop, Alice Cooper, and Grateful Dead parking lot egg rolls.  You can download the episode for free on iTunes or stream it from the Food is the New Rock website.

And speaking of the Food is the New Rock website, the 2013 list of Eater Young Guns was released this week, and on Sunday they’re having a big party at LACMA featuring food, drinks, and a performance by the up and coming OC band Yellow Red Sparks (get your tix here.)  We ended up asking their lead singer for some food recs, and he mentioned El Caserio- an Ecuadorian spot on Virgil.  Definitely sounds like a lunch that will be happening in my near future.

But wait.  There’s more!

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3 Lunches the L.A. Street Food Fest Got Me Super Excited For (And 1 That I’m Now Going to Avoid)

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Over the weekend thousands of people flocked to the Rose Bowl for the 4th Annual L.A. Street Food Festival.  Now entering its third year at the Rose Bowl (and not going up against Carmageddon), you could pretty easily argue that this was the best year ever… and I’m not just saying that because I had a booth on the field with Food is the New Rock T-Shirts, the food and music podcast I do with Chuck P from KCRW.  (Ok, maybe that’s part of the reason I’m saying it.)  And even though I spent most of the day on the field fielding “What’s a podcast?!” questions, I did manage to sneak away for a solid hour of face stuffing goodness.  Plenty of Midtown Lunch faves were there, including Mariscos Jalisco, Frysmith, Kogi, Mexicali Taco & Co, Park’s Finest, Fat Spoon, Simpang Asia, Starry Kitchen, and Spice Table.

But I did discover three great new lunches that I’m super excited for (and one that I was excited for, but now I’m going to avoid)…

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Ricky’s Fish Tacos Kicks off Street Food Mondays at Angeli Caffe

This isn’t really about lunch, but we had to mention it for those of you who don’t work near Ricky’s Fish Tacos… Inspired by last month’s fundraiser for Breed Street vendor (and Vendy Award Winner) Nina’s Food, Chef Evan Kleiman, with the help of Bill Esparza from Street Gourmet L.A., have launched a new Monday night street food pop up series at Angeli Caffe (7274 Melrose). It kicks off tonight with an appearance by Ricky’s Fish Tacos, the famous fish taco vendor who used to only sell on the weekends at Sunset Junction, but now has a tent Wednesday through Sunday at 1400 Virgil (just south of Hollywood Blvd.)

So if you work in Mid-City or the west side, and haven’t been able to make it over to Los Feliz for a delicious fish taco lunch, tonight is your best shot at Ricky’s Fish Taco goodness (voted best fish taco in L.A. by the Taco Task Force!) Owner Ricky Pina will be selling $3 tacos from 6-10pm, while Angeli Cafe will selling beer and desserts.

LA Food Fest Tasting Event Makes Me Super Excited For The Manila Machine (and the Dim Sum Truck’s New Deluxe Dumplings)

LA Street Food Tasting Event

After an aborted trip to the inaugural LA Street Food Festival Downtown back in February, I decided to give Profiled Lunchers Shawna and Sonja another chance on Saturday- and hit up Pasadena for their massive tasting event, featuring food trucks and street food inspired restaurants all handing out food on the field of the Rose Bowl. The lines weren’t much shorter this time around, but they moved a lot quicker (that happens when you don’t have to take money for each dish) and *most* (but not all) of the vendors seemed a bit more prepared for the crush. Plus, getting to hang on the field at the Rose Bowl while drinking beer and tequila makes waiting 30 minutes for a taco much more palatable.

Truthfully, for a guy like me even the best run tasting event is stressful. My strategy is always to get there as early as I can (buying the VIP tickets is definitely the way to go), and run from booth to booth eating as much as I can as quickly as I can before the lines get to be too long (which happens pretty quick when an event like this is sold out and thousands of people are waiting at the gate to get in at the very beginning.) Not fun, right? And it’s tough to really taste or enjoy the food. And yet something about these events keeps me going back again and again- excited for the prospect of being able to try so many places, from all over the city, in one spot, even though it’s not always a good representation of what you’d get if you went to actual truck or restaurant. After all, sometimes a great restaurant will serve up something that is not nearly as good as the food made fresh at their actual location, and bad places can easily pull it together to serve up one good bite.

And yet- despite my running, and face stuffing, one dish did manage to stand out above the rest. Not just to me, but to “The Guru” as well. And that place is now at the top of my list of must try spots…

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