If you consider yourself a true foodie Angeleno, update your Labor Day Google calendar as “BUSY” as you will be attending the Taste at Paramount studios. The Los Angeles Times sponsored culinary event bills itself as “A Food and Wine festival that is authentically L.A.”, and a passing glance at the bios of the participants shows they’ve got the street credibility to back it up.
Five events over the course of three days (Aug 29-31), offer guests the very best food and drink L.A. has to offer, at an Angeleno food festival starring actual Angelenos. Nearly every culinary professional participating makes L.A. their home. From the chefs, Nancy Silverton, Josiah Citrin, Michael Cimarusti, John Sedlar, and even Thomas Keller—who grew up in Oceanside—to the L.A. Times staff that spotlight the unique facets of this great city. To have the likes of Pulitzer prize winning food critic Jonathan Gold, Test Kitchen chef Noelle Carter, or the veteran critic/cookbook author Russ Parsons teaming up with Michael Cimarusti, Thomas Keller, and Nancy Silverton, one cannot help but smile at your good fortune to break bread with these hometown heroes.
Whether it’s learning about “found food” at a foraging seminar with Pascal Baudar—who knew there were so many edible plants in Griffith Park?--or seeing how local chefs sustain the emerging food hubs by only sourcing from family farms within 100 miles, the Taste demonstrates how Los Angeles has consistently led the way in a citywide reimagining of food and its effect on our collective culinary culture. Despite the fact that the Taste takes place at the venerable Paramount Studios, let’s face the truth. As movie crazed as we are, very few Angelenos can tell you who won Best Actress at last year’s Oscars, but coax them to recount their first dinner at Mozza or Melisse, and the vivid recollection would make you swear they were channeling Billy Wilder.
The philosophical and practical commitment to excellence makes the Taste stand out from other Food and Wine Festivals. It’s more than tasty samples. It’s a culinary chautauqua, a harkening back to adult education tent show revivals where, in addition to incredible food, ideas are exchanged to nourish the body and open our eyes to new perspectives. Naturally, the Taste spotlights Chefs and Cooking , but fortunately for us foodies, the other gastronomical guilds, some of which are only now rising from the dead, like heritage Bartending, Canning and Preserving, Butchering, Foraging, are given their due.
Fri. August 29 7:30 PM
Opening Night of the Taste with LA’s Best Chefs
Sat. August 30 11 AM
Field to Fork hosted by Russ Parsons and Nancy Silverton
Sat August 30 7:30 PM
Dinner with a Twist hosted by Jonathan Gold, Betty Hallock, John Sedlar, and Julian Cox
Sun August 31 11AM
Sunday Brunch hosted by Noelle Carter and Chef Thomas Keller
Sun August 31 7:30 PM
Flavors of L.A. hosted by Jonathan Gold and Michael Cimarusti
No comments:
Post a Comment