After being sidelined last year by the Eaton and Palisades Fire, Masters of Taste returned to the Rose Bowl for the eighth time on a glorious afternoon Sunday. It was a wonderful day to enjoy culinary delights and beverage offerings from over 200 participating restaurants, pastry shops, breweries, wineries and beverage producers.
From its inception, Masters of Taste has been a sold-out event that attracts over 3,000 guests and garners media attention throughout Southern California and beyond. Over 100 culinary masters and restaurants present their finest fare and LA’s top sweet masters prepare delectable sweets.
On Sunday, leading beverage masters featured signature handcrafted cocktail tastings from over 25 spirit brands and bars, a premier 50-yard-line cocktail bar featured top mixologists from LA’s most distinguished drinking destinations, select wineries, local craft breweries, cold-pressed juices and cold brew coffee. From 3 to 7 p.m., a DJ provided live entertainment while attendees ate and imbibed.
Every dollar raised at Masters of Taste benefits the work of Union Station Homeless Services that strives to end homelessness. Since its inauguration, the event has donated millions of dollars to help countless families and individuals find a secure and welcoming place to call home.
A half hour before Masters of Taste opens last Sunday, the Rose Bowl’s parking lot starts filling with cars and a queue forms at the VIP line. A few minutes before 3, volunteers walk down the queue to put colored paper bracelets on our wrists and ask us to show a picture ID to make sure we’re old enough to drink alcohol. And another gives us clear plastic cups inscribed with the event name for our beverage.
We enter the Court of Champions where there are participating food trucks, and a few food and beverage vendors. We are immediately attracted to the warm mini chocolate chip cookies and donuts from RicoRico Snack Bar in San Diego. Joel, who is happily offering sweets, tells us this is the first time they’re participating.
As we munch on the sweets, we make our way onto the Rose Bowl field. We secure a table and begin our gastronomic journey. There are so many tantalizing foods and sweets and refreshing drinks that it’s difficult to decide which ones to sample.
Granville is offering mac and cheese, which is always a crowd-pleaser. Mark Dix, the Food and Beverage Director for the California-based Granville Restaurant Group, informs us that they’ve been participating since the Masters of Taste began. He says this is a fun way to donate to a worthy cause.
Sushi Roku is a first time participant in the event. Joe, who is giving out baked lobster rolls, declares Masters of Taste is doing a great job in making it something that people look forward to.
Christian Esteban of Chaaste Family Market, a local Filipino store that sells products imported from the Philippines as well as freshly cooked dishes, informs us this is their first time at Masters of Taste and they’re enjoying it thoroughly. They brought a sound system and his brother is playing Filipino music and talking about their store. Chaaste has been serving the Filipino community in the western San Gabriel Valley for the past 40 years.
We consume samplings of tasty beef from Alexander’s Steakhouse, scrumptious roasted duck taco from City Club LA, divine tuna tartare from BOA Steakhouse, mouth-watering wagyu beef from Yakiya, and delectable short rib pasta from Marina Restaurant. We sip sparkling non-alcoholic drinks from HOPWTR.
Along the end zone of the Rose Bowl’s 50-yard line is the large tent occupied by Agnes Restaurant and Cheesery where there is a dizzying amount of cheese on the tables. Vanessa and Thomas Tilaka Kalb, this year’s host chefs, gladly chat with us.
“Agnes opened five years ago and this is our fourth time at Masters of Taste,” Vanessa says.
Adds Chef Tomas, “It’s our first time being the host chefs and it’s been so fun! We got 13 cheese makers from across the country to donate hundreds of pounds of cheese. We have a fondue fountain, raclette station and mac and cheese station. I said that we were going to transform the Rose Bowl into a field of cheese — if you build it, they will come!”
At the raclette station a server carefully and meticulously scrapes melted cheese onto the crackers on our plate. The mac and cheese looks too tempting to ignore. And we sample a variety of cheese.
Volunteers are going around handing out bottled water even as we continue to enjoy the delicious bites. But we can only eat so much and we reluctantly give up; we’re simply too full to go on. However, we stop at the Lark Cake Shop table to get one last sweet — a red velvet cake.
It’s the perfect finish to a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of gustatory delights at Masters of Taste. And it’s all for a worthwhile cause.
