RECAP: LA FOOD & WINE FEST 2013

Food lovers converged in Los Angeles August 21-25 for what’s become a grand celebration of epicurean delight, the LA Food & Wine Festival. While we can’t stop gushing about meeting Thomas Keller and bumping into (okay, more like stalking) Neil Patrick Harris, the real star of the night was the smorgasbord of endless bites to eat and libations kept generously flowing. Over 100 Chefs and 200+ wines were featured at the festival, and we took on the noble task of putting our hands on every teeny plate and bottle of wine we could find, you know, just to make sure the hard work that went into the night did not go to waste.

Below are some highlights and some photos we managed to snap of food that we happened to actually wait for photos of before eating

Highlights

Nitro Cotton Candy: This stuff has the pop and outside texture of a meringue, but once you really press it down with the roof of your tongue, what feels like a continuous stream of cool air comes puffing out. We had fun blowing cold “smoke” into others’ faces.

Peking Duck Cotton Candy: This was green and had a sprinkle of some sort of powder. Maybe it had even more sugar? A hint of five spice? We’re not sure, but who can turn down more cotton candy.

Alinea/Grant Aschatz Cocktails: We’re still figuring out what was in these. The herbal and floral taste lingered on and kept our senses intrigued for long after.

Cereal Milk Donuts: A sweet honey nut cheerio glaze and cinnamon rice crispies were a refreshing balance of simplicity and craft. Yum.

See the rest of our highlights below in pictures…

Compartes Chocolates: A beautiful display with and equally creamy and rich taste. We were absolutely impressed with their “garden” of chocolates

Chili crab gumbo with buttermilk beer beignet from Chef Thi Tran at Starry Kitchen

Coconut tapioca with passion fruit gelee and spicy mango relish from Patina

Spicy grilled beef ribs, pineapple anchovy sauce, sawtooth herb and lettuce from Chef Bryant Ng at The Spice Table

“Frozen” Kirin Beer

  
Uni Panna Cotta from Chef Ian Gresik at Drago Centro

Sonoma lamb sausage with senise peppers and controne beans from Chef Christopher Thompson at A16 Restaurant