The heat was a factor for Saturday at LA Times The Taste,
held at Paramount Studios.
Sweltering heat caused attendees to clamor for the bits and
pieces of shade while they munched on nibbles from eateries from LA and beyond.
Many were adventurous like Loteria Grills Grasshopper
creation, served during the daytime Field to Fork. That really stuck to the
title’s intentions.
Like last week’s LA Food and Wine Fe3stival and recurring tacos,
that was true for The Taste with many slider combinations to be found. Pedalers
Fork had Quinoa and Sweet Potato Sliders; Venice Whaler had Short Rib Banh Mi;
Fred 62 served Slow Cooked Shortrib Pastrami Sliders; Pono Burger offered a
grass-fed beef slider with strawberry jam. But for me the tops was Umami
Burgers Truffle Slider with House Truffle cheese, truffle aioli, and truffle
glaze. They really lived up to the hype.
The most refreshing drinks were offered by Pine and Crane
though Vranken Pommery’s VilleRoy Strawberry Sprakling was very good as was
MoscaMango.
Some of the spit-outs:Diablo’s spicy Organic Tomato Diablo
Pop which was like a frozen Gazpacho but extremely spicy.
I liked Mi Piace’s Braised Beef shortribs but they topped it
with a conflicting cream such that it overpowered the lovely suace of the
shortribs. They put it on their tomato salad as well.
I was beaten down by the sun, went home and napped only to
return in the evening, rested and still stuffed from the previous event.
I twittered that after the Field to Form, that after one go
around—no seconds at all—I was so stuffed I felt like I was manpregnant.
At Dinner with a Twist, the cooler temperatures were a
relief. My first eat was my favorite of the night—Asian Box’s meatball. I had
seconds of that. They cater to the Gluten Free and Farm fresh tastes without
compromising tasty. Yumm.
That actually tied with Pinches Tacos—boy their Asada tacos
were good.
Rocio’s Mole de Los Dioses adventurous Shrimp and Strawberry
Mole dish was very odd.
But it got odder. Three restaurants joined together in
offering Octopus: Chichen Itza with their Octopus Tacos; The Blvd’s Paella Rice
Cake with Octopus; Raymond Restaurant’s summer salad with roasted octopus. The
latter had the longest line. They were really roasting them on a grill outside.
(I couldn’t bring myself to partake in any.)
But there were some who didn’t pay attention to heated food.
Public School 818’s Hoppy Baby Back Ribs was lukewarm. That was forgivable but
the sauce was bitter and salty—I commiserated with fellow diners/
Photo Taking was difficult because of the lack of light so I
started to take photos at the booth. I’ll have to do that for Sunday night.
By the end of Saturday, I was exhausted. And incredibly
full.
