JW Marriot Gluten Free

During the Connected Car Expo at the JW Marriott LA Live, I saw that there were no salads or gluten free options for their boxed lunches. I requested one, and the serving manager was very accomodating.

I got a sandwich along with an apple. That's pretty it.

Pretty plain and pretty crumbly, not all gluten free meals have to be like this.

Ralph's Tailgate Event

Through the years of shopping--and believe me, I do shop a lot--I've gotten a few Ralph's Tailgate event tickets, earned through the purchase of participating items, mostly through the use of coupons. I always tossed them out, thinking it wasn't of interest to me.

At a recent Grand Opening of my local Ralphs store, I earned one of these again. And I went.

And it was fantastic. This year you can purchase $25 worth of participating products or pay $40 at the door ( minus $5 if you show them the Ralphs app on your phone). What you get is unlimited food and drinks from major companies such as Farmer Johns, Foster Farms, Coca Cola, Coors, etc. Procter and Gamble gives away samples with fan opportunities and freebies available as well. You can load up your bags with all the free food and take it with you. No one bats an eye. (On my first go, two ladies stood by the cupcake table commenting on how much a person took. Underscore: hung out at the cupcake table all day.

I even saw a homeless woman who probably searches for receipts on the ground--and I don't blame her--for those tickets. It's a great deal.

Hint: UCLA games at the Rose Bowl get far less people than that for the USC games. A shuttle takes you from near the Memorial Park Gold Line station to the Rose Bowl. I found a great parking space a couple of blocks away from the station and was able to take the shuttle back and forth so I could grab more stuff. They do run out of food more quickly at UCLA games but the time I went, they opened early and it was pretty empty when I arrived.

It's a great deal, and there are freebie opportunities outside of the tailgate. There are a bunch of tailgate events going on, some private, some first come, first serve, and some other booths you can walk up to. If you're at the Ralph's tailgate, I suggest bringing bags, And some of the companies like State Farm and Toyota will give you a bag for their free swag. Look for the Test Drive opportunities outside as well.

For Ralph's, there are In and Out priviliges.

Foster Farms is one of the sponsors. On the product checklist, it says "Select varieties." Calling the 800 call center yielded no help. But whole chickens and tray-ed chicken parts did generate points toward getting a ticket!!

Last one this year is for the UCLA-USC game.

It's a deal.

John Kelly Chocolates

I'm a fan of candy. Most anything candy. I can eat a whole bag by myself in less than half an hour without problem.

I appreciate good food but favor quantity over quality--with exceptions, of course.

John Kelly recently invited journalists to their small factory in Hollywood to showcase their Halloween offerings which included their Pumpkin Spice Truffle Fudge. It looked yummy in the factory. And I'm not saying it wasn't tasty at home.

But there's one thing I don't like about so -called high end chocolates: the utter bitterness of it. I want sweet. Maybe not to the point of "So sweet it hurts" but I don't get in to bitterness in chocolates. And with the chocolates that were included in the press gift bag, much of the chocolate was bitter.

The shaped skull for Halloween was incredibly hard to bite into. And it wasn't as tasty, sorry to say, as those chocolate rabbits you get during Easter. But it probably cost 10x the price.

Clearance holiday candy. That's what I'm about.

LA Times The Taste

The Saturday night event of LA Times The Taste was as good as a food festival can get. Superstar chef Ben Ford and Top Chef's Katsuji Tanaka excited fans, but the overwhelming favorite were lambchops from 10e Restaurant, an Armenian eatery in downtown LA.

Disappointment with the heat and the quality of the lunchtime events was a prevailing sentiment of the event. While Taste devotees pointed out that the weather was milder than last year, it was still undeniably hot. Sunday's BBQ themed event did nothing to cool down attendees, and it was reflected in the lower than normal turnout. But those who attended Saturday night were not disappointed.

Hosted by Times Restaurant Critic Jonathan Gold; Jenn Harris, Times Deputy Food Editor, Chef Michael Fiorelli of Love & Salt, and Master Bartender Vincenzo Maríanella, Saturday's Dinner with a Twist had so many great eats, it was food heaven.

Mi Piace offered up beautiful Smoked Salmon Strata as well as Braised Beef Short Ribs.

As reported from LA Food and Wine Festival, pork was in. But Doomie's Home Cookin brought vegan BBQ "Pork."

Sure there was plenty of pig to go around with one of my favorites, Ben Ford offering Pulled Pork tacos. The chef brought several whole pigs to go around.

Hopefully that will help the reporter who asked for his business card recognize him next year. What with a Ford's Filling Station at LAX and a bestselling cookbook, Chef Ford is #morethanjusthansolosson.

Tipple and Brinbe had no compunction about bragging about their marinated clams.
But you know what? They were right.

Loteria Grill handed out beautiful Tacos de Chiles en Nogada.

Saturday's lunchtime event highlights were:
Kye's BBQ Pork Mini Kyerito filled with Slow Roasted Heluka Pork Shoulder, White Rice/Quinoa Blend, and Poppy Seed Fennel and Cabbage slaw wrapped in a collard green.

M Cafe's beautiful Hijiki and Mizuna Inari with Pickled Burdock and Daikon.

Cafe Del Rey's yummilicious mushroom creations especially their Mushroom Pate.

Asian Box never disappoints, and they certainly didn't with their lamb meatballs.

 

I could eat Pedalers Fork's Skuna Bay Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs forever.

Sunday offered fewer pleasures but saving graces were
Ocean Prime Beverly Hills' Crab Cocktail

Asian Box's Chicken-Ginger Porridge (jook/congee)

and 10E's Lamb sliders.
(wouldn't you know it--I dived in before I could take a photo which is very common at food shows!)

LA Times The Taste: Ocean Prime Beverly Hills Crab Cocktail

Anyone who knows how to use seaweed gets my endorsement. Ocean Prime Beverly Hills brought their crab cocktail to LA Times The Taste. The base was fresh seaweed in sesame seed oil, always refreshing. Topped with pineapple and pickled mango, the cocktail was a cooling reprieve from the heat.

LA Times The Taste: Stella needs to Get Her Chill Back

What was up with Stella Artois? Uptight, veering toward tyrannical, the Stella presence at LA Times The Taste definitely didn't fit with the groove. First there was the anal cheese selector/beer sommelier Marc Stroobandt who demanded that guests have a beer in their hand before getting a cube of cheese. He barked at the female pourers, "Cidre!" as if they were his slaves. I've never seen someone so uppity because he cuts cheese. What an ass.

Then at the end of the event when all guests wanted were some of the glassware discards, the idiot volunteer made people join the beer line. "Chef rules." The thing is the chefs had abandoned the booth long ago.

Get over the rigidity, Stella. Otherwise, you're just sour and flat.

Sunday LAFW Programming Update

For those of you wondering about the unrevealed Sunday programming for the Los Angeles Food and Wine Festival, it is now up on the website. Limited to 18 guests, Legendary Champagne Krug will be paired with a decadent tasting of Black River Caviar

Tickets should go fast so hurry and book your day of decadence.

Garden of Life Raw Meal

I've been eating from this humongous jar of meal replacement powder I got from Natural Products Expo West. Big plus: it's Gluten Free. I may have gotten it in 2014 but never felt the need to utilize it. But as my foot increasingly goes beyond 4/5 in the grave, metaboloism slows.

While it's tasty and a good snack, it doesn't replace anything. I'm sure that has nothing to do with this particular item. For me, it doesn't fill me up. It's a good appetizer, I suppose. And I didn't tire of it. Some days I actually craved it. But I commiserate with those who rely on these replacement shakes. If they're anything like me, they'd still be hungry.

Homewood Liberty Station Gluten Free

Here's something new this year for breakfast at the Homewood Liberty Station San Diego.

They're the same sausage patties they've always served but now they write that they're gluten free. I'm not sure whether that means the sausages and other stuff aren't gluten free, but I was glad to see they're conscious of people's allergies.

Special shout out to Angela who was the sweetest person. They need to put up a tip jar somewhere. I left money on the table and on the counter. I'm sure someone swiped it.

EZC Pack Not Easy

I was introduced to EZC Pak at the Natural Products Expo West. I was told that it would defend against some pretty virulent strains such as hospital borne diseases. Hyperbole is an inherent component of exhibitor conduct at large scale expos such as NPEW so I didn't completely disregard the product.

Come Comic-Con 2015, I thought I'd give it a try since it states that it's a 5-day Tapered Immune Support Pack. I don't even know what that means, but since SDCC is 5 days long, I thought I'd give it a try. Turns out you have to pop pills for 5 days.

The first day you pop 2--an Echinacea capsule and Zinc capsule--every six hours. Day 2 is every 8 hours then follow that up with every 12 hours until the supply is gone. And then what? What supposedly happens? It doesn't support your immune system for 5 days; it's a five-day regimen which is pretty difficult to sustain. Yes, I want to wake up or stop my day to take 2 pills every six hours. And why would I want to take that many pills?

I couldn't keep the schedule. Although I didn't get sick, I wouldn't necessarily blame or attribute sickness to the pills I did take.