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.