Curtis Stone + Mike Lata Dinner For #MoreFarmers

Chef Curtis Stone will host Chef Mike Lata (FIG Restaurant and The Ordinary, Charleston) at Maude Restaurant in Beverly Hills for a one-night-only special guest-chef fundraiser dinner to benefit the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC) on Saturday, February 27, 2016. The 12-course dinner will feature six dishes from each chef, inspired by potatoes - February's headlining ingredient at Maude. This inaugural guest chef dinner at Maude serves as the first in a series that Chef Stone will host throughout 2016 to benefit NYFC. Tickets for this #MoreFarmers dinner are available now through Maude's reservation system for $375 per seat, which includes wine pairing. 

The National Young Farmers Coalition's goal is to help the next generation of farmers to enter the field by adding 25,000 new farmers to American agriculture by 2022. Currently, only six percent of farmers are under the age of 35. The organization was founded in 2010 by a group of young farmers who realized that they and their peers were facing huge challenges: difficulty securing loans, lack of access to affordable farmland, and student debt. They decided to build a national coalition of farmers, ranchers, and consumers to represent and mobilize the next generation of farmers.

After learning the facts about the future of the farming industry, Chef Curtis Stone was inspired to dedicate time and resources to raise awareness and funds for NYFC. Through this 2016 guest-chef dinner series, he will host some of the industry's leading chefs who share his sense of urgency in ensuring that our farmers of the future can thrive.

"Fig Restaurant has become one of my favorite restaurants in the country, and I'm so grateful to Mike for coming out to cook with me at Maude," said Chef Stone. "As chefs, the challenges and risks that farmers face will also impact our livelihood. But as citizens, these issues will have a significant impact on the future of our food system if we can't help enact change that will lead to resources for them, now."

Two thirds of all farmland will transition ownership over the next 25 years, and without a new generation of farmers to take over ownership and management of America's family farms, farmland will likely be sold to investors and developers, consolidated and managed by large corporations, or fall out of production altogether. As a result, consumers will have fewer choices about the food they buy, and how it is grown, and our food system as a whole will be more vulnerable. The next generation is interested in farming, but there are a number of barriers that stand in their way.

The February 27th dinner will focus on one of the crucial issues that has kept future farmers and ranchers from entering agriculture: student loan debt. Graduating from college with debt, future farmers are finding that they either cannot afford to farm while paying down their loans, or that they are prevented from leveraging capital to start and grow a farming business.

Fortunately, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program was created in 2007 to help people enter professions that provide a public good, but offer salaries too limited to manage student loan debt. Currently, this program covers teachers, nurses, doctors, public interest attorneys, government employees and non-profit professionals. The National Young Farmers Coalition is asking Congress to pass legislation that adds farming to the list of professions covered by the program.

"A shortage of farmers is one of the most serious threats facing America's food system today. There are thousands of young people seeking out farming as a career, but they face real barriers," said NYFC Executive Director and Co-Founder, Lindsey Lusher Shute. "We are very excited that Chef Curtis Stone and his guest chefs are joining us to elevate the importance of these issues." 

To learn more about the National Young Farmers Coalition and their efforts to ensure that we have #MoreFarmers, go to www.YoungFarmers.org.

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.