East LA Meets Napa Returns Big

East LA Meets Napa, the annual fundraiser benefiting AltaMed, is a special event for Los Angeles. Not only does it raise money for free quality healthcare for those who need it the most, it is the only event of its caliber that gathers Latin restaurants around town and Latino-owned or operated wineries of California under the same roof.

Well, technically there's no roof.

East LA Meets Napa is held at the courtyards of Union Station
There are two connected courtyards at Union Station and while last year's event occupied only one of them, this year they expanded to both and even filling up the adjoining hallway.

There's even a mariachi band making its way around the event.
As wine kept flowing, people started to salsa on and in front of the stage.

The evening started with a VIP reception at Traxx, which had more wine tasting - some of which were also available at the main event. This year's event is also special since in accordance with Mexico's bicentennial anniversary, they also had wineries from Baja's Valle de Guadalupe participating, along with guest chef Patricia Quintana from restaurant Izote in Mexico City.

There were plenty of Napa cabs, but at the VIP reception we also got to try a sweet blend of late harvest grapes from Ceja.

I had my first tastes of Cook's Tortas. It's not the full experience but a great teaser, using the same bread they use in their regular tortas. I'll be making it out there soon.

It would be impossible to go through everything, but here are some highlights:

Wild boar & duck carnitas from Cacao Mexicatessen

Chapulines (grasshopper) tostada from La Huasteca

These weren't as good as Guelaguetza's chapulines but it was fun having my friends try them for the first time.

Golden gazpacho with poached shrimp and Israeli couscous from Setá

Various desserts from Porto's Bakery

There were more of course, here's a slideshow of the others:

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery: Westside's New Grab & Go Breakfast and Lunch

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery recently opened up shop in an office building on Santa Monica Blvd, just next to the 405. Their menu offers salads, sandwiches, soups, and of course baked goods. Perfect for the office worker.

You can either order from the computer kiosks or go to an actual person at the register. For the busy workers, they take orders online so you can just come and pick it up right away.

They will validate for 1 hour parking so you can enjoy your quick meal in the dining room.
I knew nothing about Specialty's before, but apparently this San Francisco-founded-and-based business now has 30 stores in California, Washington State, and Illinois. Being a bakery, they also make everything from scratch.

Specialty's has actually partnered with Peet's Coffee and there is always a Peet's inside each Specialty's store serving your drinks. I tried the Jasmine Lime iced tea which I actually really liked. I've been meaning to return to a Peet's soon to have this again, especially now that the real summer is underway.
I was invited to their pre-launch party where we were given $10 to spend. I came for breakfast so I decided to try one of their breakfast sandwiches: the Southwestern Egg & Cheese Breakfast Sandwich.
Made with their ciabatta roll and cheddar, their eggs are mixed in with salsa, peppers, and corn. The toasted ciabatta was light with a nice crunchy crust, but the overall combination with the egg was too dry for my taste. I couldn't taste the salsa and I do think either the eggs could be cooked less or use more cheese. I did like the flavor that the corn added. Well, I just like corn.

The triple chocolate mini bundt cake ($2.49) on the other hand was so moist and rich. I loved the strong chocolate flavor.
They were also passing out bites of other baked goods, including their brownies (try their Lover's Lane brownie for something decadent. I really enjoyed this double fudge brownie topped with coconut and walnut).

Specialty's is really gearing up for people to pre-order on the phone and online. All the phone calls are directed to a central line - you won't get people actually working at your location picking up the phone, they need to be busy serving their customers. It's an interesting model, but hey, online orders are convenient. For those working in the area, it's a welcome addition to Zankou and Yoshinoya. I'd be grabbing some bundt cake or brownie and a cup of Peet's iced tea from time to time.

Specialty's Cafe & Bakery
11150 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(877) 502-2837
www.specialtys.com

Honolulu: Searching for Poke In the Back of a Liquor Store

They were confused when I pulled into the parking lot of Tamura's Fine Wine & Liquor. I told them we were getting poke - I didn't tell them where we were going. Who would've guessed that a liquor store sells poke? But they sure do, enter and turn right to the back and you'll find a deli case filled with about a dozen poke selection.
I wouldn't have known that Tamura's liquor store sells poke - and very good ones at that - either if it wasn't for OishiiEats' blog post. While Food, She Thought preferred Ono Seafood's poke, those two places seemed to be the favorites. My navigation skill was too poor to find Ono Seafood, so I could only try Tamura's this time around.

It was hard to choose among so many varieties, or even to figure out how much I would need to get full, but they do let you sample pretty much everything. I ended up getting the Ahi with Tamura sauce which was a slightly sweet, teriyaki-like sauce.
This seems to be a pretty classic preparation and the ahi was very fresh. Compared to the other two that I got, though, this doesn't stand out.

We also got the Tako Limu (seaweed) which I enjoyed quite a bit.
The octopus was cooked perfectly and had a great texture. It was seasoned just right - no overwhelming saltiness that covered up the freshness of the octopus itself. The best part, however, was the texture combination of the chewy but tender tako and the "slimy-crunch" of the seaweed.

My vote for best poke of the day goes out to the Ahi Sea Asparagus.
The saltiness of the sea asparagus carried a very special flavor that complements the fresh ahi very well. Think lightly salted fresh ahi with extra textural support. Combined with the macadamia bits they make an amazing poke.

Since I haven't tried Ono Seafood's poke, I can't say if this is "the best" in Honolulu or not, but you can't go wrong with Tamura. Grab two or three tubs of poke and you'd be more than satisfied.

Tamura's Fine Wine & Liquors
3496 Waialae Avenue, Honolulu
(808) 735-7100