Dine Out at LA Restaurant Oct 7-14 to Help Puerto Rico with LA Loves Puerto Rico

I think we all know by now how devastating Hurricane Maria had been for the island (and US territory!) of Puerto Rico and how much more help they still need.
Most of the people in Puerto Rico don't have access to clean water, shelter, and power.

If you're unsure of how to help, there are plenty of ways. In fact, there's a very easy way. Just go out and do what you normally do - go out to eat and drink at 100s of LA restaurants next week, from October 7-14. Just be sure to order certain special dishes, where these LA restaurants and bars and their great chefs and mixologists have pledged 100% of the proceeds from those items to Unidos por Puerto Rico for a campaign called LA Loves PR.

Unidos Por Puerto Rico / United for Puerto Rico is an initiative brought forth by the First Lady of Puerto Rico, Beatriz Rosselló, in collaboration with the private sector, with the purpose of providing aid and support to those affected in Puerto Rico by the passage of the hurricanes.

There are more than 85 establishments participating and offering great special dishes and drinks - because our LA peeps are awesome. You can find the full list here.

As an example: the coconut rice pudding with mango passionfruit sorbet at Woodley Proper.

Photo credit: Jakob Lyaman

Other participating restaurants include Georgie, Miro, Lucques, Sotto, Rossoblu, The Bazaar by Jose Andres, and many more. Seriously, just take a look.

There are some nice cocktails on the list, too, like this Pearl Diver from Accomplice Bar made with Puerto Rican rum, guava, and Gaby's secret Gardenia Mix.

photo credit: Accomplice Bar

You'll find cocktail specials at Commerson, Cana Rum Bar, Barcito, Harvard and Stone, and others.

I urge you, Angelenos, and anyone visiting the city next week. Eat and drink every day, as much as you can, and order these dishes/ drinks. It's for a good - and much needed - cause.

Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit Food Festival Returns Tomorrow (Oct 3, 2017)

The Forbes Under 30 Summit in Boston has been underway since this weekend. The summit gathers 7000 "young leaders" and present motivation panels, pitch contests, as well as music and food festivals. Tomorrow (October 3) will be this year's food festival. The food festival features young notable chefs from the 30 Under 30 list and they will compete for the title of America's Best Young Chef (there are two categories: the Judges' Choice and Audience Choice).

I attended last year's Forbes Under 30 Food Festival, which again featured some great young chefs from all over the world. Here are some of my favorite bites from the Forbes 30 Under 30 Food Festival last year:

This beef and truffle donut - probably my favorite of the night - from Henry Herbert of Hobbs House Bakery a.k.a. The Fabulous Baker Brothers in United Kingdom


Seaweed pie from Toni Toivanen of the Scandinavian pop-up restaurant Sandladan. While they ran out of the seaweed tartlets, I still loved the custard - made of fermented egg yolk and lobster brains (yes), topped with poached lobster and ants.


Eel kabayaki with black puffed rice from La Cime in Osaka, Japan


This year's Forbes 30 Under 30 honorees competing in the food festival / cook-off include:
 Andrew Chmielewski (Dave’s Sweet Tooth, Ferndale, MI), Alexandra Clark, (Bon Bon Bon, Detroit), Simon Davies (Chef de Cuisine at Alinea, Chicago), Zachary Engel (Chef de Cuisine at Shaya Restaurant, New Orleans), Kelvin Fernandez (Executive Chef at La Marina, New York) – defending 2016 “America’s Best Young Chef – Audience Choice” winner, Christian Pettersen (Head Chef at Mondo, Norway), Kwame Onwuachi (Chef & Owner at The Shaw Bijou, Washington, DC), Henry Herbert (TV Personality from The Fabulous Baker Brothers, United Kingdom) – defending 2016 “America’s Best Young Chef – Judge’s Choice” winner, and more.

The food festival will be held tomorrow, Oct 3, 2017 from 6-10 pm at JFK Library in Boston. The food festival is open only to holders of VIP and all-access passes to the 2017 Forbes Under 30 Summit.

Earl's Kitchen + Bar Heats Up the Prudential Center

Earls Kitchen + Bar is a Canadian-based restaurant chain that has made its way to a number of US cities. I haven't had the chance to check any of them out before, but I was recently invited to the opening party of the new location at The Prudential Location.

What I was surprised to see, and one of the coolest part of Earls at The Pru is the Cocktail Lab downstairs, where they will feature guest bartenders from all around the city.

The Goddess Manhattan, created by one of the restaurant's regular bartenders, was one of the bloggers' favorites of the night.

Other rotating bartenders who was also behind the bar that night were Will Isaza and Melinda Johnson-Maddox. I'm definitely excited about coming back to check out the Cocktail Lab and see who's behind the bar!                                                                                                                               

We also tried some bites off the menu during the party, including the Spicy Tuna Sushi Press (spicy soy marinated tuna, chives, nori, avocado, pickled ginger pressed on sushi rice, topped with sriracha mayo)

The tuna was served aburi-style, a.k.a. seared.

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