Don't Forget: Savor the Season

Don't forget to join Savor the Season this Sunday, benefiting Break The Cycle, the leading organization that raises awareness and provides support for teen victims of domestic violence!

Featuring food and wine, and live and silent auctions, this event should be fun fun!
Here's the chef lineup:
Aaron Robins, Boneyard Bistro
Michael McDonald & Renee Ward, Brix@1601
Lisa Field & Corinna Conti, Catering by Field
Gerardo Ochoa, El Cholo Los Angeles
Bijan Shokatfard, Geoffrey’s
Chad Minton, Jer-Ne at The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey
Scott Floyd, Salt Creek Grille
Gautam Chaudhry, Tanzore
Nano Crespo, Tasca Wine Bar

(Check out LA&OC's post for what they are serving!)

And if you guys want to splurge to get into the VIP Tasting Garden ($250, but it's for a good cause!), here's a list of what I think are the highlights:
Andrew's Cheese Shop - I've heard great things about this place recently
Beverly Hills Caviar - Caviar ... mmm
Girl Meets Grapes (Bonnie Graves) - a champagne tasting
Ventura Limoncello Original - I have such a weak spot for limoncello ...

WHEN: Sunday, September 21, 2008
6 to 9 p.m

WHERE: Vibiana, 210 S. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
A former cathedral, the luxurious and elegant Vibiana elevates events with sophisticated ambiance. For more information and photos, visit www.vibianala.com.

VGT Omnivore's Hundred: My Turn!

I've been wanting to do the VGT Omnivore's Hundred list for a while ... but I cheated and waited until AFTER I ate bugs! So here goes:

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile - Well, I had gator tail (Garlic Fest), does that count?
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - loves my plum wine
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream - pistachio? I've even had basil ice cream!
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries - a friend picked one near the Palace of the Legion of Honors in SF ..
23. Foie gras - like, all the time ..
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda - Hmm .. no but it sounds good
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - First trip to SF ... did all the touristy stuff
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar -I also don't and will never smoke. But I do like cognac ..
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects - Very recently, see it here.
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu - No ... can't decide yet if I should ..
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal - I go for the fillet o' fish ..
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV - Maybe? Like what?
59. Poutine - didn't know what this was, but looks appealing on Wikipedia.
60. Carob chips - Why would you eat these by themselves?
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin - maybe as a part of a stomach Chinese stomach medicine
64. Currywurst - haven't heard of it, but from the name, it sounds delicious.
65. Durian - Ohh My favorite!! What can I say, I'm Indonesian!
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis -
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu - Could barely hold a sip.
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant - Le Bernardin in NY
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare - Well, I had rabbit?
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee - me no really drinkie coffee ...
100. Snake - I had rattle snake, also at garlic fest ..

Wow seems like I've got quite few left too go ..

Taste of Santa Monica - A Taste and More

So I went to the Annual Taste of Santa Monica this past weekend after getting $20 tix from Goldstar. I thought with $20 it seems worth a try! There were a lot of different little things everywhere but I will just give you a sampling of what was there - I didn't visit every booth and didn't take photos of everything I visited either!

The type and amount of food they give you there vary a lot, and so did the lines. Some booths had a really long line, like the one serving oysters and also this crepe booth:
Acadie Hand Crafted French Crepes:
Buckwheat crepes with mozzarela tomato and basil; and also one with Nutella
The filling was nothing spectacular as you can see, but I did like the buckwheat crepe. Different and gave a bolder taste than normal crepes.

While waiting in the long line for crepe, I sustained myself with a panini I grabbed from the not-so-crowded booth next to it:

Chicken pesto panini from Panini Garden.

Decent panini - bread was pretty nice. A decent-sized portion too I may add. We grabbed one and it was enough for two.



I loved the Green corn tamales from El Cholo.
This was a sweet tamale filled with cheddar, cheese, and ortega chili.
I really liked the sweetness of it and thought it worked well also with the cheese (although the cheese is not evenly distributed, but oh well).

They gave you a regular sized tamale, which really started to fill me up!

Shrimp and seabass cevice from The Lobster
Not bad .... I guess? I just came back from Peru so I have high expectations for my ceviche, and this one doesn't quite cut it. Also, too much onion.

The mussels from i cugini.

This was hit or miss. I got two mussels and one was practically a shrunken little thing, while the other was a nice, plump juicy piece.



Prosciutto melone fromIl Fornaio
A nice little combination and easy to just grab and eat. The prosciutto was just okay, but the whole thing was pretty refreshing. (There's only one place giving out drinks here so any ice cream/gelato/fruit booths were a blessing for me!)

Chilled shrimp with arugula, and tomato black olive relish
from Cezanne @ Le Merigot
The shrimp was big, fresh and crisp. Nice texture and refreshing taste!

The most fun part of the festival was probably watching the "Molecular Ice Cream Lab" where they make ice cream in these kitchen aid mixers using dry ice:
The ice cream was tangy and the different "flavors" didn't really come out, mostly due to the dry ice which gives it that tangy flavor.
But it was still such a fun addition to the festival!

Of course, we didn't manage to get seconds ... we didn't end up filling up our card and there were still quite a few booths we didn't visit. Oh well. We were full though and for $20 Goldstar tickets, the event was well worth it. Not sure if I would pay $40 though! Maybe if I didn't have to go to the BBQ fest ....

You will probably end up having to buy drinks - they have a full bar and already prepared a hundred cups filled with muddled mint for mojitos!