April 6: Ninth Ultimate Wine Festival in Manhattan Beach (and 2013 Recap)

If you're looking for a wine event filled with big names like Opus One and Silver Oak, then you should consider the Ultimate Wine Festival, coming up on April 6, 2014 at The Shade Hotel in Manhattan Beach. 

The event costs $125 pp with tastings from 3-6pm, or $200 to get into the Reserve Magnum Tasting from 2-6pm. Considering the ticket price of some of these wines, it's a pretty good value if you enjoy your wines!

There are around 50 wineries participating in all. Last year, I found old favorites like The Prisoner and Faust ...

... and ome new ones including Villa Creek from Paso Robles, who makes Rhone varietals, and Chappellet from Napa.

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Ascendant Spirits, Santa Barbara's First Craft Distillery

Beers and even wines are aplenty in the lands of Southern California, but we're not exactly known for our distilleries. Not yet, anyway, but craft distilleries like Ascendant Spirits are looking to change that.

Ascendant Spirits, which is located in Buellton, is the first craft distillery (after prohibition) in the Santa Barbara area, producing moonshine, bourbon, and vodka.

I think the headliner of their products is the Breaker Bourbon. Even to drink on its own, I liked Breaker. It was smooth and balanced with enough sweetness and complexity to keep you sipping. There are notes of chocolate along with honey and spices. The bourbon, which is aged for 5 years, recently won the gold medal for Best American Bourbon that's aged less than 7 years form World Whiskies Award!

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Piedmontese Beef for Korean BBQ at Star King BBQ

There's a new star of Korean BBQ in Koreatown. Star King BBQ has actually been open for a while, but a recent change of ownership led to the kbbq joint being the only Korean restaurant and one of the few places in Los Angeles offering Piedmontese beef. The new owner Jackie Yoo is the daughter of a meat distributor, so she knows where to get the good stuff.

Not just the Piedmontese, but Star King is possibly also the only place in town serving the tomahawk rib eye of the Piedmontese. This is what put the restaurant on the heat map, and you have to admit, the presentation is rather impressive!

All the bbq is cooked over charcoal grill, and you'll find plenty of banchans, from the typical to the more unusual.

Instead of the potato salad, you'll find sweet potato salad along with pancakes.

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