Saturday July 20: Support Torrance Memorial, Attend Evening Under the Stars

Los Angeles is not the only one with food festivals, South Bay has their own, too. Hosted by American Honda at its Torrance campus, Evening Under the Stars gathers some of the best in South Bay restaurants while raising funds for Torrance Memorial Medical Center. Disneyland Resort Sommeliers will be serving 80 different wines while educating the guests and saxophonist Kenny G will be the entertainment of the night.

Some of the restaurants and bars that will be there include Alpine Village, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Gonpachi at Miyako Hybrid Hotel, Jackson’s Food & Drink, Nothing Bundt Cakes,  Ortega 120, Riboli Family Wine Estates, and The Strand House.

The festival will take place from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $150 per person, $250 per pair or $4,000 for table sponsors (10 guests per table) and can be purchased by calling the Chamber at 310-540-5858, the Torrance Memorial Health Care Foundation at 310-517-4703, or by visiting www.TorranceMemorial.org.
Tickets can only be purchased online until noon, Friday July 19.

Neal Fraser Serves Up Gourmet Hot Dogs at Fritzi Dog (The Original Farmers Market, Los Angeles)

I usually shy away from the processed meat that is hot dog, but Chef Neal Fraser (BLD) changed my perception with his gourmet hot dogs at Fritzi Dog, all made with humanely-raised, organic meat. There's a dog for everyone at this stand inside The Original Farmers Market.

You can build your own by choosing one of the many options: Porker Dog (pork with French spices and curry), Deli Dog (classic Kosher style all beef dog), Bird Dog (turkey and duck with mesquite), Stadium Dog (smoky pork and beef), Cali Dog (beef, pork, spicy Merguez and Chilean Merken), and for the vegetarians there's the Carrot Dog. You can get the original bun or switch it up with the pretzel bun, and they have something for the gluten-free folks, too.
Overwhelmed by the choice of toppings? Try one of the signature creations. Most of the dogs are $6.25 or $8.95 as a combo with fries or tots. There are a couple of special ones that cost more.

The signature dogs include fun flavors like the Tokyo Dog (Porker Dog, wasabi aioli, peas, Sriracha ketchup, nori )

Finishing touches like the crispy pea crumbles make Neal Fraser's hot dogs extra special. The dogs are all great, with a nice snap to them, but if I have to pick a favorite it might be the Cali Dog!

My favorite signature dog was the Garlic Dog (Cali dog on pretzel bun, garlic aioli, crispy onions)

One big reason is probably because I love garlic! But I also love the slightly chewier pretzel bun and the flavors of the Cali dog.

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Kyushu & Okinawa Fair at Mitsuwa, Back on July 18-21

I love going to Mitsuwa during their various regional fairs and the Kyushu and Okinawa Fair is returning on July 18-21, featuring some very fun food items. They sell most of the stuff at all the Mitsuwa Marketplace locations including Costa Mesa and San Diego, but the most complete one is Torrance (check out this page to see which store is selling what)

My favorite from last time was the caramel pudding with cream in a choux pastry! They're not doing the caramel one this year but they'll have a strawberry pudding in a choux pastry :D I'll definitely be trying that.

Last year they had tonkotsu ramen from Ramen Tatsuno-ya but unfortunately they'll only be in San Jose this time around. Instead, we'll have Hakata Nagahama Ramen from Tanaka Shoten.

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