Tom's Urban Opens at L.A. Live

by: guest blogger @iam_robot

The newest lineup on the bright lights of LA Live is quite distinct from any of its neighbors. Far from the glitz of Fleming’s or Wolfgang Puck’s Bar & Grill, Tom’s Urban seeks to whip up multi-ethnic and contemporary cuisines utilizing the freshest ingredients. With its expansive space and state of the art décor, Tom’s Urban is definitely a cozy hangout spot offering a fully stocked bar of liquor, beer and wine, gourmet bar food and comfort food.

Opening its door from 6:30 am – 2:00 am (no, that's not a type, they open at 6:30 in the morning), founder Tom Ryan is pushing the concept of small plates where guests can eat and drink before or after a game at the Staples Center. Now if you’re not familiar with Tom Ryan, his resume is quite impressive. He’s the brain behind the Smashburger, Mcdonald’s Value Menu, Mcgriddle and many other innovative fast food favorites. Though many of the dishes at Tom’s Urban can’t be categorized as fast food, Tom makes a promise that all the food ordered will be served within 6 to 8 minutes span.

Overall, the menu is customized to cater many different personalities. For those who prefer to eat light, they have small plates along with fancy omelets and benedicts. And those who prefer heartier meals could opt for Macaroni and cheese, pizza, soft tacos, salads, burgers and many other diner favorites. Craft beers and fun cocktails are served all day.

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Giveaway! Tickets to PPLA Food Fare on March 6

The annual Food Fare raises fund for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles. 97% of PPLA's services include screenings for cancer, STDs, and the like. I personally support it and am therefore happy to tell you that this year's PPLA Food Fare is coming up on Thursday, March 6!

This year's events will take place at The Barker Hangar in Santa Monica and as usual there will be a day session (starting at 10:30 am) which costs $150 and an evening session (starting at 6:30 pm) which costs $250. Of course, all the proceeds benefit PPLA. You can purchase the tickets here and might want to hurry, looks like tickets are running low!

This year's notable participating restaurants include Chi Spacca, Star King Korean BBQ, Mexikosher, Lucques, Superba, Salt's Cure, Hamasaku, and many more. On the liquid side, there will be Kreation Juicery, Caffe Luxxe, Golden Road Brewery, and many wineries. There will be vendors so you can go shopping, along with fun silent auction items.

Let me get to the best part: PPLA is generously giving away a pair of tickets to the Food Fare!


The tickets will be for the evening session ($500 value) although if you prefer to attend the day session, you just have to say the word.

You can enter using the form below by midnight on Thursday, Feb 27th.
Just a note: some people click that they've tweeted but actually did not. I will randomly check entries and if you actually did not perform the action, I will remove that entry.
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Giveaway! World of Wine Passports to 35 Temecula Wineries

World of Wine is Temecula Valley's annual barrel tasting event, where attendees can go to the cellars of 35 different wineries to get barrel samples, along with partaking in food and wine pairings that each winery has set up. It's a self guided tour: each winery will stamp your passport as you go through them, and you can hit as many of the 35 as you want (or can)! This year, WoW is taking place on Saturday-Sunday, March 1-2, 2014.

You can get a 2-day ticket for $99, allowing you more time to visit the wineries (some will have live music so you may want to linger and enjoy), or a Sunday-only ticket for $79. You can purchase the tickets here (and might want to consider their shuttle service as well)

The food and wine pairings look pretty enticing, check out some of them:

    •    Baily Vineyard is serving 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon with Beef Bourguignon; plus Parisian Apple Cake with warm caramel sauce and late harvest Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon whipped cream.

    •    Bel Vino is serving 2005 Prima Port - a limited-production Zinfandel dessert wine - paired with chocolate mousse tart topped with raspberries
    •    Callaway is serving 2012 Winemaker's Reserve Roussanne (pre-release) with Sage Mountain Farms organic beef meatloaf topped with bacon & apple chutney; plus rock shrimp and leek-mousse stuffed mushrooms.
    •    Danza Del Sol is serving 2011 Tempranillo with roasted chicken, topped with a seared lemon glaze over sun-dried tomato orzo.
    •    Falkner Winery is serving 2009 Meritage with a surf & turf burger slider (Black Angus beef, sauteed lobster, Boursin cheese) and a grilled octopus greek salad
    •    Miramonte is serving 2012 Bin 380 signature red blend with Moroccan-spiced braised chicken over saffron rice pilaf 

I did say this was a giveaway post ...

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