July 21: Angeleno Mag's Live and Dine LA (+ 2012 recap)

Live and Dine LA is Angeleno Magazine's celebration of their Restaurant Issue, and it's always one of my favorite events, featuring LA's best restaurants at the beautiful Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows. This year's event will start at 4:30 pm on Sunday, July 21. Tickets are $95 and can be purchased on http://2013liveanddinela.eventbrite.com/. This year, the VIP ticket gets you two nights of extravaganza. The $250 VIP ticket (can be purchased here) gets you a four-course dinner made by Chefs Ray Garcia, Michael Voltaggio, and Ricardo Zarate with wine and cocktail pairing, and also admission to the main tasting event on July 21.

Live and Dine LA is more about quality rather than quantity, but there are still way more than enough food. Here are some my favorite bites from last year:
Blue Cow Kitchen and Bar served Mendocino's pork belly banh mi atop a banh xeo (Vietnamese "crepes")

Chef Ray Garcia from FIG served nose-to-tail pork tacos, displaying this impressive bowl of just that.

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July 22: Angeleno Magazine's Live and Dine LA (+ 2011 recap)

Live & Dine LA, the event celebrating Angeleno Magazine's Annual Restaurant Awards, is coming  back on July 22 to the Fairmont Miramar. It's not just an award show, which happens during the VIP reception, but the main event features tastings from various restaurants and liquor brands. Keep in mind that the many of the award winners will naturally be participating (plus other restaurants), and this is after all, the annual restaurant awards, so this will be a tasting of the best among the best.

The 2010 event was already great, but 2011 was probably twice the size, with the same kind of quality.

Last year's winner included Red Medicne, Sotto, Robata Jinya, mixologist Julian Cox, Roy Choi, and others.

FIG at the Fairmont Miramar is of course always participating. They brought out a whole roasted pig for some pork tacos. Hang around a bit and see if you can get some of the crispy skin!

The crab salad wrap from A-Frame (Best New Restaurant) was a crowd favorite, and I had to go back for seconds.

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