Come Join Me at Vroman's in Pasadena on 6/10 for the Release of LA Mexicano. It's an LA Mexicano Party!

5th Los Angeles Food and Wine, August 27-30 Brings Top Chefs, Wine and the Roots to Downtown LA

The 5th Los Angeles Food and Wine Festival begins this afternoon through Sunday with 2 dozen food events featuring the best chefs in town and some top chefs from around the country thrown in, plus plenty of seasonal wines to toast to the end of summer the start of the big event season. This year     has a few surprises in store to add a little funk and spice in the mix.

The Roots will be featured this year as the marquee musical act and I'm happy to report that we're going to see participation this year by a pair of Alta California chefs, Ray Garcia and Carlos Salgado, to properly represent L.A.'s top Latino chefs. The Night Market, a popular event at LA Food and Wine will showcase the who's who of our young Asian-American chef scene with chefs like Perry Cheung, Jet Tila, Alvin Cailan, Chris Oh and Tin Vuong.

It's the most star studded food event in Los Angeles and always a great time to get to know some of the restaurants you've not visited--Union, Alimento, Slapfish and Birch are on my short list--while sipping white wine in the heart of the city's restaurant scene--Downtown LA.

Los Angeles Food and Wine, Downtown LA, August 27-30, lafw.com for tickets and event information

Dine LA, Summer 2013 Edition is Better Than Ever: Date Night, Indulge, New, and Ethnic Dining

Braised veal and bone marrow agnolotti at Scarpetta

Dine LA's Restaurant Week(July 15-26) began yesterday--it's on right this minute--and it's better than ever. I'm a writer for Dine LA, but have been a Dine LAer years before I ever wrote a story for the current administrator, Stacey Sun. Under her watch Dine LA has grown by leaps and bounds.

Dine LA is about supporting our city, and getting to know its flavors and charms on a dime--its about promoting Los Angeles cuisine to the world--L.A. is the undisputed king of global dining. We have a wealth of international enclaves that have cuisines that are as authentic--in many cases--as can be found abroad. We have fine dining, and we have a rising number of world class chefs opening casual restaurants that feature bold, inventive plates in a more inclusive setting.


Lots of fine dining in NYC, and San Francisco?--Tired! We have it all-- dining luxury for all walks and all pocket books.


Restaurant Week has it all--all that is great about dining in Los Angeles. Here are some suggestions from my own tried and true experiences in the town that never sleeps? No--in L.A. we get our beauty sleep so we can get up and do it again, and again.