Great Taste Magazine

The Laguna Beach Visitors & Conference Bureau will host its second annual culinary event, ‘Laguna Beach a la Carte – A Food & Wine Experience,’ Thursday–Sunday, March 8-11, 2012. Guests will experience world-class cuisine, prix-fixe menus, chefs tables, educational seminars, cooking demonstrations, food & wine pairings and special offers by local restaurateurs … taking place at various locations over four special days.

"Laguna Beach has recently welcomed several new restaurants to town, which will add to our already impressive culinary offerings,” said Judith Bijlani,President & CEO of the Laguna Beach Visitors & Conference Bureau.This event is a culmination of food and wine experiences throughout town, and is anchored by the signature event on Saturday, March 10: a three-hour celebration on the Festival of Arts grounds, benefitting CHOC Children’s Hospital. Wine tastings presented by Laguna Culinary Arts and vintners from regions throughout California, culinary samplings from many Laguna Beach restaurants, live entertainment, and an art exhibitare all part of the festivities planned. This event is expected to draw 1,000+ people.

“We will showcase the best-of-the-best with a four-day celebration, by bringing people together to enjoy inventive cuisine paired with superb wine offerings," saidKaryn Philippsen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Laguna Beach Visitors &Conference Bureau.

Detailed information to come at www.lagunabeachfoodies.com.

We want to celebrate with you the bounty of harvest with good food, music and new wine releases. This is a party not to be missed!

WHEN: November 19th, 2011 5pm-9:30pm

WHERE:Coquelicot Estate Vineyard Red Barn Solvang, CA

Advance reservations and ticket purchases required: $79 per person

Coquelicot Estate Vineyard Red Barn,
CA-93463
805-688-1500
www.coquelicotwines.com

CuisineType : BBQ

MALAYSIAN CUISINE IS THE STAR AT NOVEMBER’S ART WALK IN DOWNTOWN LA

Come this Thursday, November 10th, to Makan-Makan at Downtown LA Art Walk, presented by Malaysia Kitchen Los Angeles!

"Makan-Makan" is Malay for "let's eat!" Malaysian food is a reflection of Malaysian culture – a vibrant mix of ethnic Malays, Chinese, and Indian, all together in one big melting pot. Malaysians take enormous pride in their cuisine, reveling in its interesting potpourri of spicy, sweet, and tangy flavors.Together with Art Walk, Malaysia Kitchen LA shines the spotlight on this delicious cuisine, pairing Southern California’s top Malaysian and Asian fusion restaurants with several art galleries, creating a unique “foodie plus art” experience in one. Make sure to include a visit the Art Walk Lounge at the MALDEF Building (634 S Spring Street) for food and drink samples from Yeo’s, fun photo opportunities with your friends, prize giveaways (while supplies last), and surprise screenings every 30 minutes, starting from 7:00 PM.

Grab an Art Walk gallery map to navigate your way to our delicious food sampling locations. Plus, collect stamps from at least three partner galleries to enter to win a trip for two to Malaysia! The trip prize includes roundtrip airfare between Los Angeles and Kuala Lumpur (provided by Malaysia Airlines), two nights stay at the Gardens Hotel & Residences (provided by Cititel Hotel Management), three nights stay at MiCasa All Suite Hotel (provided by Cititel Hotel Management), breakfast, and tours

Participating restaurants include:

• Belacan Grill at Robert Reynolds Gallery
• Starry Kitchen at White Gloss Gallery
• The Spice Table at Gloria Delson Contemporary Arts
• Mutiara at Norbertellen Gallery
• Yazmin at Spring Arts Tower
• Satay Place at Spring Arts Tower
• Mama’s Food Truck at Spring Arts Tower

If you can’t make it to Art Walk this Thursday evening, you can still sample Malaysian cuisine through the Makan-Makan food truck this month, and Malaysian Restaurant Week in December.

Visit MalaysiaKitchenLA.com for all the latest updates. You can also follow Malaysia Kitchen on Facebook (http://facebook.com/MalaysiaKitchenLA) and Twitter (@CraveMalaysian).

CuisineType : Malaysian

Kuleto Wine Tasting
Thursday, November 17th
6:30pm – 9:00pm
$24.95 Per Person
$19.95 ATGC Members

Featuring:
Zinfandel, Napa Valley, 2007
Syrah, Napa Valley, 2005
Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, 2004

Live Entertainment:
Howard Westbrook

Blind Tasting Contest
Challenge the Chef, Jeff Platt in our Brown Bag Contest

O'Neill's Bar & Grill
26772 Avery Parkway,
CA-92692
949.305.5100
arroyotrabuco.com/specials.aspx

Season’s Eatings Food Truck Fundraising Event for the Memorial Care Breast Center at Long Beach Memorial

Eat, drink and be merry at the “Heart of the Heights” community event on Thursday, Nov.10 in support of the MemorialCare Breast Center. Food trucks are participating in this free neighborhood fundraising event, to raise money for cancer treatment and support programs at Long Beach Memorial. Enjoy trucks featuring salads, sandwiches, soul food and ice cream sandwiches Crepes and more. Some of ZAGAT'S best 10 food trucks in LA will be there.

Check out the facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=213880795349531

Please call Sidney Cramer (310) 980-6064 for more information.

Thursday, Nov. 10 from 4-8 p.m.
Heights Village Shopping District
Intersection of Broadway and Redondo
Long Beach, CA 90803

Complimentary Thanksgiving Tasting

Saturday November 12th, 12:00p.m-3:00p.m.

Not sure what to serve for Thanksgiving? Join us for our annual Thanksgiving Holiday Tasting and try many dishes offered from our Holiday Menu including Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Creamed Corn & Spinach, and much more!

Whole Foods Market
7881 Edinger Ave,
CA-92647
657-200-4200
www.wholefoodsmarket.com/huntingtonbeach

N/A
1245 N. Spring Street,
CA-90012
(310) 305-7169
truckitfest.com/

CuisineType : American

A music festival featuring nine great L.A. bands and a DJ, 40-60 food trucks and about 250 tented vendors.

Wyndam Hotel Costa Mesa
3350 Avenue of the Arts,
CA-92626
714-7515100
www.ocweekly.com/microsites/decadence/

Join us for Decadence 2011 – a swanky evening filled with the best food and drink Orange County has to offer!This event will be held Waterfront at the Wyndham Hotel in Costa Mesa and will feature close to 40 restaurants sampling some of their most delicious dishes, plus wine, beer and spirits purveyors pouring their finest sips.

Don’t forget the live band – they’ll be playing music all night for your dancing pleasure!Pre-sale tickets will be offered for just $15, and the price will be raised to $20 at the door. To purchase tickets, click the following link: http://www.brownpaperticke​ts.com/event/185326. This is sure to be a fantastic event to attend with a group of your friends. Enjoy a fabulous Southern California Summer evening while you nibble, drink and dance on the waterfront. Ages 21+ only, please.

Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort
1131 Back Bay Drive,
Ca-92660
(949) 729-3863
www.lobsterfestatnewportbeach.com/

CuisineType : Seafood

Enjoy All You Can Eat Whole Main Lobster, crab claws, shrimp and mussels served buffet style. The menu also includes Tri-Tip, drawn butter, rolls, red potatoes, corn on the cob and a brownie.Tickets start at $75 for adults. There is also a $25 menu for kids. For details and to purchae tickets, please visit the official event website at www.lobsterfestatnewportbeach.com

1880 Academy Dr,
Ca-90012
www.bastilledaylosangeles.com/home.shtml

CuisineType : French

Come join in the fun and experience what thousands of people have been enjoying for the past nine years, making this annual celebration one of the most well-attended community festivals in Los Angeles.Entertainment includes: * A true Provencal Petanque Tournament under the pine trees * A Parisian Waiters Race * Street performers * Comedians, singers, artists * French Market vendors * Fun prizes for all races * Fabulous raffles including a trip to Paris!! * Famous French food, wines and gastronomic delights!Entrance Fee: $5 – Free for children (under 13)NO ATM ON SITE – PLEASE BRING CASH

Fast Forward Events

Del Mar Fairgrounds
2260 Jimmy Durante Boulevard, Del Mar,
California-92014
www.thegourmetexpo.com

CuisineType : American

Indulge your inner gourmand with The Gourmet Experience, a cooking and entertaining showcase that features over 250 exhibitors showcasing the best in appliances, culinary solutions, travel and home products, and specialty food.

Held October 8-9, 2011 the event features 10 specialty pavilions highlighting the latest epicurean trends, including:• That’s the Spirit! Beer, Wine & Spirit Pavilion• Bounty of the County• Sweet Discoveries• Olive Oil Tasting Pavilion• Cheeses of the World• Charcuterie Pavilion• Spice Alley• Culinary Solutions Center• Grilling & Outdoor Entertaining• Kids Cook! Activity Center.

In two action-filled days, you can: test out new products for your kitchen, get up close culinary instruction from some of San Diego’s most celebrated chefs, sip luxury wines and spirits, taste California and domestic olive oils and cheeses, and much, much more!

Single day passes for The Gourmet Experience are $25 in advance and $30 at the door; weekend passes are $40 in advance and $45 at the door. Children 12 years of age and under are admitted free.

Munchathon
5305 Santiago Canyon Road,
CA-92676
www.munchathon.com

CuisineType : Other

Munchathon is a 5K food-themed obstacle course/fun run and a gourmet food truck festival! Dash and devour along the race course and then afterward get your grub on with dozens of gourmet food trucks. Race participants will devour sample-size items from Fresh Fries, KIND Bars, Meringue Bake Shop, Front Porch Pops and beverages mix1, 8th Continent Soymilk and Kern’s Nectar, while enduring obstacles and challenges.

Encore / Happy Sushi’s
2640 Cushing Road,
California-92016
www.SanDiegoUkeFestival.com

CuisineType : Asian

UKERS JAKE SHIMABUKURO AND JAMES HILL HIT THE SAME PARTY!The San Diego Ukulele Festival Comes to Town Finally!

On July 14th through July 16th, 2011, the inaugural San Diego Ukulele Festival is coming to town at Ingram Plaza, Liberty Station in the newly renovated NTC McMillan shopping center of Point Loma area in San Diego! Xceptional Music Productions and the Amigo Bros. Event Management are proud to bring this event to this fantastic new venue; a venue that many San Diegans do not even know about yet, and should!

Featuring both infamous ukulele aficionados Jake Shimabukuro and James Hill at the same Festival is quite a feat in itself! Jake, from Maui, will be opening the Festival on Thursday, and James, from Canada, will be closing the Festival Saturday night. These two men have been known to do some amazing and magical things with this small musical instrument underdog; making their ukuleles literally sing as their fingers fly! It’s a sight to be seen and heard, and well worth the concert cost! Fantastic front row VIP table dinner concert seats will be available.

It is said of Jake…“It’s rare for a young musician to earn comparisons to the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis”…“Yes, the ukulele, in the hands of Shimabukuro, the traditional Hawaiian instrument of four strings and two octaves is stretched and molded into a complex and bold new musical force.” The San Francisco Gate recently posted: “The sounds the boyish 33-year old wrings from his ukulele…are unlike anything else in the history of the instrument.”

The rest of the Festival in between Thursday and Saturday nights will have tons of free Polynesian themed fun and entertainment for the public! Including ukulele biggies like Hawaii’s Derick Sebastian, Los Angeles’s Ukulele Bartt, and San Diego locals Fred Thompson and Sarah Maisel. There will be other well-known performers from all over as well, a beer and wine garden right in the middle of the fun, Polynesian hula and fire dancer shows, tropical art, food and merchandise to partake in! You will feel like you are on the Islands, without having spent the airfare!

Sponsors are stepping up to join in on the tropical fun like Ohana Ukulele, Kanile’a Ukulele, Kimo Ukulele, Komoa Ukulele, Kala Brand Music Company, Aquila Corde Armoniche Strings, Ballast Point, Constellation Wine, Svedka Vodka, Oggi’s Liberty Station, Encore Catering, Tarantino’s Meats, with more coming! The San Diego Ukulele Festival is looking for a qualified charity to give their Beverage Garden proceeds to. The Polynesian drums are stirring excitement and rumblings about this event; that looks to bring in 1000s from all over the USA, to San Diego for this 3-day Festival.For all information and tickets, go to the website – www.SanDiegoUkeFestival.com .If you’d like more information, please call Fred Thompson at 619-296-4435 or email at Ukulelefred@cox.net .

Expo Comida Latina

San Diego Convention Center
111 W. Harbor Drive,
Ca-92101
www.expocomidalatina.com

CuisineType : Mexican

North America’s only Hispanic/Latino food & beverage trade event focused on authentic, specialty, gourmet and mainstream products from around the globe. Expo Comida Latina is co-located with Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo.For more information or to register, visit: www.expocomidalatina.com

Whole Foods Market Huntington Beach
7881 Edinger Ave,
Ca-92647
wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/huntingtonbeach/store-calendar/

Join us for an afternoon of summer fun! Feast on all you can eat true Santa Maria BBQ (tri-tip, chicken, baked beans, coleslaw and much more) and taste over 20 wines from around the world! Presale tickets are only $19.99 per person, door tickets will be $24.99 per person.

Pechanga Resort and Casino
45000 Pechanga Pkwy,
Ca-92592
www.pechanga.com

Pechanga will once again offer some of the greatest craft beers and delicious BBQ, including six Pechanga restaurants, at the 3rd Annual Microbrew Festival  in the Pechanga Grand Ballroom. Tickets are $50 per person.

Top local BBQ restaurants, including Lucille’s, Pete’s Firehouse, Sweet Baby Jane’s, Rob’ Grilling Company, and Mad Maui BBQ will provide the meat and sweet spices to be washed down with delicious microbrew, encompassing everything from European, Brazilian and Chinese specialty beers, to domestic stouts and American lagers.

Live music will be provided by Nashville recording artist Christian Simmons.

More than 30 breweries will offer 2oz. pours of their domestic, premium, and imported beers. Eleven local restaurants, including six Pechanga outlets, will serve tastes of their barbeque and other fare to compliment the brew.

Habitat for Humanity Inland Valley will host a silent auction to raise funds to provide low income families a chance at home ownership.

Tickets for the event are available in person at the Pechanga Box Office 10am to 10pm, anytime at the on-site ticket kiosks, by phone at 877-711-2946 and online at www.pechanga.com. Tickets: $50 per person. Guests must be 21 or older to attend and ID is required to enter the event.

Helms Bakery
Helms Bakery District,
Ca-90034
eatrealfest.com/event/Los%20Angeles/California/2011

The Eat Real Festival, the urban food extravaganza that showcases food in all its tasty forms.Offering an extraordinary opportunity for people to celebrate not only the very best of their regional foods, but also the people who grow it and make it. Attendees will get up close and personal with their food through two days(July 16th & 17th) of non-stop food skills and hands on DIY demos including a “flying knives” butchery contest, an eclectic array of local food producers in the marketplace and a curated selection of delicious street eats incorporating local and sustainable ingredients all priced at $5 or less.

Festival highlights thus far include:·

A kraut-a-thon learning how to make sauerkraut

·Chickens in the City – meet the Dare2Dream chicken farmers, learn how to build coops and tend to urban chickens

Growing food in small places with "Life on the Balcony's" Fern Richardson

Tomato sauce making with KCRW “Good Food’s” Evan Kleiman

Pretzel making with Aida Mollenkamp· Solar cooking

Pantry cook-offs from LA Top Chef former contestants and other local chefs

Cookbook swap all day on Sunday· Kimchi for All class with Lauryn Chun (of Mother in Law's Kimchi)

Foraging in Southern California – Learn some of the wild and abundant food that grows in SoCal· Urban bee keeping demo and installations

Beer and Wine gardens featuring locally crafted brews and regionally grown wines

A community oven for freshly baked bread·

Multiple garden installations and tours for small and large living spaces·

Bike valet· "The Future of Food Writing" panel moderated by OC Weekly’s Gustavo Arellano with noted LA food writers & bloggers·

Open competition for event attendees to enter homemade goods under 4 categories:o Canned Heat – Salsas or spicy condimentso Sweet Spread – Jams, jelly, conserves, and syrups.o

Puttin’ It Up – All things pickles, chutneys and relisheso

Breads – Bake ‘em if you’ve got ‘em·

Butchery competitions with Lindy and Grundy and more·

Educational farm-to-table story focusing on sustainably raised whole cows purchased for use and consumption at the festival·

Extensive food offerings from popular food trucks and local restaurants such as:

o Coolhauso Flying Pig

o Nom Nomo Komodo

o Vizzio Global Soul

o The Hungry Nomad

o Slap Fish·

Marketplace featuring locally made crafts and handmade goods from folks such as:

o Mothercluck

o Lindy and Grundy

o Shortnin’ Bread

o Crème Caramel LA

o Pop-ups from: Santa Monica FM and Hollywood Farmers Kitchen

· Main Stages for musical acts, DJs, DIY demonstrations, marketplace presentations and competitions such as pizza tossing and the first ever Flying Knives steer butchery contest.

Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant
3422 30th Street,
CA-92104
www.hospitalityforhunger.org

CuisineType : American

Chefs Amy DiBase of the Cosmopolitan Hotel and Restaurant and Anthony Sinsay of Harney Sushi will be on hand to offer tapas and guests can enjoy a selection of local microbrews and wine, live music and a silent auction. Admission to the event is $20 per person and includes food and one drink ticket. All proceeds with benefit Feeding America San Diego.<br

January 23-28 and January 30-February 4, 2011.

http://discoverlosangeles.com/restaurantweekv2/index.jsp

The Beer Garden is the official closing event of San Diego Beer Week. This event brings together the best of San Diego craft beer along with food from amazing local chefs, including Sadie Rose’s longtime customers, Executive Chef Jeff Jackson from The Lodge at Torrey Pines and Executive Chef Alex Carballo from Stone Brewery. Each admission includes unlimited tasters of beer and food. The Beer Garden will be set up on the Arroyo Terrace overlooking the famed Torrey Pines Golf Course.

Sadie Rose is extremely excited to be part of this event for the second year in a row. We will have a table set up at this event, be sure to come by, say “hi” and try some artisan breads in between beer samplings.

The Lodge at Torrey Pines
11480 North Torrey Pines Road
La Jolla, CA
For more information visit