As some of you may be aware, if you follow me on Instagram and such, I had the pleasure of attending LA Weekly’s Essentials event yesterday held Downtown at the LA Mart, where 50 of LA’s most “essential” restaurants came together to honor our incredible foodie culture and share a unique dish with the events hungry patrons. LA Weekly pulled off a KILLER group of restaurants and wineries to partake, it was certainly not an event I was planning on missing. Many of the restaurants that participated I’ve had the pleasure of dining with but there we’re undoubtedly so many more that I actually hadn’t and was thrilled to finally “try” – like Hinoki & the Bird (obviously), Animal (I know, I can’t believe I haven’t been either), and Bestia (yes… shame on me). What was also incredibly exciting, being the wino/wine fan/wine connoisseur that I am, was finding top-notch winery after top-notch winery there to fill my adorable little ‘LA Weekly’ souvenir wine glass up as often as necessary. Wineries like Trefethen, Grgich Hills, MacMurray, Lola, Landmark, THE PRISONER, and so many more *amazing Napa wineries* were in attendance – major kudos are in order for LA Weekly and Wally’s Wine on their beverage selections!
Each dish was distinctive and delicious in their own rights, but as with anything there were certainly a few that really stood out and had me wanting to circle back for more. First honors go to Horse Thief BBQ, my main Texas BBQ squeeze, who graced us with the juiciest most delicious smoked pork belly. Secondly, McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams for their insanely ridiculous peanut butter chip ice cream that I actually did go back for seconds for. And lastly Hinoki & the Bird for their confusingly yet unbelievably delectable avocado shake (bravo to the ladies hard at work making those things!) Other incredible and memorable dishes being the Zucca (squash) dish from Sotto, no surprise there, Angelini Osteria’s lasagna, Animal’s salmon, and AOC’s panna cotta – excellent work, that sh*t aint easy and it was tasty! I’m disappointed I was not able to make it to 50 restaurants (I tried, I really tried) but I’m pleased to say I made it to quite a few and that most of which were some I had not yet had the pleasure of experiencing. Huge round of applause all the way around from LA Weekly to throwing a successful sold out event for us LA foodies, to the wineries, to LA’s finest restaurant participants, and of course a special thanks to my stretchy 7’s jeans for allowing me the pleasure of stuffing my face freely. Looking forward to the next one!
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