Savoring a taste of LA 1 small bite at a time

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About Savor Los Angeles:

LA’s fashionable foodie sect made the pilgrimage, okay well pilgrimage may be a stretch, but they all converged on Siren Studios @ Orange from all around the city of Angels in support of a great food and charity mash-up simply dubbed Savor Los Angeles, a production of “Parallel Lines” and spearheaded by Mike Cruz and crew.

We caught up later in the evening with Mike Cruz while he was mixing it up in a different way; on his Technics 1200’s turntables, in between DJ sets with a birds eye view of the entire event in the VIP VeeV Vodka lounge.

Ambiance:

A photography studio in the heart of Hollywood set the stage for an unforgettable night of noshes, specialty mixed libations, music and mingling with a focus on raising money and awareness for CoachArt(An organization that’s purpose is to enrich the lives of children that are living with chronic diseases.)

All of the unique micro purveyors in the Savor Los Angeles “Pop Up” showcase centered their dishes around the theme of perfect pairings and our guest photographer for the evening was our good friend Denny Kim from Third Eye Photography when he is not behind the Turntables rocking LA clubs and venues as DJ Denkym.

The Charity:

CoachArt was the evenings charity beneficiary and the organization was founded to aid in the improvement of the quality of life of children and adolescents living with chronic and life-threatening illnesses by providing free personal lessons in the arts and athletics.

Liquid Lucidity:

The photography studio inside Siren Studios transformed into a grand tasting room for the evenings festivities complete with its own curated pop-op shop loaded with sweet cooking accessories along with take home portions of some of the evenings culinary selections. Two sponsored bars from VeeV Açaí Spirit and Duvel Belgian style craft beer provided refreshing cocktails and were kicked up a notch with some socially conscious mixers from Pom Wonderful and DRY soda.

VeeV PoM juice cocktail, VeeV Lemonade and our favorite, the VeeV embossed Mason jar loaded with friuts, organic herbs and a mixed summer spiked lemonade beverage.

Sweets, Savories and Everything In Between:

The culinary offerings also kept our hands full all night. With far to many to elaborate on, we chose a few our favorites from savory to sweet to mention for the foodie at heart. Bangers & Smashed, Cast Iron Gourmet, Malo/Mas Malo Restaurant, Pure Cheesecakes (Savory Cheesecakes), Reservoir, Starry Kitchen and even those hippies from Vermont; Ben & Jerry’s all brought a taste of something unique to the event.

Savory cheesecakes from Pure Cheesecakes. Forget everything you previously thought about cheesecakes because these are the savory cousins that just moved to the block; the cheese-block that is. No sugar here, but you won’t even miss a beat because these non-traditional cheesecakes have deep roots in classical cuisine. Order a few mini-cheesecakes and see for yourself why Pure Cheesecakes has one leg up on the competition. A “Sweet” line is also available for online orders and will all be guaranteed and hand delivered

-Stilton Blue Cheese with Apple-wood Bacon and candied walnuts
-Ricotta cheese with Meyer lemon olive oil and herbs de Provence
-Aged Sharp Cheddar traditional Quiche Lorraine

The Cast Iron Gourmet is the vision of Rashida Purifoy, a self proclaimed “Bacon Enthusiast” who makes “small batch bacon and bacon-inspired goodies.” Sustainable pork belly is her canvas and each slab is slathered with hand-crafted rubs and smoked under hickory wood. We were fortunate to try the “Couch Mix™”, A throwback to mom’s trail mix with a little something extra in the form of caramelized bacon by way of Iowa’s smoked grass fed pork. Look for them at various farmers markets from the Altadena Urban Farmers Market and popping up at “The Market” @ Santa Monica Place and other markets around town.

Bangers & Smashed. The catchy name says it all and they take their Bangers, sMashed Potatoes and British flag very seriously. If you have been looking for California’s gourmet mashed potatoes look no further as Bangers and Smashed has you covered. Order online or check out hand packed pints at Lindy & Grundy local, organic and pastured meats, 801 N. Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles.

-Hungarian Smoked sausage and loaded and smashed with Smoked cheddar, Bacon, Sour cream and green onion
-Smoked Apple Sage Sausage with Goat Cheese and Sage Smash

Reservoir specializes in serving up seasonal rustic farm to table cuisine. We had a chance to catch up with chef and owner Gloria Felix as she plated up a few small delights from Reservoir’s conceptual seasonal menu. Our mouth is watering for some more so it won’t be a stretch for VivaLAfoodies to do a full feature on this new eclectic jem in the Silverlake Reservoir District of Los Angeles.

-Crostini with Fava Bean Purée, Feta Cheese and topped with Kalamata olives

-Gazpacho with Mango Salsa

Mas Malo is the Downtown LA sister restaurant or hermanita to “Malo Restaurant” in Silverlake. M-M is located between Olive and Grand and offers an expanded menu along with a loungy ambiance and vibe. We had a chance to indulge on a Shrimp prepared in a “Ceviche Style” with Agua Chile(green chile) and green tomato salsa. Loaded with so much flavor we couldn’t just eat one.

Starry Kitchen
This restaurant actually started as an underground restaurant in the founders apartment and now has become a premier dining destination of foodies from all over the country flocking to DTLA. A revolving menu is what keeps things interesting with the ever changing culinary masterminds of Starry Kitchen’s self-taught chef Thi Tran and her co-founder/husband Nguyen.

On this clear LA night along with amazing charismatic personality and comedy, they offered a pairing of Pandan that was both Savory and Sweet. From an Aromatic Pandan “leaf wrapped” chicken to “green” Pandan Flan their mastery of all cuisines, including Thai was evident.

Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream
Late night Snack” ice-cream with chocolate covered potato chips was actually inspired by comedian Jimmy Fallon from SNL fame and one bite will cause a proverbial “Party in yo(ur) mouth.” And we all thought, “Chunky Monkey” was a stoners dream.

We can proudly admit that this was our first bite of the evening, but we tried to put it last in an effort to fool our readers….OOPS, secrets out, but that’s a life of a foodie.

That’s a Wrap:

Savor Los Angeles definitely exceeded all of our expectations. With a variety of vendors, cocktails, small bites, live music, charity auction and so much more the team at Parallel Lines packed it all in and we wish them continued success with future event production. Look for this annual event to creep up around the same time next-year and we will do the same. On that same note, look for our good friend Denny Kim(Aka Denkym) in a DJ Booth at a club near you cutting it up on the “1s and 2s.” To sample a taste of what he’s got, click here for his Soundcloud page.

Special thanks to Mike Cruz for having us cover the event and for remembering us from a brief visit to “Turntable LAB” {LA} over a year ago. We also would like to thank our good friend and team VivaLAfoodies photographer and friend Joseph Briscoe from Briscoe Photo for coming down to hang out with us after his busy Hollywood fashion shoot.

Double Take! A moment with Mike Cruz and Joseph Briscoe & Denny Kim

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