The 2017 “Masters of Taste” received an Outpouring of Support
The Masters of Taste Event:
The 2nd Annual Masters of Taste event received an outpouring of support from the local foodie community despite the unexpected May shower downpours throughout the day. The luxury food and beverage festival took over the grassy field of the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium this past Sunday, May 7th, 2017 where a 100% of the proceeds from ticket sales and sponsorships went directly to Union Station Homeless Services!
On display were many of LA’s top restaurants showcasing the best small plate versions and tastings of their current menu offerings. Sprinkled throughout the tasting booths were an array of Master Mixologists crafting and pouring their cocktail creations as well as many spirit distilleries, wineries, micro-breweries and non-alcoholic beverage vendors.
About Union Station Homeless Services:
Union Station provides homeless services that assist those seeking assistance in getting back on their feet with meals, education, work assistance, housing and many other services that assisting those seeking help to eventually end their homelessness and integrate them back into more productive and balanced lives. Food always brings out the best in people and it was a perfect partnership.
Foodies on Food Patrol:
We were accompanied by our newest guest writer Mr. Monis Rose and our friend, chef and entrepreneur Mike Ruiz, the founder of Chef driven street wear brand “Chef Life Clothing” & the upcoming “Chefs Marketplace” e-store for Other boutique culinary/chef accessories for Professional Chefs and Aspiring Home Cooks. Chef Life Clothing is currently in the works locating a venue for an upcoming “Pop-Up Shop” to collaborate with like-minded Chef’s in Los Angeles who want to take their craft to the next level.
Throughout the day it rained off-and-on and as an LA native this was truly a rare experience and enjoyed “dining in the rain.” Great vibes were in the air and the Photo Booth was a cool feature along with music, drinks, food and great company.
Let’s Eat: the Tasting experience: The Food
CULINARY MASTERS
INTRO Art Gallery & Chef’s Table Chef Paul Shoemaker (North Hollywood)
The Most unique and composed artistic “out of the box” dishes came from Chef Paul Shoemaker who has been around the restaurant scene and has had tenure at Providence and many other top LA establishments. We last dined with Chef Paul at his Savory Malibu restaurant a few years back.
His Smoked salmon on salmon chicharon amuse was out of this world as well as the masterfully curated sweet “Foie Gras Dime Bag” that literally melted in your mouth.
We could go on and on but take our word for it and book your tickets and reservations for the INTRO Art Gallery & Chef’s Table to experience more of Paul’s magical cuisine.
Church & State Bistro and Spring, Chef Tony Esnault
The Pea soup shooter with fresh garden Pea Tendrils and Crunchy Peas was light and refreshing and cleansed the palate between tastes. Well executed and we will definitely be back to check out more restaurant offerings.
Miro Chef Gavin Mills (Downtown Los Angeles)
The Pate en route with broccoli rabe pesto and sweet chili sauce was elegant and rich but didn’t fill us up so we could continue sampling the food of the masters. We look forward to getting to know one of Downtown Los Angeles’ newest dining spots.
HACHÉ LA Chef Michael “Mick” Schepers (Silver Lake)
The Hatch LA burger dubbed the Karma Burger warmed us right up. Who can say no to a fresh nicely cooked piece of beef between 2 warm brioche buns with all of the fix-ins. We hate to admit it but we had two. We will definitely visit this Silver Lake hot spot.
Hyperion Public Chef Paddy Aubrey (Silver Lake and Studio City)
The Asian steak wraps were crunchy and the beef was tender. Great flavor made us want an ice cold Tsingtao beer to chase it down.
Belly Bombz, Chef Albert Shim
3 kinds of wings, Need I say more. Spicy, Sweet and Savory. They dropped the WING flavor bomb on me.
Magnolia House Chef Evan Colter (Pasadena)
Now thats what you call a meatball. Complete with the whole barn. Sauce was balanced and made the beef blend dissolve in your mouth like a composed symphony of flavor. As if we didn’t need another reason to visit Pasadena.
Momed Chef Alex Sarkissian (Beverly Hills and Atwater Village)
Momed never dissapoints. We love the Duck Shawarma and the creative Tajines. Whats more amazing is that they are now offering a special “Immigrant Menu” that is celebrating dishes from all over the Mediterranean region. We will hopefully get to the Atwater location soon to sample the goods. Beverly Hills also has a great MOMED location if you are on the Westside.
SpireWorks Chef Kuniko Yagi (Westwood Village and Eagle Rock)
A creative new concept is crushing it with their Döner vertically spit roasted meat accompanied with toppings from around the world. At the Masters of Taste we experienced a flavor packed bowl with wild rice, tamarind chutney, yellow curry aioli, green onions, thai coconut curry crumble, and pickled red peppers with sambal. Can you say “TAKE ME TO FLAVORTOWN” sorry Guy Fieri, we had to borrow your signature catch phrase.
Ramen Tatsunoya (Pasadena)
Right in time when it started pouring rain Tonkotsu Ramen saved the day and warmed us right up. We will be back for our Ramen fix real soon.
Bone Kettle and Komodo Chef Erwin Tjahyadi (Pasadena and Los Angeles)
Oxtail dumplings, need I say more. Before the festival these dumplings were already buzzing around town. Glad we got to taste them for ourselves.
The Venice Whaler, Chef Nick Liberato
They came thru with a nice lobster salad. Well dressed with a healthy serving of Lobster that tasted like it was just pulled out of the salt water. We love grabbing a drink and catching a Sunset at this beach staple hangout spot.
HokePoke Chef Lauren Haas (Downtown Los Angeles)
This Downtown LA Poke(ria) spot serves up chef curate “Poke-Bowls” At the event we were fortunate to have sampled all 3 of the “Chef’s Choice” bowls. “Hoke Poke is a fresh take on a Hawaiian classic, created by four Angeleno friends with a serious love for poke! They serve responsibly-sourced, sushi-grade fresh fish with local produce and original sauces in creatively curated combinations.”
Cali Classic (Ahi tuna, sesame shoyu, bamboo rice, scallions, sweet maui onions, cucumber, topped w/ masago and wasabi cream, avocado.) Some Like It Hot (Atlantic salmon or ahi tuna, sriracha aioli, bamboo rice, cucumber, crushed wasabi peas, serrano pepper, topped w/ massage.) Clean & Green (Sesame marinated mushrooms, citrus kale, kizami shoga, macadamia nuts, cilantro, topped w/ mushroom sauce, seaweed salad.)
Sol Mexican Cocina, Playa Vista
Because we can’t say no to Shrimp Tacos and Fruita Fresca. The next-time we are at the Runway in Playa Vista we will have to indulge in some Margaritas to go with these awesome Baja style tacos.
This LA Italian landmark has been around for some time with locations in every major metropolitan district of the city. We were impressed with their unexpected and artfully created and composed dish of Beef Carpaccio with Tonnato (Tuna Mousse), Fennel Tops and edible flowers. Escoffier would be impressed.
Let’s Drink: the Imbibing experience: The Beverages:
Non-alcoholic
“THE WORLD’S FIRST SELF-SERVE BOBA TRUCK TO HIT THE STREETS OF LA.” We opted for the classic Taiwanese Boba Milk Tea but added chia seeds as an option. This was something new & unique and added a nice texture.
A. coconut based nitro superfood cold brew thats vegan. Try saying that three times fast. It hit the spot and would also work as a nice base for an adult version. Not too insanely caffeinated that you could have a few and not be jittery.
21 & Over
Best shot worth sipping. We couldn’t say no to the Woodford Reserve Whiskey shot in the VIP section. “Woodford Reserve is a brand of premium small batch Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey produced in Woodford County, Kentucky by the Brown-Forman Corporation. It is made from a mixture of pot still spirits produced at the company’s Woodford Reserve Distillery there, and column still spirits from the Brown Forman Distillery in Shively, Kentucky.[2] Each 45.2% alcohol by volume (90.4 US Proof) bottle bears a unique batch and bottle number.”
Best mixologist & craft cocktail of the day came from Kikori Japanese Whiskey, made on the island of Kyushu, is expertly distilled and then aged for over three years. Hey Mr. Mixologist! / Did you have to go to college for this? / It seems like you got some knowledge, it’s just / A cocktail for twenty dollars plus tip? We had to give a shout out to FOG+SMOG the rappers who put Mixologists on the map and filmed their music video at LA’s top Mixology spots including
“ LA Descarga” in Hollywood. Taylor “The Mixologist” who we know from the food & beverage industry is the ultimate curator of craft cocktails. He was working with Kikori whiskey from Japan and blew our minds with his version of a “Spicy Whisky Sour” complete with torched and blistered Shishito Peppers and garnished with toasted black Sesame seeds that gave the drink body and crunch.
A Unique summer refreshing libation came by way of Jardesca; Custom blended California wine infused with botanicals that enhance the dining experience. We added basil, lavender and orange peel essence to set the mood.
Cold Brewskis
Three Weavers Brewing Company, a new craft brewery in Inglewood brought their best IPA & Kolsch (“Golden, top-fermented style native to Köln, Germany. The style has a very narrow profile and many beers that consider themselves to be Kölsch-beers are not.”) Neither was too heavy or too hoppy. Cold and Refreshing was the name of the game.
Sweets we couldn’t get enough of: Can you Say Sugar Rush
Milk & Honey Chef Lulu Cai (Hollywood)
The Wellness Bowl was beautifully decorated with flowers and other edible garnishes and was their version of an Acai bowl with a papaya substitution. It was a large portion and got our sweet tooth ready to party.
We also had their sweet and savory waffle cake with smoked salmon as well as couldn’t resist their Sriracha bacon cream cheese.
Mignon Chocolate (Glendale/Pasadena/Online)
Lastly Mignon Chocolate came thru with samples of their Chocolate Sea Salt and their Ginger artisan Chocolates. Need a great gift idea? Check out their shops throughout the city and you will never buy ordinary Chocolates again.
Thats a wrap!
Another Successful Event by Lawrence Moore & Associates and her arsenal of media partners including: Angeleno Magazine, We Like L.A., & Pasadena Now, We had an amazing time. The rain was a nice change to the “Heat Waves” that we have been having recently.We experienced a taste of many new restaurants we had previously not discovered from Downtown LA to Pasadena and Beyond. Special thanks to our guest foodies: Mike Ruiz (Cheflife Clothing) & Monis Rose (Restaurant Fiction)
This was another event in collaboration with the month long LA FOOD BOWL happening all month long. The Rose Bowl is an epic Pasadena Venue with so much rich history and was the perfect setting for a food event. We hope to be back next year. We are thrilled that 100% of proceeds went to Union Station Homeless Services.
Catch up with all of the event photos via instagram at #MASTERSOFTASTE and @MASTERSOFTASTE as well as our @VIVALAFOODIES instagram account.
