LA Foodies have a Fest!!

Who would have known that serious food lovers would develop an affinity for food on wheels! Yes... you heard that correctly! The "lunch trucks" with greasy and "just ok" offerings are now mostly a thing of the past!! The new and improved, and wildly popular GOURMET food trucks are the thing to do and EAT in the general SoCal area!! Who would have thought???

So, in July of this year the 2nd Annual LA STREET FOOD FEST took place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA!!

The event was expecting 5,000 people, and 5,000 people it got!! Yes... it was completely sold out!! 5,000 food loving people congregated to taste samplings of mostly gourmet catering trucks and some small eateries all over LA. Most of those eateries are what we would normally refer to as "hole in the wall" or "mom and pop" places to eat! Let me just say one thing... catering truck, hole in the wall... doesn't matter..... if the food is good... I am there!! (and apparently 4,999 other people agree with me, as well!) LOL

I am the first to admit that I love, love, love swanky restaurants and trendy eateries... but it isn't always about all things swanky.... what it is always about is TASTE! ... and if you can serve it up, wherever and however it comes, there are some serious foodies in this town that will be all over it!

Below are a few of the tastings that we were fortunate enough to try, in a nutshell; I reiterate... these are a few and definitely my favorites:

CEMITAS & CLAYUDAS (2560 E. Gage Ave, Huntington Park, CA 90255).... (www.lascabronas.com) (BTW... pardon their Mexican "french" LOL)
In essence, Mexican antojitos on steroids! I tried a cemita, which is a small sandwich or torta. It was small but it packed a punch in flavor!! I can't wait to go to their location to try more things and report back to you all!



THE MANILA MACHINE (a Catering Truck... www.themanilamachine.com):
Voted the overall favorite in the Food Fest, an amazing Pork Belly and Pineapple Adobo and the ever popular Filipino favorite, Lumpia... it was no accident that this was the biggest crowd pleaser!! I want to try more!!



FRESH FRIES (Gourmet Truck.... www.freshfries.biz):
Serving Fresh fries in all their varieties: Regular fries, Curly Fries, Sweet Potato Fries.... with many choices of toppings and dipping sauces! Who would have thought that you could create a menu around fries? The two variations as shown on this picture, were regular fries with their version of a guacamole and a fresh cream sauce.... the other was Sweet Potato Fries with Peanut Butter and Chocolate to dip them into! Clearly decadent... and a very occasional treat.... but Oh my goodness.... goodness on a whole other level!! :)



KABOB n' ROLL (Gourmet Truck... www.kabobnroll.com):
Offering Mediterranean food with more flavor than you know what to do with!! I was able to try a chicken and a lamb kabob.... and they were oh so good!! I can't wait to see what other Mediterranean favorites they offer!!



CREPE'N AROUND (Gourmet truck... www.crepenaround.com):
I am the biggest fan of all things Paris... and when it comes to Crepes, I am a bit particular about authenticity and taste. Something to be said about the guys that took the concept of French crepes and gave them a complete gourmet twist.... and Yuuuuuu-uuum... the result I got to sample was a savory Maple Braised Pork crepe, with Apple Chutney, toasted Walnuts and mixed greens and a honey Vinaigrette! I am sure I will log online to track these guys for further tasters!!



ROSA'S BELLA CUCINA (Gourmet Truck) (www.rosabellacucina.com):
So for those of you who have never tried this little Italian rice ball they call ARANCINI... you are seriously missing out!! I have tried the real version in Italy, as well as the gourmet take of some fancier restaurants in the LA area... these are seriously good!! They are basically made of cheesy risotto balls that are fried to perfection.... no need for words here... bite into one and you know what I am talking about! Another Italian favorite is ZEPPOLE, which is their version of a French BEIGNET or an American DONUT... I will make the justification for this treat because it is the Italian thing to do! LOL ... Try it and you will see!!





I have included the websites of all the catering trucks... Here is how most of them roll (pun totally intended!)... You log on to their website, or add them as favorites on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter. They post daily and/or weekly schedules of their locations and you make it a point to be there when they show up! Yes, I must admit, it sounds like a wild goose chase, but it's a fun game to play, nonetheless!! I dare you to join me in this game and email me to tell me which you have gone to visit... none of these disappoint!

With that said, for those of you interested in a foodie adventure of this type... you can join me and my friends at the OC FOODIE FEST on August 28th from 11am to 6pm in Orange County. Log on to www.ocfoodiefest.com for further event info and ticket information!!

I am sure that this will not be my first nor last post on Gourmet Trucks!! Join me on this crazy exploration of decadent goodness thru the streets of LA (and the OC)!!

Bon Apetite, my friends!!

Elle :)

Choosing Fruits and Vegetables... Organic or Not???

Health 101...

For those of you who follow my blog, you know that I am all about great, amazing, well-prepared delicious food. While I believe life is too short and that you must fully enjoy the things you love to eat, I also believe that moderation is key... and where all things culinary make me happy, I must draw the line and only occasionally treat myself to food that I would not eat on a daily basis, (such as all the decadent comfort food all over our city!!). What I do aim to eat on a regular basis, are sensible, fresh meals that actually have high nutritional value.

I started on this healthy way of living almost a decade ago, and tweaked my diet almost a handful of times, the last being after attending an Anthony Robbins event in Los Angeles, where Tony spent an entire day (at the Kodak theatre) teaching us everything he knew about health and wellness. To that I will add that the man is very knowledgeable in the subject, sharing partnerships in several companies in the wellness industry. One of the companies he introduced to me was Living Fuel. They make probably one of the only energy bars that is actually good for you... (Yes! You heard that right!! Most energy bars are packed with sugars and calories, and don't exactly live up to the "good for you" claim!)... You can order Living Fuel bars online; they are delicious and they are good for you!

Where this post is not to sell you on my favorite energy bar... it is to share with you some information that I received in my email from Living Fuel. (I highly recommend you get on their email list, as they always send information that is cutting edge in all things wellness.) I have written about shopping at your local Farmers' markets, not only to support the local farmers, but also to eat healthier, sustainable, organic foods. This is exactly the information that came in e-mail from LivingFuel and inspired this post.

There have always been questions about whether or not it matters or if it is even relevant to buy organic or not. The specialists at Living Fuel have taken the science and mystery out of it all and provided us with a list of the the "Clean 15"... the fruits and veggies that do matter if they are organic or not. The video also gives you some helpful and simple tips for identifying different categories of product (e.g., conventional, organic, genetically modified).

See here for a link to the informative video: www.livingfuel.com/Fruit_and_Vegetable_Labels.aspx

I invite you to take a look... and visit the website. If you're curious enough, you might order a box of CocoChia bars... delicious and good for you! Who knew that you could have "healthy" chocolatey/coconut goodness? So, yes, delicious and healthy chocolate coconut goodness is out there... and it's not in an Almond Joy!!

I hope this video/blog enlightens you about the quality of produce (and snack/protein bars) that you are eating and providing for your family!

To healthy eating!!

Elle :)

A Month's Wait for Pizza???

So who would have thought… that a pizzeria on the Westside would require making reservations one month in advance?? Whatever happened to just walking in to a great pizza place? Well, of course those places are still around for “ordinary” pizza… but if you are one with a more discriminating palate, then you had better get on that phone and make plans for next month! Ladies and gentlemen… May I present to you Pizzeria Mozza (641 N. Highland Ave., Los Angeles, CA)?! A pizzeria like you have never encountered before!! (I promise!) … Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich come together with their prodigious talents and culinary wherewithal to bring you this quaint establishment on the corner of Melrose and Highland (its sister restaurant Osteria Mozza right next door on the Melrose side).

Quite the buzzing place this is… busy with a melting pot of foodies waiting to take that first bite… and let me tell you… waiting a month is so worth it!

Allow me to first make mention that they have quite the wine list… all wines from Italy. So for those of you who are not quite familiar with Italian varieties, your best bet is to try the wines by the glass, and ask the bartender for suggestions. I happened to be accompanied by the expert of all things Italian, so I didn’t have to worry about what to order…I just drank the selection handed to me! Lucky girl that I am!

For starters we went with a glass of Reggiano Lambrusco - a light red wine that opens up ones appetite… so clearly best as an aperitif. We later enjoyed Quattro Mani's take on Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, and Feudi di San Gregorio Aglianico Rubrato… Both wonderful wines and complementary to our fantastic meal.

The chef sent out a complimentary appetizer, if you will. It’s called Arancini di Riso, which in essence is a ball of rice mixed with cheese and fried… accompanied by a Marinara dipping sauce… delicious! What a great start to what would turn out to be quite the remarkable meal!

From Pizzeria Mozza

For an additional appetizer we chose the FRIED SQUASH FLOWER (one of Christine’s favorites and her request!). Though this may sound a bit unusual to some, this is quite the culinary delicacy. Clearly an edible flower, the chef stuffs this delicate veggie with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, seasons it with warm spices including nutmeg, then rolls it in rice flour and finally flash fries it! That is a bite of WOW! But be careful it is served scorching hot (BTW, how I love my food)… but don’t bite into it too quickly, I actually burned my tongue! (Don't worry... I got over the pain quite quickly! LOL) … A definite “must try”! (Good call, Chris!)

From Pizzeria Mozza

So I realize that we were at a pizzeria… and “when in Rome, you do as the Romans”… so the thing to do would be to order pizza, right? Well, I didn’t seem to think so! My senses drifted when I became aware of one of the night’s specials LAMB STRACOTTO. This is basically a slow-cooked lamb… literally! It is cooked all day and results in an extremely tender meat that melts off the bone! I am a huge fan of lamb, and given the prodigies in the kitchen who created this, I had to try it! (Of course, I figured I could try what everybody else was having! LOL) I was very pleased with my choice and a definite “must try” for those of you lamb lovers!! It was served on a bed of polenta…and can I just say? YUM!

From Pizzeria Mozza

Everyone else was pretty set on ordering the food du jour, PIZZA! So here are the table choices:

Mark (@buenospot): Speck (which is a ham similar to Prosciutto), Buffala Mozzarella, olive tapenade and oregano. This pizza is truly “to die for”! The flavors of the toppings fuse to create an unbelievable mouthful! And the crust, lest I forget, light, airy and flaky (the only “GOOD” kind of “FLAKY”! LOL)

From Pizzeria Mozza

Christine: OK… this may sound like the most absurd choice in toppings (because that is what I thought when she ordered it! LOL) … all I can say: OMG!!! Fried egg, bacon, Yukon Gold potatoes and Bermuda onions graced the top of this creation! Absolutely delicious!! Sounds like breakfast… but quite frankly could be the perfect meal at anytime of the day! Made for an excellent dinner!

From Pizzeria Mozza

Jonathan: Pizza Alla Benno was Mr. Logan’s choice! (and a great choice at that!) … this was Hawaiian pizza on steroids! Speck, pineapple, jalapenos, mozzarella and tomato topped this masterpiece! Actually… if there is such a thing as Hawaiian pizza in heaven; this is exactly how it’d be prepared! LOL! (Yes! It was that good!) …Sadly, I think we were all so preoccupied having “a Party” in our mouths… that we forgot to take a picture of Jonathan’s pizza! Shucks! I think we will have to go back to reorder it and post the picture! LOL

You would think that we were too full to order dessert after everything I just described?

Not this bunch!

We couldn’t resist the options so we decided to order two different desserts and share. I have never been the biggest fan of custard desserts, though I do have a weakness for the occasional well prepared Crème Brulee, I don’t normally opt for that type of dessert. Mark, being familiar with all things authentically Italian, as he has spent quite a bit of time in that country, insisted that we try the Panna cotta. This is in fact Italy’s version of a crème brulee, if you will. It was served with homemade almond clusters on the side and topped with fresh berries! Words cannot describe the amazing flavors in this concoction! It was truly decadent and worth every bite! I could only hope they have that available the next time I visit!

From Pizzeria Mozza

The second dessert was an assortment of the fresh gelatos they make here. A scoop of Espresso, one of Hazelnut and the other, an Italian favorite, Stracciatella. Garnished with a fresh waffle cone… for you gelato lovers… absolutely delicious… a staple dessert!

From Pizzeria Mozza

The evening was quite the charming one… amazing food, wonderful company and ever-interesting conversation! Four great friends; four true foodies at a pizzeria… but a pizzeria like no other! If at any given point you thought that CPK was as “gourmet” a pizza as you ever needed to try… that’s ok for a quick “mall” lunch… but the true gourmet pizza is on the corner of Highland and Melrose and you may have to wait a month to sink your teeth into it… but you’ll quickly get over the wait when you experience this genius food! As a matter of fact, I’d suggest you start dialing for that reservation!

Buon Appetito!!

Elle