LA Food Fest

I have so much to tell you guys now that our Kauai recap posts are over. Andy and I are desperately trying to get back to reality. We are both teachers (well I'm aspiring to be...) and we have a few weeks of summer left before we start teaching again. I will be student teaching at the middle school level. I'm extremely nervous even though I love teaching and I love that age group.

I'm also hoping to drop some LBS before the school year resumes. We'll see how that goes. I surprisingly did not gain during our vacation but I am still feeling quite...puffy. I am no longer on any medication for my PCOS and it's a little unsettling. I want to lose weight and stay healthy naturally. Which is never easy for me since I love food so much. You'll see an example of that in a few...

Our Saturday started out with our first CSA pick-up. (Community Supported Agriculture) I found an ad in a local paper and decided to sign up. Once a week, Andy and I will go pick up a box of fresh organic veggies and fruits for under $20. (Ok $19.80 but doesn't under $20 sound better?) I figured this will be a great way for us to try new foods, eat healthier and cook at home more!



Behold the bounty!







Then it was off to the LA Street Food Fest. Here's Chris, Andy and me waiting patiently for it to begin.



My sister Sarah and her friend Alex came too.



The line moved relatively fast and we got in. The event was held at the Rose Bowl which was really nice.



We saw the ice cream trucks first and decided to grab some ice cream sandwiches from Cool Haus. We'd been to Cool Haus before during a food truck event in Glendale and knew we'd enjoy.



The line for Vegan Treats was short so I knew I HAD to stop by.



I got a bite of chocolate chip ice cream which was delicious. Vegan desserts are fab.



Then it was time for CoolHaus.



We were excited!

I got a strawberry jalapeno ice cream and Andy got peanut butter & bacon. Needless to say, Andy's was better.



The Fry Girl was offering up fried donuts so we stopped by. Fry Girl claims that these donuts have only one gram of fat each...really?







They were tiny hot and delicious. I had mine with cinnamon. Very good!



Andy wasn't about to eat fried food so he got an iced coffee from Don Francisco's. It was okay but a little too sweet.



Then it was on to the main event. Lines were forming quickly and we had to plan.





Crispy tofu balls? Okay!



I felt lukewarm about it. As did the rest of our crowd. It was decent but not thrilling.



While in line for some dim sum I met Susan Feniger. I was way too excited. I love Border Grill and I loved her on Top Chef Masters. I told her I was her biggest fan and that I loved her. I am a creep no?



Shrimp dimsum from the Dimsum truck. Very good.





We waited in the Monsieur Egg line for 45 minutes.



While in line one of my sister's friends shared a smore's cupcake with us. It was sort of dry but decent.



The egg dish. Sourdough toast with jam, tri tip, arugula, a poached egg and pesto.

Mine was cold and not that delicious. I was a little grumpy considering I had waited 45 minutes. Still, it's tough to cook for a crowd of 5,000.



Andy enjoyed his. His wasn't cold.



Ceviche from Gastrobus was good. It had popcorn on top...Andy hates popcorn so he took it off. Very good shrimp in the ceviche!





Border Grill was offering up Green Corn Tamales. YUM!



Creamy corn, salsa and crema in a snow cone cup. It was delicious, creamy and warm. Two thumbs up Border Grill.







After this, we parted and split some random things. Vietnamese pork sandwiches, beef satay sticks, tacos...all small bites (like 3 bites per item and we shared.)



We had some more bites of ice cream and left at 9.

Thoughts? It was $45 for parking, entrance and food. We just didn't get much food for that price. But we spent a lot more at the last LA Street Food Fest. Everything was small bites and the lines were fairly long. Water was not available. I think this type of event is just difficult to execute. There were several trucks that we wanted to try that either ran out of food or had lines over 45 minutes long. It was definitely a fun event and worth while but we decided that we might as well stalk the food trucks separately.

Much love to the organizers of the fest. I don't know how you do it!!!

Did you go to the LA Street Food Fest? What did you think?

LA Street Food Fest

Hi! This is Andy. I would be the other boo who eats who never posts. Well now I am!




On Saturday, Amanda and I went to the LA Street Food Fest. If you were at the foodbuzz fest, this was sort of like the first evening of that. Basically, LA is full of street food trucks, and a good 20 or so of them converged in downtown LA. Pretty amazing idea. It was cheap to get in. Presale tickets were $10. All the food was small portions of regular items and everything was under $5 a piece. And free booze. Did I mention free booze? New Belgium Brewery had the beer, makers of Fat Tire. And Pama Pomegranate Liqueur supplied the mixed beverages. For free! Donations were suggested, so we dropped a few dollars.



(Amanda's note: I usually prefer tequila but vodka seems to go with Pomegranate more.)

Anyway, this gave me an opportunity to try out my new Flip Video. Amazing little guy.



Amanda and her little sister Sarah.



So here we go. Lines were long and two of our friends didn't have presale. The line at 11:30 took about 45 minutes to get through...just to get in! We got in instantly and went to the booze. It was an amazingly beautiful day in LA. So Amanda has sun in her eyes and we are enjoy our pomegranate and vodka beverages. For FREE!

Watch this video here

Our first stop was the non-descript Vietnamese Food Truck. They had eggrolls and a variety of mini pork and beef sandwiches that were out of this world good. You can see the crowded in the video. This line took about a half an hour.

See video here! We are still trying to figure out how to embed the videos onto the blog.





These trucks weren't really set up for the volume of people and lines were long. But it was some damn good food and since we were with a group of friends we could divide and conquer! So we did!







Brett's phallic pork on a stick. Fun!


Next up, however was a free drink. But this time not an adult beverage. Honest Tea was handing out free bottles. I grabed a Pomegranate Blue(OMG I LOVE ANTIOXIDANTS!). Amanda and I both love this flavor. We have a thing for pomegranate anything. And I do mean anything!

Free Tea Video!


At this point we all separated. Segregated, if you will. We went Boys and Girls. Me and my two good friends Gary and Brett went to the Buttermilk Truck (yeah, I said it. Leave you guessing as to what they had, but it was the highlight of the fest). The ladies: Amanda, her sister Sarah, and her bestest friend Tiffany went to the Tasty Meat Truck and the Badass Burger Truck. After about an hour and a half, we had a ton of food. Actually, while in line for the Buttermilk Truck, Brett and I went to the Gastrobus(is there a better name for a food truck?) to get some amazing Sweet Potato Fries.



Gastrobus video

All organic products from local farmers? I am all in. The fries were outstanding. I love sweet potato in any form.



Amanda's Note: While Andy enjoyed sweet potato fries, I gushed over running into C.S. Lee who plays Masuka on DEXTER! I didn't introduce myself or ask for a picture so I creepily pretended to be posing. Whatever!






Ok, food has appeared in large quanities. This was pig out time. Feta fries, more sweet potato fries, Lamb Gyros, Mini Burgers. Ice cream cones and frozen bananas(possibly the best I have ever inhaled, because it was inhaled were also acquired. Is this heaven we have stumbled upon? Perhaps. Perhaps.












On to the main event, the Pièce de résistance if you will. The Buttermilk Truck. Amanda heard about this truck somewhere. Maybe it was myth. Maybe it was urban legend. But they had amazing food. Mini donuts(which we didn't try, but will assume were awesome) and something called a Buttermilk Brick which was a biscuit, an egg, covered NOT smoothered in chorizo gravy. Amazing. But the best was the Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Pancake. Whoever concocted this deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. We had some amazingly great things today, but this was by far, hands down, the best.











That is beauty.




We walked about a bit after this, food coma set in. There was more free booze to be had and some cute vendors selling shirts and other items. By this time, everyone was running out of food or just way behind. We heard of some trucks having an hour line and then an hour to make the food. At least you know it is fresh. Obviously these trucks aren't set up for this volume like I mentioned. Many people were angry, but we got in around the start and hit about 8 seperate trucks. A lot of people got turned away at the door, but this was the first time around and issues arise that are unforseen. Still, an amazing idea. The last stop was the Sweet Truck. Which had a giant line but decided to take it to the street and just sell cookie bars for $1. So we bought one and saved it for Valentines Day. Ok, maybe a nibble on the way to the car.





Seriously. Bacon is good.

On the way out, the organizers mentioned there will be another fest in the fall. We cannot wait, as there were a great deal of other trucks that either weren't there or we couldn't get to. This has given Amanda and I a mission, which is to seek out some of these trucks on weekends and get the full experience. There are dozens of these trucks doing all types of food from the typical hot dog to things like the Buttermilk Truck and the Gastrobus doing pretty interesting stuff out of a truck. So stay tuned. Sorry if I(we) come off like crazy people on the video. I guess we are. But hopefully you get a chuckle or too...and become insanely jealous and if you are local find some of these trucks and support local food!



Also free Izze!

We have several videos and more pictures to come soon! Let us know if you attended the LA Street Food Fest as well.