Fly Attire For The Foodie At Heart

The Long Beach Jazz Festival (August 9th - 11th) @ Rainbow Lagoon Park

Long Beach, CA – Rainbow Lagoon Park will be playing host to this years 26^th annual Long Beach Jazz Festival where such stellar entertainers as The Whispers, The O’Jays, Gladys Knight, Eric Benet, Howard Hewett, Kim Waters, Stanley Clarke, Euge Groove and many more will be taking the stage to perform so many classics that we cant even count em all. But more importantly, we The Supreme Plate will be on hand serving up our delicious Original Po’ Boys, Deep Fried Cheesecakes and more for all that attend. We hope to see you in the house, eating and drinking until you literally pass out.Don't let the old school acts fool you, this is one event you won't want to miss out on...

For more info check: www.LongBeachJazzFestival.com

This Weekend... The Santa Barbara French Festival Kicks Off

Come check us out this weekend (July 13^th & 14^th) at the 25^th Annual Santa Barbara French Festival at Oak Park in Santa Barbara. We will be serving up our delicious Original Po’ Boys, Cajun Fries, Deep Fried Cheesecakes, Grilled Libations & So Much More. 

Also on hand will be a slew of great vendors serving up everything from savory & sweet crepes to gourmet café au lait, handmade dairy free ice creams, shaved ice, domestic & imported beers and wines, so much good stuff you won’t know where to begin. For more information check out www.FrenchFestival.com

Whether you want to check out classically made wines, cheese and crepes filled with your favorite sweet or savory toppings or wish to hear some great music and dance under the stars this event has a little something for everyone (even the kids too.)

The LA Street Food Fest will be taking place June 29th at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, You Better Be There!!!

Lets the games begin, the players through for there is no mistaking Los Angeles love for street food. OK, OK yeah that sounds like some attempt at a rap, but no that is just us stating a mere fact. This year the 4^th annual Los Angeles Street Food Fest will be taking place Saturday June 29^th at the World-Famous Rose Bowl in beautiful, historical (and centrally located off a few different freeways) Pasadena, CA. 

There is still plenty of time to buy tickets so that you can come out and experience first hand some of the best food, drinks, snacks, treats or whatever you wish to classify it as, that you will ever lay your foodie fingers on. 

Recipes To Get Your Mind Right: Mixed Drink Recipes from the Great Googa Mooga, in Brooklyn

Last weekend, New Yorkers relished the opportunity to take in the best the city had to offer in the way of music, food & drinks at the annual Googa Mooga festival in Brooklyn.  Despite a rainy backdrop, thousands of adults packed Prospect Park to listen to the likes of Matt & Kim and The Flaming Lips while sipping on some top-notch cocktails made by a few premier NYC mixologists.

Knowing that our readers love strong drinks, one of our good friends shot us a few recipes they had booming in their booth at the event. With names like Quiet Storm & One More Chance, yeah the groups performing might have been a bit on the rock side, but the drinks sounded all Hip Hop. Over all the 3 day event saw over 50 food vendors and 75 beer and alcohol manufacturers do their thing for the lovely people of BK. Heavyweights from the big East Coast in the form of food and drink on hand serving up everything from duck sausage to grilled Maine lobster and Guiness stout brownies to fois gras doughnuts, this years food line up was something to behold.

Check out these drink recipes for new ways to kick up your next back yard function, picnic or whatever you choose to call it.

Enjoy Responsibly.

Uncle Buck

Ingredients:

1 ¼ oz Tequila Don Julio Blanco

¾ oz Pineapple Juice

½ oz Fresh Lime Juice

1/3 oz Ginger Syrup

1 tsp Green Chartreuse

Directions:

Combine Don Julio Blanco, pineapple juice, fresh lime juice, ginger syrup and green chartreuse in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.

Shake well

Strain contents into Collins cocktail glass over fresh ice.

Quiet Storm

Ingredients:

1 oz Bulleit Bourbon

¾ ounce lemon juice

1 oz extra dry vermouth

¼ oz simple syurp

Top with ginger beer

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a mixing tin

Strain contents into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice.

Garnish with 1 mint sprig and lemon

One More Chance

Ingredients:

1 ¼ oz George Dickel Rye

¼ oz Gran Classico bitters

¼ oz maple syrup

¾ oz lemon juice

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a mixing tin

Strain contents into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice.

Garnish with 1 orange half wheel

Behind The Scenes: Las Vegas Uncork'd 2013

The seventh annual Vegas Uncork’d kicked off in front of MGM Grand’s infamous bronze lion statue where 40 chefs from Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Mandalay Bay and MGM Grand gathered to mark the official beginning of festivities. After each chef was presented with a customized, hand-painted magnum of Mionetto Prosecco, attention turned to Michael Mina. He was filled with excitement as he sabered a bottle of bubbly while Joel Robuchon applauded with approval. There were rounds of cheers from both chefs and spectators as the sparkling wine exploded out.

Later in the evening, Caesars Palace hosted a series of Master Series Dinners where Guy Savoy, Bobby Flay, François Payard, the Pellegrino Family, Gordon Ramsay, Thomas Buckley and Michel Richard served up signature dishes at the same time to a crowd of hungry diners.

Internationally renowned chef and restaurateur Guy Savoy welcomed guests to his Caesars Palace restaurant for a multi-course meal at Dinnertime Decadence with Guy Savoy. In less than a year after opening, Savoy's first restaurant received a coveted Michelin Star. Guests at the dinner enjoyed Lobster, Jumbo Lump Crab and Beets in Cold Steam, Artichoke and Black Truffle Soup and Roasted Duck, Pea Puree, Morels and Canon of Carrot. 

(click read more for the entire story)

Finding Heaven in the City of Sin: Ferraro's Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar, Las Vegas

Moments shared over an astounding meal seem to provide memories that can last a lifetime. First dates much like a perfectly prepared meal should be savored, flowing smoothly from start to finish without any distractions. A first date or an important business meeting can quickly turn sour, should some unscrupulous food make its way into the mix. Be honest with yourself, not too many things can compare to sitting in an intimate location, looking into the eyes of someone you find yourself hopelessly falling for, eating bite after delicious bite of handmade old-world gourmet faire.

World renowned for its never ending, over the top excesses in all categories of life, the Las Vegas Strip draws foodies, thrill seekers, gamblers and lovers in by the millions annually.  And what better way to keep your guests stuck at the gambling tables than by stuffing them with delicacies created by big name celebrity Chefs? The problem with many of the new eateries helmed by these über Chefs becomes not only getting a reservation but, eating creations that resemble outer space creatures instead of delicious food. Not to say pushing the culinary envelope isn’t needed in this day and age, we strongly believe that taking things to the next level will help elevate everyone’s palates. But what about those nights when you want a dish that was created a few hundred years ago and can only be found in select regions further away than you’re willing to travel? In steps a place like Ferraro’s, an Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar that hands down has everyone beat on the strip when it comes to dishing out authentic Italian cuisine.

Student Walkout at Culinary Institute of America

The Culinary Institute of America. [Photo: CIA / Facebook]

(Paula Forbes & Eater.com recently ran this piece which is direct evidence that no matter what you do, always question what you are being told, especially when it involves your future and your bank account.)

Students at the Culinary Institute of America staged a walkout protest yesterday, with about a fifth of the school's attendees demonstrating. According to the New York Times, they were protesting "a weakening enforcement of educational standards," including perceived lowered standards for admittance and graduation as well as rapid expansion. Students at the protest wore nametags declaring the amount of debt they had accrued going to the CIA; one student who spoke to the Times owes $87,500.

But are academic standards weakening? According to the school's provost, admissions standards, at least, are actually going up. The president of the student government told the Times he finds the protest "childish."

This is not the first time the spirit of revolution has seized the students at the CIA. Back in 2008, students demonstrated against CIA president Tim Ryan, complaining that the school's relationship with corporate food led to students learning institutionalized food preparations and lowered academic standards overall.

Students involved in the protest yesterday told the Times they were trying to preserve the reputation of the school, in order to protect their investment in their education. But is culinary school even worth the massive debt, regardless of academic standards? Eh, people have mixed feelings about that.

*The Supreme Plate - Editors Note: As a former graduate from a major Culinary institution here in the United States, who upon graduation was also handed an outlandish bill for my less than 2 years on campus I understand where these students are coming from. The interest in being a Chef or working in the food industry has blown up beyond what anyone could have predicted, especially those currently working in the field. The problem that Culinary many students are facing (i.e. tuition and the taxation that is applied via Sallie Mae & other lenders, the inability to find a good job after graduation and more) is something that most college graduates are forced to deal with upon completing their “program” of choice. You will hear the usual gripes of “I am now a Chef, I deserve to be making $65,000 a year and running a restaurant by now” or my favorite so far “I really didn’t learn anything that I didn’t already know” but the most alarming of them all is “I have graduated and now I really don’t want to go work in a kitchen” or I just simply refuse to pay dues. What it all boils down too, is the frightening fact that we truly live in a day and age of instant gratification. The majority of the students attending Culinary schools across America are very young in age (18-22) and have no clue what they want to be in life so they jumped at a choice to attend a college aimed at making them the most popular thing to be on TV these days, a Chef. I was speaking with a Chef Instructor of mine recently who had left his position at Le Cordon Bleu and had gone back to working in a restaurant. He was telling me that yes he loved the light hours he worked while being a teacher but that the overall lack of desire and the over crowding of the classes (which can directly be attributed too greed and the overall goal of making money,) drove him right out of a job he truly loved performing day in and out. The commercials make it seem as if you go to school, graduate and become a celebrity overnight, which is far from the truth. As in any career the desire to perform the necessary tasks to help you achieve your goals must be present and with today’s students having little to no desire to hustle up a career, it is frightening to think of who will be manning the helm at our favorite eateries over the next decade or so. I applaud the students who took the risk of walking out of class to prove their point, that in itself could have been grounds for dismissal at an institute as prestigious as CIA, but must ask this question did you truly not listen to what the enrolling agent was telling you about the completion rates, final costs and added interests to your loans would be & finally did you not think to ask around from previous graduates as to what they experienced upon completing such an expensive program?   

Places to Eat at Coachella 2013

Palm Springs is world renowned for its leisurely activities. Whether in town for a weekend at one of the many luxurious spas, a few rounds of golf or taking some time to act a fool with a few friends at Coachella, Palm Springs is an out of the way gem amongst the many places to find a bit of peace and tranquility in California. With Coachella just a few days away, now is the time to put together a game plan for where you will want to eat after a few live shows, some good ol’ fashioned pushing and shoving to move through the crowds and of course some over priced drinks.

The food court is going to be amazing this year with heavyweights such as Ruths Chris, The Lime Truck, Clover Juice, Spicy Pie, Epic Burritos and our favorite Pink’s Hotdogs providing food for the masses (should you have access to the areas they may be located in.) That being said, when the lines are too long and you just can’t seem to see waiting any longer, check out a few of the great restaurants located below, because thanks to our good friends over at Eater, a list has been compiled of the local haunts you may want to check out when it comes time to refuel and escape the hipster madness.

To everyone who will be attending Coachella this weekend and the following weekend, be safe there will be a tremendous amount of police on the scene so be discrete with your methods of tom foolery and once again stay hydrated.

35 Days & Counting until bon appetite presents... Vegas Uncork'd 2013

Make sure you have your tickets, this is one weeks worth of events you wont want to miss. 

LA Epicurean Food Festival - Eat, Drink & Be Charitable

July 24, 2012 - Los Angeles, CA  
Leading up to this year's event, the LA Epicurean Festival is teaming up with prominent local charities, giving back $25 (which is one third of the ticket price) for every ticket sold through each charity to their respective cause. Attendees may select the charity of their liking to contribute to and purchase one or multiple tickets online.

Four prominent LA charities are currently participating:

• Concern Foundation: www.concernfoundation.org - Funding cancer research worldwide
• Childrens Hospital LA:  www.CHLA.org- Providing family support for young cancer patients
• Beyond Shelter:  www.beyondshelter.org - Combating Chronic Poverty, Welfare Dependency & Homelessness
• Share Our Strength: www.strength.org - Ending childhood hunger

To purchase tickets, go to the LA Epicurean Festival Facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/laepicureanfestival and select the 'Charity' app.

About the LA Epicurean Festival:

The Los Angeles Epicurean Festival brings together culinary specialties and extraordinary wines and spirits, under one roof in a casual setting. Each year, a new selection of exhibitors, are hand picked in order to keep attendees abreast of new ideas in the market place. Attendees will be able to pair and compare, taste and take home their favorite selections. Live entertainment, mixology and food demonstrations will be offered; our oenologists will explain how to taste and recognize great wines. Join us and discover over 500 boutique wines and spirits, cheeses, spices, coffee & teas, charcuterie, olive oils, mushrooms, organic chocolate, meat, fowl, fish and produce and much more. This year's event will be held on Sunday August 26, 2012, at the Vibiana, a historic landmark in downtown LA.

For more information about the LA Epicurean Festival, please visitwww.laepicureanfestival.com

EAT, DRINK AND BE CHARITABLE meet the LA Epicurean Festival charities

IE Food Truck & Brew Fest

Today was a great day in the Inland Empire. The Sun was out, Food Trucks were serving some of the greatest eats known to mankind and a few classic drink companies were on hand to supply the needed fluids to keep everyone from overheating (and we did see a few cases of that going down throughout the day.)

With over 50 great Food Trucks setting up shop and numerous Beer and Alcohol vendors on hand, today's event was a complete success in my eyes and in thousands of peoples stomachs. Crowds began gathering early in hopes of avoiding long lines at the trucks many people have been dying to eat off of, with that said we knew it would be an interesting day to say the least.

Club Culinaire Boutique Trade Show "Where Fine Food & Wine Meet"

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