In this report, Bryan — our Street Food expert — gives an advance look at what’s on deck for the LA Street Food Festival, taking place Saturday, July 21. The line up of vendors includes some of your LA favorites (Kogi BBQ) and also a few debuts including Rice and Roll Onigiri and the Peking Duck Food Trucks. Read on for details!
Coba Aguas Frescas opened the event and introduced us to Mexican aguas frescas sweetened with 100% organic agave nectar. Coba features all natural ingredients and no artificial sweeteners.
Secret Squirrel served cold pressed coffee. Steeped 18 hours and 100% organic, it was very smooth and delish!
Peking Duck Truck – Executive Chef Michael Brown exhibited his passion for making the perfect Peking Duck. All of the ingredients are organic and the duck is sourced from Mary’s Free Range Duck. I’ll have to agree with him that the duck was crispy, tasty and paired nicely with the bao (Chinese bun), slaw and slivered cucumbers.
Dog Haus Biergarten served burger sliders and the “So Cal Dog”. Reminiscent of the bun on a Maine lobster roll, it was topped with an all beef hot dog, mixed greens, diced tomato, tempura fried onions, basil aioli and avocado.
Gravy Train Poutinerie introduced us to the Canadian national comfort food of poutine. Gravy Train Poutinerie uses quality ingredients including Wisconsin cheese curds as well as Idaho russet potatoes.
Hansik Food Truck provided flavorful kalbi beef as well as pigs feet, scallions and fermented bean paste.
The Market on Holly – Owner Mary Pat Brandmeyer served brownies, rice crispy squares and decadent smores.
Mother Moo Creamery – Owner Karen Klemens served her signature salty chocolate ice cream – three types of chocolate offset with sea salt. If you like dark chocolate like I do, it’s absolutely incredible.
Co-owners Lawrence Tai and George Wu from the Waffles de Liege food truck finished off the evening and served us their signature Speculoos Special Waffle. Lawrence explained that this is a biscuit spread that is often served with waffles in Liege Belgium. In addition, they use Belgian pearl sugar which when cooked, caramelizes into the batter.
Lawrence Tai from Waffles de Liege
The Speculoos Special from Waffles de Liege
My favorite dish was Mama Leah’s Coconut Beef from The Park’s Finest. Co-owner Johneric Concordia passionately described his upbringing during the Rodney King riots and how they served barbeque to unite family and friends. Their Coconut Beef is a 16 hour smoked chuck steak, sliced into cubes, pan roasted with garlic, stewed for 2 hours in a coconut cream, vinegar, and yellow chilis. To finish it off, it is then reintroduced into the smoker to hold and absorb smoke flavor in the coconut gravy. The sauce is complex and incredibly delicious.
Also, you should not miss the opportunity to try some of Baja’s finest cuisine. Included are:
Aquai es Texcoco (as seen on Bizarre Foods)
Benito Molina
Javier Plascencia
Mariscos el Mazateno
Mariscoa “La Guerrense”
Tacos Kokopelli (US debut)
This was just a preview of some of the items being served at the event. To get the big picture, take a look at the full list of participants including food trucks street carts, restaurants, beverage vendors (including wine, beer, and tequila), desserts and so much more. The best part is, the price you pay for your ticket gets you in the event and tastes from all the vendors with no additional cash out of pocket. Bonus!
Website: http://lastreetfoodfest.com/
To purchase tickets (all inclusive price): http://lasff2012.eventbrite.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/lafoodfest
That “So Cal Dog” is looking pretty good! And yes, I’m a dark chocolate fan so I would be all over that ice cream.