Masters of Taste 2022 Preview Promises!

(Gerry Furth-Sides) The invite that arrives this year signaled the transition of lockdown to a party!

The festive and fun 5^thAnniversary Masters of Taste preview promises the L.A.’s premier outdoor, luxury food and beverage festival will be the welcome back public event after two years. The Sunday,April 3^rd, 2022, from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm takes place on the field of the iconic Pasadena Rose Bowl! 

The food at the preview, in the locker room of the historic Rose Bowl. In the locker room! (due to threat of rain). This is the ultimate behind-the-scenes experience and you get the same exhilarating feeling at the Masters of Taste event itself.

Masters of Taste is introducing Chef Vanda Asapahu as it’s first-ever female Host Chef of Masters of Taste, which also happens to mark the 5^th Anniversary of this celebrated event. This year, Masters of Taste falls in April, during which Thai New Year, Songkran, is also celebrated. Chef Vanda has invited 3 other L.A. Thai restaurants, to participate in the SongkranThai SELECT Pavilion, a celebration spanning the Rose Bowl’s end zone.

The special pavilion will feature traditional Thai sundry general store and Songkran festival. As a culinary challenge, each Thai restaurant will prepare a dish, dessert, and/or cocktail using a common paste, sahm kler (which translates to “3 buddies”), and comprises white peppercorn, garlic, and cilantro root. This aromatic mixture is used in a variety of Thai dishes and is quite possibly the reason why Thai food is so special.

100% of the proceeds from Masters of Taste 2022 will directly benefit Union Station Homeless Services, a nonprofit organization committed to providing permanent solutions to end homelessness and rebuild lives. Headquartered in Pasadena, CA, Union Station has served the community for nearly 50 years. Today it is the San Gabriel Valley’s largest social service agency assisting homeless and very low-income adults and families.

Union Station Homeless Services’ mission is guided by the belief that everyone deserves a life of dignity and a place to call home. In the last four years Masters of Taste has raised over $2 Million in support of Union Station Homeless Services life-saving programs.

VIP tickets are sold out. It was so touching to hear the Mission representative tell the story of how he thought to give the event a chance five years ago as an alternative to the more tried-and-true methods of fundraising. And how phenomenal it was to see the successful response.

This year Masters of Taste 2022 will partner with Careers Through Culinary Arts Program, Los Angeles (C-CAP LA) to bring high school volunteer assistance at the event. Named a National Apprenticeship Program by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2021 , he non-profit Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) provides culinary, job, and life skills to over 20,000 middle-and-high school students in seven regions across the United States: New York City, Newark, Philadelphia and Camden, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C.,Maryland,Northern Virginia, and Arizona, including 7 Navajo Reservation schools.