Kato restaurant

Project x Project’s PbP-LA Insider Success Story

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(Gerry Furth-Sides) Project x Project’s PbP-LA evening was always one of my top three food events. It proved better than ever this year. The annual charity benefit continues to be exquisitely organized and presented. All proceeds benefit a single different charity each year.

The Project x Project Planning Committee board at Project x Project’s PbP 2023, and getting ready at Delhi Belly, Alhambra

Planning is key. With Delhi Belly in Alhambra, the planning committee visited the restaurant to become acquainted with Chef Sagar Ghosh and his food. Delhi Belly (@delhibellyla was a presenter in the VIP section on the upstairs level.

Board members planning meeting for PbP by Project by Project 2023 at Delhi Belly
Tried ahead of time, the Chef Sagar Ghosh’s panipuri – tamarind juice to pour in potato mash-filled semolina balls at Project x Project’s PbP 20
Tried ahead of time, the Chef Sagar Ghosh’s panipuri by the project x Project PbP board member members at Delhi Belly
Delhi Belly’s surprised and pleased guest at Project x Project’s PbP 2023

Project x Project planning board attention to detail is with every step. The Malai Mascarpone chicken kabobs are prepped in the kitchen and grilled over a fire on-site.

Board Member Kevin Wang helps Chef Sagar Ghosh, Delhi Belly, set up at Project x Project’s PbP-LA 2023

Meanwhile on the first level below, guests mingled, watched live entertainment and presentations and wandered among two rows of vendors. Samplings included traditional and cutting edge food and both non-alcoholic drinks like boba) and spirits.

The PbP event main level with double rows of vendors to the right, a stage front and center and an upstairs VIP section.

Vendors in the VIP exclusive section also included long-time Long Beach stalwart, Cave Prime Steak, Long Beach (@thecavesteak). The short rib was melt-in-the-mouth over a firm but creamy polenta. The booth was at the far end of the row of vendors to draw people to the back. The strategy was to place The Cave at the far end of the row so that the fragrant live cooking attracted guests. It worked.

A full meal from Cave Prime Steak, Long Beach (@thecavesteak) — with creme brulee for dessert — with smiles
A full meal from Cave Prime Steak, Long Beach (@thecavesteak) — with creme brulee for dessert — with smiles

Maker’s Mark (Amakersmark; Matchako (@drinkmatchako; Sans @sanandwolvesbakeshop ; Sunmerry Bakery (@sunmerryus); Thai Farmhouse (@thaifarmhouse and Simonette Restaurant @simonetterestaurant.

Thai Farmhouse Kitchen’s elaborate table at Project x Projects PbP 2023
Thai Farmhouse Kitchen’s elaborate table at Project x Projects PbP 2023

Stars on the first General Admission level, including Cafe Dulce, are written up in //localfoodeater.com/exquisite-project-x-projects-asian-pbp-la-benefit/ They included artisans who are just now setting up brick and mortar place, such as the truly marvelous authentic French, Maison Matho (@maisonmatho), shown below

Authentic, scrumptious French sandwiches at new Maison Matho (@maisonmatho, Project x Project’s PbP 2023

(@eastsidecheesecakes); Emporium Thai ( @emporiumthai); Flurr Ice (@fluffice); Gogo’s Tacos (@gogostacosla); Hummy Soju Seltzer (@drinkhummy); Intercrew (@intercrewla); Jack Daniel’s (@jackdaniels_us); Kazunori (@ kazunori); Kirin Ichiban (@kirinichibanusa); Le Cou @lecoupe_friedchicken); Loose Leaf Boba (@looseleafboba);

626 Hospitality at Project x Project’s PbP 2023
626 Hospitality at Project x Project’s PbP 2023

Gem offered a dish right out of the current Asian holiday news of: Salted Egg Yolk Paste as the answer to parmesan cheese. And it does taste exactly like it!

Gem with a newsmaker Salted Egg Yolk Paste with Shrimp at Project x Project’s PbP 2023

Eveleigh (@theeveleigh and trendy Kato Restaurant (@katorestaurant), shown below also presented.

trendy Kato Restaurant (@katorestaurant), Project x Project’s PbP 2023

Other presenters included: Maker’s Mark, @makersmark; Makku & Soku, @drinkmakku; Nep Cafe + Gem Dining, @nep.cafe, @gemdining; Paderia, @paderiabakehouse; Salt & Straw, @saltandstraw; Santuari, @santuarila; Sanzo, @drinksanzo; Sunright Tea Studio, @sunrightteastudio.socal, @sunrightteastudio; Tasty Food 626; Teremana Tequila, @teremana; Top Tep, @toptep.popup; Wanderlust, @wanderlustcreamery; Wildwonder, @drinkwildwonder; The X Pot, @chubbycattle, @nikuxla; Yoju, @sipyoju, and Papille Gustative, @papillegustativela, below, with a healthy, refreshing cod liver salad.

Papille Gustative, @papillegustativela at Project x Project’s PbP 2023

The formal evening of luxurious indulgences is designed to raise awareness of Project x Project on a local and national level, primarily its mission to develop leaders through innovative philanthropy. The charity fundraiser, PbP is the perfect backdrop while guests enjoy sampling signature dishes, participate in a silent auction, and attend the highly celebrated after-party.

Guests enjoying a leisurely, delicious, productive evening at Project x Project’s PbP 2023

PbP-LA guests include guests from nonprofit organizations, elected officials, community influencers, and professionals from various industries to learn more about our 2023 campaign theme of Education Access and our beneficiary partner. 

Angma at Project x Project’s PbP 2023

Proceeds fro Project by Project (PbP) 2023 benefit Hope Community Services to continue youth and senior programs. Founded in 1995, Hope Community Services, located in Orange County, has been instrumental in supporting the Vietnamese community by delivering educational programs, including youth summer camps, after-school tutoring, and senior English Second Language classes. PbP-LA looks forward to contributing to HOPE’s mission as they build pathways so that Vietnamese Americans and the AAPI community can not only survive but thrive in our beautiful nation. 

Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned Cocktails at Project x Project’s PbP 2023

Los Angeles Times Dinner Series Pairs Top Asian Chefs with Virtual Supper Club

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The Los Angeles Times harvest time event on Labor Day has always been a highlight of the summer season.  This year a new series of dinners kicking off on September 5 will bring curated menus and online gatherings to Angelenos for at-home experience. The Times Dinner Series, hosted by its acclaimed Food staff, will feature two types of events that combine specially-created takeout meals with a rotating virtual supper club: chef collaboration meals and celebrity dinner parties.  For details, please see: The Los Angeles Times today announced 

The collaboration meals will each include three-course takeout menus created by chefs from two Los Angeles-area restaurants, plus a virtual dining experience. The celebrity dinner parties will offer a three-course menu developed by a local chef, and an online get-together with special guests.   

A pair of The Times’ 101 Best Restaurants of 2019, Kato (#1) and Nightshade (#52), will kick off the series with a collaboration dinner on Saturday, Sept. 5. Chefs Jon Yao of Kato and Mei Lin of Nightshade will design a dinner that brings the Taiwanese and Chinese influences of their respective restaurants together for a one-time-only takeout meal. A member of The Times Food staff will host the dinner guests and chefs, via video chat, for a lively discussion to accompany the meal.   

The series event lineup, including additional participating chefs and restaurants, will be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets for each dinner event are $175 per person and include a three-course meal. Dinners will be available for pick up on the day of the scheduled event. Ticketholders will receive instructions for any preparation required at home and for joining the virtual supper club to dine together, via email the week of the event.  

The Times Dinner Series is presented by City National Bank and Project Angel Food is the series’ charity partner. To purchase tickets and learn more, visitlatimes.com/dinnerseries. Connect on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @latimesevents (#latdinnerseries). 

Top Ten Reasons Why the LATimes the Taste 2018 is Tops

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(Gerry Furth-Sides) Los Angeles Times’ The Taste 2018, the annual event celebrating flavors of the world prepared and hosted by acclaimed L.A. chefs and bartenders, lived up to its promise.  But the evening adds up to so much more than the sum of its parts, special in a city where there are three food events a week.  Here are ten reasons why:

(1) The promise was that Paramount Pictures Studios backlot over Labor Day weekend (August 31-September 2, 7:30 PM – 10:30 PM) would be transformed into a block party.  And you cannot get more neighborly than the Paramount crew and the LA Times staff.

Heading down the manicured walkway on the Paramount lot, filled with history and now little parks with tables for dining al fresco

The first face we saw inside the lot with a warm, friendly welcome

The Dining Room

Simply “The Dining Room” on the Paramount lot

And glammed up it was from the time you walked “the red carpet” to the entrance.  This year the evening events happily took place in the backlot minus the old former front area with a deep iron stairway that went up and then down into it.

The  Los Angeles Times’ The Taste 2018 site is party perfect. The small CBS event lot feels like a backyard; the universal lot like a huge field of hills; the Paramount lot is just the right size with enough walking (1.5 miles) between the street sets to feel light and easy.

The middle of the three roadways up to the top of the lot

The east walkway on the event lot. The west walkway leads to the VIP tent.

(2) Each ticket grants access to unlimited tastings citywide pop-ups, collaborations, plus pairings from chefs and restaurants.  It was also exciting that no restaurants duplicated any other.  Six cocktails and the ticket is paid!

And there are more high-end craft cocktails plus wine and beer to come after that all evening.  Here is our old friend Clos Du Bois, favorite of talented LA chef Toribio Prado who would drink nothing else. We toasted to him!

(3) Meet DTLA chefs to taste why their restaurants are destination dining worthy.  We have always loved the food of Baltaire and Otium for years.  The plan is to live in DTLA for a month and just go through the entire enticing menus.

Baltaire

Baltaire Chef featured tender, moist bison

Otium

Chef Tim Hollingsworth of Otium.

Church and State in the Arts District served a refreshing Green Gazpacho with garden fresh cucumber, tomato, garlic, celery, cilantro, and EVOO reminding us that simple can be the utmost in elegance and taste.

Green Gazpacho

Green Gazpacho at Church & State

 

(4) Meet up with Studio City Chefs in new and long-time restaurants.  Second-generation owner Christy Vega’s welcome was so warm it is worth a drive over the hill.  Her mini-sweet corn tamales with crema tasted of Indian summer.

 

We still miss Ted Hopson on the westside.  But he looks so relaxed it’s clear that Bellwether agrees with him.

Hamasaku

(5) Meet old friends and see what they are up to.  Hamasaku opened casual seafood izakaya and sushi offshoot, Umi by Hamasaku in El Segundo from partners Jesse Duron, chef Yoya Takahashi and owner Michael Ovitz.  Japanese-American Chef Takahashi is his old party self, serving refined, rich sushi.

Chao Krung Restaurant

Second generation Chao Krung Restaurant (Casa Vega is also one) brought both beautiful mom and daughters to the show.

(6) Original thoughtfully created demos: Friday’s stage was hosted by Times food editor Jenn Harris.  It was fun to introduce the welcoming Miss Harris to Chef Cecilia de Castro, Director of ACE, Academy of Culinary Education, celebrating its tenth birthday this year.  

Below Ricardo Zarate (Rosaliné) and Jonathan Yao (Kato) share secrets of creating classic dishes, doing two version of the same dish.  Jon hails from the Walnut in the San Gabriel Valley.

(7) See how the city chefs work as a team.  When Chef Ludo was unable to attend because of illness, Chef Timothy Hollingsworth stepped in for him.

Chef Hollingsworth prepares a popular menu item: funnel cake mousse

 

(8)  See what the fuss is about with rising chefs in town, here from our neighborhood:  We looked forward to tasking the food of  Taiwanese-American chef Jonathan Yao (Kato) Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef awardee, nominated for Rising Star from the James Beard Foundation. We were not disappointed.

Salad

Duck Confit Salad from KATO

See what the fuss is about with fried chicken at Gus’s.  Generous portions, tender, and moist inside and crunchy on the outside, served by a friendly staff.

 

 

(9) See what is new locally:

 

ice cream

Wanderlust Creamery served a “Neapolitan” sorbet with three fruit flavors instead of the traditional strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate ice cream plus a violet gelato that was delicate and just as food as the staffer promised

(10) See what is new internationally.  This year Taiwan and Korea had displays with cultural and travel information, along with food samplings.

Korean

All of the Korean cooks wore sneeze guards (note the plastic straws though)

A young lady passed around a tray of fried seaweed and explained how it is made

A complete lesson in Korean “pat-bing-su” with a poster, staff to explain this and other foods plus a sampling.

The little Korean Pavilion served Korean Shaved Ice with Red Bean Topping, and the signage explained that other ingredients can also be used, such as fruit, rice cake, misutgaru(10)

And did we mention how friendly the Paramount staff was? Here is another reminder as we were leaving the show and discovered it was 10:30 p.m.

Friday Evening alone included Samplings from restaurants include: Otium, The Bellwether, Hinoki & the Bird, Pacific Dining Car, Ocean Prime Beverly Hills, FARMHOUSE, Highly Likely Café, Nerano, Michael’s Santa Monica, Poppy & Rose, Paramount Coffee Project, Yarrow, Pearl’s BBQ, Woodley Proper, Bone Kettle, Mainland Poke, Mexicali Taco & Co., Wanderlust Creamery, Umu by Hamasku, Casa Vega, Baltaire, Chao Krung, Puesto, Pop’s Bagels, Amor y Tacos, Bar Garcia, Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar & Grill.

The line was always long for Pearl’s TEXAS BBQ Brisket!

Samplings from restaurants on Saturday includes: Granville, Coni’Seafood, The Exchange at Freehand LA, Herringbone Santa Monica, Kali Restaurant, Prawn Coastal, Gus’s World-Famous Fried Chicken, Jaffa, Cento Pasta Bar, Winston Pies, Trois Mec, Melody, Tumbi Craft Indian Kitchen, Rappahannock Oyster Bar, Sichuan Impression, Citizen Beverly Hills, Roe Seafood, Komodo, Maple Block Meat Co., Madre Oaxacan Restaurant and Mezcaleria.

Coni'Seafood whole fish

Coni’Seafood whole fish

Sunday evenings Samplings from included: Banh Oui, Luv2Eat Thai Bistro, Inko Nito, Holtville Chicken, Jitlada, Wolf, Guisados, Commerson, 71Above, Brack Shop Tavern, Faith & Flower, Bulgarini Gelato, The Arbour, Lao Tao, Manuela, Bourbon Steak, Avec Nous, Momed, The Arbour, WOOD, Lao Tao,  Kobee Factory, Yardbird Southern Table & Bar, Meals by Genet.

Crustacean Restaurant featuring the food of founder Chef Helene An

 

For a detailed description of each event and a full lineup of participating chefs and restaurants, visit//extras.latimes.com/taste/

Friday, August 31st,  Saturday, September 1st, Sunday, September 2nd General Admission (7:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) – $115. Tickets are available at //extras.latimes.com/taste/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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