For the entire month of May, The Times will be presenting a food festival called Food Bowl.
The festival will include special programs, dining experiences and forums as well as conversation about issues of sustainability, food waste and hunger. The events will draw on L.A.’s own chefs and food folks, as well as renown chefs from around the globe.
The festival will be centered around a Night Market, to be held at Grand Park in downtown L.A. from May 10-14, and will include over 50 restaurants and food trucks, along with lots of food, drinks and live entertainment. For the rest of the month, there will be individual events in kitchens and restaurants, at bars and coffee shops, in farmers markets and even in buses.
A new kind of food festival: 31 Days of Food
L.A. Times Food Bowl: One Night in Sichuan
The Los Angeles Times Food Bowl presents One Night in Sichuan, a six-course Chinese dinner by Kelly Xiao and Lynn Liu of Szechuan Impression and Tian Tian Qiu of Hip Hot Restaurant. All three restaurateurs are from Chengdu in China. Hosted by Jonathan Gold, the L.A Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic.
This will be the first time any two San Gabriel Valley Sichuanese restaurants have participated in a collaboration west of the 710 Freeway.
The dinner will feature famous Chengdu street food as well as modern Sichuan-style Chinese entrees. Szechuan Impression is one of Jonathan Gold’s recommendations, and in his recent review of Daw Yee, he called chef Delyn Chow’s cooking “just right.” Hip Hot recently taped a segment for Bravo TV on Sichuanese West Coast seafood. Limited tickets are available.
Daw Yee, 2837 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles; 7 p.m. May 23; $50
British chef Fergus Henderson talks about nose-to-tail cooking
Perhaps no one in modern culinary history has popularized the use of the whole animal as much as British chef Fergus Henderson. Henderson, the legendary chef of the St. John restaurant group, pioneered the modern culinary “nose-to-tail” movement, in which every part of the animal is appreciated and used. Henderson is an icon of the food world — he’s idolized by chefs including David Chang and Mario Batali — and Anthony Bourdain has proclaimed Henderson’s roast bone marrow and parsley salad his “death row meal.”
Henderson will be in Los Angeles for the next few days as part of the Los Angeles Times monthlong Food Bowl festival. He recently visited The Times’ Test Kitchen with St. John head chef Jonathan Woolway to demonstrate Ferguson’s classic deviled kidney dish. I chatted with Ferguson about his favorite meal of the day, his culinary inspirations and how to properly pour a Black Velvet cocktail.
Read MoreFergus Henderson will be featured at three Los Angeles Food Bowl events: “Fergus Henderson X Redbird” at Redbird restaurant in downtown Los Angeles at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 20; “Beast Feast - A Celebration of Meat Presented by Resy” at Coral Tree Plaza in downtown Los Angeles at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 21; and “Fergus Henderson X Animal” at Animal Restaurant in Los Angeles on Monday, May 22.
Documentary features Valencia brothers from Lasa restaurant
We are here once again at the Far East Plaza, the modest Chinatown mall that is home to the recently reviewed Howlin’ Ray’s, Pok Pok Phat Thai and Chego, among other players in the current food movement. We are in Unit 120, the self-described restaurant incubator space, run by Alvin Cailan, whom you may know from Eggslut. And although we might be equally pleased if we were at the Monday night Detroit-style pizza parlor in this space, or eating pork belly from a banana leaf at the weekend-afternoon Amboy, we are at Lasa, Chad and Chase Valencia’s semi-permanent pop-up restaurant that has occupied the weekend evening slot for the last few months and is likely to for several more.
Read MoreThe Valencia brothers are featured in the documentary ‘ULAM’, which will preview at the Los Angeles Times Food Bowl on May 20. For a full schedule of events, click here. The chefs will discuss the film with The Times’ Jonathan Gold following the screening.
May 20 | 5-7 p.m. Million Dollar Theatre, 307 S. Broadway | Tickets $10
Jonathan Gold’s review of the Yucatán-style seafood restaurant Holbox
Are we talking about Mexican seafood again? We’re talking about Mexican seafood again. Because I’m guessing that at least some of you won’t want to go another week without tasting the yellowtail ceviche with uni at Holbox.
Holbox, travelers tell you, is the next Tulum, a sleepy, bird-rich island off the Yucatán Peninsula, where the threat of golf courses and high-rise resorts seems to loom just past every promontory. It is probably known for its concentrations of whale sharks, eco-tourists and locals who claim to be descended from pirates. In Mayan, Holbox means “black hole,” which may explain its gravitational force. You are advised to visit before Starbucks sets up camp.
Read MoreHolbox’s Gilberto Cetina will demonstrate how to buy and butcher fresh fish as part of the Los Angeles Times Food Bowl on:
May 18 | 7 p.m. | Holbox, 3655 S. Grand Ave. #C6 | Tickets $40
Sights and sounds from the Night Market
Scenes from the L.A. Times Night Market featuring food booths from more than 50 Los Angeles restaurants, trucks and bars.
6 recipes inspired by this week’s Los Angeles Times Food Bowl Night Market
The Los Angeles Times Food Bowl Night Markets is underway through Sunday. You can make six of our favorite recipes from Jitlada Restaurant, Guerrilla Tacos, Nomad Truck, Border Grill and Rice Bar, which will all be at the market. You’re welcome.
The L.A. Times’ first Night Market is tonight. Join Jonathan Gold’s scavenger hunt to get a grand tour
If you plan to go the Los Angeles Times’ inaugural Night Market, make sure to join Jonathan Gold’s scavenger hunt!
Our food critic has programmed his robot twin, Goldbot, with clues to help you navigate the 50 restaurants, food trucks, bars and artisanal vendors gathered at Grand Park over the next few days.
The first 50 people to complete the scavenger hunt will win a small prize and be entered in a raffle for two tickets to Soirée Poule, an evening at Bouchon with three chefs discussing how they make fried chicken.
For details on how to get started, check the Super Market area of the Night Market. Although the overall event is free, tickets to the Super Market are $10 for adults and $5 for children.
And for those of you who can’t wait to start, grab your first clue on Facebook Messenger.
Night Markets start today
The first annual Los Angeles Times Night Market will take over Grand Park for five consecutive nights, May 10-14.
A selection of 50 L.A.’s restaurants, food trucks, bars and artisanal vendors will feature diverse food creations including khao soi, pad kee mao, dim sum, pupusas, encased meats and izakaya.
The event is free, but you can purchase tickets to the Super Market, which will allow you access to curated food vendors, additional seating areas and food booths, bars, premium lounges and entertainment.
Wednesday, May 10: 5 p.m.–10 p.m.
Thursday, May 11: 5 p.m.–10 p.m.
Friday, May 12: 5 p.m.–11 p.m.
Saturday, May 13: 3 p.m.–11 p.m.
Sunday, May 14, Mothers Day: 3 p.m.–9 p.m.
A cheat sheet to this week’s Night Market: Locol, Bludso’s BBQ, the best Hainan chicken in L.A.
Maybe you’ve been chasing down the NoMad truck, the food truck run by Daniel Humm and Will Guidara (the duo behind Eleven Madison Park, recently named the best restaurant in the world, the NoMad and the NoMad Bar). Or maybe you’re craving the Hainan chicken rice from Side Chick, the Arcadia mall restaurant that Times critic Jonathan Gold recently called the best in L.A. Or maybe the pork belly baos from Eddie Huang’s Baohaus are on your must-try list. Now you can have them all in one place: The NoMad truck, that excellent Hainan chicken and Huang’s pork belly baos will all be at the Los Angeles Times Night Market at Grand Park, which begins Wednesday.
Food Bowl final week: What to do
Food Bowl Week 4: What to do
Food Bowl Week 3: What to do
Talking tacos, Noma Mexico and wild bee larvae with Rosio Sanchez
Two years ago, the Cordon Bleu-trained, Chicago-born, first-generation Mexican American Rosio Sanchez, who spent years as Noma’s pastry chef, left René Redzepi’s two-Michelin star restaurant to open the first of two critically acclaimed taqueria pop-ups, Hija de Sanchez, in Copenhagen.
Recently, Sanchez phoned in from the Yucatan peninsula to talk about small bee larvae, her tres leches paleta and why she stubbornly keeps micheladas on the Hija menu.
Read MoreJoin Rosio Sanchez of Hija de Sanchéz and Jessica Koslow of Sqirl for a Taco Salad Bowl dinner on May 9 at Night Gallery in downtown L.A. All proceeds will be donated to the Boys & Girls Club in Watts. 2276 E 16th St., Los Angeles.
Food Bowl Week 2 (May 8-14)
Los Angeles Times Gold Award Dinner
Join us for a celebratory evening as Wolfgang Puck
accepts the inaugural Los Angeles Times Gold Award.
Enjoy a retrospective menu of dishes from chef Puck’s
storied career and engaging conversations with
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Jonathan Gold, Puck and
other special guests as they reflect on the last four
decades of dining in Los Angeles.
Spago Beverly Hills. 7 to 10 p.m. May 8. $250, includes wine.
Year of the Rooster Dinner
As part of the Los Angeles Times’ inaugural Food Bowl this May, E.P. & L.P. will present a seven-course Year of the Rooster dinner featuring Chinese classics from E.P.’s executive chef, Louis Tikaram, and Baohaus’ Edwyn Charles “Eddie” Huang of “Huang’s World” on Viceland, hosted by the Los Angeles Times’ deputy food editor, Jenn Harris, on Sunday, May 7.
E.P. & L.P., 603 N La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood. May 7 from, 6 to 10 p.m. $100
Grand Central Market celebrates 100 years
To celebrate 100 years, Grand Central Market will host chef demos, hands-on workshops and tastings. Belcampo Meat Co. will be breaking down an entire pig, and you can learn pasta-making with Knead & Co. There will be a mole-tasting flight with Chiles Secos, and DTLA Cheese will team up with Valerie Confections for an interactive cheese and jam board tutorial. Bombo, La Tostaderia and the Oyster Gourmet are among other vendors with special demos and tastings.
Grand Central Market , 317 S. Broadway Los Angeles, May 6 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Free admission.
Watch the live stream of Food for the Soul
Watch prominent chefs Massimo Bottura, Mario Batali, Roy Choi, Dominique Crenn and Mary Sue Milliken discuss food waste, live from the Theatre at the Ace Hotel, moderated by Jonathan Gold.
What happens when one of the world’s best chefs cleans out your fridge
Every day, we produce enough food to feed 12 billion people, and one-third of that food is thrown away. At the same time, almost 1 billion people remain undernourished. For chef Massimo Bottura, the numbers matter. Bottura is the chef-owner of the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy. He’s also the founder of Food for Soul, a nonprofit organization that fights food waste.
Food for Soul creates and maintains sustainable kitchens — called refettori — with a growing number of projects worldwide, involving both high-profile chefs and volunteers, who serve guests facing food poverty and insecurity. The kitchens also serve as social hubs that work to benefit the whole community.
Read MoreMassimo Bottura will be in a forum with Mario Batali, Roy Choi, Dominique Crenn and Mary Sue Milliken at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel, May 5 at 8 p.m. $35
Chef Dominique Crenn talks planting trees in Haiti, microwave popcorn and returning to L.A.
Chef Dominique Crenn is a woman. Now get over it. No, really. She may have won the title of World’s Best Female Chef from the London-based World’s 50 Best last year, but she’s doing much more than simply being a female in the kitchen. In 2013, her modernist French San Francisco restaurant, Atelier Crenn, was awarded two Michelin stars. She opened a second San Francisco restaurant, a French bistro called Petit Crenn, in 2015.
She’s also one of the leading forces behind the Root Project, a joint effort with Michelle Jean and other chefs to rebuild the infrastructure for farmers in Haiti following the devastation of Hurricane Matthew last year. Part of that effort includes traveling to Haiti to help plant trees for coffee and cacao farmers.
Crenn will be in a forum tonight with Massimo Bottura, Mario Batali, Roy Choi and Mary Sue Milliken.
The Theatre at the Ace Hotel, Friday, 8 p.m. $35
A forum on food waste with renowned chefs
One-third of the world’s food is thrown away, while hundreds of millions of people go undernourished. We’ve invited five of the world’s most renowned chefs to present their unique visions on how to tackle these wrongs inherent in our current food system during a lively roundtable debate.
The panel discussion will be followed by an exclusive screening of “Theater of Life.” This film explores the story behind the Refettorio Ambrosiano, a soup kitchen conceived by chef Massimo Bottura for the Milan 2015 World’s Fair to turn food waste into meals for those in need.
From each ticket, $5 will go to Food Forward, an L.A. nonprofit that rescues fresh local produce that otherwise would go to waste.
The forum will feature Bottura, Mario Batali, Roy Choi, Dominique Crenn. Mary Sue Milliken.
The Theatre at the Ace Hotel, 8 p.m. May 5. $35
A chat with Feedback founder Tristram Stuart about Feeding the 5000 and the first L.A. event
On Thursday, Feeding the 5000 will hold its first Los Angeles event, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, as part of the Los Angeles Times Food Bowl festival. The event culminates in a feast created with the help of local partners using fresh produce that otherwise would have gone to waste.
Among the festivities, Feeding the 5000 LA will include cooking demonstrations by Monica May of Nickel Diner, who will show how to make a savory French toast, and chef Ryan Stewart of L.A. Kitchen, who will demonstrate how to transform produce into delicious dishes.
Feeding the 5,000 event in Los Angeles
For a feast with a difference, join thousands who will dine for free on fresh, top-quality food that would otherwise be wasted. Learn about tackling food waste and its environmental impact while enjoying a delicious meal and taking part in fun, family-friendly activities that showcase the work of top chefs and food organizations from across L.A. Hosted by Feedback Global with L.A. Kitchen, with support from the Rockefeller Foundation and other local partners.
Read more: Can urban farming combat food waste? | Make vegan pozole plus tips for preventing food waste
At Pershing Square, 532 S. Olive St., Los Angeles, Free. May 4, 11 a.m. to 4p.m.
Taste of New Zealand: L.A. meets N.Z.
Get a taste of New Zealand and join Tangaroa Fish Market & Raw Bar for a three-course evening exploring a cuisine that focuses on food from the pure waters and land of New Zealand. Complement your meal with a wine pairing adventure where you’ll be drinking from the most innovative family-operated vineyards and wineries that are just beginning to be introduced into the U.S.
Tangaroa Fish Market & Raw Bar Restaurant, 12604 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, $85. May 4 at 7p.m.
WPChef Series features chefs Massimo Bottura, Nancy Silverton, Roy Choi and Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck will showcase the talents of Massimo Bottura, Roy Choi and Nancy Silverton in a multi-course experience in his luxury setting at Hotel Bel Air. Proceeds will go to both Chef Wolfgang’s partnering cause “Chefs to End Hunger” and Massimo Bottura’s “Food for Soul.”
701 Stone Canyon Road, Los Angeles, $500, on May 3 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The Secrets of a Fatboy dinner
Alvin Cailan, Nakul & Arjun Mahendro, of the Super Amazing Restaurant Show, know how to eat for maximum pleasure! And they are finally sharing their secrets. The Secrets of a Fatboy Dinner will take you through some of Alvin, Nakul & Arjun’s favorite things to eat, while celebrating gluttony and overindulgence.
727 N. Broadway, #120, Los Angeles, $55 menu, $35 unlimited wine. May 3 and 24
Tiki Wednesdays
Located within One Santa Fe in Arts District, Westbound’s will be hosting a tiki night every Wednesday in May. Featuring punch bowls, a few tropical classics, their own spins on tropical cocktails, and tiki-inspired bites.
300 S. Santa Fe Ave., Los Angeles. May 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tickets: westbounddtla.com
Genet goes Italian
Chef Genet Agonafer is known for vibrant traditional Ethiopian cuisine. For one night only, Agonafer is opening her doors Tuesday with an Italian meal made especially for the Los Angeles Times Food Bowl.
1053 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, $30, Tuesday, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Booking: (323) 938-9304
Smorgasburg At ROW DTLA
Smorgasburg LA is the biggest outdoor weekly market in Los Angeles for food and shopping, popping up every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at ROW DTLA.
777 Alameda St., Los Angeles, Free, every Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Special events: May 7, Family Day; May 14, Mother’s Day; May 28, Burger Day.
Breakfast for dinner pop-up
From Japanese-inspired breakfasts to your traditional American brunch, Chimney Coffee House will be giving your taste buds a tumble, serving savory and sweet breakfast dishes for dinner. The menu changes each week.
1100 N Main St., Los Angeles, $30 on Tuesday, and May 9, 16, 23 and 30, 6:30 to 10 p.m
Caja China Roast Whole Heritage suckling pig
Cliff’s Edge is taking the urban route on cooking a whole pig. With rich flavors of smoke, garlic and pork, the pig is brined in a bath of mojo, a Cuban marinade made with garlic, olive oil and sour orange.
3626 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, $35 on Tuesday, and May 9, 16, 23 and 30, 6.30 to 9 p.m. Booking: (323) 369-6200
Food Bowl events today - What to do with your leftovers and special dinner for a cause
There are several events today as part of the Food Bowl. One is a forum on managing food waste with chef Massimo Bottura and there is a special dinner with chef Timothy Hollingsworth.
Chef Massimo Bottura, UCLA professor Jenny Jay and zero waste consultant and “Waste Warrior” Amy Hammes will discuss food waste in a panel discussion.
245 Charles E. Young Drive, Los Angeles, $25, May 2 at 7 p.m. Tickets
Timothy Hollingsworth is attempting to nudge American cooking as it is experienced by most of us in 2017.
Otium 222 S. Hope St., Los Angeles, $175, May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets
More events today at foodbowl.com