Labor Day Weekend:

The LA Times’
The Taste 2013
is back to celebrate
Southern
California’s culinary
scene with over 15,000
Angelenos. Deemed as
Southern California’s
favorite food and wine
festival and voted as Biz
Bash’s #2 Southern California
Food and Wine
event, The Taste w ill take
place once again during
Labor Day’s three-day
weekend, from August
30th through September
1st. Filled with unlimited
tastings, specialty cocktails
and a lineup of rock
star roster of chefs, bartenders
and restaurants,
The Taste will showcase
f ive uniquely themed
events at the Paramount
Pictures Studios lot.
These events will revolve
around the heart of LA’s
dining scene, including
the trends, people and
don’t forget – t he eats.
Each night will be hosted
by a different writer or editor
of the Los Angeles Times’
Food Section and the opening
night will kick off on
a high note with a special
soirée attended by all The
Taste event hosts and many
of the weekend’s participating
chefs and bartenders
on Friday, August 30, from
7:30pm to 11:30pm. This
opening night will be filled
with a collection of tastings,
distinctive cocktail and wine
offerings as well as live entertainment.
Russ Parsons (LA Times’
Food Editor) and Chef Michael
Cimarusti (Providence
and co-partner of Connie
and Ted’s) will be hosting
Field to Fork on Saturday,
August 31st. From 11am
to 3pm, Field to Fork will
be spotlighting a seasonal
and sustainable dining, a
“Fish or Famine: Sustainability
and the Seafood on
Your Plate” panel and tips by
wine experts for pairing the
perfect glass with locallysourced
dishes at two tasting
sessions. Chef Sang Yoon
(owner of Father’s Office and
Lukshon) will be bringing
the “Flavors of LA” with Jonathan
Gold (LA Times’ Restaurant
Critic) on Saturday,
August 31st, from 7:30pm to
11:30pm. Flavors of LA will
be a homage to everything
that makes the Southland a
world-class dining destination,
with a special cooking
demonstration by Chef
Sang Yoon from 9:15pm to
10:00pm that evening. You
can’t have a festival on a Labor
Day weekend without
a Labor Day Block Party.
From 11am to 3pm on the
last day of the festival, Hosts
Noelle Carter (LA Times’
Test Kitchen Director) and
Nancy Silverton (Osteria
Mozza and Pizzeria Mozza)
will highlight an insight on
the art of barbecue through
the “Going Whole Hog: Tales
from Masters of Competition
BBQ” panel. This end-of-thesummer
bash will also feature
cooking demonstrations
from Silverton and Fred Eric
(D’Elish), and Times Columnist
Steve Lopez’s crowdpleasing
Firehouse Cook-off.
Hosts Betty Hallock (LA
Times’ Deputy Food Editor),
Jessica Gelt (LA Times’
Food & Nightlife Writer),
and Matthew Biancaniello
(Cocktail Chef) will be ending
the magical food extravaganza
of The Taste by
blurring the lines between
cooking and bartending on
Sunday, September 1st. From
7:30pm to 11:30pm, the final
evening will center on a
farm-to-glass craft cocktail
demo that will be presented
by the three hosts. By the end
of the three-day Labor Day
weekend, one’s appetite and
thirst will be satisfied beyond
imagination