It was my luck day when Cathy of Gastronomyblog let me know that I was the (randomly selected) lucky winner of her 2 tickets to Taste of Beverly Hills, a weekend long celebration of great wine and fantastic food from local restaurants in the Beverly Hills/Los Angeles Area, hosted by Food & Wine magazine. I'm sure you could imagine my reaction. I had just won $300 worth of foodie fun festitivites! I am usually aware of the various food festivals taking place around LA, but usually do not attend because of cost and crowds. I'd hate to fork out money when I can't guarantee the food will be good, or when I can anticipate being elbow to elbow with other obsessive foodies.
I took Miss Nancy Rheeeee, and she brought The Millionaire Man, who obviously purchased his own ticket but at a discounted price. I was planning on being uber cheap and parking at the Century City Mall and walking over to the shuttle stop nearby, instead of parking in the $15 lot. I got lazy and parked there anyways. They had shuttle buses, but they also had these cute little trolleys, which I got to ride.
Everything went smoothly from parking, to shuttle busing, to will call line, to entering to the festival. It was pretty well organized and set up, as you can see below. There were two large tents like these with all the food & wine stations, and various smaller tents and tables with cocktail, beer, beverage, and demo stations.
I should have enjoyed this in two bites to appreciate the cool, smooth, creaminess of the foie in contrast to the marmalade. The marmalade was probably a little too overwhelming for the subtle flavors surrounding it. It was a good bite in the end.
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