LA Food Fest

As all the of LA fled or stayed in during Carmageddon weekend, we ventured to the Pasadena Rose Bowl for the second annual LA Food Fest. The impressive line up included trendy LA food trucks as well as a number of established eateries. The judges for the best dishes included Michael Voltaggio from Top Chef, Pulitzer Prize winning food writer Jonathan Gold, and Mayor Antonio Villarigoso (who was supposed to be staying home to set an example of how to avoid and prevent Carmageddon chaos). Although we didn't quite agree with the judges, here are some of our faves and disappointments:

Border Grill Truck's Quinoa Fritters - I've been looking forward to these ever since I saw Mary Sue make these on Top Chef Masters. They lived up to the hype. The sauce gave the right amount of kick to the crunchy fritter.

Ramen Jinya + Robata Jinya's Ramen - All ramen = yum. The noodles were the perfect firmness and the broth had just the right salt.

Cacao Mexicatessen 's Venison Chorozo Verde - Venison tacos sound a bit odd but this one was sitting on a refreshing slice of jicama rather than a oily taco. On a hot day, it was just what I needed.

Tione's Quality Meats Lamb Shoulder and Grilled Peaches - It was nice that a stand put out a dish where they really thought about pairing ingredients together to create a flavorful mouthful.

Other standouts were Maggie's Meat & Breat Choripan, Great Balls on Tires Ballywood meatball, Mo-chica + Picca's Peruvian Cau Cau, and Sabina Bandera's Sea Urchin Tostada

Some disappointments were Flying Pig for not showing up, Frysmith's cold and bland Poutin, and the winner of the whole show Mision 19's Pacific Oyster Asada with Chicharron Short Rib, Serrano Ponzu Butter, and Lemongrass foam. Normally, this sounds right up my alley and I was pretty excited to eat it, but this was one of the saltiest things I ever ate in my life. I'm a bit surprised it won the competition. Maybe I had a bad batch.

All in all, it was an overeating extravaganza, but all worth it. I even got sauce on my toe.