Michele StuevenChef Eric Greenspan’s Great Grilled Cheese Tasting event has been added to Santa Anita Park’s Big ‘Cap Day festivities in the Chandelier Room on Sunday, March 3.
Event attendees can indulge in a gourmet grilled cheese experience from noon to 4 p.m. Each station will feature creations paired with craft beer selections including The Champ 2.0 with raisin walnut bread, beef short ribs and apricot caper puree, as well as Johnny Pastrami with Swiss cheese, green apple, and crisped pastrami on grilled rye. There’s also a Mercury Melt with olive oil poached tuna and cucumber on grilled sourdough, and Elvis, featuring peanut butter goat cheese, bacon and banana on grilled white bread. There will be live music and free copies of Greenspan’s The Great Grilled Cheese Book.
The seventh annual Masters of Taste food festival returns to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Sunday, April 7. The husband and wife team behind Pez Cantina and LA Burrito, Chef Bret Thompson and Lucy Thompson-Ramirez, will host the event that benefits Union Station Homeless Services, a non-profit organization providing homeless services and housing for thousands of neighbors.
Better Together Sweets (Courtesy Masters of Taste)
MAMA returns to L.A., with MAMA’s Night Market Year of the Dragon on Saturday, March 9, at Central Plaza in Chinatown. The food and culture event, featuring many local under-represented restaurants, is a celebration of tradition and community that marks the Lunar New Year. In partnership with the Bruce Lee Foundation, the immersive occasion aims to raise funds to uphold the legendary teachings of martial artist Bruce Lee, with more than 20 vendors including the final service of the recently shuttered Pearl River Deli. Tickets are available HERE.
The newly opened 90s-inspired pizza joint Naughty Pie Nature is introducing Sunday Supper, a $40 menu for two that includes Caesar salad, a choice of any pizza from the menu, vodka rigatoni, and banana pudding. For those looking for just a slice of comfort, the vodka rigatoni is available à la carte for $21 on Sundays.
Pavlova with market berries (Courtesy Great White)
The female leaders behind the award-winning Austin, Texas-based restaurant group Hai Hospitality and its signature restaurants Uchi, Uchiko, Uchibā & LORO have teamed up to celebrate International Women’s Day on Thursday, March 8, with a special, collaborative ‘Hai for Her’ dinner and menu specials across all locations, benefiting Les Dames d’Escoffier International. While the main dinner will be held at Uchibā Austin, each Hai Hospitality restaurant will offer a special dish curated by the brand’s female leaders. At Uchi West Hollywood, they will serve up Drakaina (meaning female dragon) – La Gritona Reposado (female-owned), Nonino (female-run), and tamarind cigar.
Great White will host a special dinner with Los Angeles-based wine company Nomadic Distribution at Great White – Larchmont on Wednesday, March 13.
Established in Los Angeles in 2010, Nomadic Distribution curates a selection of handcrafted wines from global producers. They partner with regenerative farms and artisan wineries focusing on conscious farming and minimal-intervention practices in the cellar. For the event, Great White’s longtime beverage director, Andy Miller, and longtime chef, Juan Ferreiro, have partnered with the Nomadic Distribution team on a pre-fixe menu, featuring four hand-selected wines from around the globe to be paired with various dishes including burrata with winter tomatoes, steak frites with garlic spinach, branzino with salsa verde and wild arugula salad. Chocolate mousse or pavlova with fresh fruit is for dessert.
What’s Popping Up is a weekly column in the L.A. Weekly that explores all that’s new in food and drink.