Last year, I had to miss L.A. Street Food Fest because I was out of town and it just nagged at me the whole year because I KNEW what I was missing… the best food event of the year! So when the date was announced, I cleared my calendar and impatiently awaited the date. 🙂
With over a hundred samples to try with all kinds of cuisine represented and drinks galore, time flew by! As with my advice from Tacolandia, be prepared to wait in lines, bring lots of friends, plan to hit your favorite spots, and wear your walking shoes & stretchy pants! This event has the added benefit of tons of parking and a later start time (less sun!), but the tickets cost about twice as much. So worth it though!
Are you ready to see all of the food we tried? To make things simple, I’m going to follow the food fest map of the Rosebowl for my recap, since it was enormous. I had to make a few trips up and back to try everything, so you’ll see the photos vary wildly in the lighting once the sun set. Still all gorgeous, delicious dishes!
I’ll keep the commentary to a minimum, because the photos pretty much speak for themselves, but I’ll sum up some of my favorites at the end. Yum!
Strawberry Basil Lemonade: Veeve ~ Strawberries ~ Lemon ~ Framboise ~ Basil
Americana
Boss Sauce Hot Wings
Sliders
Nancy’s Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie + CafĂ© au Lait Eclair + Berry Tart + Brownie
Pulled Pork Sliders with Slaw
Miso Brownies + Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Apricots with house-made ricotta cheese, honey and rosemary
Porchetta and Salsa Verde
Biscuit, Chorizo Gravy, Quail Egg
Gourmet Stuffed Burgers + Stuffed Sliders + French Fries
Rotisserie Chicken
Housemade Soda: Mango
Signature C & N Flatbread with Bourbon Butter and Smoked Salt
Mediterranean Grilled Cheese: Brioche, Provolone, Artichokes, Peppers, Tomato, Avocado Mayo + Tomato Basil Soup Dip
Chicken Bowls and Lamb Bowls with Salad, Rice, Special White and Red Sauce
Vegan Tempeh Reuben Tacos
Korean BBQ Brisket Tostada, Avocado, Pickled Fresno Peppers
Europe & Asia
Bacon, Brie, Walnut, Arugula Baguette + Chicken Curry, Bell Pepper, Carrot, Butter Lettuce Baguette + White Bean, Eggplant, Olive Tapenade Baguette
Pierogi + Red Cabbage
Classic Dessert Crepes: Strawberry, Banana and Nutella with Whipped Cream
Teriyaki Spam Musubi
Tornado Potato
Tre Fungi: Olive Oil, Mozzarella, Crimini, Oyster and Shiitake Mushroom, Seasonal Peppers and Dill
Fennel Sausage: Pomodoro, Mozzarella, Homemade Fennel Sausage, and Fennel Pollen
Miso Jidori Chicken Musubi + Curry Tuna Mayo Musubi
Squid Salad with Shrimp Paste Sambal
Currywurst + Bratwurst + Kilbasa
Sea Salt Ice Cream with Caramel Ribbons + Stumptown Coffee Ice Cream with Compartes Love Nuts + Gooey Brownie and Roy Choi’s Salted Peanuts
Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles + Apple Pie Bon Bons with Bourbon Caramel + Red Bull Vodka Popsicle
Traditional Thai Popsicles: Green Tea Latte, Thai Tea with Boba, Thai Coffee, Coconut, Pineapple Basil, and Watermelon
Peach Tart + Mexican Chocolate Ice Cream + Watermelon Sorbet
Persian Style Ice Cream
Mini Churro Ice Cream Sandwiches
Peach and Honeydew Fluff
Kalimantan Chocolate + Ghana Chocolate + Papua New Guinea Vanilla + Madagascar Vanilla
Brioghnuts (2nd picture) + Cupcakes + Cookies
Mango Lassi + Fair Trade Chocolate + Vegan Cardamom Chocolate Swirl
Shaved Ice
Latin
Truffle Burger: Baby Rocket, Provolone, Truffle Oil, Caramelized Firestone DBA Onions, Roasted Garlic Aioli + Brioche Bread Pudding with Portuguese Brioche Buns
Guelaguetza
Micheladas
TomatilloQuito: Marinated Chicken Corn Tortilla Taquitos with Tomatillo Cream Sauce, Cheddar + ShrimpQuito: Grilled Shrimp, Cucumber, Egg Roll style with Sriracha Mayo Sauce, Sriracha Honey, Walnuts, Cilantro
Chicken Breast Chimichurri with Argentinian Pork Chorizo, Green Salad
Anticuchos: Peruvian Grilled Beef Hearts + Chicha Morada
Taquito de Lomo
Peruvian Scallop and Santa Barbara Sea Urchin on the Half Shell
Spicy Shrimp Tacos + Crunchy Octopus Tacos + Marlin Tacos
Cheesy Ranch WACHOS
Squash Blossom Quesadillas, Salsa
There was also an Instagram booth where everyone had the chance to have printed pictures of their best memories. Nice!
And that was the end of an eventful day at the Rose Bowl. By the time it was finished, I was stuffed and the sign was lit up beautifully.
As for the highlights, I had a few that stuck with me for a few reasons. Keep in mind that I could not try everything, and I could only barely taste a couple of items towards the end. Some of my favorites came from Short Cake, Greenspan’s Grilled Cheese, Chicken & Rice, Formosa CafĂ©, BEP Vietnamese Kitchen, Polka Restaurant, Salt & Straw, Quenelle, ConfeXion, Peddler’s Creamery.
So are you in for next year?
L.A. Street Food Fest
1001 Rose Bowl Dr
Pasadena, CA 91103
http://lastreetfoodfest.com
