Cook-Off
Congrats to the 2nd Annual Summer Tasting Winners!
Javier Plascencia / Mision 19: Smoked Oyster with Chicharron and Sea Pickle
Antojitos Carmen: Huitlacoche Huarache
Ricardo Zarate: Peruvian Cau Cau
La Guerrerense: Sea Urchin Tostada with Pismo Clam
Bulgarini Gelato
Javier Plascencia / Mision 19: Smoked Oyster w/ Chicharron and Sea Pickle
LA Street Food Fest 2nd Annual Summer Tasting Judges
Lesley Bargar Suter is the dine editor for Los Angeles Magazine where she covers and critiques the restaurant scene in one of the country’s most important culinary hubs. Prior to that, she acted as a writer and editor at various alternative weekly and monthly publications including L.A. Alternative, and the indie music magazine Filter. She has lent her culinary know-how to national publications including Saveur and Conde Nast Traveler. She has appeared on a number of television and radio programs, including Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen, the Food Network’s Extreme Chef (airs summer 2011) KABC, CBS 2, the KTLA Morning Show, and Good Food on KCRW. Her love for all things edible was founded at the kitchen tables of Europe, where she traveled several times a year from the age of 6, and the Provencal countryside where she lived for a time. Along with cooking, eating and travel, she enjoys trekking to the weekend farmer’s markets from the home in Glassell Park she shares with her husband and her two people-food-loving cats.
LA Weekly‘s Jonathan Gold may be America’s best restaurant critic. He’s the only food writer ever to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism (“For his zestful, wide ranging restaurant reviews, expressing the delight of an erudite eater”) and the first to be a finalist in the Essay or Criticism category of the National Magazine Awards. Dana Goodyear wrote a rapturous six-page profile of him in the New Yorker. But he usually keeps his laser-sharp palate and crystalline prose trained on small ethnic restaurants in the Los Angeles area.
Chefs are without a doubt rock stars, and having worked in some of the world’s most renowned kitchens including Le Louis XV in the Hotel de Paris, Monte Carlo with Alain Ducasse, Patina with Joachim Splichal, and with Ferran Adria at El Bulli in Spain, to mention a few, Walter Manzke’s a headliner. During his more than six-year run at Patina Manzke developed signature dishes that incorporated exquisite taste and delicate style. He soon made headlines including three stars from the Los Angeles Times.
Manzke left LA in 2002 for Carmel to open three new restaurants: Bouchee Restaurant, L’Auberge Carmel and Cantinetta Luca all of which received numerous accolades. Manzke again returned to much fanfare to take the helm at the highly anticipated re-opening of Bastide where he earned another three stars from the Los Angeles Times and 17 points from Gayot. In 2009 Manzke became Executive Chef at Church and State Bistro where he earned his third three star review from the LA Times and was named a “Rising Star” from Star Chefs. While we all eagerly await news of his next project, we’re thrilled to have him making an appearance on our panel.
In August 2009, Marcela was given the chance to showcase her family recipes when she released her first cookbook titled “FRESH MEXICO: 100 Simple Recipes for True Mexican Flavor” (Clarkson Potter). She appeared on NBC’s Today Show, The View was featured in Latina, People, People en Espanol, Wall Street Journal and the New York Daily News around its release. The book was very well received reaching the #1 cookbook spot on Amazon more than once. With the book, Marcela became the advocate for great Mexican food that delivers in freshness and flavor without forcing home cooks to track down hard-to-find ingredients or spend hours at the stove.
Soon after her book release, she landed her dream job as host of her own Food Network show, Mexican Made Easy. The show made its debut early in 2010 and films in San Diego where Marcela currently lives. Her third season made its debut on October 9, 2010 and her fourth recently aired on April 30th.
Marcela has also been keeping busy working on her second cookbook, Mexican Made Easy (Clarkson Potter) that will be released on September 27, 2011. Marcela is traveling to Los Angeles to join us as a judge!
Our surprise LA Street Food Fest Cook-Off Judge… Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa! Hailing from East LA and in office since 2005, Villaraigosa is our 41st Mayor and the only Latino to hold the office since 1872. Joined by his daughter and unhindered by a broken elbow, the Mayor made it through an entire afternoon and evening of street food tasting and hung around to help announce our winners at the end of the night at last year’s Summer Tasting and he’s back this year for more!
“You know what I love about the street food festival? It’s so L.A.” he said. “And what I mean by that, what’s so great about the many street vendors that are here are the fusion of flavors that represent foods from all over the world and that makes it so L.A. — which is why I don’t buy that we’re the number two street food city in the world. We gotta be one!” he exclaimed, referencing a recent CNN Top Ten List that had Los Angeles behind Portland.
Chef Michael Voltaggio has been in the kitchen since he was 15 years old. By 21, he had completed his formal training at the venerable Greenbrier Culinary Apprenticeship Program. He was immediately hired to work at the Ritz Carlton in Naples where he first immersed himself with what were considered unconventional techniques, under the tutelage of Chef Arnaud Berthelier. He found that these techniques naturally melded with his classical repertoire, enabling him to cook adventurously with increased precision, eventually informing his signature style. Voltaggio would go on to successfully helm the kitchens for a number of esteemed chefs and restaurants, including Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg where he earned a Michelin Star and The Bazaar by José Andrés in Beverly Hills where he was rewarded with a 4-star review.
Voltaggio was a finalist for the James Beard “Best New Restaurant” award in 2009. That same year, he also earned the title of Top Chef on Bravo TV’s Emmy-award-winning show. He has established a reputation for what critics heralded as “serious” food that is playful, visually stunning and flawlessly executed. He was also named “Best New Chef” by Angeleno magazine in 2010, cementing a place within the Los Angeles culinary community.
Check Out Last Year’s Winners
The Taste Off Winners from 2010′s 1st Annual Summer Tasting Event included…
Best Nouveau Street Food - Sedthee Thai’s Pork Sparerib
Runner Up - Manila Machine’s Pork Belly Adobo
Best Old School Street Food - Chef Robert Danhi’s Explosive Thai Bites
Runner Up - Tamales Elena’s Strawberry Tamales
The Sweet Tooth - Munchie Machine’s PB&J S’Mores aka The Scooby Snack
Runners Up - Scoops Westside’s Thai Iced Tea Coconut Ice Cream
& Vintage Longboards’ Big O Bar
Best in Show - Mariscos Jalisco’s Shrimp Tacos
Best Original Showmanship - Starry Kitchen’s Crispy Tofu Balls
People’s Choice Award - Mariscos Jalisco & Starry Kitchen (Tied)
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