Yup, which is why I decided it was either last night or not at all. I was going to avoid that area this weekend as if there was a zombie invasion and I was out of ammo.
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That’s a colorful way to put it.
2018 Food Bowl Event Line-Up was announced this weekend
I had mixed-to-bad feelings about the two events I did last year.
The Wolfgang Puck Gold medal award “dinner” was a complete rip-off food and beverage-wise (but an interesting panel).
The Beast Feast was OK but also bad QPR - expensive and not much food, unless your were a FOG (Friend of Gold); there was a strong (and ugly) VIP - centric service, where his table got much more food, and better food, than the rest of us (who actually paid for the event).
This year looks even pricier - fucking $395 to eat Ben Shewry’s food at Gwen.
I guess it’s cheaper than flying to Australia…
I’m just going to keep going to restaurants.
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Yes, I was going to write that. But at least there you would be sure of a great experience. These Guest Chef things can be excellent or terrible - sadly my experience has been a whole lot more of the latter than the former. A brilliant surgeon - if transplanted into an unfamiliar OR, with completely different staff, tools and protocols - is not at all at the same level of brilliance (without a whole lot of ramp-up time). Fortunately, these globe-trotting, Netflix-fueled show-offs are not performing surgery.
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The Franco Pepe popup at Mozza had me thinking along the same lines. The “chemistry” of making pizza here in LA would be completely foreign to Pepe, so it’s really unclear how he could replicate his world class pizza at Mozza, even if he overnighted the ingredients he uses in Italy.
As Matt said, cheaper than flying to Italy too, I suppose.
Not if you have rewards points… 
Omg… hello!
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Thanks for the link @Bookwich. 
Although, thinking about it from that list it feels like we’re really paying $45 - $95 for Howlin’ Ray’s. The rest is bad to OK. But perhaps skipping any wait in line is worth it alone. 
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That was true last year and it appears nothing has changed for FoodBowl 2018.
Attended the Narisawa lunch at Orsa & Winston (all food by Chef Josef & his team). Full house, but small event. Food was gorgeous and delicious. Service for a large group was very smooth.
Advertised as an Intimate Lunch with Narisawa with Q&A with Jonathan Gold and a Guided Tour of Narisawa’s exhibit at Union Station, it was only intimate if that meant you’re physically in the same restaurant as Narisawa. Only JGold and his group sat with Narisawa. Introduction of Narisawa was very unrehearsed, rough and unpolished. Felt embarrassed for JGold. JGold couldn’t remember the name of the photographer of the featured exhibit in attendance at his table. And if one person hadn’t raised her hand and asked if she could ask a question (followed by hesitant agreement and a sigh by JGold), there would have been zero Q&A. Pretty lame. JGold was also pretty snarky to a guy at the table next to me who was trying to get info the tour. They claimed to have sent an email in the morning “to non-sponsors” with information, but at least four of us didn’t get it. They did provide transportation to sponsors and LATimes personnel, leaving the rest of the paying readers in the dark.
Luckily, Narisawa’s explanation through his interpreter of the exhibit was very good, if you could get close enough to hear him through the photographers and LATimes staff. Narisawa was lovely and inspiring. The LATimes folks not so much.
The focus was on FOGs (Friends of Gold as CiaoBob puts it), LATimes advertisers and their sponsors. It really feels like the paying readers (at $95 +$40 wine pairing+tax+tip+parking @O+W & Union Station) who took a half day off of work for this lunch were merely an afterthought and a means for the LATimes to serve its own purpose. That “strong (and ugly) VIP-centric service” is alive and well at Food Bowl 2018. It’s only May 2nd and I’m done with JGold and his Food Bowl. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
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Almost went to this event myself. Almost. But my Spidey senses were tingling, telling me not to. Sorry it was so disappointing for you.
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So true.
I am giving one event a try this year (against my better judgment).
I am loathe to give more money to FoodBowl because - as you so eloquently point out - they seem to treat the paying public as an appendage that is just there to support the supporters, support Senor Red Suspenders (and the rest of the the Times food writers and Editors) and the FOG/VIP’s.
Hopefully it won’t suck - sorry about your event.
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Wish there was a supportive thumbs-down icon (for your experience, not for your write up). 
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Thanks, CiaoBob, JL & PGC. It wasn’t all tragic, but the lack of inclusiveness and community at the event was so conspicuous. Felt most badly for the poor bloke who spoke up and asked the obvious question for all of us and was treated dismissively by JGold. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth and forces you to reconcile a rag that portends to loathe elitism.
Still, the LATimes gaffs could not overshadow the entire experience. Josef Centano and his team brought IT and delivered a delicious meal. His staff was gracious and efficient under pressure. Narisawa-san lived up to the hype and having eaten at L’Effervescence, I hope to be fortunate enough to dine at Narisawa some day. If only to experience the Bread of the Forest that proofs and bakes in a stone pot powered by hot rocks tableside. Or the soup of an ocean snake more poisonous than a cobra captured by women with their bare hands, a tradition that is disappearing. Or the fresh water ayu with cherry blossoms that swim on the plate much as they swim under the cherry trees in the Spring. I didn’t know seaweed has no umami in the sea, but only from the moment it is cut which is why the immediate drying process is important. His passion for preserving fading Japanese traditions and bringing his diners back to nature is moving.
The exhibit is beautiful, but small and has excellent commentary at Union Station. Highly recommend it if you’re in the area (parking $8). A larger exhibit of Satoyama will be on display in June at Japan House in Hollywood & Highland which I’ll post here when there are more details.
In the meantime, here’s a link to a gallery of some of the pictures. The commentary at the exhibit is much more in-depth.
https://www.finedininglovers.com/stories/satoyama-narisawa-coimbra/
Enjoy.
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Hi @Chowseeker1999 -
I was thinking that exact thing. I love me some fried chicken! I’ve never had Honey Kettle, but am not a fan of Gus’s… at all. Plus, depending on how many people show up, that spot could get uncomfortable. Anyway, fate has stepped in. We were on the fence about going, but my friend’s play is closing on the 9th and we promised to go, so…
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Hi Y’all -
This is turning into a sweet little thread. Good info - or bad depending how you look at it - about the quality of these events, but interesting info about other things going on in the city.
I don’t mind spending more for something with a charitable component attached. Sorry to have missed José Andrés Power of Food event. His group is performing Herculean acts of relief assistance, providing GOOD food to needy in Haiti and Puerto Rico. But damn, these posts make some events seem depressing if you’re not “the supporters, supporting Senor Red Suspenders (and the rest of the the Times food writers and Editors) and the FOG/VIP’s”. Nobody wants to feel like a sucker. It makes me mad and I haven’t even attended. Someone should send this thread to the L.A. Times. It makes the events put on by the imploding L.A. Weekly look good in comparison.
We did have a very good experience at the City of Gold event at The Wiltern last year. It was in partnership with Food Foward, not LA Food Bowl.
Happy Overpriced, Snobby, Charity, Food Event Eating!
I would bet my bottom dollar that the Corpulent Critic and the LAT writers/editors are reading every word of this. Whether - and in what fashion - they take any corrective action is another story.
Food Bowl seems like a cool idea, and it is only Y2 of it, so I cut them a little slack (even tough they have ripped me off to a certain extent…so far).
I have noted that several events have been cancelled presumably due to low-to-no ticket purchases so the public maybe speaking with their wallets as well.
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Perfect.