It’s hard to believe that Eastside Food Fest is only in its third year. Seems like it’s been running for a while now. The event this year was very well attended, to the extent that the interior studio space that held half the participating restaurants did get quite a bit sweltering. In a fortunate twist, the weather was nice and cool outside unlike earlier in the week, which facilitated the circulation of guest between the two main spaces. Also, I think they did sell more tickets than anticipated as some restaurants ran out with still two hours to go, though many I spoke with said they actually brought the same amount as last year and had so much left over last year. I guess they’re still striking a balance, but unlike other events that ran out of food early, I didn’t hear a lot of attendees grumbling about it here.
Top bites for me were Same Same Thai’s crispy rice salad, Ohana Poke Co.’s tuna and salmon pokes, Starry Kitchen’s tofu balls (in my mouf), and a pair of dishes from Kettle Black and Sawyer, the latter of which had the longest line!
Other highlights included Little Beast’s lentil quinoa salad, Pok Pok’s sai ui Northern Thai sausage, and Creme Caramel’s ube and pandan custards. Cocktails by Our/Los Angeles vodka was also a treat!
It wasn’t all unlimited eating at Eastside Food Fest. Chefs Ray Garcia and Steve Samson did cooking demos on Big Green Egg grills, and there were several panels including a live recording of the Super Amazing Restaurant Show podcast, which was great fun!
Had a great time at Eastside Food Fest this year, looking forward to 2017!
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