LA Weekly Gold Standard 2011

Angelenos love their cars and food.  Combine these the two and you have the recipe for success with the 3rd Annual Gold Standard Food and Wine Event, featuring some of Pulitzer winning food critic Jonathon Gold's favorite eclectic ethnic eats and classic fine dining restaurants.  We were invited as media and this was our first time attending the event held at the top level of the Peterson Auto Museum. Holding it here not only was nice because it's so spacious, but walking around the exhibits afterwards proved to be the perfect exercise for the insane amount of food and wine we engorged. A portion the proceeds also went to Heal the Bay and at $60 price, it's truly a bargain for what you're getting. 

One of the best bites was Bistro LQ's hare terrine and stuffed duck neck which was then confit.  Brilliant and pure genius using the duck skin and fat as a vessel for the terrine. 

It was served on frisee with pickled huckleberries which was perfect compliment to the richness of the terrine. Later on during the event he served it on polenta.

Michael Cimarusti of Providence had one of the best concepts for his small bites of scallop tartar on nasturtium leaf.  It was the first time we had nasturtium--mild citrus notes with a peppary tang, a great compliment to the fresh succulent scallops.

Vietnamese food was well represented here as well. Palate Food and Wine made a gooey and delicious combination of pig tongue and ear banh mi with frisee of radishes and kumquats.

Good Girl Dinette made a dish reminiscent of my childhood called suon rang, which was minced spare ribs seasoned with fish sauce and pan seared until crispy and golden brown. This pork confit wasn't exactly quite like that but had great flavor.

Mo-Chica's Ricardo Zarate had a great duo of dishes. The "ceviche" of mussels are made for these types of events, easy to enjoy without worrying about plates or utensils.

His soon to open restaurant Picca specializes in anticuchos or skewers. These chicken anticucho was moist and had great char and smokiness.

Chichen Itza also had a great trio of dishes of ceviche de pescado, cochinita pibil, and this wonderfully soulful bowl of modongo soup reminiscent of a menudo with lots of tripe.

A-Frame's furikake kettle corn is a great combination of buttery goodness of popcorn along with some spice, seaweed, sugar, and MSG. Love it. 

The favorite dessert of the day was Providence's compressed pineapple with a curry petit four. Simple, easy to enjoy and a unique contrast of flavors.

There were so many great bites from over 40 restaurants and just as many wineries represented, it's not surprising that even the hardiest of eaters suffered from food comas, like our niece Kaylee! We're teaching her to be a foodie at a young age! While there were plenty of people, there was never a long wait. The hardest part will be waiting for next year's Gold Standard.

 If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe and