Los Angeles Mag's The Food Event 2011 Recap

Hey folks, Kung Food Panda here. I’m back, and again have the privilege of guest blogging on GP’s site. Some of you may remember me from such post as the Chocolate Salon a few years back .

With Gourmet Pigs out of town, she generously gave me her passes to document the LA Magazine’s The Food Event, located at the beautiful Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu. I’ve attended this fantastic event in the previous two years, and loved it both times. The location of Saddlerock Ranch was serene and beautiful, and the food, well, there are definitely a lot of things to try during the event. As shown in some of the pictures below, I definitely had some tasty bites.

One in particular was the Flan de Elote from Playa Rivera. My main regret was not going back for seconds and third of this flan. Simply, my favorite thing I ate that day.

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Savory (Malibu, CA)

In Malibu, there are the ocean-view restaurants that tourists go to, and then there are the locals’ hangouts. Savory seems to be the latter, tucked in the corner of a strip mall. The kitchen is headed by Bastide-alum Paul Shoemaker. That was enough to put Savory on my radar, but it took receiving a gift certificate as a present to make the drive (it's pretty far down on PCH, past Malibu Seafood and Pepperdine).

We had a reservation, but even after waiting 15 minutes our table wasn't ready. On the other hand, a couple with an earlier reservation who was 30 minutes late got seated. Punctuality is not rewarded in this town. Well, anyway, we got seats a bar and decided to have our dinner there.

We started with some housemade pasta, beef tongue, marinara sauce, parmesan cheese ($12)

We loved the pasta, and the thick cuts of very tender beef tongue - as tender as I remember them being in the beef tongue stew (semur lidah) I ate as a kid in Indonesia. I would definitely order this again.

Next was the Dungeness Crab Cake, remoulade, fine herbs ($17)

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A Perfect Day in Malibu: Waterfall Hike, Malibu Seafood, and Gelato

The beach isn't the only reason to brave PCH traffic and head to Malibu. On a recent weekend, I hiked a 4.2 mile trail to Escondido Falls, feasted on fresh seafood overlooking the ocean, and finished off with some of the best gelato in town.

The hike to the lower falls is fairly easy and shady, good for a family hike. Once there, you can play in the water or take the trail to the right to the upper falls. It's a short hike from there, but much steeper. At some point you will have to climb an incline using some ropes, taking turns between the people going up and down. Take your time. Also, you will most likely get a bit muddy, but it's all worth it. You'll be rewarded with a beautiful three-tiered waterfall.

After the hike, we headed over to Malibu Seafood for a quick lunch. As always, there's a line to order food, but it moves fast. Take your food to one of their benches overlooking the Pacific ocean.

Malibu Seafood has combo meals, tuna burgers, etc, but that day we decided to order a bunch of things a la carte.

Steamed large shrimp, 1/2 lb ($10.95)

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Grom is Awesome

I've found it. The best gelateria in LA, Grom. Yes, it's a "chain" (from Italy) but this is no Piccomolo.

Grom opened in Torino in 2003 to great success and expanded to shops abroad starting from New York City in 2007. Now it has finally come to LA in a shopping center in Malibu.

Entering the store, you will notice the pictures of produce hanging on the wall that say where they come from (seasonal fruits, almonds from Avola, pistachios from Syria, chocolates from Venezuela or Colombia). Taste some of the 30 flavors of the day and you will be confounded by the selection. They're just all. so. good.

The consistency is dense and creamy, and the flavors of the ingredients come out strong. There's none of those sweet red stuff that only vaguely taste like strawberries. Each of the fruit sorbets tasted like biting into a cold version of the fruit itself, the dark chocolate is rich and intense (they also have an extra dark chocolate one, which we didn't dare try). I may have to do a side by side tasting of their pistachio against Bulgarini, but at the moment I am actually leaning towards Grom. Overall: Excellence.

The only con for me is its location, all the way in Malibu. On the other hand, they are open until 11 pm on weekends, so you can make the drive at night traffic-free. I'd do it in a heartbeat.

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Grom Gelateria
3886 Cross Creek Rd
Malibu, CA 90265
(310) 456-9797
http://www.grom.it/eng/index.php

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