It is uplifting to know that some things continue to be consistently good. This certainly applies to LA Magazine’s The Food Event, the ninth installment of which took place this past Sunday afternoon at Saddlerock Ranch (home to Semler and Saddlerock wines) in Malibu’s Santa Monica Mountains. This year, the weather was perfect and the food samples were excellent. The event has a greater focus on food than on wine, but we did discover some very nice wines and enjoyed a variety of other beverages. After many years of holding this event, the event organizers have found the right balance of restaurants, beverages, activities and capacity.

While there were demonstrations under the demo tent, we spent more of the afternoon at the back end of the property near the “Belgian Beer Café” talking with some friends and listening to the band (Aaron Durr). Leah had a particularly good time because she commissioned me to run to and from the booths to supply her with endless food and wine samples. Even when the event was in full swing, there were only a few long lines for food samples (can you say Wagyu beef?). While we enjoyed a number of wines at the event, we want to call out Casa Dumetz Wines, who served up several nice ones (I particularly enjoyed their Grenache—keep in mind that Grenache is one of my favorite varietals—and their Syrah; Leah sent me for repeats of their Viognier).

Although I’m really into the wine, I do recognize the thing is named the “Food Event” for a reason. There were many great dishes on hand, so we’ll just mention a few to give you a flavor of the range. We loved the lasagna from Angelini Osteria and the tacos from Lotería! Grill. I enjoyed the pulled pork from Sotto, and the people who served up the grilled cheese short rib sandwiches deserve top prize (I’m truly sorry my notes don’t identify the purveyor). Mixologists with their innovative cocktails were on hand again, and Wolfgang Puck deserves an award for the best tasting cocktail (that would be the pink drink served in the tall cone). As always, the Stella Artois Belgian Beer Café attracted a constant long line of brew devotees while also serving up hard apple cider (truly refreshing).

Overall, this installment of The Food Event confirmed that this is one of the best, consistently great food events of the year.

 
Disclosure: We were granted complimentary media credentials for this event.