Some invites you just don't turn down.
Sippin After Hours got a media invite to the L.A. Times Food Bowl, and this past weekend we showed up hungry. Here's what Saturday night looked like from inside the hangar.
The event
According to the Los Angeles Times, Food Bowl is its annual festival celebrating Southern California's food scene. This year it ran Oct. 23 and 24 at the historic Barker Hangar in Santa Monica.
Friday night was a reveal party for The Times' annual 101 Best Restaurants in L.A. guide. We went on Saturday, Oct. 24, for Saturday Night Flavor. The Times billed it as "an electrifying party celebrating SoCal's unrivaled food & beverage scene," with unlimited food and drink, chef demos and signings. The Times said both nights featured unlimited tastings from more than 40 of the region's top restaurants, plus drinks from local wineries and breweries.
It was a 21+ event. According to the Times, VIP entry ran from 5 to 9 p.m. and general admission from 6 to 9 p.m.
Walking in
The setting does a lot of work. The Barker Hangar is a huge open hangar with exposed steel trusses, bright overhead lights, and pink and purple stage lighting along the walls. Giant L.A. Times Media Group Food Bowl signs anchor the room. Outside, there's a vintage propeller plane on display, and a row of pink pop-up booths runs along long white picnic tables in the late-afternoon sun.
We got there while it was still light out and stayed until well after dark.
What we ate and drank
The format is simple: walk up, grab a small plate, keep moving. Our camera roll is basically a highlight reel of tasting plates, with sliders, noodle bowls, fried bites and shellfish passed across table after table.
A few of the booths we stopped at, going by the signs:
- Sunday Gravy, at one of the pink outdoor stalls
- Lucky Bird, serving out of a Food Bowl-branded booth
- Lugya'h, with a booth decked out in marigolds
- Spritz del Conte, pouring spritzes at a colorful setup with a "Social Club" theme
- Cutwater, whose full Cocktail Bar setup was where we grabbed a drink and a selfie
Between stops there was plenty of room to sit, eat and watch the crowd.
The vibe
It felt like a big, relaxed block party under one roof. People wandered from booth to booth with plates in hand, cooks plated nonstop, and the line for whatever looked best kept moving. As the sun went down, the outdoor area emptied into the glowing hangar and the night kicked into gear.
Thanks for having us
A big thank you to the Los Angeles Times for the invite. Food Bowl is a great reminder of how deep the L.A. food scene runs. We'll be back next year, with a bigger appetite.
