Food & Wine at L.A. LIVE

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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Sophie Gayot, Wolfgang Puck and his guest, Randy Jackson at the opening ceremony of the Los Angeles Food & Wine

by Sophie Gayot Last night was the opening of the first Los Angeles Food & Wine which was held at L.A. LIVE. To celebrate the evening, mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Randy Jackson took the stage. They are both food lovers, and are great supporters of restaurants and the hard working people they employ. The event was truly red carpet, as the entire area where the chefs and wineries had their booths was completely covered with it, which was great for those wearing high heels. It made the setting quite elegant for sampling Daniel Boulud’s charcuterie, Kerry Simon and Nona Sivley’s tuna tartare with caviar (SIMON L.A.), Lissa Doumani’s savory Japanese pancakes (Terra) and Michael Ginor’s escargots, to name just a few. Kristen Schaefer, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas’ mixologist, was serving “The Alameda cocktail” (Hangar One blueberry vodka, green Chartreuse, blueberry and pomegranate juice, fresh lemon, and thyme-infused honey), and not too far away, Maison Marques & Domaines was pouring Louis Roederer Cristal 2004. The festivities are spread over four days, and all over the City of the Angels, with lunches in restaurants, such as Mélisse, Providence (both GAYOT.com Top 40 Restaurants in the US), Craft, wine tastings (some winemakers, like Château Palmer, from Margaux, France made the trip), cooking demonstrations and much more. In all, you will have the choice of almost 70 events featuring 140 chefs and more than 250 participating wineries. For more information, visit lafw.com. Proceeds for the event will go to St. Vincent Meals on Wheels, which will assist them in their daily mission of delivering over 4,700 meals per day to home-bound seniors. You can click on each photo to enlarge. All photos by Sophie Gayot.