Produce from Crows Pass Farm

I spent yesterday afternoon on the CBS lot in Studio City, eating and drinking my way through more than 30 of Los Angeles’ chefs’ food at the 23rd annual Great Chefs of Los Angeles event, which benefited the National Kidney Foundation of Southern California. OK, I didn’t taste everything — I’m not a black hole of food — but I did taste a lot of good stuff.

BLVD 16‘s Simon Dolinky made butternut squash dumplings with mustard greens, pomegranate and brown butter. I like the food at BLVD 16 at the Hotel Palomar, so it’s no wonder that I enjoyed this dish, too. Topped with bacon bits, the crunchiness contrasted well with the doughy dumplings, and the greens were flavorful without being overpowering.

Akasha‘s short rib on pretzel bread with a side of cole slaw and pickle. The pretzel bread (I love pretzel bread!) soaked up the short rib’s tasty juices, making it all even better. The slaw had a spicy kick to it, and wasn’t creamy, which I prefer.

Bonadea, a Los Angeles-based company that makes bottled aguas frescas. I tried the jamaica flavor, which has nothing to do with the island country and everything to do with hibiscus. Its flavor was light, and a little sweet and a little tart. There was also a tamarind flavor, which I initially passed on because I don’t like tamarind, but after tasting a sip, I found it more peachy than tamarindy. Yeah, that’s not a word.

Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD fame made braised veal short rib with polenta that tasted just like a Chinese dish my mom makes. That’s because the polenta was cooked with chestnuts — yum!

Bottega Louie‘s panini with brie, blood orange and watercress, and a salad with roasted grape tomatoes, burata and pesto were light and refreshing, which was welcome since a lot of what was being offered at the event was heavy as this is technically fall.

Celestino Drago’s duck sandwich and butternut squash soup were also good, though I liked the sandwich more than the soup, which I didn’t find all that impressive.

Ford’s Filling Station‘s Ben Ford made a persimmon salad with goat cheese, candied pecans and a sherry vinaigrette. Beautiful and tasty. I’m obsessed with persimmons, and I wanted to ask Ford for a plate of just fruit, but that probably wouldn’t have gone over well.

Chef Ben Ford mixing up some salad

Yes, the Bazaar of the SLS Hotel was there, and yes, it served some pretty and fun stuff, including the liquid nitrogen-frozen caipirinha. It was really, really strong, but eating it with that sage on top was pretty amazing.

Keven Alan Lee’s East served up a scallop on the half shell with lemongrass sambal, wasabi creme fraiche, shiso dust and micro cilantro, as well as Hawaiian walu fish with miso mustard cream, micro wasabi, chive essence and smoked chardonnay sea salt. Many people liked this, especially the scallop, and I did too, but probably not as much as everyone else.

Scallops on the half shell

Hawaiian walu

Michael Fiorelli of Mar’Sel at Terranea Resort made braised wagyu beef cheek and creamed chard tortellini with ricotta and tiny autumn vegetables. The tortellini I could take or leave, but the beef was wonderfully tender, and the mini veggies were so cute — perfectly cooked, too.

And now for something completely different…I give you Sushi Popper! Is it sushi? Is it a push-up? Is it a sushi push-up? It is! I tried the seared albacore with smoked banana and a mild habanero sauce. It wasn’t awful, but it wasn’t good.

Esther of e*starLA popping a Sushi Popper

All in all, this was a really enjoyable event, despite the hot sun. I do have a gripe, though: The event’s theme was “Go Green, Go Organic,” yet there were all kinds of green violations. Sure, everyone used eco-friendly plates and utensils, but what’s with the bottled water? And the plastic cups? And the unnecessary packaging of the Sushi Poppers? Something to think about for next year…

Evolving flavored iced tea (left), Cava mimosa (right)

Yes, Jose Andres’ Bazaar at the SLS Hotel has been open for a year now, but I didn’t go right away. Why? Because I don’t like being caught up in a scene, and the SLS and everything in it is definitely a scene. So I waited a year to try it, and I went for brunch, not for dinner when I’ve passed by and seen it totally poppin’ off, as it were.

When we (Sam of LAist and Lucy of Edible LA) showed up, it was kind of dead — relatively speaking, of course. By the time we left, there were more people, though most chose to eat inside, which I thought was kind of strange given the beautiful sunny day. We ate on the patio.

I’m not going to dwell on the Bazaar’s food since by now the restaurant has been thoroughly discussed across the food blogosophere and in the mainstream media, so I’ll just give you my greatest hits of this meal.

12 Tiny Eggs Sunny Side Up, or the Huevos a la Cubana “Andy Garcia” ($12): This dish is made with 12 quail eggs topped with Serrano ham shavings, tomato puree and chopped chives sitting atop a fried jasmine rice cake mixed with banana puree. The layers of flavors and textures are amazing.

Olive Oil Pancakes ($14): Oh. My. Gawd. Like I’ve said before, I’m not a big pancake person, but these fluffy disks from heaven may just change my mind. At once moist and fluffy with just the lightest of crusts to keep them from getting soggy in the bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup (an extra $8; regular syrup comes included in the original $14 price), I was so smitten with this dish that I could have easy gorged myself on all four of them and called it a day. Oh, and there’s olive oil butter on top, too. I want some more now!

We also had Air Bread with Smoked Salmon($5 per person), which was basically a puffed pocket of bread filled with tzatziki yogurt and topped with smoked salmon; Eggs Benedict “New Way” with Iberico ham ($18; $12 with Serrano ham); foie gras sandwiches ($15) with quince paste on brioche; and toast topped with tomato and Manchego cheese. All were good, but none of them stood out to me like the quail eggs and olive oil pancakes did.

Air bread with smoked salmon

Eggs Benedict New Way

Foie Gras sandwiches

Tomato toast with Manchego cheese

There was something interesting we discovered during our meal: The food we were served wasn’t prepared the same way Andres himself prepares it. Lucy had attended a press brunch earlier in the week that was attended by Andres, and she noticed a difference between our meal and the media meal. There was much more Hollandaise foam that accompanies the eggs Benedict when Andres made it, and the fruit-flavored “air” that tops the Cava mimosa was nonexistent on the ones at our table. The “Evolving” iced tea was also different; at the press meal, the iced tea was poured over the flavored part, which was a large frozen cube, while at our meal the iced tea came with regular-sized cubes and barely any flavor at all. I’m not sure if this is laziness or what, but if I were to ever go back, I’ll stick with the tried-and-true dishes.