Here were some of my favorite bites from this year’s event.

Baja Bites

Sea Urchin Tostada by Sabina Bandera of La Guerrerense

Pacific Oyster Asada w/ chicharron short rib, serrano ponzu butter, lemongrass foam by Javier Plascencia of Mision 19

Local L.A. Tastes

Nayarit Shrimp Ceviche by Mariscos Chente

Peruvian Cau Cau by Chef Ricardo Zarate of Mo-Chica and Picca

Shoyu Tonkotsu Ramen by Ramen JINYA

Cheese Pierogies by Steel City Sandwich Truck

Gin y Hendrick's with Hendrick's gin, lime juice, sugar, mint and cucumber espuma by Julian Cox

Sweet Treats

Pandan Donut Holes by Starry Kitchen

Banana Bread Pudding a la Pecan Pie by Chef Dan Moody of Relate

Shaved ice with azuki beans, watermelon and kiwi by IOTA

Hammer Thyme (strawberry, thyme, lemon, ginger) by Ice Ice Shavie

A good time was had by all.

Esther of estarLA.com and LAist.com's Lindsay enjoy a laugh over Singha beers.

Note: My admission was complimentary.

Fire-roasted tomatoes with burrata and black mint pesto. Fire-roasted sweet potato, honey and serrano chili sauce. Both from the Picca menu by Ricardo Zarate.

Los Angeles’ biggest and most epic food festival, the L.A. Street Food Fest’s Summer Tasting Event, pops back up at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on July 16. This year’s event will feature a curated selection of street-inspired food from all kinds of vendors, including gourmet food trucks, old-school carts and stands, celebrity chefs, and restaurants, serving up everything from tacos to ice cream sandwiches. You’ll taste favorites from the Naan Stop, Grilled Cheese and Flying Pig trucks, Starry Kitchen and Guelaguetza restaurants, Food & Wine‘s Best New Chef Ricardo Zarate of Mo-Chica and Picca fame (who is creating something special just for this festival), and many, many more. There will also be a group of Baja chefs, including Javier Plascencia and Diego Hernandez, who will be cooking together for the first time. This feat was accomplished by none other than L.A.’s most-knowledgeable Mexican food aficionado, Bill Esparza of Street Gourmet L.A. There will also be ice cream, cocktails, beer and a special tequila tasting tent. It’s too much to list; here’s a list of L.A. Street Food Fest’s participants.

Naan Stop truck's samosa, which will be served at the L.A. Street Food Fest

Festival vendor Beachy Cream's Ginger Wipe Out with candied ginger ice cream and molasses spice cookie (left), Key Lime Cowabunga with key lime ice cream and coconut oatmeal cookie.

A portion of every ticket sold will benefit a local cause. This year it’s the Downtown Womens Center, which works to end homelessness among women.

To avoid long lines and overall craziness that has plagued the festival in the past, this year’s event is only offering a set amount of tickets. All tickets will be sold on a pre-sale basis only; tickets will not be available to purchase at the door. A $60 ticket gets you everything — food, drinks, cocktails, beer, music and parking.

For those of your concerned about Carmageddon, AKA the complete shutdown of the 405 freeway from late July 15 to early July 18, the Street Food Fest folks have come up with a whole staycation plan, with a free shuttle to the Gold Line, bicycle parking and hotel deals.

Bakelab goodies. From Bakelab.

Artisanal L.A.: This weekend-long shopping, tasting and educational event comes from those who brought you the L.A. Street Food Fest and Unique L.A., so you know it’ll be fun. Artisanal L.A. will showcase the city’s finest local, sustainable and handmade edibles, including treats from Bakelab, Cake Monkey Bakery, Bonadea Drinks, Scoops and The Oaks Gourmet, among many others. For $10 (advance purchase; $15 at the door), you’ll get unlimited entry for two days to enjoy all this plus local craft beer and spirits tastings, a one-of-a-kind tote bag for the first 1,000 attendees, arts and crafts workshops, speakers and chef demonstrations, giveaways, Pitchfork’s Mud Baron giving out seedlings, and gift wrap hosted by Uncouth Gourmands benefiting the LA Regional Food Bank. Partial proceeds will benefit Los Angeles Unified School District’s Edible School Gardens.

The Cooper Building
860 S. Los Angeles St., 11th Floor Penthouse
Los Angeles, CA 90014

Oct. 23 and Oct. 24
11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The Barkley Pet Hotel & Day Spa: Billed as the Ritz-Carlton of pet hotels, The Barkley is opening up this weekend in Westlake. While there are other shi-shi pet hotels, including D Pet Hotels, what makes this place unique is its inclusion of birds and exotics in its description of “pets.” Now you can house your dog, cat, bird and snake all at the same place! There are overnight accommodations, grooming and spa services, day camp, obedience training, and pick-up and delivery service. The full-service day spa services include baths, body massages, mud-masks and “pawdicures.” Prices start at $45 per night. Not too shabby, huh? If you’d like to check it out, there will be sneak preview tours this weekend with entertainment, auctions, raffles and food with all proceeds benefiting local pet charities. Advance tickets are free with registration.

The Barkley Pet Hotel & Day Spa
31166 Via Colinas
Westlake Village, CA 91362

Preview tours Oct. 23 and Oct. 24
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Grand opening Oct. 25

The Food Event: Los Angeles magazine’s annual event will also be celebrating the magazine’s 50th anniversary and its November “Mexican Food Lovers Guide” issue. The day will feature chefs, culinary experts and sommeliers with lots of unlimited food, wine and other treats, including the Top Chef Masters panel in the Conversation Lounge. Some of the luminaries scheduled to appear are Susan Feniger of Street and Border Grill, Mark Gold of Eva Restaurant, Laurent Quenioux of Bistro LQ, Ian Blackburn of LearnAboutWine and more. On top of all that is the location of the event, Saddlerock Ranch in the Malibu hills, home to Semler and Saddlerock wines. Nice!

Saddlerock Ranch
31727 Mulholland Highway
Malibu, CA 90265

Oct. 24
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
$95 in advance (for $5 more get a one-year subscription to Los Angeles magazine, too); $110 at the door

This past weekend will go down in L.A. food history as The Weekend That Was The Clusterf*ck Known As The L.A. Street Food Fest. Don’t get me wrong — I thought it was a great idea, and I enjoyed myself while I was there. But as is the case with so many first-time events, there were problems, though I guess things could have been worse.

I actually got lucky with getting into this event, which featured 30+ food trucks and vendors and 30+ retail booths via Unique L.A. I had managed to secure a media pass, so I didn’t have to wait in the ridiculously — I mean ridiculously — long line to get in. This blocks-long line was most likely due to the extremely low entry fee of $5, payable at the door. (That is, if you could get to the door. A reported 10,000 people were turned away after the first 10,000 actually got in.) If I had to wait in that line, I definitely would have bailed.

The line stretched down the block...

...through the parking lot, and just kept going. Never saw the end, actually.

Once I got in, I had to contend with the long lines for food. Even at the beginning of the event, the lines for some of the most popular trucks were crazy long. I was looking forward to trying some of the trucks that have so far eluded me on the streets, including the Buttermilk Truck and the Grilled Cheese Truck, but the lines were prohibitively long. So here’s what I did get to try.

Louks to Go: This Greek food truck was pretty darn tasty. I tried a beef gyro, which came stuffed with tzatziki sauce and french fries, and some feta fries, which were just french fries topped with feta cheese. Both were satisfying, especially the feta fries because I loooove feta cheese. The fries weren’t anything special — I think they were the frozen kind — but the feta made up for that.

Beef gyro

Feta fries

LudoBites: It seemed like everyone and their momma was waiting in this line for Ludovic Lefebvre’s fancy fried chicken. As I have no patience for lines, especially when it’s 80 degrees out, so I decided not to wait for Ludo’s fried chicken. However, I ran into Fiona of Gourmet Pigs, who was kind enough to give me a bite of hers. It was very juicy and nicely seasoned with rosemary.

They waited in line for...

...Ludo's fried chicken

Monsieur Egg: This was one of the vendors I was looking forward to trying, having read the L.A. Weekly article describing it’s eggy goodness. First I tried the crab cake, which was a hand-me-down from Elina Shatkin, formerly of the Los Angeles Times’ Daily Dish. (I’m not too proud to turn down other people’s leftovers!) It was mostly crab, which I appreciated. Then I tried the croque madame, which is a croque monsieur topped with a fried egg. The ham and egg were awesome. Monsieur Egg normally sells via push cart, so if you see it, get something!

Croque madame

Mama Koh’s: Asian chicken wings. These would have been better if the skin were crispier. The sauce was good, sweet and tangy, but the sogginess of the skin was disappointing.

CoolHaus: I’ve had these ice cream sandwiches before, but at this event the truck was giving out mini tasting size sandwiches, which I actually liked better because the regular size sandwiches are too big for me. Anyway, my favorites were the Meyer lemon ice cream with ginger snap cookies and the brown butter bacon ice cream with…Who cares? There were candied bacon pieces in the ice cream!

To combat the extremely long lines, I would suggest raising the entry fee to $10 or $15 and having only presale tickets.

And don’t forget the L.A. Street Food Festival!

Do-Lover: This special Valentine’s Day version of the summer party series the Do-Over will take place Sunday, Feb. 14, from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at Crane’s Hollywood Tavern, just like usual. Also like usual, it’s free to get in, though you do have to be at least 21 years old and RSVP here. Since Monday is a holiday (for most of us), expect a long line.

Stinker’s Truck Stop: The ultimate in ironic Silver Lake bars is shutting its doors and giving away everything it hasn’t already auctioned off. This Monday, Feb. 15, at 9:00 p.m. enjoy $2 Colt 45 tall boys while snatching up left over bar memorabilia — because you know you need that stuffed skunk wearing a trucker cap. (FYI: 1933 Group, which owns the bar, isn’t letting go of the space. A new concept will takes its place in a few weeks, per co-owner Dimitri Komarov.)

UPDATE: Komarov says the new concept taking over the old Stinkers space will be a whiskey bourbon bar tentatively called Old Crow projected to open sometime in mid March.

Ice cream sandwich from Coolhaus, which will be at L.A. Street Food Fest

I thought the L.A. Street Food Fest was just going to be a gathering of a bunch of food trucks (yum), but then I found out that a mini Unique L.A. will also be part of the event (score!). If only the event were held at a hotel, as my friend Fiona of Gourmet Pigs said, it would be the perfect ShopEatSleep trifecta!

Alas, the event isn’t scheduled to be at a hotel. Instead, it’s going to be at L.A. Center Studios just west of downtown. On Feb. 13 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., more than 30 food trucks and other street food vendors, along with another 30-plus art/design/fashion vendors, will be selling their wares. Check out the list of participants here.

For an entry fee of $5, you’ll get a drink ticket and raffle tickets. For a $30 VIP pass, you’ll get access to a patio, indoor restrooms, a private bar, a gift bag and fancy food from a surprise guest chef. And there will be a bicycle valet for those of you who ride those contraptions.