Let me set the scene: 30 degrees, an aircraft hangar and a pile of people completely into food. Not only will you get to taste some good stuff, you will see more people jostling for the perfect instagram pic than you’ve ever seen before. The angles being created, logos, back drops, you name it, you’ll see it. But despite you holding your breath waiting for that food to fall from that impossible location that is one thing you won’t see – because people are here to eat.
Full disclosure: I’m taking pics too so there is no judgement here (I just don’t have the eye/patience/skill for all the coolness of it)
This festival is one where you pay an entry fee and then pay for the food you want to eat. I’m guessing the entry fee is going towards the space, the massive amounts of fans & air con they had and the speakers & band. My point is, be prepared to spend when you are in there.
Al & I decided to play this one smart as we knew it wasn’t smaller tasters – share everything to maximize tasting opportunity!
First up was a hot dog from Maple Block Meat Co which was a good appetizer. The dog itself was tasty, but too much bun for me. I get a bit frustrated when I get one bite of dog one bite of just condiment – which may or may not be more of a testament to my bite size. The important thing though was, it’s tasty. You can’t get a decent hotdog in the UK so this makes me happy.
Next up was something a little unusual, chicken Marsala tater tots from Badmaashla. I am currently obsessed with tater tots. I can’t help it! These were so damn crispy, you might call them perfect. Topped with chicken Marsala which was interesting. To be fair, the tots didn’t need them, but the more I ate the more I wanted.
Then it was the coffee tips (I feel like I have the name wrong) from Chi Spacca. Nice, but nothing ground breaking for me
Donuts from Mr Homes Bake House : these were so delicious. The burnt orange sauce with it was amazing. I’ve just checked out the website and looks like I’ll be going there. Oh, and we got a cookie. Al loved the cookie he says it was like 2 cookies with a layer of chocolate between them.
Final thing was the chicken burger from Nomad Truck. It was ok, probably my least favourite thing. The truffle overwhelmed the burger and I’m not sure that I liked the chicken mince party when there are so many other options normally for a good chicken burger.
I should have tried the Yeastie Boys Cheetos bagel – I’m obsessed with people covering stuff with Cheetos!
I mentioned before they had panel discussions, we went to one which was about cannabis, food and innovation.
I was so impressed in this talk! Jeff Chen took complicated sciency things (yes that’s the official terminology) and made it easy to understand and interesting. The way they were talking about tapping into the health & wellness aspect of cannabis and how to incorporate into a lifestyle was really interesting. I’m not someone who has really thought about it before, though I have obviously seen/ heard a lot of stories centered on pain management but I walked away feeling more informed and intrigued. The panel worked well together as a group which probably helped – I hate it when you listen to a group who cut each other off or counter the points etc
So for Infatuation LA’s first event, I think you can call EEEATSCON a success. I’d like to see more vendors join and perhaps a little something to feel like that was what my ticket money contributed towards. I thought of an idea: get the vendors to agree to some kind of promo for the attendees. Like, % off food for your next visit to their restaurant. Something like that. It doesn’t need to be a goodie bag full of stuff (though I do love them).
Jilltopia 