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At the root of the Food Truck craze is the centuries old global tradition of street food, which will be celebrated Angeleno-style for the second consecutive year on Saturday July 16th at the LA Street Food Fest Summer Tasting Event.
Once again, the LA Street Food Fest will take to the Rose Bowl, giving guests the experience of eating the sample bites from over 75 food vendors. Those vendors represent a one-day collective curated by Fest co-founders Shawna Dawson and Sonja Rasula, and will include hot gourmet food trucks, old school carts and stands, as well as celebrity chefs and street food-inspired dishes from top local restaurants, served up on the historic Rose Bowl field.
New to this year's fest are a few changes aimed at enhancing the experience. The Fest will also be happening in the Rose Bowl's Brookside Park, which means there will be three soccer fields' worth of space for playing and picnicking. Plus, among the food vendors will be some prominent chefs culled from the ranks of Test Kitchen, offering guests the chance to taste street food as imagined by some top culinary talent.
Also new this time around is having the Fest run in three "sessions" that will have limited attendance caps that will provide specialized experiences for divergent tastes, and allow attendees of each to have a more "VIP" experience:
* 10a - 1p: Picnic in the Park (All Ages, Family Friendly; 1500 Attendees)
* 2p - 5p: Family Fun Day (All Ages, Family Friendly; 1500 Attendees)
* 6p - 9p: Date Night (21+; 1500 Attendees)
Tickets to each of these sessions are $60, and are all inclusive. Admission includes samples from the food vendors, free parking, beer at two Singha beer gardens, cocktails from Sailor Jerry Rum, Leblon Cachaca and Camarena Tequila, cold beverages, a tequila tent offering tastings and lessons, the "Ice Cream Social" section, live demos from chefs, tunes from DJ Bryan Davidson, kids activities during the day, and voting in the People's Choice Award.
VIP admission, at $75, includes all that regular admission offers, plus access to a tented VIP lounge hosted by Test Kitchen featuring a private bar with Julian Cox and Hendricks Gin, special chef's bites and a massage station from Dr Kevin. There will be only 200 VIP tickets are available per session.
Tickets will go on sale this week, and will likely sell out, as it has in the past. While it's up to you to eat and drink your money's worth, what's great about the Street Food Fest is that it is a chance to support local businesses, as well as support the event's beneficiary, which this year is the Downtown Women's Shelter.
Last year
Street Food Fest Report: Brisker Lines, Indie Music & Lots of Eating
Food, Glorious Food! Eating the LA Street Food Fest
LA Street Food Fest w/ The Deadly Syndrome & Warpaint, 7/24/10
