Festival season is here — and Los Angeles' biggest names in the culinary scene are getting ready for their time to shine. The L.A. Times' third annual L.A. Food Bowl is taking over the City of Angels the whole month of May with over 200 events featuring many of the chefs and restaurants that help put L.A. on the culinary map.
The LA Food Bowl gathers the crème de la crème of Angeleno-faved cafés, markets, hotels, restaurants, and bars and will feature appearances by local and internationally renowned chefs. The 31-day foodie festival's packed schedule includes everything from dinners, parties, tours, pop-ups, films, classes, panels and more, like an Opening Night Collaboration Lab celebrating collabs between local restaurants and international chefs (May 8, $75), a vibrant Night Market in DTLA's Grand Park (May 8 to 12), and a series of long-table dinners in iconic locations like the L.A. River and Weiser Family Farms as part of their Outstanding in the Field series (May 26 to 28, $265 to $285).
Plus, don't miss one of the biggest events kicking off the citywide festival: Mesamerica L.A. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of L.A. and Mexico City as sister cities, the trio of fiestas kicks off Tuesday, April 30 at Downtown's historic Million Dollar Theatre with Mexico's celebrated top chef, Enrique Olvera. As part of his first talks outside of Mexico, Olvera will join L.A. Times' food editor Peter Meehan and esteemed panelists for a discussion on the cultural and culinary links between the two cities (and yes, they'll be tackling the topic of tacos, too).
Guests will then head to legendary food hub Grand Central Market for mariachi and decadent dishes featuring one-night-only specials from Olvera's highly-anticipated L.A. taqueria, Ditroit. Celebrations will continue next door at the historic La Cita Bar with cocktails, entertainment, and a Tacos 1986 pop-up. Tickets to the Mesamerica L.A. talks are $35, while admission for both Mesamerica L.A. and DFiesta is $85; snag your tickets here before they sell out.
That's not all: Getting your grub on will also do some good. Funds raised from the event will go on to help fight food waste and hunger and promote food sustainability and security through charitable partners like the L.A. Regional Food Bank, Food Forward, and the Midnight Mission.
Are your taste buds tingling? Check out the full program and buy your tickets to your favorite events here.
