The citywide festival will feature more than 100 events across Los Angeles with a mix of hometown favorites and international culinary talent
LOS ANGELES — The fourth annual Food Bowl, a month-long festival celebrating the city’s diverse food scene, will be back this May, the Los Angeles Times announced on Tuesday, February 4.
The event will combine the best of local restaurants and world-renowned culinary talent, featuring 31 days of dining pop-ups, collaborations, panel discussions, and other food-inspired events across Los Angeles.
LA chefs including Jordan Kahn (Vespertine), Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis (Bavel and Bestia) and Josef Centeno (Bar Ama, Orsa & Winston, Bäco Mercat, Amá•cita) will host events and one-off collaborations. Other Los Angeles restaurants such as Apollonia’s Pizzeria, Guelaguetza, Hui Tou Xiang, La Morra Pizzeria and Mian will also participate.
Visiting chefs — including Ana Roš (Hiša Franko, Slovenia), Zaiyu Hasegawa (Den, Japan), Sean Sherman (The Sioux Chef, USA) and Ben Shewry (Attica, Australia) — will make rare local appearances as part of the festival.
Festivities kick off April 30 with the announcement of the annual Gold Award and Restaurant of the Year winner. The festival will also highlight issues of food access, sustainability and waste reduction. The full event lineup will be announced in April at lafoodbowl.com.
Food Bowl highlights will include:
- Food Bowl Opening Night: Collaboration Lab, April 30: To launch this year’s festival, chefs and restaurants will come together to create special bites for this tasting event.
- “I’ll Have What She’s Having: The Jewish Deli”, May 1: An evening featuring tastings and storytelling themed around the history of the Jewish deli. The event is presented in connection with The Jewish Deli exhibit coming to the Skirball Cultural Center.
- Food Bowl Night Market, May 14-17 in Grand Park: This Food Bowl favorite is a bustling free-to-attend outdoor food market — featuring dozens of food vendors, musical performances, art installations and DJs. Themed ticketed events will include Middle East Feast, LAFiesta, Pizza & Pasta, Dumplings, Noodles & Rice, and All-Star BBQ.
- Dentucky Fried Chicken: Zaiyu Hasegawa from the restaurant Den in Tokyo will bring some of his signature dishes to town for a series of events with Japan House Los Angeles.
- Outstanding in the Field: A series of long-table feasts inspired by locally-sourced ingredients set in spectacular locations, including downtown L.A. and Weiser Family Farms in Tehachapi.
- Additional events for this year will include the return of Wine Bowl, curated by Eric Wareheim; Vespertine Symbiosis with chef Jordan Kahn and special guests; a collaborative dinner with visiting chefs Sean Sherman (The Sioux Chef) and Ben Shewry (Attica); panel discussions at Now Serving with The Times Food team; UCLA’s Science and Food lecture series; dinners at select restaurants from The Times 101 Best Restaurants list; and food-themed neighborhood walking tours spotlighting the city’s cultural diversity.
The industry kick-off for LA Food Bowl on Tuesday, February 4 featured dish samples from Bon Temps, All Day Baby, Zoe Food Party and Spoon By H; coffee by Braun; and spirits by Suntory Whisky.
Food Bowl is sponsored by founding partner Citi along with All Nippon Airways (ANA), House of Suntory and Braun. Charity partners include L.A. Regional Food Bank, FoodForward and Westside Food Bank. Event submissions for Food Bowl and food vendor submissions for Night Market are open until Feb. 21. For additional information, visit lafoodbowl.com.
