LA Weekly’s The Essentials 2016

Contrary to popular belief, our experience was quite nice. We actually parked a block away from the California Market Building, giving us a chance to stand clear from the stampede. We got general admission tickets so we waited a half an hour or so for entry. The key here is to be patient, don’t get your panties in a bunch. We knew from last years experience that it would only get busier. So on that note, let’s move on towards the food shall we… Some of the more memorable moments goes to Michael Voltaggio’s crab toast with fennel (inspiring). Suzanne Goin’s braised beef-​cheek (wholesome). Cutis Stone’s caviar with buttermilk and potato-​chip (enlightening). Chichen Itza’s de cochinita pibil (scrumptious). Some notable mentions for Michael Cimarusti for the shucked to order oyster bar and of-​course some of the local vineyard winery stations sprinkled along the route (thank God).
Now, looking back, if I was to criticize or say anything negative about this event it would be directly targeting the organizers for the mishandling of over inviting guests (too many people). Although the venue was huge it was also enclosed, kind of suffocating at one point, not what I consider relaxing. At the end of the day, it was a good night, some missteps here and there, nothing overtly awful that’s for sure.

50% of the places were out of food in the first hour. Could be an amazing event if they actually provided enough food for every ticket sold. I would really like a refund. Worst $ 200 spent

Shoutout to Billy K. for inviting me to this event! Thank you so much, Billy K.!!
This was my first ever LA Weekly’s event and I had a great time! We got in line around 20 minutes before the event started. Once it was time for the event to start, the line moved pretty fast. The line wasn’t too long for the food once we got in at like 6:30 pm. We got to try a good amount of food from different restaurants. We divided and conquer, one of us would stand in line for the longer lines and the other would go to the restaurant with shorter lines and just get as much food as we can carry. lol. It is true that most of the food ran out around 8 pm… but by that time I was already full. lol There were plenty of drinks to go around (I didn’t stop drinking until 8:50 pm). By the time the event ended, everyone was friendly and drunk! If only there was music, it would have turned into a fantastic after party!
Here’s a tip: Bring a bag so you can put in goodies! I got a bunch of chips and other knick knacks.
Overall, I had a great time! Makes sure to come with a DD. Don’t drink and drive! :)

The Essentials is billed as a food festival that you can go around and try food from some of the best food establishments in the LA area. In the end, a good portion of the restaurants on the 99 essentials came as well as a bunch of wineries.
The food itself was great. Highlights for me were Chichen Itza’s Cochinita Pibil taco, Jitlada’s noodles, Bludso’s BBQ beef brisket, and the agua fresca from a vendor I can’t remember. Some of the big hitters were disappointing.
The really bad thing about it were the lines and that some of the more popular restaurants ran out of food by 8pm, halfway through the event. My experience might have been more positive as a VIP, but I’d probably not do GA again.
*Side note — A lot of people cutting in line. That was a no go.

We got in line at 5 pm and were in the door and eating by 6:10 pm. Anyone who showed up 5:30 or later was not dedicated and does not understand how the world works. We got to sample 90% of what we wanted (looking at you Melisse). It was amazing to see all of the famous chefs platting their restaurants food (Suzanne Goin, Nancy Silverton, Michael Voltagio, Curtis Stone was there but not playing just photos and promoting himself). Overall, great event mostly great food. Will try to get VIP next year

It was not as shitty as the 2014 Essentials event. That one, I left hungry and had to get a slice of pizza at Two Boots. But still — it was shitty.
We showed up early and the line was already abysmal. It only got worse for folks after us. Things started out OK — we were able to try a lot of different dishes, lines were not terrible, we were served directly by amazing chefs like Voltaggio, Neal Fraser, and Nancy Silverton. But then at some point, maybe 30 minutes in — after naively observing «Boy, it’s not overly crowded, huh?» — that all went to shit. Lines became way too long. Places ran out of food too early — I saw booths packing up not 90 minutes in. Everyone stood in long ass lines for meager scraps of food, some of which was confounding — BROTH, Animal? A SINGLE ROASTED BEET, Broken Spanish?
Luckily, this ain’t my first time at the rodeo and I have some strategies for «making the most of my time.» Chief among them — getting buzzed on the 2oz pours of wine and beer (thank you, Baja Brewing, for helping me accomplish this goal). Also, not wasting the stomach space on foods I don’t immediately enjoy. Which wasn’t a ton, to be honest. Maybe I’m just getting jaded, but I can’t recall many standouts — brisket from Bludso’s, the caviar chip from Maude, the bacon taco from somewhere, sure, but everything else fades into an indistinguishable blur.
LA Weekly — I know you don’t give a damn about making events enjoyable since it’s a one-​time purchase and you don’t have an incentive to improve things for ticket buyers, but you are better than this. Or maybe you’re not, I don’t know. Neither Sips and Sweets (2014 and 2015) nor Brunch at the Races (2015) are this big of a mess. Dare I say it, those events were something approaching «fun» and «not a clusterf*ck.» VENDORS NEED TO BRING ENOUGH FOOD FOR THE WHOLE EVENT. No one is saying you should be able to waltz in at 9:55 and expect to try everything, but ticketholders have a reasonable expectation that they’ll be able to try the food you so heavily promote. Yes, we all try to get there early (and I certainly did), but the attitude shouldn’t be «Oh, you didn’t get to try the food? Shoulda showed up 2 hours before the event started!» When we bought our tickets, we paid for 4 hours — and that’s what we should get. Happier crowd, shorter lines, better vibes.
On another note, I witnessed about 5 glasses dropping — maybe try plastic next time.

Agree with many of the other reviewers about this event being not what was advertised.
LONG lines to get in (we got there at 5:45 and didn’t get our first bite until 6:30). Which wouldn’t have been so bad except many booths closed between 7 and 8pm (when the event was supposed to go till 10pm. How do you run out of food three hours before closing? Since only about 20 booths were open after 7:45pm they all had REALLY LONG lines so we just left.
Oh, and shame on Animal Restaurant to only serve a small cup of chicken broth! We thought it was a joke. La Casita in Bell was a standout — also kudos to Union for that pork meatball and polenta. I heard they sold 4000 tickets — way too many and it looks like greed won out over quality yet again. We will not be back next year no matter how impressive the restaurant list is. If you can’t get their food what’s the point?

So I haven’t been to this event since it was the Jonathon Gold 99 event. Back then I did VIP and was really happy w the event. This time I was going w friends who didn’t want to pay for VIP so we did GA.
Overall, it was pretty well organized for the most part in terms of layout, etc. and the food samples I got to try were pretty darn delicious and made the event worth attending. I also really enjoyed seeing some of my fav Chefs there including Michael Voltaggio and Sang Yoon.
However, I am forced to dock a few stars for the mere fact that it was very disappointing to see all the major players out of food by 8:30 — barely half way into the event. I was also very surprised to see that people were allowed to take multiple dishes at one time. I think this is the problem as even if a restaurant anticipates the right amount of food, its simply not going to last if people are allowed to take 3 – 4 portions each instead of having to get back in line for an additional portion. I really think LA Weekly needs to find a way to make sure this doesn’t happen. AND yes, I know people get in different lines and then bring portions back to their friends waiting in other lines but clearly some people are benefiting from this lax policy while many are losing out on trying some of the best dishes.
I’m not sure I’d go back as I frequent many food festivals and truthfully, I don’t see this issue happening this much at other events. There has to be a better way or they need to advertise it as a ‘first come first served’ type event so people know to get there long before the doors open if they want to taste the popular places.

We had never been to previous The Essentials so we were a little worried based on the 2014 and 2015 reviews. Due to the repeated comments about long lines, long wait times and running out of food, we arrived early to find a line already around the corner. The line cleared relatively quickly once the doors opened to the general public. The people working the event were very kind and pleasant. The lines were a little long so my husband and I selected lines and were sure to get helpings for each other. The wine pours were a little light compared to the whiskey and beer pours.
We were excited to find new restaurants that we’re eager to frequent. Our favorites were Crossroads, SPAGO, St. Killian, Pot, Union, Anthony’s, and Bestia. Animal’s representation was a little disappointing since the offering was beef broth. Looking forward to 2017’s The Essentials.

This was my first LA Weekly’s The Essentials event. Initially, we were worried about the food because we arrived around 6:05 p.m. and the line was around the block. We actually did not get in until 6:45 p.m. However, since I had been to other food tastings and had come with a large group, we strategized and went into different lines. I was able to try most everything I wanted, though I missed Melisse because I did not realize there was a little map in the book they passed out and by the time I wandered over all the way to the other side of the room, they were closed. I heard they ran out of food within an hour. I really don’t understand when restaurants run out of food so early. Is it because people take more than one for themselves, the restaurants only brought food for less than half the attendees, or a combination of both?
I felt a lot of the big star restaurants were disappointing. I love Spago, but we did not like their duck confit beignet. We waited 30 min for this, too. Loved Park’s BBQ (kalbi) — so good. Line for Chengdu was crazy and the beef noodle soup was not that good either. The chip at Maude was good, as was the Uni on a ball of rice from POT. Cassia had a delicious seafood pan roast (different from thick Pan Roast from Vegas, but still good — some friends went back for a second helping). What’s up with Animal service some basic beef broth (think of the kind you get in the plastic box at the grocery store)?? Union had a nice meatball with polenta and I missed Little Sister’s Pork Belly with Quail Egg. Providence had oysters, so that line took forever because they had to shuck them for us, but they were very good. There were tons of booths and tons of lines as well, so it sucked waiting 30 minutes in line for food. I had been to the PbP tasting last year, and though that cost over $ 100, we never waited in line more than ten minutes. This one had more of a selection and better restaurants, but like I said, some of the food at the restaurants was crap and not worth waiting for. I was disappointed in the selection of dessert as well. I only saw one place serve ice cream and one serve crepes, and that was it. Also, there seemed to be quite a few places serving wine but only a few with hard liquor, and most was yucky tequila. Found one serving flavored vodka and one making mules. Overall, they need to cut down the number of people they allow into the event — $ 45 was still a good deal (got a discount) for General, but it might be a better option to pay for the VIP ticket — you get to go in an hour before everyone else. I’d go to next year’s, but I’m not sure if my friends would. I was stuffed afterwards!

2 stars for the organization and set up of the event, and 4 stars for the food.
This was our first time at this event and we luckily only paid $ 40 per ticket (normally $ 70 — thank you guy on Craigslist!) to get in — at that price, I thought it was worth it. Parking was an additional $ 9.
Pros:
— There were a lot of great restaurants representing there that night and the majority of the food tastings were pretty great! There were a few not so great ones, but overall, most were really good.
— A lot of the well-​known chefs from each restaurant were actually there prepping and serving the food! Pretty cool to see that.
— We got to try tastings from 25 different restaurants (because we strategized and hustled)! My favorite was the eggplant from Osteria Mozza — sooo good!
Cons:
— Organization of the event. You would think that after a few years of hosting this event, they would get it right, but alas, they have not.
— The general admission tickets said 6−10pm, but we weren’t able to get in until about a half hour later due to the enormous line outside.
— They gave each person a cup (glass btw, which was not a smart idea — so many cups were dropped and shattered on the floor many, many times by people throughout the night), a plate, and utensils for the entire night to taste at each table (um, seriously?). Each table should have their own — I know they were trying to eliminate trash at the event and be more «green,» but everyone had a very difficult time trying to juggle their plates and cups and trying to grab and eat food at the same time. Thank god that some places were giving away tote bags (thanks Melissa’s for the cute carrot bag!)!
— A lot of the tables were closed at about 8:30pm and the event was supposed to end at 10pm. I felt bad for a lot of people who didn’t get to try a lot of the places.
Now that I know what to expect from this event, I would go again if I got a discounted ticket. I wouldn’t mind not having the discount if I actually got to try ALL the places (maybe give each person a checklist that they have to get checked off once they tried it already to give everyone a fair chance to try all the places without them running out of food) and if it wasn’t so poorly organized. Crossing my fingers they will get it right next year.

I’ve been to a previous Essentials a few years ago, I have to say it’s gotten a little better. The strategy here is to get here early and go with friends. Have them grab you an extra plate and you as well.
This year, the lines were kind long. Longer than I anticipated. When we got out of the parking garage, we were told to go around to the end of the line. That we did and we turned 3 corners. Wait what? Wouldn’t it be closer to just turn the other way so we would turn 1 corner? I wished the people on the 2 way would do better communicating on line control. Other than that, they’ve always done good with ID check prior to ticket scanning and you’re on your way.
As for the food, if you are a true foodie, you would know where you want to go. Everything I had was delicious. However, I never made it to all of the booths and of course, by then everything ran out because I waited in Bestia for 30 minutes for their delicious pork belly. Well worth it. I also waited 20 min for the Providence oysters and that was also worth it. My other favorites included the Crab Toast from Ink, the crab curry from Redbird, the chip from Maude, the Jasmine Green Tea and spicy peanuts from Pine and Crane, the Pan Roast from Cassia, Meatball from Union, Brisket from Kevin Bludso, Uni ball from Pot. I know I’ve missed some but my short memory stinks.
There’s always lot of food but this year, for some reason I didn’t see a lot of drinks as in beer and spirits. I know it exists but for some reason, I wished they had those big tents like the pressed juice and the flavored vodka booths. I just ended up getting bottled water because LA weekly does provide enough water in all their events. Oh had a Pale at Baja Brewing, nice sessionable beer!
Please, LA Weekly, put more drink vendors /​distributors next year. Like a LOT more. That’s all I’m asking.

20 min after start, line was wrapped over halfway around the huge square block. Like 1000 people conservative estimate. I was super hungry, it was obviously WAY oversold and after reading other reviews they ran out of food early. Glad I threw my tickets away and went to Fogo da Chou Brazilian steakhouse for dinner. I feel bad for anyone who was hungry and waited or was on a first date. These guys need to either raise prices and make it more exclusive or shut it down. Bordering thievery in the name of charity as it is.

I was so excited about this event. The promise of great food, great drinks, and an all-​around posh evening in DTLA.
But it was kind of like eating a beautiful looking peach that was ultimately mushy and mealy. It just didn’t hit the standard.
We arrived at 6:15 and made it into the venue at 7:00pm. 45 minutes is very long time to stand in line for a ticketed event.
When we entered, they were out of plates, silverware, and were short one wine glass for our group.
Our very first stop upon arriving was already out of food.
Our second stop – a wine merchant – served about .25 oz pour of wine.
The food we did try was delicious and exciting.
By 8:00pm, over 50% of the restaurants were closed for the evening an out of food. The event was to continue until 10:00pm. It is shocking to me that this early into the event the main star of the show (the food) was already 50% gone. This definitely seems like a fraudulent promise on the part of LA Weekly – and a shame that they charged people money only to not be able to back it up.
Later on when forks were restocked, we walked up to get one finally. The person handing them out scolded us for losing our forks (which we were never provided).
I completely understand having to wait in lines and the presence of crowds. What is totally uncool was that the food was all but gone by 8pm and the supplies were gone within the first hour.

This was my first venture to LA Weekly’s The Essentials visit and it was an absolute disappointment. I was really surprised to see 2 5-​star Unilocal reviews, but then noted they were both from before the event even occurred, so… yeah.
I was really looking forward to this event — as a newbie to LA, this was going to be a great opportunity to sample some recommended restaurants and see which ones I wanted to check out. However, after a 45+ minute wait in line (for a ticketed event!), the fact that they were completely out of plates and utensils by the time we walked in the door, the fact that most of the vendors were closed up by about 7:30, and the very rude staff members at the doors, I felt that this did not match what was advertised at all. The event was supposed to run from 6 – 10 p.m., but since most of the vendors were closed not even halfway through, it was a total farce. $ 70 for a total of 4 bites of food and about 1.5 oz of wine — well, I feel a bit robbed.
Look — I get that crowds are tough and big events aren’t going to run 100% smoothly. However, they clearly knew how many people bought tickets and they should have planned accordingly. Not exactly a good look. LA Weekly — you can do better.

Awesome event. I purchased my general admission ticket one month ago and looked forward to my first Essentials event. I knew it would be a packed event, So I prepared accordingly and got there at 4:00pm and patiently waited for 2 hours for the general line to open. It was well worth it! For people complaining about it being crowded or the food running out-​this is L. A, anywhere you go is crowded and busy with people! complaining about it being packed is like complaining about the 405 at 5pm on a Monday !!! My fiancé and I got to try every dish and drink we wanted. We have no complaints. It was fun and I will go next year for sure !!! Thank you L. A weekly for this event