It was a full house for the Mesamérica event at the Million Dollar Theater.
LOS ANGELES, CA (LA ELEMENTS) 5/26/2019 – “The better we understand each other, the more successful we can be in our kitchens,” says Enrique Olvera, owner and chef of Pujol. Not a day goes by during the month of May when you don’t hear something about LA Food Bowl. This mega event gives Angelenos the chance to indulge in their favorite foods and even get up close and personal with some of the most acclaimed chefs of our day. (Olvera’s Pujol consistently ranks among the top 50 restaurants in the world.) Kicking of LA Food Bowl 2019 was Mesamérica and DFiesta which took place on April 30 in downtown Los Angeles. This event was so huge that it needed three venues: The Million Dollar Theater, Grand Central Market and La Cita.
The evening started off strong with Mesamérica LA at the Million Dollar Theater. Mesamérica LA celebrated the special relationship that Los Angeles and Mexico City have with each other as sister cities. (hermanamiento) This symposium was curated by Olvera, and LA Times Food Editor, Peter Meehan. An array of notable speakers were on hand to explore art, architecture, identity, and Mexican cuisine. Among the speakers were: Norma Listman, Chef and Co-Owner of Masala y Maiz, (Mexico City), Javier Garciadiego, architect from Infonavit’s Research Center for Sustainable Development (Mexico City) Wendy Kaplan, curator at LACMA and author of “Found In Translation,” and Carlos Salgado, whose restaurant Taco Maria, was the LA Times “Restaurant of the Year” for 2018.
Chef Carlos Salgado addresses the audience at the Mesamérica LA symposium.
At Mesamérica LA, Salgado revealed that he is using his success to give opportunities to the next generation of young immigrants and children of immigrants. “Within my work at Taco Maria, I began to take this role of trying to create opportunities for young Mexican American kids or children of immigrants, to express themselves through food and to think academically, scientifically, sociologically, politically about the work that they do. Think about where their stories come from because of their cuisine, so that we might generate more culture that is founded on the richness of cultures.”
Architect Javier Garciadiego
During the symposium, architect Javier Garciadiego, noted the unique geography of Mexico City and how it manages to be home to so many people who bring their own unique flair to creating a memorable cuisine. “So Mexico City was settled on this extraordinary site on a complex map of lakes that sit in the middle of a valley, that is 2500 meters high above sea level and is surrounded by even taller mountains and volcanoes. There’s probably nowhere else in the world that is perfectly fit to receive 20 million inhabitants. In Mexico City we have the certainty, the floods and the earthquakes and the volcano eruptions this happened this year that the soil that we are on, is very much alive. In this magnificent setting, we overlay our reality of 20 million people. Each of them with their own desires and with their own goals and with their own recipes. And this makes for an extraordinary soup of energy and force.”
At the conclusion of Mesamérica LA, the audience headed over to Grand Central Market for the DFiesta segment of the evening. The offerings at DFiesta were many and included Sanctuary Oysters, Guerrilla Tacos, Horse Thief Barbecue ,La Fruitaria, Sol Beer and more. Then, it was off to La Cita for cocktails and the end to a memorable night filled with great conversation and food and drink. Pretty much what you would expect from the opening night of the 2019 LA Food Bowl.
Enrique Olvera meets up with fans after the program.
The line for Guerrila Tacos was no joke-but so worth the wait!
The oysters from Sanctuary Oysters were a crowd favorite.
Horchata and a selection of mouth watering fruit juices were among the offerings by La Fuitaria.
LA Food Bowl is running throughout the entire month of May. For more information on the upcoming programs please visit their site.
Cover photo and all other photography courtesy of Will Tee Yang
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