LOS ANGELES, CA-Food, food and more food. What would you expect from attending an event that featured a plethora of eatery vendors supplying the public with some of the best tasting foods in and around Los Angeles? Attending the 2016 LA Food Fest meant eating until you were stuffed in the belly and happy in your spirit.
As many as 114 food vendors took part in this year’s eat party during the three-day event that took place at Exposition Park. It is safe to say that there probably weren’t too many disappointed customers trying out the food there. If there were any complaints, then whoever made them must have had a stint somewhere on the moon.
They would be crazy to say they could not find anything there that would have wetted their hunger appetite. You didn’t need to stop by all 114 vendors to get your money’s worth. If anything, pitstops at a handful of the right vendors would have done the trick in the stomach-stuffing contest.
With places like Birdies hanging out in Donutville and All American Gumbo dishing out their tasteful gumbo, this year’s LA Food Fest was the place to be.
Stevie Mims, who runs All American Gumbo, along with his mother, said the secret to the company’s flavorful gumbo recipe, was passed down to him.
“We got the gumbo recipe from my grandmother. She passed it down to my mom, and my mom passed it down to me,” Mims said. “I was cooking before that-before I learned to cook the gumbo, and we decided to combine everything into a business.”
If you want to get a taste of of what All American Gumbo has to offer, you’ll have to catch the mobile eatery at an event since it is a catered-owned business at this time. Based in Ladera Heights, it may not be too long before Mims and his mother, Tawanda Carpenter, are setting up shop somewhere in the Los Angeles area.
Getting get gumbo in Southern California is like trying to find an alligator roaming around on a golf course. A lot restaurants brag about their southern cuisine such as gumbo. All American Gumbo doesn’t need the false hype to promote its signature meal. It is the real deal. Truth be told, there really is no super incredible ingredient behind the All American Gumbo machine, just something a little bit more special, Mims said.
“It’s made with love,” Mims said. “It’s made with love.”
There was a lot of love going on at the festival on Day 3, as patrons moved about one place to another to try out something different every few minutes. Armed with a boxed food tray to store all of their wonderful food items, attendees weren’t just milling around one particular vendor.
After paying $15 to get invited inside to the all-day affair, LA’s biggest food party was like a kid going into a candy store for some people. Whether it was going to grabbing a couple of blueberry donuts holes from California Donuts (3540 3rd St., Los Angeles), sampling the mouth-watering ice cream from wanderlust Creamery, or chowing down as many pieces of waffles from Waffles de Liege, by and large (catering services), food-lovers brought their eating hats with them.
They assuredly brought their sweet tooth with them. Pies, donuts, ice cream, yogurt, and waffles were all in the mix at the LA Food Fest. “Pies By Dominic”got you going in a different way. The catering service presents its pies as being gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan with sugar-free options but still with the taste that people crave for.
Owner Domonic Nieees said she was tired of going out and not finding the type of baked sweets she could consume. So she did something about it. Nieees opened up her business in 2015, and now “Pies by Domonic” has become a big hit with the vegan and gluten-free audience.
“A little bit over a year ago, I got fed up with going out and finding desserts that was either whipped cream or vegan or finding anything that was both,” Nieees said. ” So I created the solution to my problem. I got sick of going out and not having any options. It was time to get out there and show what I know, what I love.”
Lahtt Sauce is in the same boat as “Pies by Domonic.” They’ve been in business for about a year, according to Vince Xuq. But here they were with a vendor’s booth at the LA Food Fest, promoting the company’s signature item. The Cantonesse-flavored recipe became a hit with friends. Before long, Xuq said the supply of the popular Lahtt Sauce wasn’t keeping up with the demand for more.
So they started charging folks. That’s pretty much how the company came to life.
“It’s a family recipe,” Xuq said. “We started actually selling it once we recognized that a lot of friends are hitting us up for more sauce, and we really can’t continue to make this high-quality sauce without charging people. It kind of started from there organically.”
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
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