Jonathan Gold’s Bite Nite (or) All My Food Heroes Under One Roof

I’ve been attending a lot of food themed events and food festivals as of late, but tonight, for this foodie, Bite Nite at LA Times building was quite possibly the coolest by far. The “Belly of L.A.” Mr. J Gold threw a special gathering of 20 or so of the best L.A. eateries, which not-so coincidentally happen to be featured in LA Time’s first annual Best Of dining guide, (to be released Thursday, May 23rd) and will feature these specially selected restaurants among others. So, what will this ultimate L.A. food guide be called you ask? “Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants,” of course.

These chefs all brought their A-Game, bringing out fantastic dishes to encapsulate the flavors and styles that they do best. And it’s a good thing too, the $101 ticket price for Times members was the entrance fee for sampling and sipping during the 2-3 hour long tasting… I’d say it was well worth it.

So what made this evening so cool? Besides getting to sample goodies from familiar favorites like Guisados, Guelaguetza, Salt’s Cure, Sqirl and Chichen Itza, I was introduced to dishes from other great local restaurants like the Ethiopian, Meals by Genet and Mayura Indian cuisine.

Also, a few on my To-Dine list of Must-Visit restaurants were here as well. They included Tar and Roses, Ink, Hart and the Hunter, Corazon y Miel, Cacao Mexicatessen and Bestia to name just a few. My suspicions of deliciousness were confirmed by every amazing bite. Each plate was tastier than the next, and although I came hungry, I left very, very full.

Best of all, I got to meet many of my food/chef/writer heroes, (Evan Kleiman, Russ Parsons, Michael Voltaggio, Wolfgang Puck and of course Jonathan Gold) all of whom were super cool, approachable, friendly and willing to oblige this starstruck food fan with a picture. These are the people who inspire me and motivate me to learn about how food moves us, feeds us and shapes our lives. It was thrilling to meet them in person and be able to say, Thank You.

Here are some photos to recap the great evening!