L.A. Weekly’s The Essentials Returns Bigger and Better

Join us Sunday March 26 for LA Weekly’s signature food and wine extravaganza! Curated by our award-winning food writers and critic Besha Rodell, the event showcases signature bites from restaurants featured in our 99 Essentials restaurant issue that hits stands the same week. Along with great food, guests will enjoy wine from top-shelf wineries, cocktail samples from our liquor partners, as well as non-alcoholic sips and shopping in our vendor village.

One of my photos from a past event.
One of my photos from a past event.

Guests can expect more of LA’s hottest chefs, wineries and homegrown Los Angeles vendors, all in our expanded California Market Center Penthouse. Take in 360° views of stunning DTLA as you enjoy samples of the best food and drink this city has to offer.

Confirmed restaurants include: animal, a.o.c, Baroo, Bestia, Beverly Soon Tofu, Bigmista’s Barbecue & Sammich

Shop, Burritos La Palma, Cacao Mexicatessen, Chengdu Taste, Chichen Itza, Coni’Seafood, Dune, Elf Café, ERB

Bar, Guelaguetza, Guerilla Tacos, Guisados, Jitlada, Jon & Vinny’s, Kogi, La Casita Mexicana, Le Comptoir, LocoL,

Lucques, Lukshon, Maude, Melisse, n/naka, Night + Market, Parksbbq, Pine & Crane, Pok Pok LA, Providence,

Racion, Republique, RiceBar, Rose Café, Rustic Canyon, Salt’s Cure, Sotto, Spago, Szechuan Impression, The

Bellwether, The Hungry Cat, Trois Mec, Union, Wexler’s Deli with more to come!

New to The Essentials this year will be The Freshmen 15. A restaurant must have been open for a year in order to qualify as “essential.” That takes many new restaurants we love out of the running, so we decided to add a new list of up-and-comers, places that would be considered for the 99 if they weren’t so young. The Freshmen 15 will run in the 99 Essentials issue, and will be celebrated alongside the 99 at our Essentials event as well. VIP guests will be able to try samples from The Freshmen 15 at the event at 1pm before doors open to the general public at 2pm.

Confirmed Freshmen 15 include: 71Above, Baran’s 2239, Erven, Gwen, Here’s Looking at You, Holbox, Kali, Michael’s, Salazar, Shibumi and Winsome with more to come.

Tickets – http://ticketf.ly/2iRpb9p. General Admission tickets include: entry into the event, unlimited food samples, beer/wine/cocktail tastings, entertainment and more! VIP Admission tickets include: access to the Freshman 15 showcase at 1pm, entry to the event, unlimited food samples, beer, wine and cocktail tastings, entertainment, VIP gift bag and more!

Follow L.A. Weekly on Facebook facebook.com/LAWeekly, Twitter @laweeklystreet, and Instagram @laweekly for updates as they unfold.

We hope to see you there!

About L.A. Weekly:
L.A. Weekly, and more recently LAWeekly.com, has Los Angeles covered, with investigative reporting, comprehensive calendar listings and forward-thinking cultural coverage, including daily blogs like the highly regarded Squid Ink, which covers the city’s food scene. We keep our readers loyal with stories by some of the country’s finest writers—now accessible through our mobile platforms. In 2007 L.A. Weekly was the first newspaper to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for its food criticism. This year, restaurant critic Besha Rodell was honored with a James Beard Award, widely considered food writing’s top prize.