Los Angeles Epicurean Festival

I wasn’t going to originally go to this event, but I had won a ‘VIP’ pass to this event, so at the very least I wasn’t at any risk losing any money save for the gasoline I consumed to drive to downtown LA.
I read the Unilocal reviews from last year and there were tons of red flags everywhere. And then a bunch of what looked like fake reviews that were posted about a month away from the event. These were clearly red flags.
Still, I was hoping that a lot of first year events go poorly, and that maybe they would learn from their mistakes and improve on year two.
Well, was I ever so wrong!
First off, I get here around 6:45. Wait in line and then when I finally get in the doors, they escorted me to the VIP line. Actually, I saw something really interesting. There were actually a number of lines. The main entrance and then lines for people who bought on Eventbrite and Groupon. Now that’s a first. On the one hand, that’s a pretty good attempt at organization. On the other hand, it’s clear to me they heavily discounted this event. Then again, admission was $ 100 and seriously, who’d pay $ 100 for this?
OK, who’d pay $ 50 for this???
Alright, how about five bucks?
No, they didn’t go that low, but after this experience, I think free was too much.
So I waited in the VIP line, and then it was my turn, I mentioned I was a runner-​up in their email contest and they asked for my email confirmation. I didn’t have it. Didn’t bring it because there was no mention in my email that I needed to bring it for entry. Always saving paper, you know? So you’d think they’d have a winners list ready just for this purpose. Nope. Nothing like that. I had to wait in the corner like a kids being punished in grade school just for ‘winning’ a contest. Geez! How could you not have a winners list on an iPad or somewhere?
When I finally got in, I was seriously disappointed. This was like the LA Chocolate Salon in Pasadena last year. Very minute samples with a few exception. A lot of wine, no beer and a few spirits outside. Mostly selling. Some booths, like the Blue Crab vendor, didn’t even have samples. Wow. What kind of a food show is this?
Now there were some exceptions to all this. The pretzel bread vendor gave out full pretzels and rolls and you could have as many as you wanted. The vendor with the wild game hot dogs didn’t give you a full hot dog. But you could sample as much as you wanted. One of the Salsa Mina gave me a bottle of hot sauce and two different types of salsa to take home. And then there was the foie gras. That’s right. Banned in LA but who said you couldn’t serve it here as long as you weren’t charging for it? Of course, the idea was to get Foie Gras back into the state, but it was one of the friendlier booths at the show. The rest were mostly hard sell. Especially on the inside.
I did also receive a prize for being one of the winners. I mentioned to it as I was leaving and I had to go with someone all the way to the back again to pick up a Wine Aerator. Now turns out, this is a pretty pricey aerator. About 50 bucks in some places I found it from Googling. I’m not really a wine guy so I’ll probably end up regifting or something to someone who truly appreciates wine. Still, it is a nice gift. Things like this saved the event from falling into one star territory.
With a few exceptions, I probably wouldn’t be buying anything from the majority of these vendors at the show. Mainly for doling out samples so tiny you’d do better at Trader Joe’s or Costco. As I was walking out, I ended up walking with two other people who were leaving at the same time. They came with a Groupon and I asked, ‘Was it worth it’ and they said no. Not surprised at all.
I can’t imagine they’ll ever try a third version of this debacle without serious, serious improvements. And I just don’t see that happening. Prove me wrong, I say! Only I don’t think they’ll oblige.

I’ve read through the reviews and cannot disagree more. This was an incredible event. There were no lines to get wine or food at any point of the day or night. The pours were half glasses and the food was outstanding. The winemakers and exhibitors were passionate about their products and eager to share, once they started talking you could not get them to stop. The event was designed to be a place where the true «foodie» could meet the purveyors and learn. It wasn’t meant to be Costco pushing out small bites of processed food. Where else could you stand in front of World Class Pastry Chef Stephan Treand and watch him pour sugar or have Jean-​Charles Boisette pour you a drink? Michel Richard wasn’t even approached throughout the day ~ come on people Michel Richard !!! Not to mention Bradley Ogden and Josie Le Balch. As a chef myself, it makes me question who is the real «foodie» and what do they really know?

This was by far the worst food and wine event I’ve ever attended. I would give it zero stars if that were an option. Bullet points:
1. Poorly Organized: They didn’t let folks in until 3:10 for the first session, and while we were in line, two or three different event staff gave us conflicting information regarding tickets and admission. Complete left-​hand right-​hand thing.
2. Where’s the Food: Because the event was billed as an ‘epicurean’ festival, I expected more food. Instead, there were very few food vendors and of those, they were handing out smaller-​than-​grocery-​store-​sized samples. Frankly, if they had just called it a wine festival, I would have given them two extra stars.
3. He Flunked Sales 101: Of the food vendors who were there, one had a sample of an olive oil, which I tried, loved, and wanted to purchase a bottle. He told me he had no more bottles left, but a different olive oil he was selling «tasted just like the one that sold out.» When I asked him if he had a sample of that one, he shook his head with a pained look that said, «You’re asking way too much, lady.» Really? I guess he never got the memo that said in order to make money, you have to spend it.
4. Does Your Boss Know You Treat Customers This Way: Hey, wine vendors! Listen up: When you have two people standing by patiently to try some of your wines, it’s time to do the Multi-​Task and discreetly pause your intense, sycophantic conversation with the drunkards who are downing your wines like they’re water, and give other prospective customers a pour. Who knows, we may actually order some wine instead of depleting your sample bottles like the loquacious lushes leaning on your display table. We can figure out if we like the wine on our own; just exercise common courtesy and acknowledge that there are customers waiting.
5. End on a High Note: I paid $ 40 per ticket with the Facebook special they ran, which was a beautiful thing, because if I’d paid the full $ 75, I would have filed a formal complaint. Not that it would matter, I suppose, since the event organizers don’t seem to know if they’re coming, going, or putting on an event.

Was 4^th in line for 2^nd session. Anything/​Everything that would be considered the better items (blueclaw crab, the better wines, etc) was long gone. Vendors said it was consumed in the first session and they did not save any. Even if those items were still available, the overall quality of the food, wine, and the event were of such poor quality that I feel like the victim of a practical joke. Compete and total ripoff, and I even had the eventbrite discount.

Very dissapointed with this event. The sole reason I went was to watch the Epicurean Cup. Well, the acoustics were TERRIBLE and we couldnt hear one word. The host seemed oblivious that the crowd couldnt understand what she was saying. She was talking, talking talking and smiling but the crowd was clueless! After paying a whopping $ 80 to attend, I expected that the event organizers would have incorporated proper speakers/​sound. We had no idea where the chefs were from and I dont even recall the announcer intriducing the judges. I was expecting to witness an exicting competition, similar to that of an episode of Master Chef or Chopped, but this was a sloppy, unorganized mess. It was a brilliant idea and could have been an amazing experience but it fell flat simply ebcause nobody could hear.
As for the venders… let me just say that I spent $ 125 to attend The Taste last year, and it blew this event out of the water. I was not expecting an event of exactly the same caliber given the price difference-​but the samples given at this event were not much better then the tibits of pizza and frozen quiche I get when wandering the aisles of Costco. Seeing that all the publicity materials for this event including the phrase «unleash your inner foodie,» I would have expected to sample something other than protein bars, salami slices, and pretzals dipped in hummus.
Overall this event was just waaaay overpriced for what it offered. There is strong competition in LA for food and wine events and this one simply did not measure up. Call me a snob, but I have high expectations when I drop $ 80 for a 3 hour event.
My words of advice-​save about $ 60 and head to Trader Joes for some wine, meats and frozen snacks: you will get the same experience without the crowd!

What a waste of time! Lots of mediocre wines, with limited food. The venue is beautiful, but the layout was tight, making it difficult to move through the crowd (which I’m sure was far less than expected, since they released half-​off ticket deals to Groupon, Living Social, and others a couple of days before the event!). Glad we got a half price deal; even that was more than it was worth!
There were a few high points:
Mary’s poultry, which I’ve been buying for years. Great quality, great success story. I got to meet Mary and learn about their family and philosophy. That was the redeeming factor of the evening!
Excellent tequila from a small producer. On the downside, he was only interested in pouring for men to taste, or women with men. Was like pulling teeth to get him to pour for me. He lost a big sale as a result.
Nueske cured meats. Great smoked bacon!
Not sure what reviewer David is talking about. This event is NOTHING like a Slow Food event. No seminars, nothing educational. Most people were too busy pushing their way to the food purveyors to get their share. Very limited opportunity for conversation, if the reps even had the level of knowledge necessary to represent their company/​product.
Louise’s reference to Costco is pretty funny. The frozen escargot purveyor (yes, the owner of the business), TOLD ME that hers is the product that is sold at Costco.
OH… check out the filtered reviews of the 2011 event. Eight rave reviews that came out 6 weeks before the 2012 event. Talk about trying to stuff the ballot box with shills. I’ll never attend any events managed by this organization due to their dishonesty!

Beautiful venue, very poorly organized, we stood in line in the heat for about a very long time before being let in.
The wine, alcohol and vendors were very good, and nice. Alcohol portions were generous, but there was definitely meager amounts of food served. Given the price of the event I’m slightly disappointed that there wasn’t a greater selection of food.
The venue was very crowded, and it was hard to move around inside.
That being said, my friends and i still had a ball after all it was unlimited alcohol and what group of people in their early 20s can ever have a bad time with that!

NOT worth the $ 100 ticket… AWFULL! crowded! and unorganized! tiny samples, tiny pours! AVOID!

I went last year, and it was so much fun! Great way to see products that aren’t normally showcased in supermarkets, and with the owners there it was super easy to learn about each product and how/​where to purchase them. There were a lot of people and yet they had plenty of tasty treats for everyone! When I heard they are moving to a larger location this year I was even more excited, I think this year they will be able to handle the crowds ;) Highly recommend it for foodies or wine connoisseurs.

I agree with all the other reviews.
1.) Parking — I called and asked the hotel how much it would be so I expected there to be parking at the event location or at the very least for the organizers to have alternative parking options on the website.
2.) Lines — It was quite long but moved quickly enough. I think the organizers were overwhelmed and didn’t quite have the check-​in process down with all the Groupon, Goldstar, & Rue La La sales having different voucher info. Certainly it was way oversold but the organizers should have known that and made adjustments accordingly.
3.) Location — The Sofitel is a very nice hotel, but did not have the space for an event like this. There wasn’t room for people to go up to a table to get a sample then step away for others to get in much less the space for people to walk through when there were people at booths on either side of the aisle. This caused people to naturally form ridiculous lines that didn’t move at all. It was also very warm with that many people.
4.) Vendors — For the most part they were great, but were not able to really say much about their products other than a quick blurb due to the crowd. Also, I don’t think some were told they could sell their product there and/​or weren’t made aware of how many people would be coming so didn’t have much to sell. If I were them I would be truly disappointed.
5.) Schedule — missed the sushi demo at the beginning and didn’t see any Mixeology Demonstrations, Oenologists, nor Live Entertainment by various artists at all.
My friends were done around 3pm but I would have liked to stay a bit later to see if the crowd thinned out. From D R.‘s review it appears that was a better way to go.
I hope the founders of the event use the criticism to make the event more effective for both patrons and vendors next year.

Another poorly organized wine and food event. I wonder if this is the same group that hosted the Santa Monica wine festival last year?
I paid $ 100 each for VIP tickets. Ridiculous. All the extra money went to a place that you could sit down outside in the heat with a few extra wine/​liquor things to taste. You still had to wait in the long lines coming in.
A fire marshall would have shut the event down. Too many people for such a small space and it left everyone unhappy.
What a waste.

True, the organizers ran out of wine glasses by 2pm, and vendors served the smallest of small scraps of cheese, meat, and dipping oil. It was ridiculously overpriced, unless you did the Groupon, and even then it probably wasn’t worth it … unless you got your drink on.
Seriously, $ 40 is a steal when you’re getting hammered in so many different directions: wine, cognac, tequila, pisco, sake, aramac. Sure the event was incredibly mismanaged, but especially toward the end, the pours were deep and frequent.

This event was definitely overpriced. General admission was $ 75.
You arrive at the hotel and you see this long line that goes out the door. The line wraps up the stairs around the second floor. There are basically two small conference rooms and one larger room reserved for this event. It definitely is not enough space for so many people. They ran out of glasses for guests and gave plastic cups and plates by 2 p.m. (The event is suppose to run from 12 – 6 p. m). People cut in line and pushed to get a small samples of cheese, meats, or wine.
It was a nice opportunity to sample so many different gourmet items but definitely not worth it since its so pricey for just some meager sized sample. You can probably go through all the booths once under 2 hours — long wait (again) because of the long lines.
I wouldn’t recommend going to this event. It was poorly organized. Shouldn’t you budget the materials accordingly to how many tickets you sell? Obviously, they sold too many tickets.