World Foodie Fair

I can’t believe I forgot to review this wonderful event!
I loved the concept of World Foodie Fair. Different culinary entrepreneurs serve their recommended dish (like tapas). My personal second favorite was the meatball. Very juicy! The sauce felt a little bland. My least favorite was the BBQ Pork Belly sliders. the pork belly was tough, along with bread that you couldn’t bite through. Maybe it would have tasted differently if the bread had been fresh baked, but naw, not this time.
My personal FAVORITE? The churros! I have never had churros so fluffy that melts in your mouth! The dulce de leche sauce topped it off like a cherry on top. If this business were to open nearby, no doubt you’ll see me there every night.
Thank you Jackie for hosting such a wonderful event.

I recently attended the World Foodie Fair and I have to say that I really loved the concept of it. It’s like being at a carnival without all the rides. There are several vendors or trucks with food that you have to select from; sometimes you fantasize about sampling all of them, but it would be impossible. Luckily here, there are only 9 stations which allows you to try all of them. So here is a simple breakdown of what I was able to sample:
1) Faux Gras (4 star) — Great texture from the crostini and a nice kalamata olive sauce that adds a lot of flavor
2) Spanakopita (4.5 star) — I believe this one may have easily been the winner. I noticed other chefs going to this station for food and that’s saying a lot! The tzatziki sauce had a lot of dill and was very light. The pastry itself, filled with spinach feta and herbs, was simply delicious.
3) Meatball (2 star) — Sadly, my least favorite. Unfortunately the texture was really tough from being overcooked. There was also a cream roquefort sauce, but it was lacking in the taste department. Perhaps this station will be able to improve on fairs in the near future.
4) Beef Cheek Cream Puff (3 star) — I was expecting something great for this one because it technically costed the most. The blue cheese potato mash was quite amazing, but the beef cheek was just okay. The puff pastry didn’t taste fresh.
5) BBQ Pork Belly Sliders (3 star) — This one was a little off for me. The pork was marinated so well and the wasabi mayo was a nice touch to the sliders but I think they should have added a little more of the sauce. The part that throws you off is the bread they use. It was so hard one could barely bite through it. I think they may have toasted it a little too long? If they fix the bread situation then they would definitely have another contender in my opinion.
6) Churros (5 star) — My favorite of the evening. You can blame it on the sweet-​tooth in me, but these were easily some of the best churros I have ever had in my life. They can be eaten without the dulche de leche. They smelled amazing, looked amazing and most importantly, tasted AMAZING. They were very light and airy inside and were like little bites of heaven.
I have read from other reviews that it can be pretty busy at times. The fair I went to started at 6pm and I arrived at 7:30pm. It was perfect — no lines or hassles. So I would recommend going a little later after the crowds. I’m hoping they add more chefs sometime down the line. I would love to go back and try more!

I recently attended the World Foodie Fair held at LA Spice Café on Sepulveda Boulevard. The gathering was a pop-​up: eight food entrepreneurs who want to kickstart their dream offer a sample of their food to determine if their food is good enough. Cost to sample is minimal: $ 1 for one tasting ticket, most samples cost three tickets. I sampled four of the eight stations: Pablo Chang, Cheeky Styley, Mexicain, and Opium Chocolate. Attendees also received a bonus ticket to sample Craft Meatball.
Craft Meatball is possibly the best meatball I have ever had; it was meaty and flavorful without the flavor overwhelming the meat. The roasted meatball was topped with cream Roquefort sauce. Cheeky Styley’s beef cheek cream puff was made with traditional French Choux pastry filled with tender Bordelaise braised beef cheeks and blue cheese potato mash then topped with horseradish cream and grated parmesan; it was also delicious. The description was true– it really melted in my mouth. And Pablo Chang did a great job fusing the flavors with his Asian barbecue pork belly with slaw and wasabi mayo. As to be expected, my sweet tooth required something post eating anything savory. I tried Opium Chocolate’s macaron with a surprise flavor. It was good, but I couldn’t identify the flavor: sweet with a slightly sweet/​sour after taste. But the talk of the night was Mexicain’s French-​inspired churros with sea salt dulce de leche. From the time I checked in at the door, I was urged by everyone I encountered to make sure I save three tickets for the churro station. They were right. I should have saved six.
I really loved the food but I wish that the chefs were actually there. It would have been great to talk to them and figure out how to spread the word about their food. Alas, it was only their representatives.

The World Foodie Fair is not only an innovative idea that gives food entrepreneurs great exposure, it is a delicious experience and a fun one too! I attended an event at LA Spice and tried some delicious dishes. My favorites were the churros and spanakopita. Jackie truly cares about all who attend his events, and I can’t wait to enjoy another!

Went to the event at LA Spice Café in Culver City and it was interesting and fun. There were 9 stations, each serving a dish designed by an aspiring chef. The first station we tried served spanakopita that was very buttery and served with a delicious tzatziki sauce. Next, we tried the meatballs which were delicious and topped with a roquefort sauce. Then we tried the Asian pork belly sliders. One slider came with the order and I only ate the meat as there was a lot of bread and I wanted to save room for dessert. Which brings me to the churros — my favorite dish of the night. There were about 6 two inch churros served with a side of sea salt dulce de leche. I could have eaten another order of them they were so light and fluffy and melted in my mouth.
This is a wonderful way to try chef’s new ideas. And we all shared the tables so we got to meet other Unilocalers and talk about the dishes with people who eat at a lot of interesting restaurants. Jackie, the organizer, was fun and he made it easy to make my way around. I’d definitely attend another World Foodie Fair.

I love love love the concept of the World Foodie Fair. I think its so important to support aspiring entrepreneurs and was looking forward to trying some unique dishes. One dish did not disappoint and that was the Indian inspired gyro. DEEEEEEE-​licious! I would order that again and again if it was on a menu at a restaurant. Thank you for existing Indian Bao! The other featured dishes were good but nothing really stood out for me.
The venue is small, so it felt a little crowded at times. On the upside we made new friends! The price for tickets is very reasonable so I would go again, but would like to see more creativity from the chefs next time.

This was a fun event and I’m glad I came. I would attend again.
Pros– unique food, free food, event went over the course of a few hours, so you have flexibility in your schedule of when you want to attend, could rate food and leave feedback, staff was very nice/​helpful, location (as in Culver City)
Cons– two vendors were late, plus one’s do not receive the free tickets (must be purchased), only street parking at this venue, café was quite small and got too crowded at times
Definitely agree with Courtney W. that complimentary water should be provided!

I really enjoyed this event and I would definitely do it again. I went expecting to be wow’ed and it did not disappoint. The atmosphere was great and everyone was so very friendly. Being able to converse with other about the meals was a really good vibe.
The best thing that I ate was the Spanakopita, it was delicious. I also enjoyed the Asian BBQ Pork Belly Slider, although the bread was a little hard. The beef cheek puff was the worst. The beef cheek by itself was tasty and tender. But they married it with too many flavors that just left a yucky taste in my mouth. I also tried the Indian infused gyro, it was just ok for me.
The desserts were so good. I am a macaroon snob and the macaroon they served was good. The churros were so light and airy that they practically melted in your mouth. And last but not least and my absolute favorite was the chocolate/​carmel/​mousse desert. That was so good it was like a party in my mouth.

Asian BBQ Pork Belly Sliders– Awesome! My favorite sample. Maybe a little too fatty but at least flavorful. I know the wasabi mayo drizzling on the top is to enhance presentation, but not a good idea for a finger food. I had no qualms about the bread even though I think it would have been equally as good less toasted.
Beef Cheek Cream Puff– Gross. I like hot foods. I like cold foods. I don’t like foods that are both cold and hot. Warm beef and cold puffs get two thumbs down. The horseradish, cheese and cream put this over the top in the conflictual flavor department. Conflictual actually isn’t a word but it was very conflicting. THREE THUMBS DOWN. Best thing about this was the watercress salad that was probably intended to be more art than food.
Meatball– Meh central. Okay flavor. Poor moisture.
Lamb Gyro– Apparently everyone’s favorite except mine. Personally, I saw nothing special about it.
Macarons– These have the potential to be really good in normal flavors. Blood orange is pas normal.
Churros– I devoured these before I could open the dipping sauce. Definitely not needed.
PROS:
— Great event to meet some other Unilocal Elite and non-​Yelpers. It is kind of hard to argue free food
— Good idea to have standing tables instead of sitting
SUGGESTIONS:
— Venue was too narrow for the volume of people. One station was set up in the kitchen where the catering staff was working because there was no more space in the designated room. Maybe time slots could alleviate the early rush
— Some food could and should be pre-​prepped. I stood in the meatball line for 10 minutes because the guy working it insisted on prepping each meatball one-​by-​one. Maybe the intention is you’ll like your meatball better if made to order but not the most effective use of time
— The real chefs should be serving (and cooking) these items, not Le Cordon Bleu staff. No sense in asking anything about the items since no one knew anything about what was being served
— Complimentary water should be offered.
Thanks for the invite Jackie T!

My boyfriend and I attended this event, which was held at LA Spice Café. I had never been to one of these events before and we really enjoyed our time!
I really liked how each dish was from a different «genre» and had a wide variety to choose from. We tried the Asian BBQ Pork Belly Slider, Meatball, Spanakopita, Faux Grois and Indian Bao which were all very good! They all had a perfect amount of flavor in each dish and the serving sizes were pretty generous for a tasting!
I do wish I got to try the churros, but we came pretty early right when the event started at 6 and I didnt see the churro booth there.
Considering how small the restaurant was, I’m not sure how seating was later on in the evening, but arriving at the earlier time was probably the right call as there was a very limited number of tables and I’m sure could get really crowded.
I really liked the idea of the event and wish all the best to all of the aspiring chefs!

I honestly didn’t know what to expect but this was a really cool event! There were about 8 aspiring chefs that were displaying their dishes and wanting feedback.
When you got there, you checked in and got tickets for the food. Most dishes were 3 tickets, some were 4 and some were 2. I tried the Asian BBQ slider — great but the bread was a bit too toasted, the Spanakopita which was pretty tasty and flaky, the meatball which was tasty but not super impressive, but the highlight of the night had to be the lamb bao bao which was bomb! It was super flavorful and was my favorite dish of the night. I ended with a blood orange macaroon which was good but I’ve had better. I also tried one of the churros which was pretty good. I was pretty full by the end of my sampling!
It was a cool experience to come and sample some food and talk to other patrons. Cool concept! Thanks for the invite Jackie!

First time attending this event which is a unique take on a pop-​up food competition between aspiring food entrepreneurs. There are different stations that serve whatever is on the menu for the event from meatballs, sliders, bao, faux gras, to desserts like Churros, macaroons, etc. You are supposed to taste the food from each station and rate the one you liked the best. They give you a menu with descriptions and on the back you can write comments about each item. The food changes per event so you can always try something new and different. They sell tickets for $ 1 each and each station charges from 2 tix to 4 tix for an item. Overall, it was a good event my only suggestion would be to have the entrepreneurs wear T-​shirts with their logos so we can easily tell what station we are at & also to give a verbal description of the item when serving would have been helpful and service oriented. Talk it up, people we want you to sell your food idea and make us want to try it!

9 aspiring chefs showcased their creations to see if they have a shot at making it in the LA food scene. Do they have it? I think some of them do!
The menu was pretty heavy on meat and sweets. Of the 9 dishes served, I tried Spanakopita, Asian BBQ Pork Belly Sliders, Meatball, and Churros.
— Spanakopita: EXCELLENT! One of the best spanakopitas I’ve ever had. The crust was so flaky and buttery and the filling was creamy and delicious. This was my favorite.
— Meatball: Meh. I don’t know what kind of meat was in this meatball but it had a really strong gamey flavor that I did not enjoy. But others at the table seemed to like it.
— Asian BBQ Pork Belly Sliders: This was a huge let down. The meat was kind of bland and I thought the sauce was too watery. Slaw was really good. The buns were very dry and hard… Not the way I like my sliders… Sorry, I make it better at home ;)
— Churros: Delicious. So airy and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. I didn’t really care for the «dulce de leche» dipping sauce though. It was a little too sweet and overpowered the churros. I liked eating churros by itself better.
All in all, it was a well organized event. We had a great time! For future events, I would like to see the actual chefs serving their creations. I wanted to ask questions but the people who were serving the food didn’t really know much about the dish.

Bf and I attended this event at LA Spice in Culver City on Sunday. There were 9 aspiring chefs who displayed their talents. Our favorite was the Churros, which were light and airy. There was a long wait for them, but I’m glad that Jackie encouraged us to try them. Our next favorite was the Greek spot.
All in all, it was a fabulous event. It was well organized and there was a healthy amount of people. We really enjoyed this event.

I was super excited to try out this event as Ive never heard of it before. I was given free entry and as many guests as I wanted but we were only given 12 tickets total.
So. basically my guests would have to buy their own food. I went with my boyfriend and we shared all the items. With our 12 tickets, we go the Spanakopita, Beef Puff Pastry, Pork Belly Sliders, a macaron, and 2 free meatballs.
My favorite item was the Spanakopita which I was very surprised by as the item was not per se creative. It was well done though and the tzaitziki sauce was really good!
The pork belly slider was pretty good in flavor but the bread was incredibly hard. My boyfriend actually cut the roof of his mouth!
The puff pastry was really small but flavors were pretty good. I think overall, portions were tiny for the prices. This puff pastry was equivalent to $ 4.
The macaron was ok… I cant say it was incredibly memorable. I can’t really tell what flavor it was either. But it wasnt bad. Texture was good.
The meatball… was awful. I dont know what kind of meat it was. It was super gamey and had a weird flavor that made me gag. The crostini it was on… was like a rock. I would not pay for this.
Overall I think the event is a great idea but I’d much prefer an event that didnt limit your food intake so dramatically. I think the LA food festival in pasadena is much better. Also, like everyone else said, it was pretty cramped. I’d also like so complimentary water to cleanse my palette.

So I went to their 2^nd event where they had 10… 9 because one dropped out different restaurants trying to win. It was a big event… In a TINY restaurant.
So we had free admission but we still had to pay a meal ticket… And wow. What a gip on the meal ticket. Each ticket was $ 1 CASH ONLY and each station varied from 3 –5 tickets for a small sample… That means I’m spending $ 5 for a small sample. I ended up spending over $ 30 for samples… And I wasn’t even full. That’s… Sad. It was really a rip-​off.
COMPETITION:
It was a sad competition because they had desserts competing against real entrees. They need to make dessert a separate category. I don’t even know who won!?! We never got a follow up.
STATIONS:
This place was TINY. It was such a clusterf*ck. I didn’t even know which line I was in for because there were so many stations and not enough room. As for tables and chairs… It could not accommodate all the people. There were so many people and NOT enough seats, tables, and trash cans. It was getting disgusting. They need to have workers to do clean up, but they didn’t.
There was only one bathroom for men and one for women. Great.
There was one line to get into the event and I swear, they broke the fire Marshall rules. There were way too many people in that place.
Overall, not worth it unless they fix SO MUCH.

Great little event. We had to pay for entry but the organizer did hook us up with some complimentary tickets to contribute to our first few tastings. It’s a great opportunity for food entrepreneurs to showcase their dishes. It’s a little café that gets converted into the ‘fair’ in the evening — it’s a bit of an awkward layout but it works fine. It would be good for the organizer to welcome and announce everything at the start of the evening I think — just to create a little atmosphere. Overall, good!

Attended this for the first time on Saturday and had a pretty good experience! Tickets add up, and the layout is a little funky, but overall was a very positive experience. Great food, casual vibe, and nice people.

This was a pretty cool pop up tasting event with some really good food… Some misses, but it’s all about helping food focused start ups get some testing items to mouths. Location was nice, but was standing only. Chairs would have been cool. Beverages were for purchase, and the tickets for tasting were $ 1 each. One big disconnect was having volunteers plate the food, I would have preferred to have the person who created the dish. Totally reasonable for the amount of food. Can’t wait to try another one of these.

Apparently, this is their 2^nd annual event, described as:
An EPIC pop-​up Tasting Event.
10 FOOD Entrepreneurs want to kickstart their dream.
Is their food good enough?! You Decide.
HOW:
To attend, you must purchase a $ 6 ticket, which you can then use to buy $ 7 worth of food.
Limited spots available.
I was emailed by their main marketing person, who offered me free entrance, and went with Laua S. and her hubbie. Although she made it sound like the whole event would be free, it really wasn’t. We just didn’t have to pay the door fee. So right off I felt a little misled, like what was I going to do, stand around and watch other people eat? I wasn’t the only one, as a few others in line left after they found they still had to buy tickets, but oh well. Had she told me I’d have to buy meal tickets, I still probably would have come. They should have more confidence in their event and not have to rely on misleading marketing to get people to come.
Anyway, they had 10 food entrepreneurs, this was a way for them to show off their food and make a little cash. You vote after trying their food, which is a little weird for a competition because you don’t vote with your tickets so if you didn’t buy enough tickets to try the food then you have limited voting capacity. Also there were no categories, so the Macaroons and Eclairs were competing against duck tamales. They never did make it clear what was the prize and who won, though I think the pork belly sliders were the clear winner and most memorable. By far. As an improvement, they should offer free samples or small bites so people could try and then buy. Tickets were a little pricey so it would be good to have something to whet our appetites. People would buy more tickets after sampling too.
Honorable mention: the Spam Musabi and the Beef Cheek Cream Puffs were also very good, though the sliders had my clear vote.
Some Negatives: Needed to iron out some big things first. The space was waaay to small to accomodate everybody. We were waiting in line 30 min past the advertised opening and the crowd was getting impatient before the doors opened (the free macaroons definitely helped). Also, it would be nice to know who won. On their website, 3 of the competitors (the first 3 at the top, in fact) didn’t enter, while a new one showed up (Mustards & Sausages). So basically they need to update their website. Also, wth? They can’t afford to give away water bottles so we can cleanse our palates between each tasting? It’s a competition, how about introducing the competitors formally? A few stands were unprepared and ran out of food or had to close temporarily to cook more food after the first 30 min. which seemed pretty unprofessional. Again: Who won???
Overall, it’s the forgotten details that would make this a truly memorable go-​to event. Yeah they looked overwhelmed and busy but a well planned event wouldn’t feel that way.