A2‘s final rating: √ MARK YOUR CALENDAR √ (if you’re into that sorta thing)
THE BASICS:
WHAT: Lucky Peach Presents “Eating Out Loud”
WHEN: Whenever they want to throw a party.
WHERE: For 2016 it was in DTLA.
$$$: $45 for the show and booze (food sold separately). And 21+, kids.
THE DISH:
WTF IS LUCKY PEACH: Straight up from them: “Lucky Peach is a quarterly journal of food and writing. Launched in 2011 by Momofuko’s David Chang, Peter Meehan, and Chris Ying, each issue focuses on a single theme, and explores that theme through essays, art, photography, and recipes. LuckyPeach.com features new stories daily, as well as videos, restaurant recommendations, recipes, and articles. The magazine has won multiple awards and appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. It is available in print at newsstands and by subscription”. blah blah blah…. And now that we know about it, we see it everywhere and so will you.
ABOUT THIS “HAPPENING”: This event is a two-parter. It started at the Million Dollar Theatre with readings from “Lucky Peach” by some big wigs in the food world…interesting to say the least. Then it ended next door at the popular GCM (Grand Central Market) for bites and booze pairings that brought together the market occupants and some of LA’s top chefs to create unique collaborations.
WHAT TO EXPECT: So we haven’t been to many poetry slams or open mic nights, but we can imagine this is what it would be like. Needless to say, we won’t be adding them to our daily rotation. Although entertained, we were a bit confused but we tried our best to fit in and laugh on cue. While we were stoked GCM was open after hours, by the time we made our rounds and decided what we wanted to eat, it was like any other day at the market — aka shit was crowded and lines were long.
“WHO” YOU SAY: Live readings by David Chang (Momofuku), Jonathan Gold (Pulitzer Prize winning LA Times restaurant critic, duh. We’re available to intern if you are reading this, Mr. Gold- you can pay us in tacos?), Roy Choi (aka “papi”; Kogi, Chego!, A-frame, Sunny Spot, Pot and the spanking-new LocoL, which we need to get to tryin’ ASAP) and a few other non-foodie people (Kim Gordern, Amelia Grey & Eric Wareheim). For the eating portion they had collabs such as; Animal x Wexler’s Deli, Night + Market x Belcampo Meat Co. and Sqirl x DTLA Cheese.
FEEDBACK: Honestly, it seemed like this was the first time some of the speakers were reading the articles — like we know you didn’t necessarily write it, but maybe give it a scan beforehand so you can at least pronounce all the words. Also, we’re still trying to figure out whether Kim Gordern’s “performance” was a joke or not — people were legit recording this “masterpiece” of modern interpretation so maybe the joke’s on us. And in Amelia Grey’s article, nipples were flying, moms were eating kids, and dicks were flying into soup — seriously guys, are we missing something? Do we just not get it?
STARS OF THE SHOW: The badass couple 5 rows in front of us that legit pulled out an entire handle (no, not a flask, a handle) of Fireball and waterfalled it throughout the readings. Some people just know how to do it right.
WHAT TO WEAR: The crowd was pretty eclectic and the scene pretty chill, so whatever you please.
WHO TO BRING: Someone who gets this type of thing OR at the very least someone that will chug fireball with you if they don’t.
EDDR LIFE LESSON: Different strokes for different folks. This may not have been the ideal “happening” for A2, but as we listened to the crowd discuss the event on our way to GCM, the phrases “that was amazing”, “hy-ster-i-cal” and “OMG that was the best” were definitely heard. So while this may not have been up our alley, we’re not just in it for ourselves; we’re looking out for the GREATEST events around LA for all of you too…
A2 FINAL THOUGHT: What we loved about this event is that GCM, which normally closes at 6PM that day, stayed open, exclusively for the event and most stalls were open for business. And while sadly we didn’t get to try any of the limited edition tastes of the night, we did get to try the new talk-of-the-town Knead & Co Pasta… and it was pretty bomb, so you should try it. OH and HOW COULD WE FORGET; we met Roy Choi, so all-in-all it was a success.
Still trying to understand what J-Gold meant in his article when he states: “you don’t want to eat this fruit, you want to fuck it” — HELP!,
A2
Lucky Peach ↔ Grand Central Market
