When I told people I was going to Lompoc, I kept being asked, What’s in Lompoc? For Lompoc, that question is all wrong – because it is exactly the lack of any sightseeing agenda that makes Lompoc such a great weekend getaway a comfortable 2 1/2 hrs from LA.
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One of LA’s top outdoor, luxury food and wine festivals, the sixth annual Masters of Taste will return to Pasadena Rose Bowl’s iconic field on Sunday, April 2, 3:00 pm.
A sold-out event last year, the event is expected to bring over 3,000 food and beverage enthusiasts to sip, savor and celebrate from over a hundred establishments – signature restaurant tastings from Culinary Masters, sweets from the Sweet Masters, while top Beverage Masters handcraft cocktail tastings from over 25 spirit brands and top cocktail bars, wineries, local craft breweries, cold-pressed juices, and cold brew coffee. Live entertainment and other fun round out the afternoon.
A VIP Power Hour will be held from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm before General Admission 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The 21+ event is completely outdoors, and as additional safety protocol, all guests will receive their own utensils and hand sanitizer throughout the event.
Hosting the event are Chef Michael Reed and his wife Kwini Reed. A classically trained chef and restaurateur, Chef Reed brings over 19 years experience at restaurants on both coasts. He is Executive Chef and co-owner of two Los Angeles restaurants, Poppy + Rose in Downtown Los Angeles, and Poppy & Seed in Anaheim. He and his wife Kwini Reed also operate an upscale catering company, Root of All Food.
All event proceeds directly benefit Union Station Homeless Services, a non-profit organization celebrating 50 years of providing homeless services. Committed to providing permanent solutions to end homelessness and rebuild lives, Union Station works with unsheltered and low-income adults and families across the San Gabriel Valley, recently expanding to El Sereno and Eagle Rock. In the last five years Masters of Taste has raised over $2.7 Million in support of Union Station Homeless Services life-saving programs.
For more information and tickets, Masters of Taste 2023, please visit www.MastersofTasteLA.com.
LA Opera continues its 2022/23 season with Claude Debussy’s enigmatic masterpiece Pelléas et Mélisande, conducted by Music Director James Conlon.
The opera tells the story of a prince lost in the forest, encountering an ethereal beauty with a mysterious past. After he brings her home to his family as his bride, she begins to grow increasingly close to his handsome younger brother. Debussy’s sensual, exquisitely nuanced score casts a hypnotic spell, capturing an enigmatic dream world where forbidden love blossoms.
Last presented by LA Opera in 1995, Christopher Koelsch, LA Opera’s president and CEO calls it “one of the most rapturously beautiful operas in the entire repertory … one of my, and James Conlon’s, favorite operas” that they’ve been planning to offer for several years now.
Although Debussy received international recognition for its genius immediately after the premiere of Pelléas,
the opera did not take immediate root in opera houses because they were dominated by the Italian or German traditions. By the composer’s choice, there were none of the conventional props that audience had long come to expect and seek from opera: vocal acrobatics, bombastic overtures, choruses, and even no ballet, a virtual requirement in France. Rather, the demands on the audience are more similar to those on a concert-going audience.
Most surprisingly, there are even no arias that could be excerpted and popularized. As Conlon explains, “Self-revelation is the dynamic of the solo operatic aria, and the characters in Pelléas, especially Melisande, do everything but reveal themselves.”
The typical operatic diva or divo has little interest in a work that does not show off the voice, and specially one in which there is no interruption for applause. Most notably, even the quiet, sad and intimate final act discourages any noisy or prolonged applause, making the opera hardly attractive for serious, success-seeking singers and conductors. But this is exactly what makes the opera different – requiring instead sustained concentration on detail – for greater clarity, tonal color, and expression.
Says Conlon, “Pelléas belongs to a group of works that should be constantly performed, studied and revisited.” Like Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde, Boris Godunov and Wozzeck, Pelléas is unique and does not belong to any tradition or genre.
James Conlon conducts a production created by director David McVicar for Scottish Opera in 2017 Production new to Los Angeles. The cast is led by baritone Will Liverman and soprano Sydney Mancasola as the titular lovers, both of them making their company debuts.
With an estimated running time of three hours and five minutes which includes one intermission, the opera will be performed in French with English supertitles. Six performances March 25 through April 16 will take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Although masks are encouraged, they are no longer required indoors at the theater.
For tickets and more information is available at LAOpera.org/Pelleas.
Just a short flight from Los Angeles lies the little fishing town of Loreto on Mexico’s Baja coast. The warm blue waters of the Sea of Cortez are so rich with unique flora and fauna that it has been designated a United Nations protected Marine Park; explorer Jacques Cousteau dubbed it simply as the ‘Aquarium of the World’.
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AltaMed Health Services, the nation’s largest, independent federally qualified community health center, will present its signature 15th East LA Meets Napa Food & Wine Festival on Friday, July 29, 7-10 p.m. The much anticipated festival returns to L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles after a two-year hiatus
AltaMed’s East LA Meets Napa celebrates the deep roots and richness of Latin cuisine in Los Angeles and Latino-owned vineyards in California and beyond.
Patrons will enjoy food tastings from 24 top Latino-owned Los Angeles restaurants complemented with wine and spirit pairings from 15 famed vintners from Napa Valley and beyond.
Some of the participating restaurants and chefs include: Oscar Perez, executive chef and co-founder of Sol Agave at L.A. LIVE, Juan Sanjuan III of Gloria’s Restaurant from Huntington Park, and Rocio Camacho of Rocio’s Mexican Kitchen from Bell Gardens, Porto’s Bakery and Cafe, King Taco and more. Participating Vintners representing the Mexican American Vintners Association (MAVA) include: Herencia del Valle, Encanto Vineyards, Honrama Cellars, Bazan Cellars, and more.
Grammy award-winning Ozomatli and Latin-jazz ensemble Monogorama will perform their unique blend of urban Latino music that blends cumbia, samba, funk, charranga jazz and more.
All proceeds from the event benefit AltaMed’s programs that provide access to health and dental care, senior services, HIV treatment and prevention, teen mentoring, and health education programs to more than 375,000 people in Los Angeles and Orange counties, regardless of their ability to pay. As such, it is the nation’s largest independent federally qualified community health center.
Zoila D. Escobar, executive vice president & chief administrative officer of AltaMed Health Services, and president of the AltaMed Foundation, pointed out that the communities served by AltaMed in Los Angeles and Orange counties have been disproportionately devastated by COVID-19 and its health and economic ripple effects, so she was excited to bring the fundraiser back. “It’s through events like East LA Meets Napa that we can continue to meet the health needs of more than 375,000 people and address the social determinants that impact their overall wellbeing.”
East LA Meets Napa tickets are $400. To learn more about AltaMed and view the full list of restaurants, vintners and entertainment participating in this year’s East LA Meets Napa, visit: www.Altamedfoodwine.org.
Only two hours away from LA by air, Los Cabos remains a popular destination for Southern Californians. Its sun and sea present a host of water activities – swimming, surfing, wind surfing, kayaking, yachting, snorkeling, jet skiing, parasailing, dolphin and whale watching trips, and fishing.
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The Central Coast is one of my favorite places to get away from LA: with its scenic beauty and nature activities, it is the perfect antidote to the big city. The unspoiled beaches with their sand dunes, rock formations and tidepools offer the full range of water activities – or you could just for hang out doing nothing.
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When you think of Utah, what immediately comes to mind is its national parks and spectacular natural beauty; what does not come to mind is food and drink. Utah tourism sees that as a problem, one worth attacking head on.
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