The 8th Annual LA Food & Wine Festival Once Again Took Over LA.

AUGUST 22-26, 2018

Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival, produced by Coastal Luxury Management and presented with founding partners FOOD & WINE and Lexus, celebrated its 8th Anniversary from August 22-26. Master sommeliers, local chefs, and the food world’s biggest culinary stars once again gathered as the best of the Los Angeles culinary scene took over the City of Angels for the unprecedented four-night and five-day extravaganza.
Here are some of the Highlights:
Ultimate Bites of L.A. Hosted by Alvin Cailin & Antonia Lofaso.

Heat on the Street: Taco Takedown
Replaced the traditional Night Market in Downtown Los Angeles with an all-new Heat on the Street on Grand Avenue, hosted by Robert Irvine, Susan Feniger, Mary Sue Milliken, and Aarón Sánchez. This “Friday Fiesta” brought all the nuanced flavors of Latin cuisines to the plate, serving ceviche, tacos, carne asada, nopalitos, and more, with perfectly paired cervezas, tequila, and delectable wine.

Some other events included: LIVE on Grand with Curtis Stone, Tiffani Thiessen, and Special Guest DJ Questlove, Lexus Grand Tastings, Exclusive Luncheons and Dinners.

 

AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY HONORS CHEF MING TSAI AT CALIFORNIA SPIRIT 33 GOURMET GARDEN PARTY, WITH HOST CHEF JAVIER PLASCENCIA

The American Cancer Society’s California Spirit 33 gourmet garden party honored Chef Ming Tsai with the 2018 Impact Award for his inspiring work in the fight against cancer through his leadership in the national non-profit Family Reach on Sunday, July 15 at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City. The event was hosted by Chef Javier Plascencia, celebrated chef, author, TV personality noted for his signature interpretation of the cuisine of Baja California. Chef Jason Fullilove, owner of Barbara Jean LA presided as Culinary Chair for the event.
Honorary chairs Sherry Lansing (Paramount Pictures, STOP CANCER, Stand Up 2 Cancer) and Phil Rosenthal (15-time Emmy Award-winning “Everyone Loves Raymond,” “Spanglish,” “I’ll have What Phil’s Having” and second season of “Somebody Feel Phil” on Netflix) welcomed the crowd and Andrew Firestone (Principal at StonePark Capital) presided over the live auction. The event was attended by Sophia Bush (One Tree Hill, Chicago P.D.), Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue), Samantha Harris (Entertainment Tonight, Dancing with the Stars, Camila Banus (Days of Our Lives), among others.
The event featured a performance by Band From TV, a powerhouse of well-known and acclaimed actors including Greg Grunberg, Adrian Pasdar, Jack Coleman, and Scott Grimes. Guests enjoyed offerings from LA’s top restaurants including 71 Above, Barbara Jean LA, The Bel-Air, BOA, Fig & Olive, Frida Mexican Cuisine, Guerilla Tacos, Kato, Life Energy Food, Maple Block Meat Co, McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams, Panini Kabob Grill, Prawn Coastal, Takami Sushi & Robata, Sweet Lady Jane, The Wallace, Wolfgang Puck Catering, and Wood & Vine. Libations were poured by Ammunition Wine, Codigo 1530 Tequila, Danone Waters of America, Drake’s Organic Vodka & Rum, Golden Road Brewing, Hilltop Coffee, Lillet, Kikori Whiskey, Moraga Bel Air, Malibu Vineyards, and The Ojai Vineyard. 
Corporate and individual sponsors include, at the Master Chef level ($25,000)—Centric Capital Advisors, Ellie Kanner and David Zuckerman. Chef de Cuisine sponsors ($10,000) include Cedars Sinai Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Sam and Peggy Grossman, Sherry Lansing, New York Film Academy Foundation, and Phil & Monica Rosenthal.  Supporters at the Sous Chef level ($5,000) are Amalfi Estates, Heyler Realty, Lynn Both & Kent Kresa, SoCalGas, and Torrance Memorial Medical Center.
Media sponsors included KTLA-TV, Variety, Angeleno, The Hollywood Reporter, and KJAZZ Radio. California Spirit raised $________  for the Society’s groundbreaking research, free patient and caregiver services, and early detection and prevention education programs.

CONCERN FOUNDATION’S 44TH ANNUAL BLOCK PARTY RAISES $1.8 MILLION FOR CANCER RESEARCH

On Saturday, July 14th 2018, Concern Foundation for cancer research successfully produced its 44th Annual Block Party on the backlot of Paramount Studios in Hollywood on the foundation’s 50th anniversary. Themed this year as Cancer Crusaders, the highly anticipated and sold-out event hosted approximately 4,000 guests, successfully raising $1.8 million for cancer research through ticket sales, donations and bids on auction items.
All guests had a chance to experience over 70 restaurants, caters, and beverage vendors including Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Fogo de Chao, Dulan’s Soul Food, Button Mash, Fresh Brother’s Pizza and Pink’s Famous Hot Dogs. The night was filled with interactive entertainment such as casino-style gaming, a celebrity bar hosting actors Lili Bourdán (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, THE NUN), Gabe Jarret (REAL GENIUS) and Chad Johnson, the original TV Batmobile, and live and iconic Super Hero “streetmosphere”. For the 14th year in a row, The Best of LA® on Los Angeles Magazine’s street featured lounges, photo booths, food stations, beauty stations and gift bags sponsored by Infiniti.
As a focal point for the evening’s festivities, the live auction lead by lifestyle expert and entertainment reporter, Mar Yvette, presented guests with the option to bid on prizes including VIP tickets to a taping of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”, VIP tickets to the 2018 American Music Awards, a six-night vacation in Maui, and Dodger Dugout seats. Following the auction, John Ferdenzi of Town and Country Event Rentals was honored with the Spirit of Concern award. Recognized for his dedication and commitment to Concern Foundation, John Ferdenzi has been a valued member of the extended Concern family for more than two and a half decades. He has given his time and creative talents to assist at various Concern Block Parties and annual holiday events.
 This year, in connection to the theme, the foundation was happy to honor Dr. Jay & Kris Calvert and family as this year's "Cancer Crusaders" for their participation in helping to conquer cancer through research. Honored on stage alongside his family, Dr. Jay & Kris Calvert openly shared their personal experience with cancer. The Calvert's 10 year old son Ace was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at age 4 and while today he has beaten his cancer, ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) can always return and he is never truly cured.  This is a major reason he and his family feels so strongly about raising money to help find a permanent cure.  Jay himself was a young scientist who could not get funding early in his career as a molecular biologist and he personally knows how important our mission to supporting young investigators is to jump start researcher's careers. Dr. Jay Calvert has been consecutively named one of Los Angeles Magazine's "Super Doctors" in 2014, 2015, and 2016.  He has appeared on multiple hit television programs including CBS's "The Doctors" and OWN's "Dr. Phil". 
Concern Foundation is proud to have these members of the community serve as this year's honorees. Their personal connection to the fight against cancer and philanthropic actions alongside the non-profit organization is sure to help make this year's Block Party a success.
 Concluding the event, Derek Alpert stated, “Having the honor to be on stage to welcome and see nearly 4,000 of the true super heroes all gathered together helping us raise funds to conquer cancer is a very emotional thing for me.  It’s such a blessing to be able to help orchestrate this event each year and to bring together 4 generations of donors, 5 decades of cancer researchers that Concern has funded all surrounded by a tremendous outpouring of love and support by our local business community that donate their time and talents so that we can give as much money as possible to support cancer research.”

 

Le Vian Forecasts 2019 Trends at Its Annual Red Carpet Revue

Ross Mathews once again emceed Le Vian’s annual Red Carpet Revue catwalk show at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Le Vian is, famously, a family-owned company. And before models walked the runway, company CEO Eddie LeVian and president Moossa LeVian brought up to the stage several smiling grandkids the future generation of the Le Vian dynasty to help explain their love for family and for jewelry-making.
Avril Graham, executive fashion and beauty editor for Harper’s Bazaar, who presented a spate of trends for 2019 during the event, also called herself an honorary member of the Le Vian family. Le Vian is a longtime advertising partner of the magazine, but she and the magazine’s editor, Glenda Bailey (who spoke on video), said the relationship goes beyond business. Once a year, Eddie and his team meet with Harper’s Bazaar editors to talk about future trends and what looks are missing in the market: “Through decades of relationship, our trust allows us to collaborate deeply,” said Graham. “There’s a lot of synergy between us.”
Eddie added that through the collaboration, the company will debut product with a gray palette later this year. “The editors were asking for something gray,” he noted. Details on that release are under wraps, but the company proudly announced the trends it’s betting on for 2019. They include:
Diamond of the year:
Nude diamonds The C2-C3 natural color diamonds “offer value and are complementary to fashion and beauty trends,” read a press release on the forthcoming product.
Theme of the year:
Royalty For obvious reasons (Harry and Meghan!), a royal theme—manifested as Le Vian “tiara” rings and majestic three-stone and cocktail styles—feels especially timely.
Cut of the year:
Baguette Le Vian’s Baguette Frenzy collection of jewelry with baguette-cut diamonds includes nontraditional settings and pieces with clusters of baguettes.
Item of the year:
Open rings Le Vian will be offering an avalanche of rings with linear designs, featuring plenty of negative space.
Gem of the year:
Fancy colored sapphires The rainbow and multicolor trends will calcify in Le Vian’s collections of pieces featuring a pantheon of colored sapphires (the company’s 2019 Spring Colors of the Year are “Multicolor Rainbow”).
Animal of the Year:
The dog The brand is latching on to a larger trend for jewelry that celebrates everyone’s best friend—the dog.

The event’s runway show featured models styled in a combined $20 million in Le Vian jewels and clothes from Missoni, Marchesa, Salvatore Ferragamo, Alexandra Vidal, Pucci, and Jason Wu. And the evening ended with a fun and memorable performance by soul/pop singer Macy Gray.