Sweepstakes Alert! dineLA Foodie's Experience Sweepstakes

There is still time to enter (sweepstakes ends October 15)!

Grand prize includes: Two round trip economy tickets to L.A. , two-night stay at the SLS hotel (home of the Bazaar by José Andrés, where you will be able to enjoy dinner for two and one-on-one tour with the GM), daily breakfast in Tres at the SLS, signed cookbook from chef José Andrés.  Plus, spa treatment for two followed by Afternoon Tea.

Get details and enter here

Check out my Sweepstakes Page "Win Your Next Bite"  - for more awesome promotions!

Paradise Cove - Heavenly *Private* Beach Dining

Paradise Cove is possibly one of the best kept secrets in L.A.  Hidden away off the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway, for non-locals :)) in Malibu, less than 20 miles west of downtown Santa Monica - Paradise Cove offers a family-owned restaurant and bar ON THE SAND, on their own private beach far away from the unwashed masses and wide-eyed, slow-paced tourists that clog up its more famous neighbors down the coast.

I first became aware of this place through an acquaintance who makes the drive up the PCH regularly in the summer, to hit hot surf spot Zuma Beach / Point Dume.  He made a comment on the drive up that he'd seen the sign for Paradise Cove many times, and always wondered what it is - so, we decided to explore on our way back, after dinner at Neptune's Net further north.  The place turned out to be almost surreal - with tables and daybeds set up on the sand, next to bluffs falling away to the ocean and the hot summer night tempered by cool breezes from the water just steps away.  And twinkling lights amongst palm trees adding to the charm of the whole space.  You could almost pretend you were in Hawaii or some other tropical vacation destination.  On that particular occasion, more than a year ago - we only stopped for drinks - but I remembered loving the feel of the place so much that I had made a mental note to put this in my '10 Best Date Spots in LA' file. 


A year and many other distracting dining experiences 'in the city' later, my 'Designer' friend happened to want to spend Labor Day at the Getty Villa (also in Malibu - well, technically Pacific Palisades, but close enough) - and that there is a ginormous seafood platter to be had for $19.95 "at some place called Paradise Cove Beach Cafe" - we quickly put the two together to make it a Malibu day trip adventure. 

I had forgotten that parking is only $3 for 4 hours with validation from restaurant/bar after minimum purchase of $20 ($25 if over 4 hours or without validation) - and the lot is attached to the restaurant and beach, so it was super convenient, and put us in a happy mood right from the start!

We had arrived an hour before our reservation time, as we finished with the Getty Villa much earlier than anticipated.  The hostess was friendly and said she would try to accommodate us, though it might be a 20 minute wait if we wanted to sit outside.  The interior of the restaurant is kitschy cool, with lots of celebrity and nautical themed pictures in frames all over the walls, and of course, the inevitable nautical decor and island theme at the bar.  On the other hand...there was seating outside.  On the sand.  Tough decisions is why we get paid the big bucks (not!) - so we grabbed hold of the lobster-shaped pager, and headed for the outdoor walk-up bar - determining quickly to pass the time with giant Pineapple Mojitos ($12 each).  

Though advised not to take the drinks onto the open beach, and to stay within the roped area - the venue was thoughtful enough to provide some seating for those of us who were just looking for a place to kick back until our table was ready for dinner.  We dutifully found the yellow umbrellas denoting the designated area - and was happy to see that the tables were still on the sand, though further back and closer to the parking lot - and plopped down to enjoy our drinks and peruse the menu.

Every table around us seemed to have a giant martini glass filled with a mountain of Crispy Calamari ($15.95) as a centerpiece.  It looked amazing, but far too much food for us if we wanted to save room for the giant iced seafood platters we'd read so much about!

 

So, with superhuman self restraint, we held ourselves to just the drinks while enjoying the fresh air, ocean breeze, and people watching.  And the crowd is very amusing to watch - running the gamut from local looking families, to college student couples, to girlfriends chatting over drinks and appetizers, to large and rowdy groups (the large table next to us clearly enjoyed the beach bar very much, and sang happy birthday to the girl at the head of the table throughout the night) and Jersey Shore types (of the MTV variety).  I loved every minute we spent at Paradise Cove, but, the more serious-minded may not - we found it amusing that there was a guest at the bar who was so 'happy' with her various mojitos, that security traversed the restaurant to ensure the very expressive girl had someone to drive her home.

Though there is a huge potential in the location and setting for a romantic dining experience - perhaps due to the very reasonable food and parking prices, accompanied by the ultra casual atmosphere and lure of a private beach, Paradise Cove attracts a broad demo.  This place could be great for a first date, if your date is into a more laid back vibe - and you don't mind a little bit of unpredictability - your experience could depend on the day, where you get seated and which guests are around. 

It ended up being more than a half hour wait until we got seated at our table for dinner, but when the Iced Seafood Platter ($19.95 per person) arrived, the sound of drool hitting table drowned out the ocean waves and all thoughts of the lengthy wait.  The platter served up, on a bed of ice in a giant ceramic bowl - 2 oysters, 2 crab legs, smoked salmon, 4 peeled shrimp, marinated calamari and scallop ceviche.  Though not the freshest seafood I've ever tasted (it's hard to top sashimi breakfast at Tsukiji market) - it was really, really good for the price.  The oysters, though not as plump as I'd like, tasted of clean, deep ocean and left me wanting more.  The calamari was also delicious, at a perfect consistency - not too tough/chewy - with its light, refreshing marinade that tasted like Italian dressing.  My only minor complaints were the smoked salmon, which was a little salty, and tasted like it came out of one of those vacuum sealed plastic packages you can buy at the grocery store. And the crab legs were tasty, but the shells were so soggy that they were impossible to actually crack - we ended up using our forks to pull pieces out of the shell from the ends.  'Designer' enjoyed the oysters, but had the same comments on the salmon and crab.

Though listed technically under appetizers, the platter was big enough to have for a meal in itself!  We both left stuffed to the gills...but not before each ordering a bowl of New England Clam Chowder ($10) to take with us.  The extensive menu also offered lots of mouth-watering surf and turf options, including mahi-mahi as well as oysters by the half dozen - reasons to come back another time.  For those who don't eat seafood (blasphemy!) - the Beach Cafe also offers burgers and fries.

All in all, the only unfortunate thing about the experience was that we were there at the very end of summer, and by the time we finished it was already getting cold - even with heat lamps turned on around us.  So we didn't stay to enjoy the beach and the intoxicatingly charming space.  But next summer - note to self - Paradise Cove will be my second home!

Update April 2011:

Armed with an OpenTable Spotlight deal ($25 for $50) that was set to expire 4/13, Designer and I had two massive bowls of clam chowder (lots of fresh clams in every spoonful, love it! Though didn't love the cracker balls that were pre-dunked into the soup, which tasted a bit stale) and two giant iced seafood platters. Armed with an OpenTable Spotlight deal ($25 for $50) that was set to expire 4/13, Designer and I had two massive bowls of clam chowder (lots of fresh clams in every spoonful, love it! Though didn't love the cracker balls that were pre-dunked into the soup, which tasted a bit stale) and two giant iced seafood platters. 

This time the seafood platters did not have oysters (and oysters in general are no longer seen on the menu), but instead offered a few mussels marinated in what tasted like Italian dressing. The crab legs were much fresher, the shells were actually still firm.  The smoked salmon still wasn't anything to write home about, but hey, we were getting essentially one of the platters and a glass of OJ for free with the OpenTable Spotlight deal so we weren't going to complain.  Designer took the salmon home to mix with cream cheese for breakfast.

I also filled up on the Ice Cream Cocolada, served in a coconut shell - that made me feel even more like I was on vacation!

Although not a true foodie destination (I don't go home and dream of the food, but I do dream of the ambience / experience!), Paradise Cove is still definitely worth the drive out for drinks or just to chill on the beach and pretend, for just one afternoon or hot summer night, that you are in some tropical place far away from the daily grind in LA.

 

On a 7 point scale:

Flavor - 5.5 bites

Presentation - 5.5 bites
Originality - 5 bites
Ambience - 6 stars
Service - 5 stars
Overall experience - 5.5 bites
Price - $$ (2 bite marks)
Probability of return visit - 100%

___________________________________________________________

Paradise Cove Beach Cafe
28128 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90265
Ph: 310.457.2503
Website: paradisecovemalibu.com
Twitter: twitter.com/paradisecove
OpenTable: Look for reservations
___________________________________________________________

Los Angeles Times Celebration of Food & Wine - Devastatingly Disappointing Debut

Prepared to fully enjoy every minute of the last weekend of summer, and the last long weekend before the holidays, to the fullest - I had been excited to see the inaugural Los Angeles Times Celebration of Food & Wine event set for Sunday, and really wanted to like it and hoped for it to be an event to look forward to every year. 

Unfortunately, it ended up being a complete rip-off, and had I paid full price (luckily, my 'designer' friend and I had purchased discounted general admission tickets through Goldstar Events for $39 with fees, versus $65 at the door) - we would have been even more disgruntled.

The concept was great - a general gathering of restaurants, food trucks and wineries / beverage companies to allow for a pleasant day of sampling on the backlot of Paramount Studios.

The execution left a lot of room for improvement:

Marketing - most people we talked to at the event were just as confused as we were, as to what would be included with the price of the admission ticket. Based on event communications, we thought for the high price of admission, there would be plenty of food - with the majority of booths offering free samples, and select vendors offering food for purchase. We arrived at around 1:30pm and were extremely disappointed to find that there were only maybe 8-9 vendors that actually offered free food (bite-sized samples of Voskos greek yogurt, Kyocho fried chicken, korean pancake, calamari from Tantalum, La Brea Bakery bread and Kerrygold cheese, cake balls, curry and thai pancake, strawberry buttermilk gelato). Though we shamelessly went several rounds at each of these booths, it was definitely not enough to be filling.

We did hear of a 'Hoy Cantina' which supposedly served a mexican buffet that only cost one drink ticket, and had a fun mariachi band performance in the space - but they ran out of food very quickly and we never got to experience it. (And again, communication was an issue here - the fact that 'drink tickets' could be used to redeem food in some places, but not others, was confusing). 

The Gorbals / Fiji station also offered bacon-wrapped matzoh balls, but as it was sort of hidden inside a small storefront built into a facade building, so we didn't see it until around 5:15pm by which time they had completely run out of food.

(Not) dealing with the heat: It was a sweltering day - the event started at noon and very little if anything was done to provide more shade or cooling/ hydration stations for guests. They could have easily taking a cue from Vegas and set up misters, fans, water stations or even more canopies, umbrellas or tents to provide shade. The only water that was provided to guests was at the Fiji 'cafe', which had long lines, and a real estate agent's booth (water source unknown). 

We skipped all of the demonstrations / panels as seating was all out in the open with the sun directly overhead.  It was difficult to enjoy the event overall as we felt overheated and dehydrated most of the day, between standing in long lines, weaving our way through crowds and trying to sample as much alcohol as we could handle to get our money's worth.

Limited seating: there were only a handful of tables provided outside the Gorbals/Fiji station for people to sit and eat their food or rest. Everyone else either ate standing up or sitting on the curb or steps (which by the way were riddled with bird droppings) while trying to juggle their purses etc.

Food trucks not included with admission: The major complaint on this one is that we still had to pay for food from these trucks on top of the admission ticket price, and the small selection of food trucks at the event was not even that impressive. If I wanted to sample food trucks there are a number of events around the city I could go to for free (e.g. Abbot Kinney First Friday, Unique LA, Downtown Art Walk etc.) - which offer greater numbers and variety of food trucks in one place, and I would pay only for whatever food I choose to buy from the trucks anyway.  'Designer' had also recently gone to a festival that specifically offered a collection of food trucks for sampling - and paid around $40 for a day of all-you-can-eat at any of the food trucks at the event.  So for the LA Times event, since we had to pay for individual portions of food from the trucks anyway, the food trucks really did not add any value to the price we paid for our admission tickets.

The VIPs seemed to have a much better experience, though the number, and - with a few notable exceptions - the caliber of the majority of the exhibitors were not even in the same league as some of the other more upscale foodie events around LA. For $125, I would much rather go to Taste of Beverly Hills, or Taste of the Nation event in Culver City - both of which offers sampling from restaurants that are truly haute cuisine.

Another component of the event that was supposed to be a highlight, a concert performance by She and Him (love Zooey Deschanel!) - also proved to be underwhelming.  We sat through only the first few songs - the acoustics were so poor that we couldn't hear much of what she was singing.

There were some positives at the event:

• Drink sampling: 
• Communications about drink sampling were fairly clear - and the 8 drink tickets were generous and more than enough.  Plenty of alcohol was on pour, from wine, rum, Veev acai vodka to Korean soju and Japanese sake.  It was a great experience walking around checking them out and sampling. A lot of the alcohol vendors did not even bother to collect drink tickets, so we left with over half of our drink tickets still in our pockets.
• Izze gave out unlimited samples of a large variety flavors of their sparkling fruit juice - this kept us hydrated throughout the day and possibly saved our lives.
• Delicious Wishes: Great discovery for us at the event, as we had never heard of this place. Very tasty chocolate covered balls that look like truffles but were super moist and fluffy inside - turns out because they are 'cake balls', not truffles :)
• Sedthee Thai: awesome curry and thai pancakes made fresh on site. One of the best free food samples at the event.
• Kyocho Chicken booth: Great samples of fried chicken, and event marketing done right. They had a prize wheel as a fun activity integrated with their sampling tactic - and everyone wins a prize that is clearly marked with restaurant branding, that they can carry around in a handy shopping bag that was handing for storing your drink glass (to leave your hands free for more sampling!).
• Making new friends:  all the negatives of the event helped bring people together - strangers bonded while in the seemingly interminable lines, exchanging tips on where to scavenge the coveted free food samples; showed their humanity in squeezing over in the limited shade to save just one more person's life from the heat; guided others to booths/ bathrooms where volunteers failed to be helpful.
• Parking:  Since the event was on a Sunday, street parking was free - so we were able to avoid the crowds (and the confusion that we heard that many guests experienced while trying to park on the studio lot) by snagging metered parking on Melrose just west of Larchmont.  It was an easy block and half walk to the event entrance.

Knowing that the first time is always tough, and that the organizers will hopefully take many learnings from this year's event - unless they drastically lower the price of admission, increase the number and quality of exhibitors giving food samples, and get much better organized next year, I for one will definitely not be planning to attend this event again - and judging from the reviews online, many others are likely to join me in deciding to pay just a little more for a much better experience with Taste of Beverly Hills instead.