Chefs and Celebrity Guests to Come Together for Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival 2018

For the eighth year, some of the best chef in L.A. and beyond will come together for the Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival. This year, the celebration of food and culture has been extended to five days, giving foodies their pick of events at multiple locations, all taking place Aug. 22-26, 2018 throughout Los Angeles.

LAFW kicks off on the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 22 with not one, but three different kickoff dinners. Kato Restaurant’s Jon Yao, the recipient of this year’s Food & Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef Award, will join forces with another award-winning chef, Chad Valencia, at the latter’s LASA, a restuarant specializing in modern Pinoy (Filipino) cooking. For a more casual Filipino dining experience, guests can check out Big Boi with chefs Barb Batiste and Alvin Cailan. Those preferring modern European fare can head over to Tesse for a meal from chefs Raphael Francois and Sally Camacho-Mueller.

Alvin Cailan, the chef behind Eggslut and more, will be at it again on Thursday, Aug. 23, when he and Antonia Lofaso, a veteran of “Top Chef” and other cooking shows, host Ultimate Bites in downtown Los Angeles in downtown Los Angeles. Chefs from around the country will be offering up their tastiest bites at booths set up at Grand and 1st, allowing foodies to sample and vote for their favorites.

On Friday, LAFW will be hosting not only the Power Lunch Series, but also one of the hottest events of the festival, Heat on the Street. Grand and 1st will be one again taken over by chefs from all over the country, including Aarón Sánchez, Robert Irvine, Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, who will be serving delicious dishes from Latin America.

Saturday will be a double header for LAFW. First up will be the lunchtime event, Lexus Grand Tasting, where 200 wines from wineries around the world will be available, along with tasty offerings from 25 celebrity chefs. Afterwards will be the most glitzy event of the whole festival, Live on Grand Avenue. Celebrity chef Curtis Stone will co-host this evening of food and music in DTLA with none other than Tiffani Thiessen, star of Saved by the Bell, Beverly Hills 90210 and The Cooking Channel’s Dinner at Tiffani’s, and guest D.J. Questlove.

LAFW will come to close on Sunday, Aug. 26, with the second installment of Lexus Grand Tasting at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. While Saturday’s event features celebrity chefs Michelle Bernstein, Hugh Acheson and John Tesar, Bernstein, Curtis Stone and Alex Seidel will be on hand Sunday for book signing and photo opportunities.

Los Angeles Food & Wine Festival will take place Aug. 22-26, 2018 throughout Los Angeles, CA. More information and tickets are here