Eat Real LA
July 20, 2011Wow. What an event! This past weekend James and I drove up to LA despite Carmageddon weekend to sell some mustard at Eat Real LA. It was full of fellow artisan food makers, food nerds and a crew of amazing volunteers. Held in the Helms Bakery in Culver City, this event was the second put on by the Eat Real women, and the first in LA. From the crowds that showed up to the feedback I heard from the other vendors it seems like it was a success!
Even though we stopped selling at farmers markets in December, once you put us behind a table to sell mustard it’s like riding a bike – we couldn’t feel more comfortable (If you ever need someone to stand behind a table and sell something, James and I are available for hire). Seeing as Saturday was set to be a pretty long day (10:30am-9pm) we brought in some help.
- My beautiful and amazing cousin Marlee and her very tall (and kind) boyfriend Conor rolled up in the afternoon, threw on our awesome new shirts and jumped right in. (see pic below)
- Sasha, my best friend, who has become a fixture at all of our LA events, sold the crap out of some mustard. He also brought his roommate Datar, who is a professional. Though he was only there for a short time, his MSPM (mustard sales per minute) were off the charts.
My favorite part of this picture is Sasha lounging in the back
The other part of this show that really made it worth it for us was getting to connect with all our compatriots.
- We were lucky enough to get placed next to one our original buddies, Cast Iron Gourmet. Rashida makes all things bacon, including many different kinds of bacon. Pork Bacon, Duck Bacon, Lamb Bacon. Plus Couch Mix (the antipode of trail mix), Bacon Chutney, Corn Nuts, and straight up Lard. We definitely had the best smelling spot in the place.
- Erika and Amelia (and the rest of the crew) of Lindy and Grundy moved their ENTIRE butcher shop to the show for the weekend. They brought it all in their refrigerated van, or ”Refer” as they like to call it. I may or may not have taken a quick break to cool off in the van. They had a “meat valet” so people could pick up their purchases on the way out. They are the only whole animal butcher shop in Southern California, and their meat is truly the best meat you can buy. Erika participated in a butchering contest, in which there were two full steers hanging from about 30 feet up and two teams of two went to town while being judged in categories including speed, technique, and presentation. We traded tshirts with them too!
- JD and John from All Spice Cafe were slinging their spicy creations across the room from us. We made a strategic trade for some of their sauces. Sunday night we cooked a killer pork loin which we marinated in their Caribbean Spice Sauce along side some fingerling potatoes rubbed with our Champagne Garlic Mustard and olive oil.
We also made some new friends:
- Kombucha Kamp (tasty Kombuchas!)
- Handsome Coffee Roasters (Good lookin’ (and tastin’) coffee)
- The Sensitive Baker (our neighbors on the other side)
- Check out all the other vendors here
Love the shirts!!