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Monday, June 13, 2011

Ración at the Downtown LA Artwalk


A couple of months ago, Lisa (the manager of the exhibit at the Eastern Columbia) suggested that Teresa and I cater some tapas for Artwalk. We thought it would be a great opportunity to meet some people in the building, and to see the public's reception to our food. We decided to make chicken croquettes with membrillo honey and goat cheese foam, and our chilled octopus salad with radishes and blood oranges. We got a great reception with the building's residents, who were exactly who we envisioned as our target market! Young professionals, health-conscious eaters, people who understand that Spanish food isn't Mexican food. Since the Eastern Columbia is slightly off the beaten path for Artwalk, we had a chance to really connect with the people who came by.

This month we catered for Artwalk again and made pan con tomate on home-made bread, and beer-braised meatballs with salsa verde. People dug the flavors and took the initiative to make sliders out of both tapas. The food was slightly more "throw-down," and tasters came back for seconds and thirds. The ingredients were probably 1/3 the cost of our first tasting, and took half the time to put together. Even though we haven't started selling our food yet, it is extremely helpful to get the real-time feedback from Artwalk. We love that people are equally appreciative of composed dishes made with more "prime" animal cuts, and more humble preparations. As one woman so aptly put it, "you can just taste the love in the food!"

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