Los Angeles Food & Wine Takes Santa Monica

Indulge at Fig

By Lesley Balla

Summer is moving past us at such a fast tack even we didn't realize that one of the city's largest, newest and splashiest food events is less than 10 days away. It's a huge weekend of programming from small intimate lunches with local and visiting chefs all over town, to celeb-chef studded dinners, wine tastings and mega walk-around eating extravaganzas, so we gave you a few pointers on where to begin your planning, but most of those are Downtown. There are a couple events happening near the beach, specifically Santa Monica, if you fear traveling east of the 405.

At the ultra-luxe Indulge dinner ($350), Fig chef Ray Garcia hosts a lavish sit-down feast with several local SaMo chefs - Josiah Citrin (Melisse), Raphael Lunetta (JiRaffe) and Joe Miller (Bar Pintxo, Joe's) - at the Fairmont Hotel restaurant. This is the first time all four are cooking together under the same roof, and the only time you can taste all of their food in one night without table hopping around town. Summer at the Shore ($150) casts a wider net, pulling in Nyesha Arrington (Wilshire), Carlos Kuramoto (Michael's) and Ann Gentry (Real Food Daily) among others, plus visiting host-chef Graham Elliot, for a strolling reception under that beautiful ancient fig tree.

Both events take place on August 10 at the hotel, so you can either pick and choose which to attend, or combine the two for $450. Really, if you're going to throw down that kind of cash for Indulge, you might as well indulge.