Summertime brings fun food fests on both sides of the border! We visited the ¡Latin Food Fest!’s Grande Tasting, held this year at San Diego’s Embarcadero Marina Park North. The promoters put on LFFs in multiple markets, and they have an impressive line-up of big-time sponsors/exhibitors, including Big Green Egg, Coca-Cola, Dole, Obrigado coconut water (lovely pavilion!), got milk?/California Milk Advisory, FlatOut, Northgate Markets and Home Depot. Proof positive that major companies recognize the value of aligning themselves with the Latin culinary movement! But it’s disconcerting (and not welcoming) to enter a food fest and immediately be accosted by sales reps for satellite TV and solar; sorry, not cool. This year’s Fest was spread out, which was good, but there was a distinct lack of signage/map to help attendees find who/what/where. You just had to wander about! It seemed some of the advertised chefs and wineries were only in the VIP area, which was disappointing. Bummer: we never found Chef Martin San Roman or Little Italy’s Sirena. But we did eventually find our way to the Spirits of the Americas tent (despite lack of signage) where we found a mass of humanity – multiple long lines going every which way, snaking toward tables where thimble-sized pours of tequila, rum and sake were offered. It was SO crowded and SO chaotic! We finally found the cooking demonstration tent (again, despite the lack of helpful signage). And, I must say, the demo by Dominican Chef Martin Omar was one of the highlights of the afternoon. The other highlight? Meeting Chef Felipe Raul, now a Rosarito Beach resident. I expect to hear great things from him in the near future! Kudos to the organizers of the ¡Latin Food Fest! on securing so many big-name sponsors. But hey: you can learn a lot from the folks who put on Baja’s best food fests. Unifying signage across the top of each canopy/tent, provided by the promoter, will make it easier for attendees and will drive traffic to the food/drink purveyors. More tables (there were a scant few in front of the stage) will increase the attendee experience, make folks want to stay longer and return next year. And we’d like to see more Baja restaurants, chefs, wineries and brewers represented; San Diego is, after all, portal to one of the most fertile, interesting and explosive culinary hotbeds in the world.

Chef Martin Omar from the Dominican Republic

Chef Martin Omar’s dish of chicken with spices and parmesan cheese was delicious.

Next up: Fiestas de la Vendimia Paella Fest & Sabor de Baja. Stay tuned!