Sriracha Fest LA

Ahhh yes. That is my head in a giant sriracha cut out bottle. Which means only one thing. That I had the pleasure of going to Los Angeles very first Sriracha Festival. You heard me right, Sriracha Festival! Everything. covered. in. the. best. flavor. enhancer. hot. sauce. ever!! To say the least, I was freaking out. Not only did about 5 people at my office alert me of this amazing food gathering, but that I had already purchased my tickets well in advanced. So on a gorgeously sunny day in LA, I was down in Mid-city nomming on some seriously spicy dishes from chefs all over the city. There was even a special surprise at the end.

Mexicali Taco & Co

Mexicali Taco & Co - Tostaditas de Frijoles a la Sriracha

 Sriracha Tostada de Tinga

Guerrilla Tacos

Tacos with Cauliflower, Honey Dates, Casteveltrano Olives
with Cashew Sriracha Chile Negro

Jitlada

BBQ Squid, Crying Tiger Pork, and Spicy Fried Rice with Chef Tui
Red Sauce and Crying Tiger Sauce

 Fritzi Dog

Sriracha Dog with Sriracha Ketchup, Atomic Mustard and Sriracha Chips

 East Borough

Sriracha Caramel Apple with Smoked Salt

 Greenspan's Grilled Cheese

Scrambled Eggs, Goat Cheese, Sriracha Squash and Arugula on White Bread

 Scoops

Coconut Lemongrass Burnt Sugar Ice Cream
and Mango Sriracha Sorbet

 Bashan

Pork Belly with a Sriracha Glaze

And then we just casually met the creator of my favorite hot sauce. He was such a sweet man and was so grateful to all of the people and fans who wanted to meet him. I felt like I should have thanked him more. Pretty confident that my initial love for sriracha spurred my desire for all food to be spicy, if not extra spicy.

Overall the festival was quite nice. Definitely could tell it was the first one. Booths were running out of food only after an hour of doors being open. We also had to wait in a line for about 30-45 minutes as they were filtering people in and out. A plus side was that you got 5 drink tickets and they were serving tasty craft beers and white wines. The space was an interesting one, I think next year they'll need a bigger space to accommodate how many people were there.

And I'll say this again for the rest of my life, everything can be spicier and more innovated when it comes to sriracha, its more than just a squeeze onto a dish.

Happy hot-saucing,

Kate