September 13, 2025 • 31 mins
Neil Saavedra kicks off The Fork Report live from the Manhattan Beach Food & Wine Festival, catching up with celebrity chef friends of the show during the load-in. He takes a moment to honor the legacy of Cole’s French Dip, where guests can still grab one last cocktail before its delayed but imminent closure, and celebrates the reopening of another Los Angeles classic, The Original Pantry Cafe. Festival founder Shelby Russell joins Neil to talk about last night’s launch and what’s in store for tonight’s lineup. Later, Neil welcomes Lisa Fontanesi of the non-profit Careers Through Culinary Arts Program to share how the organization is supporting the next generation of culinary talent at this year’s festival.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Niel Savedra.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You're listening to kfi EM six forty the four Purport
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey Matthew, Yes, yeah, yes, I used to starting the show.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Kayla's not with us, but producer Matthew is here. Hey Matthew. Yes,
knock knock.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Who's there? Bean? Bean? Who?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Being about a year since we were here at the
Manhattan Beach Wine and Food and Festival.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Pretty good?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Huh, let's good. I like the way you moved that in.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Let's start the show.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Let me tad you had it.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Let me teach you it, Nathan, let me teach you
had it.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
It's a columnarition.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Teach you it. Lend me tech you.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Kfi AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Hey everybody, Happy Saturday to you. It is the Foek Report.
I am your well.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Fed host, Neil Savedra.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
How do you do hanging out today by the beach
at the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival today?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Thrilled to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
We are you know during the loading period basically what
it is because they are getting ready for tonight. VIP
starts at six and seven o'clock. The main gates open
for everybody to come out here and enjoy what last
year was a spectacular event and it is promising to
be the same today.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
What a lineup of chefs looking over at a course.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
It's the event host is Chef Neil Frasier, one of
our favorites from Redbird in Los Angeles. Great guy, down
to earth guy, spectacular chef and so he has cured
rated just the best of the best. It is such
a great lineup. They had their opening event yesterday and
today they are whipping up with their grand tasting event
(02:11):
and it is I've already seen Chef Jason.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Full of love.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
He was around here. He's not far from us here.
Hopefully we'll talk with him. Chef Chris walked by Cosentino
and of course he got all the F bombs out
of his system, hopefully before he comes on the air
with us, because last year he dropped a few. We
got him, We got him, no problem, ready exactly. Eric Sklar,
(02:41):
the Duke is on the board today and he is
at the ready just in case anything happens.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
But you never know. Chefs are they're free creatures.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
But great lineup as always here of chefs and the
event starts popping off, like I said later on today,
But what we're going to do for you is be
bringing these folks in throughout the day, chatting with them,
finding out what's going on locally. These are some of
(03:12):
the best chefs you're going to come across. They also
have not only the food that they're bringing, but you
have wine and booze. We're looking across from Vista tequila, Belcones, whiskey,
all kinds of great stuff that is going to be
coming through.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Our purview today.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
We're going to be able to connect with people on
all of these things, and we'll get into that shortly.
One of the stories that has been bouncing around my
mind because I hate seeing historic places drop.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I just do drive. It breaks my heart.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
La and the Southland as it stands has some of
the greatest, you know, old school places, and.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I don't like seeing them go away.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And the fact is that they keep taking it into
shorts man at ever return. These restaurants keep having new laws,
they had COVID, they had, you know, all kinds of
stuff that are going on that keeps knocking them down.
And one of those places is Cole's French Depth Historic
(04:16):
there in downtown Los Angeles. It's one of those restaurants
that I've always enjoyed going into for a long time.
They had Varnished to speakeasy in the back that was
just wonderful. The cocktail program they had there was great.
That cocktail program they had up front at the bar
was great. And they're going back and forth. They're trying
(04:37):
to push back their closing date. So they're pushing back
its final closing date to November first. It will be
a final farewell event there. But there's been a couple
dates there. If you remember, back in July it said
it would close in August. The announcement set off just
(04:57):
an outpouring of support, which happens eight seeing these places go.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
It's on Sixth Street there.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
And you know, so a lot of people came out
and they've pushed it back. The response was so strong
and unexpected that they it's just allowing them to stay
a little longer. You know, I've talked about on the
program many times, is my love for the old Fashion.
The Old Fashioned is one of the you know, it's
considered the original cocktail, right, That's why it's called the
(05:26):
Old Fashion. A simple but beautiful man. It just you
got to get it right. It is boozed forward, but
also elegant in its flavors. It's hardy, and it brings
you back to a time when drinking was done on purpose.
It was just to relax, to socialize and kick back.
(05:46):
And they had a great one. I've not been there
in some time, but they had one of my all
time favorites. And again, seeing these places go by the
wayside is always heartbreaking. So I'm looking very much forward
to knowing that they're going to stay around at least
at least a month and change longer than saying that
(06:08):
November first. So maybe getting in there and enjoying one
last cocktail, one last French dip, and enjoying yourself is
the thing to do. Put that on your calendar all
right throughout the day. Today we're going to be bringing
in chefs, We're going to be bringing in spirit makers,
(06:28):
a wine makers, all these people we want you to
know about. So I would suggest put a little pad
of paper and a little pencil or pen nearby the
radio so that you could jot down some names, names
of restaurants we're going to be talking to, and chefs
we're going to be talking to. These are prime people
that make the Southland what it is in many ways
and places that you're going to want to know about
(06:52):
for when you're going, hey, let's go somewhere different, or
you know what, I want to try a different wine
or a different tequila or something a whiskey. Well, today
is going to be one of those days where you're
going to be hearing from people you may not have
heard from before. So stick around. We'll be back with more.
It's the Fork Report. I'm Neil Savadra broadcasting live today
from the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine event. It's a
(07:14):
lovely day too, the suns out, got some clouds.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
But still quite beautiful.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
So we'll be keeping you post of everything going on here.
So go know where.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
But it's the Fork Report.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I'm Neil Savadra, broadcasting live today from the Manhattan Beach
Food and Wine Festival.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
We were out here last year, had a good time.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Maybe you remember celebrity chef Chris Constantino. I'm looking at you, Chris, Yeah,
I see you, Chris with your body mouth dropping the
F bombs. But he'll be coming on a little bit
a little bit later. I want to talk to him
about his place in Maui, how things are going in Maui,
and some of the thing on his menu there.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
We'll get chatting with him.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Hopefully Jason, chef Jason fully Love will come join us
as well. You know, I follow these guys on social media,
but I don't get to see them very often. And
I don't think I've actually seen a chef fully Love
for ten years. I mean maybe at a food event
or something, but we haven't had a chance to chat.
Maybe we'll get some today as we bring everyone here.
(08:25):
I mean, we're going to get as much as we can.
You've got twenty plus chefs, You've got twenty plus wineries,
over twenty spirits and breweries out here, and these you know,
these folks are acclaimed a highly acclaimed chef here in
North America, and they are putting together a fantastic show.
It seems to me that if you're going to do
(08:47):
a food show in southern California, it should be near
the beach, right so to see that breeze coming in
and the sun at a perfect level today to where
you've just got enough clouding to keep that cool. It's
going to be a wonderful, wonderful event for those of
you that are coming tonight. If you're a VIP or
have a VIP purchase, you'll be coming here around six o'clock.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Outside.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Outside of that, it's the gates open at seven. I
don't know if there's any available, but you can always
go to Manhattan Beachfood and Wine dot com to see
if there are any more left for tonight the Grand Tasting,
because what a great lineup, you know. And I saw
Hugo Belanos on here. He's from the four season seasons
out there in Westlake Village, which is great if you've
(09:32):
never been there for a massage, for food, for a stay.
It's a beautiful, beautiful place. And just looking through all
of the great chefs today, Ben Ford is out here,
Neil Frasier, of course, Rey Garcia, and we're going to
get to as many as we can today as we
broadcast live. There's just so much going on today that
(09:55):
we're going to cram as much as we can, as
soon as we can, as far as Old Place is
in Los Angeles. That I tell you that I just
love the pantry, the original Pantry Cafe was and now
is again one of them. I love the vibe. I
love that when you walked in and you had a
(10:17):
great meal and then you went to pay.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
You'd go to the.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Little pay kiosk, you know, this little this little pay
window there, and you could see that the years of
being open, people going having their meal and walking up
to pay, over the years had worn through the linoleum,
through the tile and you could see multiple layers going
down to the wood floor whatever. It was just showing
(10:40):
you that the length that this place has been open, well,
it seems that they're going to be reopening. It had
a a enclosure in March, if you remember, and Rebecca Rowland,
she's an editor of the Southern California Southwest Region with
(11:00):
the Eater, and she said that they're going to be
opening back up. You know, it was always seven days
a week, twenty four hours a day for the majority
of the time, but there was this dispute between unionized
workers and its owner, which was the Richard J. Rearden
(11:23):
family trust if you remember, Mayorriarden owned it for quite
some time. So you know, now you have a new
owner who's a real estate entrepreneur and he says he
aims to reopen the restaurant on New Year's Eve. So
let's see if that ends up happening. But what great
(11:45):
news would that be for the new year going into
twenty twenty six is to be able to say that
the original Pantry Cafe is open. You know, it goes
way back. It was opened in nineteen twenty four. Strangely enough,
you know, KFI turned on its signal in April gosh,
what was April fifteenth or something, twenty of nineteen twenty two. Rather,
(12:12):
so these KFI has been a huge part of the
landscape in Los Angeles, just like places like the original
Pantry Cafe. So it moved to its current location in
nineteen fifty and you know, it's just this, I don't know,
great place. But Richard Reardon sadly passed away in twenty
(12:36):
twenty three, but he was the owner since I think
eighty one, so he'd been the owner for a long time.
And I'd go there for pancakes and great, just fantastic bacon.
I love their bacon. And I'm hoping that things come
back as it was. I mean, sometimes.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
These places, especially as fickle.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
As LA is, they come back or they leave and
everybody's like, oh, I love that place, and then I'm
gonna miss it, and they you know, complain, and then
they they go for one last rah, and then they
go away for a while and they get into their
new rut, and then it pops back up and they
may go to welcome it back, and then they'll say
something like, you know, it's not as good as I remember.
(13:19):
The prices are too high, because you'd better believe if
there were union disputes that that's going to be passed
on to those of us going there. So it's going
to be interesting to see how that pans out and
what we end up with.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I hope it's the same.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
I hope it's served with the same love and attitude,
and I hope that the prices aren't to the place
where it just is, you know, just can't be done.
It's just unattainable for most people, because that will be sad.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Stick around.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
More to come as we broadcast live today from the
Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival in believe it or not,
Manhattan Beach. It'll start later today, but we're going to
get you a preview by interviewing some of the folks
that are out here today, some of the chefs that
are already prepping for tonight's event, and some of those
(14:09):
with the spirits and beer and all of those things.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
So go nowhere.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
It's the Fork Report. I'm Neil Savedra KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Neil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I am your well fed host, Neil Savedra. How do
you do broadcasting live today in Manhattan Beach, the Manhattan
Beach Food and Wine Festival.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I don't know, is there any tickets left?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
There are a few tickets left, okay, so probably not VIPM,
assuming VIPRE is that sold out.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
We just added about fifty VIP tickets.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Oh okay, Well you heard that here.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
That's from the voice of the Voice of Shelby and
he knows because he's putting this whole thing on. We're
going to talk to him in just a second. But
I wanted to give you the up opportunity if you
want to come out. We're here very early the event.
The VIP starts at six, and at seven the main
gates open. So if you're looking at each other today
(15:10):
and you're going, Hey, that sounds great, let's go to that.
Then now's your opportunity to go to Manhattan Beach Food
and spelled out wine dot com and check out the
lineup there and buy tickets if.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
You'd like to come out.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
It's also event host chef Neil Frasier from Redbirt is
really great as well.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So how you doing, brother, great?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
How about yourself?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Life is good. I'm glad to be back here. I
can't believe it's been a year since we last chatted
about the event and it went. I thought it went
beautifully last year and it looks like it's set up
to do the same today.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
Well, thank you. Yeah, we're excited to make it to
year or two. So we had the opening night last night.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
It went. It was fantastic, great line.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
Oh, we're thrilled with the lineup of chefs. I mean,
I think the lineup of chefs like is as good
as any food wine event you'll find in.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
The absolutely very hand picked. And it looks great.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
It looks like you've got, you know, just the best
of the best coming out here. If you're going to
do southern California, you got to do it by the beach.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
So this is great.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
You got a slight breeze today, enough overcast to keep
it extra cool, but that sun is.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Still present in its southern California way.
Speaker 6 (16:30):
So yeah, we lucked out with the weather. It's beautiful
out so it's uh. And being an evening event, it's.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Like it's very comfortable.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
You know, a lot of these events are during the
day and sometimes you get really hot. Oh yeah, so
it's fun, you know, being here at night by the beach.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Oh and once the light's on and the vibe goes,
the music starts, it gets it's It was really really
energetic and a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Last year.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I was thrilled to be invited back this year. Shelby
Russell is with us as we talk about what's going
on this year. Did you change anything from last year,
anything that you're extra excited about people experiencing tonight?
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Well, we do have, you know, several new chefs.
Speaker 6 (17:10):
Stephanie Isar's one that's coming from Girl and the Goat tonight,
you know, so we changed the lineup of chefs tonight.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
We've got some an amazing lineup.
Speaker 6 (17:20):
We also did a partnership with the Beach Life Festival,
so on the music side, so we have the Beach
Life Festival stage, which is really an entertaining kind.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Of yeah, broadcast from there before, so yeah, yeah, and.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
That's like they've done a great job with that music festival,
and so to have them be a part of this
just kind of makes it the you know, an experience
where you obviously get great food, great wines, great spirits,
but you get some great music and a great atmosphere.
And then we also added an area that's called the
Reserve Estate Lounge and so people can reserve. That's kind
(17:53):
of an elevated experience where people can reserve tables in
that area.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
So if you want to sit down dining variance and
enjoy the sites while you're focusing on some food, you
have that.
Speaker 6 (18:05):
Yeah, and we have like some some folks that are
bringing food to them and so it's a nice kind
of elevated experience.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Well I like that, you know, because everyone gets a
little something different out of these events. Sometimes I'm in
a crawl mode where I want to go from place
to place see what there, if there's any flavors or textures.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
That surprise me.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Sometimes I want to sit down and I want to
just enjoy that. Sometimes I want to enjoy the music
and have a cocktail. So you have over you know
twenty you know, different spirit companies and beer companies. You
have over twenty booths with chefs at hand putting forth
something they're excited about.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Do you have.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Do they like share the menu with you or they say, hey, yeah,
this is what I'm thinking of.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
How does that work? They just choose their own.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
With the chefs yeaheah, So it's a collaboration.
Speaker 6 (18:59):
But I'll obviously we want them to just to prepare
their best, the best dish that they think would represent
themselves the best. So we don't put like any you know,
a lot of events as well, they put like you know,
you're doing a certain theme. I personally don't like to
do that because I just want people to have a
variety of dishes and for them to be great dishes.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
And so we do. They do share the menu with us.
Speaker 6 (19:23):
We actually post the menu on every tent or every
booth space, and then we also include the dietary restrictions
on those dishes, so if someone's vegetarian or vegan or
gluten free, like, it makes it easy to come here
and you can see what you can eat if you're
gluten free.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
So that's great. That is really good.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
You know what's funny is like that is more when
I have people over. Now, if you're gonna have someone
over for dinner, now you want to check and make
sure that you're you know, so that everybody enjoys themselves,
even if they're you know, family, friends from school or
whatever it is.
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Yeah, and for like for us, we we just want
to make it as easy as possible. So let's say
someone is vegetarian, we don't want them to have to
ask a chef.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
You know what's in line to do all that too?
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Yeah, it's posted.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
You can see it and you know, enjoy that dish.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
And have you had a chance, I mean last night
was a different event, that was Opening Night.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Is it's a different lineup, right, Yes?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
So are there dishes here that you've tried already or
are you trying them for the first time to time?
Speaker 3 (20:25):
I'm trying them all for the first time to now.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Yeah, what's on your radar? I mean it's a I
know it's a massive well.
Speaker 6 (20:31):
Neil Frasier's yes, obviously amazing, Chris Cosentino's an incredible and
you know, I offhand, I can't even think of what
they're preparing, but I'm always excited for them. Brendan Collins
is amazing, Joel Hammond, We've got, you know, Frank Ryan
Saparito from Wife and the Song. So there's just there's
(20:54):
a lot of incredible chefs, right.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
We just had Christina and Chris on the show a
couple months back. Yeah, I'd be curious to meet him
as well. But the looking at the lineup, I was
very excited to see the varied chefs that you have.
And I had some great spirits here last year. Another
thing that I think sets us apart is you yourself are
(21:18):
a foodie. We go way back, Yeah, and we would
bump into each other at these events all the time.
What was the inspiration to do it yourself?
Speaker 6 (21:27):
You know? I actually just love over time and being
a part of Like I was part of Los Angeles
Food and Wine when I first want launched at LA Live.
We did All Star Chef Classic and I used to
be the publisher of Los Angeles Magazine and we do
about fifty food wine events a year and I just
love the experience of these events. Like you know, when
(21:48):
you go to a sporting event or a concert, you know,
it's a different experience. You sit in your seat and
you watch what's on stage or what's on the court.
But these events, like if you come with friends, and
it's just a great when you can try great food,
great drinks, like have fun with friends. Like what's not
to like. And so I just started to love the
experience of it. And then when I looked at the
(22:10):
landscape nationally, there's a lot of you know, kind of
food and wine events.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Some are done better than others.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
And I was really inspired by, like some of the
more renowned festivals like Pebble Beach Food and Wine, Aspen
Food and Wine, and I really felt like Manhattan Beach
is just a wonderful community. There's an opportunity to create
something really special here. We've been really fortunate, the city's
really been very supportive. The mayor was here last night,
(22:38):
you know, it's it's been incredible, and so we just
felt like and the chefs love coming to Manhattan Beach.
So there's, you know, just an opportunity to kind of
create something really special and meaningful if.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
We do it the right way.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
And I agree, I think you did it the right
way last year. I'm looking forward to it to again
this year. Last year, I noticed you could pockets of
different people. You get a little bit of this if
you go on the website Manhattan Beach Food and Wine
all spelled out dot com. You see some photos of
it there. But I noticed that you'd be you'd see
like a couple that were obviously very into wine in
(23:14):
a corner talking as they were sipping.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
You'd see a.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Girls' night out, you see a guy's night out. You'd
see uh, you know, a couple going from place to place,
checking things out and then pausing and talking about the food.
So I loved that last year, people that were dancing
to the music and everything. So I'm gonna be curious
tonight to see the different people that it brought because
I thought it was a really fascinating group last year.
Speaker 6 (23:36):
Yeah, that's awesome, And and you know, we wanted to
be a party like and and it's really enjoyed better
with friends, Like if you get a group of people,
I mean, it's just such a fun place to be.
So and then on the on the on the drink side,
like we we have four over forty different beverages, and
like you said, we have wines, we have spirits, we
(23:58):
have craft beers. We have non alcohol beverages and for us, like,
we want people to have the opportunity to try things.
Talk to the wine maker like and it might be
a brand that you're aware you've known, or it might
be something completely new, but it's an opportunity to kind
of try some different things and explore some it drinks.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
It you may love that you never realized.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
So that's the voice of the event organizer. Shall We
Russell also happens to be a dear friend of mine.
Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival tonight. There are still
some they added you heard it here first. They added
some VIP tickets. They will go quickly. But if you
want to come down tonight, the VIP starts at six
(24:42):
and the general admission gate opens at seven.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
But it is a great event.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
I'm out here broadcasting today, but man, this is the
calm before the storm when everybody gets here, stick around.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
More to come. It is the Fork Report on Neil Sevadril.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Neil on demand
from KFI Am six forty.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
I am your friendly neighborhood for reporter Neil Savedra. How
do you do happy Saturday to you. Slightly cloudy today,
but man a cool breeze and the sun's still doing
its thing here in southern California. As we broadcast live
from Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Year two.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
I'm super excited because not only is Shelby Russell the
one who put it on a friend of mine, but
I met him through food. I know him through food,
and whenever a food he puts on an event like this,
you know that it's going to be based on what
they expect, and so it is. It was great last year,
looking forward to it again this year. Ellen Ky's popping
(25:44):
over a little bit later. She from Coast has been
promoting it and so she's got some listeners coming. I
know there's at least a pair of listeners from KFI
coming out that I'm looking forward to meeting you coming.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Up in a little bit.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
But right now we want to talk to Lisa. Lisa,
I wanted to say fontanesca and I'm like, that's not right.
It's putin esca. I'm putting esca. No, that's a dish ahead. Yeah,
there you go. Yes, But Lisa is with the Culinary
(26:20):
Careers program we affectionately refer to them as Sea Cap
Los Angeles here and you say you're growing into Orange County.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
We are, we are.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
We have a lot of listeners in Orange County, so
please do tell us start with that.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Okay, well, thank you for having us on. We are
me on.
Speaker 7 (26:37):
We always love I love seeing you and talking to
you about our program.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
You're always such a great supporter.
Speaker 7 (26:43):
But yes, prior to this year, we were SEACAP Careers
through Culinary Arts program. We are still that program, but
we thought, let's make it easier for people who.
Speaker 4 (26:54):
Don't know about us to understand what we do.
Speaker 7 (26:56):
We're culinary Careers program and we have been around.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Thirty six years nationally, thirty two in LA.
Speaker 7 (27:05):
And one of our teachers that used to teach in
Glendale Unified moved down to Orange County and said, I'm
bringing the program. And so we started the conversation last year.
And we're going to be in the Anaheim School district,
Santa Ana and Anaheim, and we're picking up anywhere between
one and three schools this season. You know, we have
our Mars Santana se Kapa Lum who's got two restaurants
(27:25):
down there and about to open one up in downtown
La His vodka is also going to be up there. Hiromyertinez,
who was here at the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine yesterday.
He's the executive chef at the viv Hotel right.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
There in Anaheim. Wow.
Speaker 7 (27:41):
Yeah, So, I mean it just makes sense for us
to start moving south and we'll you know, we have
kids at apprenticeships at the Ritz Carlton Bacara up in
Santa Barbara, So we're going north.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
We're everywhere, and the chefs love you guys because you're
putting forth. So if you don't know, they are a
force to be reckoned with when it comes to supporting
and training and giving the tools to the next generation
of hospitality folks.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
So chefs, seues, chefs, all.
Speaker 7 (28:13):
The in front of the house, wine makers, I mean,
Carlton McCoy, he's huge, He's another seacap Belum.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
He's a monster in the wine world. So we have it.
Speaker 7 (28:23):
Every writer's food, photographers, cookbook authors, content. I mean, there's
so many other jobs than just behind the kitchen, and
that's part of what as a workforce development, what we
do is let them see and show them all the
opportunities they have. We also show them We have kids
out here and if they hate it, well great, We've
(28:43):
just saved them fifty thousand dollars, you know. Or and
it's not the program or not the right program for them,
and that's fine. And we also we spend so much
time just developing the kids soft skills, how to look
somebody in the eye, how to shake their hands. So
wherever they work, whatever they do, it's going to help them.
And that's what we're there to do, is help these
(29:05):
young people find a pathway.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Culinary Careers dot org. Culinary careers dot org is where
you will find them. Do we who's coming up after
the top of the hour, Matthew, Okay, we've got somebody.
We've got somebody lined up, so it's the end of
our time to chat. But what else do they need
to know that?
Speaker 4 (29:28):
We will be doing some fun, exciting events.
Speaker 7 (29:31):
We're part of the Chef's Conference over at Redbird, Vibiana.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
We'll have kids there. We have twenty five kids tonight.
Speaker 7 (29:37):
We'll have a great fundraiser probably come May at the
Jonathan Club and other big things coming. So once we
know for sure, we'll be back on to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
And you have a young person that is interested or
maybe interested or not really sure what they want to do,
and you're out in the Orange County area, you're in LA. Well,
now you can look it up culinary careers dot org,
culinary careers dot org. And maybe this is that thing,
that itch that needs to be scratched by your son
or daughter or somebody that isn't sure which direction they
(30:09):
want to go.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
And I think this would be a great place to start.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Culinarycreers dot org, Culinary careers dot org.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
At Lesa. Always nice to see you, my friend, Thank you,
thanks for coming on.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Good to see you.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
It's the Fork Report broadcasting live today from Manhattan Beach
Food and Wine, and this festival is going to be
kicking off. It's six o'clock for VIPs and then seven
o'clock for general admission. We are doing the we're doing
the tailgating right now before it starts for everything that's
going to be going on.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
So go nowhere.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
This is KFI heard everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. You've
been listening to the Fork Report, you can always hear
us live on KFI AM six forty two to five
pm on Saturday and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app,
Hey, it's Niel Savedra.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You're listening to kfi EM six forty the four Purport
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hey Matthew, Yes, yeah, yes, I used to starting the show.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Kayla's not with us, but producer Matthew is here. Hey Matthew. Yes,
knock knock.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Who's there? Bean? Bean? Who?
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Being about a year since we were here at the
Manhattan Beach Wine and Food and Festival.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Pretty good?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Huh, let's good. I like the way you moved that in.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Let's start the show.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Let me tad you had it.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Let me teach you it, Nathan, let me teach you
had it.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
It's a columnarition.
Speaker 4 (01:01):
Teach you it. Lend me tech you.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Kfi AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Hey everybody, Happy Saturday to you. It is the Foek Report.
I am your well.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Fed host, Neil Savedra.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
How do you do hanging out today by the beach
at the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival today?
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Thrilled to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
We are you know during the loading period basically what
it is because they are getting ready for tonight. VIP
starts at six and seven o'clock. The main gates open
for everybody to come out here and enjoy what last
year was a spectacular event and it is promising to
be the same today.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
What a lineup of chefs looking over at a course.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
It's the event host is Chef Neil Frasier, one of
our favorites from Redbird in Los Angeles. Great guy, down
to earth guy, spectacular chef and so he has cured
rated just the best of the best. It is such
a great lineup. They had their opening event yesterday and
today they are whipping up with their grand tasting event
(02:11):
and it is I've already seen Chef Jason.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Full of love.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
He was around here. He's not far from us here.
Hopefully we'll talk with him. Chef Chris walked by Cosentino
and of course he got all the F bombs out
of his system, hopefully before he comes on the air
with us, because last year he dropped a few. We
got him, We got him, no problem, ready exactly. Eric Sklar,
(02:41):
the Duke is on the board today and he is
at the ready just in case anything happens.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
But you never know. Chefs are they're free creatures.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
But great lineup as always here of chefs and the
event starts popping off, like I said later on today,
But what we're going to do for you is be
bringing these folks in throughout the day, chatting with them,
finding out what's going on locally. These are some of
(03:12):
the best chefs you're going to come across. They also
have not only the food that they're bringing, but you
have wine and booze. We're looking across from Vista tequila, Belcones, whiskey,
all kinds of great stuff that is going to be
coming through.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Our purview today.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
We're going to be able to connect with people on
all of these things, and we'll get into that shortly.
One of the stories that has been bouncing around my
mind because I hate seeing historic places drop.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
I just do drive. It breaks my heart.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
La and the Southland as it stands has some of
the greatest, you know, old school places, and.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
I don't like seeing them go away.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
And the fact is that they keep taking it into
shorts man at ever return. These restaurants keep having new laws,
they had COVID, they had, you know, all kinds of
stuff that are going on that keeps knocking them down.
And one of those places is Cole's French Depth Historic
(04:16):
there in downtown Los Angeles. It's one of those restaurants
that I've always enjoyed going into for a long time.
They had Varnished to speakeasy in the back that was
just wonderful. The cocktail program they had there was great.
That cocktail program they had up front at the bar
was great. And they're going back and forth. They're trying
(04:37):
to push back their closing date. So they're pushing back
its final closing date to November first. It will be
a final farewell event there. But there's been a couple
dates there. If you remember, back in July it said
it would close in August. The announcement set off just
(04:57):
an outpouring of support, which happens eight seeing these places go.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
It's on Sixth Street there.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
And you know, so a lot of people came out
and they've pushed it back. The response was so strong
and unexpected that they it's just allowing them to stay
a little longer. You know, I've talked about on the
program many times, is my love for the old Fashion.
The Old Fashioned is one of the you know, it's
considered the original cocktail, right, That's why it's called the
(05:26):
Old Fashion. A simple but beautiful man. It just you
got to get it right. It is boozed forward, but
also elegant in its flavors. It's hardy, and it brings
you back to a time when drinking was done on purpose.
It was just to relax, to socialize and kick back.
(05:46):
And they had a great one. I've not been there
in some time, but they had one of my all
time favorites. And again, seeing these places go by the
wayside is always heartbreaking. So I'm looking very much forward
to knowing that they're going to stay around at least
at least a month and change longer than saying that
(06:08):
November first. So maybe getting in there and enjoying one
last cocktail, one last French dip, and enjoying yourself is
the thing to do. Put that on your calendar all
right throughout the day. Today we're going to be bringing
in chefs, We're going to be bringing in spirit makers,
(06:28):
a wine makers, all these people we want you to
know about. So I would suggest put a little pad
of paper and a little pencil or pen nearby the
radio so that you could jot down some names, names
of restaurants we're going to be talking to, and chefs
we're going to be talking to. These are prime people
that make the Southland what it is in many ways
and places that you're going to want to know about
(06:52):
for when you're going, hey, let's go somewhere different, or
you know what, I want to try a different wine
or a different tequila or something a whiskey. Well, today
is going to be one of those days where you're
going to be hearing from people you may not have
heard from before. So stick around. We'll be back with more.
It's the Fork Report. I'm Neil Savadra broadcasting live today
from the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine event. It's a
(07:14):
lovely day too, the suns out, got some clouds.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
But still quite beautiful.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
So we'll be keeping you post of everything going on here.
So go know where.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
But it's the Fork Report.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
I'm Neil Savadra, broadcasting live today from the Manhattan Beach
Food and Wine Festival.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
We were out here last year, had a good time.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Maybe you remember celebrity chef Chris Constantino. I'm looking at you, Chris, Yeah,
I see you, Chris with your body mouth dropping the
F bombs. But he'll be coming on a little bit
a little bit later. I want to talk to him
about his place in Maui, how things are going in Maui,
and some of the thing on his menu there.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
We'll get chatting with him.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Hopefully Jason, chef Jason fully Love will come join us
as well. You know, I follow these guys on social media,
but I don't get to see them very often. And
I don't think I've actually seen a chef fully Love
for ten years. I mean maybe at a food event
or something, but we haven't had a chance to chat.
Maybe we'll get some today as we bring everyone here.
(08:25):
I mean, we're going to get as much as we can.
You've got twenty plus chefs, You've got twenty plus wineries,
over twenty spirits and breweries out here, and these you know,
these folks are acclaimed a highly acclaimed chef here in
North America, and they are putting together a fantastic show.
It seems to me that if you're going to do
(08:47):
a food show in southern California, it should be near
the beach, right so to see that breeze coming in
and the sun at a perfect level today to where
you've just got enough clouding to keep that cool. It's
going to be a wonderful, wonderful event for those of
you that are coming tonight. If you're a VIP or
have a VIP purchase, you'll be coming here around six o'clock.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Outside.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Outside of that, it's the gates open at seven. I
don't know if there's any available, but you can always
go to Manhattan Beachfood and Wine dot com to see
if there are any more left for tonight the Grand Tasting,
because what a great lineup, you know. And I saw
Hugo Belanos on here. He's from the four season seasons
out there in Westlake Village, which is great if you've
(09:32):
never been there for a massage, for food, for a stay.
It's a beautiful, beautiful place. And just looking through all
of the great chefs today, Ben Ford is out here,
Neil Frasier, of course, Rey Garcia, and we're going to
get to as many as we can today as we
broadcast live. There's just so much going on today that
(09:55):
we're going to cram as much as we can, as
soon as we can, as far as Old Place is
in Los Angeles. That I tell you that I just
love the pantry, the original Pantry Cafe was and now
is again one of them. I love the vibe. I
love that when you walked in and you had a
(10:17):
great meal and then you went to pay.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
You'd go to the.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Little pay kiosk, you know, this little this little pay
window there, and you could see that the years of
being open, people going having their meal and walking up
to pay, over the years had worn through the linoleum,
through the tile and you could see multiple layers going
down to the wood floor whatever. It was just showing
(10:40):
you that the length that this place has been open, well,
it seems that they're going to be reopening. It had
a a enclosure in March, if you remember, and Rebecca Rowland,
she's an editor of the Southern California Southwest Region with
(11:00):
the Eater, and she said that they're going to be
opening back up. You know, it was always seven days
a week, twenty four hours a day for the majority
of the time, but there was this dispute between unionized
workers and its owner, which was the Richard J. Rearden
(11:23):
family trust if you remember, Mayorriarden owned it for quite
some time. So you know, now you have a new
owner who's a real estate entrepreneur and he says he
aims to reopen the restaurant on New Year's Eve. So
let's see if that ends up happening. But what great
(11:45):
news would that be for the new year going into
twenty twenty six is to be able to say that
the original Pantry Cafe is open. You know, it goes
way back. It was opened in nineteen twenty four. Strangely enough,
you know, KFI turned on its signal in April gosh,
what was April fifteenth or something, twenty of nineteen twenty two. Rather,
(12:12):
so these KFI has been a huge part of the
landscape in Los Angeles, just like places like the original
Pantry Cafe. So it moved to its current location in
nineteen fifty and you know, it's just this, I don't know,
great place. But Richard Reardon sadly passed away in twenty
(12:36):
twenty three, but he was the owner since I think
eighty one, so he'd been the owner for a long time.
And I'd go there for pancakes and great, just fantastic bacon.
I love their bacon. And I'm hoping that things come
back as it was. I mean, sometimes.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
These places, especially as fickle.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
As LA is, they come back or they leave and
everybody's like, oh, I love that place, and then I'm
gonna miss it, and they you know, complain, and then
they they go for one last rah, and then they
go away for a while and they get into their
new rut, and then it pops back up and they
may go to welcome it back, and then they'll say
something like, you know, it's not as good as I remember.
(13:19):
The prices are too high, because you'd better believe if
there were union disputes that that's going to be passed
on to those of us going there. So it's going
to be interesting to see how that pans out and
what we end up with.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
I hope it's the same.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
I hope it's served with the same love and attitude,
and I hope that the prices aren't to the place
where it just is, you know, just can't be done.
It's just unattainable for most people, because that will be sad.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Stick around.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
More to come as we broadcast live today from the
Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival in believe it or not,
Manhattan Beach. It'll start later today, but we're going to
get you a preview by interviewing some of the folks
that are out here today, some of the chefs that
are already prepping for tonight's event, and some of those
(14:09):
with the spirits and beer and all of those things.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
So go nowhere.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
It's the Fork Report. I'm Neil Savedra KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Neil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
I am your well fed host, Neil Savedra. How do
you do broadcasting live today in Manhattan Beach, the Manhattan
Beach Food and Wine Festival.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I don't know, is there any tickets left?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
There are a few tickets left, okay, so probably not VIPM,
assuming VIPRE is that sold out.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
We just added about fifty VIP tickets.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Oh okay, Well you heard that here.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
That's from the voice of the Voice of Shelby and
he knows because he's putting this whole thing on. We're
going to talk to him in just a second. But
I wanted to give you the up opportunity if you
want to come out. We're here very early the event.
The VIP starts at six, and at seven the main
gates open. So if you're looking at each other today
(15:10):
and you're going, Hey, that sounds great, let's go to that.
Then now's your opportunity to go to Manhattan Beach Food
and spelled out wine dot com and check out the
lineup there and buy tickets if.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
You'd like to come out.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
It's also event host chef Neil Frasier from Redbirt is
really great as well.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
So how you doing, brother, great?
Speaker 3 (15:34):
How about yourself?
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Life is good. I'm glad to be back here. I
can't believe it's been a year since we last chatted
about the event and it went. I thought it went
beautifully last year and it looks like it's set up
to do the same today.
Speaker 6 (15:51):
Well, thank you. Yeah, we're excited to make it to
year or two. So we had the opening night last night.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
It went. It was fantastic, great line.
Speaker 6 (16:00):
Oh, we're thrilled with the lineup of chefs. I mean,
I think the lineup of chefs like is as good
as any food wine event you'll find in.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
The absolutely very hand picked. And it looks great.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
It looks like you've got, you know, just the best
of the best coming out here. If you're going to
do southern California, you got to do it by the beach.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
So this is great.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
You got a slight breeze today, enough overcast to keep
it extra cool, but that sun is.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Still present in its southern California way.
Speaker 6 (16:30):
So yeah, we lucked out with the weather. It's beautiful
out so it's uh. And being an evening event, it's.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
Like it's very comfortable.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
You know, a lot of these events are during the
day and sometimes you get really hot. Oh yeah, so
it's fun, you know, being here at night by the beach.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
Oh and once the light's on and the vibe goes,
the music starts, it gets it's It was really really
energetic and a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Last year.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
I was thrilled to be invited back this year. Shelby
Russell is with us as we talk about what's going
on this year. Did you change anything from last year,
anything that you're extra excited about people experiencing tonight?
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Well, we do have, you know, several new chefs.
Speaker 6 (17:10):
Stephanie Isar's one that's coming from Girl and the Goat tonight,
you know, so we changed the lineup of chefs tonight.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
We've got some an amazing lineup.
Speaker 6 (17:20):
We also did a partnership with the Beach Life Festival,
so on the music side, so we have the Beach
Life Festival stage, which is really an entertaining kind.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Of yeah, broadcast from there before, so yeah, yeah, and.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
That's like they've done a great job with that music festival,
and so to have them be a part of this
just kind of makes it the you know, an experience
where you obviously get great food, great wines, great spirits,
but you get some great music and a great atmosphere.
And then we also added an area that's called the
Reserve Estate Lounge and so people can reserve. That's kind
(17:53):
of an elevated experience where people can reserve tables in
that area.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
So if you want to sit down dining variance and
enjoy the sites while you're focusing on some food, you
have that.
Speaker 6 (18:05):
Yeah, and we have like some some folks that are
bringing food to them and so it's a nice kind
of elevated experience.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Well I like that, you know, because everyone gets a
little something different out of these events. Sometimes I'm in
a crawl mode where I want to go from place
to place see what there, if there's any flavors or textures.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
That surprise me.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Sometimes I want to sit down and I want to
just enjoy that. Sometimes I want to enjoy the music
and have a cocktail. So you have over you know
twenty you know, different spirit companies and beer companies. You
have over twenty booths with chefs at hand putting forth
something they're excited about.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Do you have.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
Do they like share the menu with you or they say, hey, yeah,
this is what I'm thinking of.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
How does that work? They just choose their own.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
With the chefs yeaheah, So it's a collaboration.
Speaker 6 (18:59):
But I'll obviously we want them to just to prepare
their best, the best dish that they think would represent
themselves the best. So we don't put like any you know,
a lot of events as well, they put like you know,
you're doing a certain theme. I personally don't like to
do that because I just want people to have a
variety of dishes and for them to be great dishes.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
And so we do. They do share the menu with us.
Speaker 6 (19:23):
We actually post the menu on every tent or every
booth space, and then we also include the dietary restrictions
on those dishes, so if someone's vegetarian or vegan or
gluten free, like, it makes it easy to come here
and you can see what you can eat if you're
gluten free.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
So that's great. That is really good.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
You know what's funny is like that is more when
I have people over. Now, if you're gonna have someone
over for dinner, now you want to check and make
sure that you're you know, so that everybody enjoys themselves,
even if they're you know, family, friends from school or
whatever it is.
Speaker 6 (19:57):
Yeah, and for like for us, we we just want
to make it as easy as possible. So let's say
someone is vegetarian, we don't want them to have to
ask a chef.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
You know what's in line to do all that too?
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Yeah, it's posted.
Speaker 6 (20:09):
You can see it and you know, enjoy that dish.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
And have you had a chance, I mean last night
was a different event, that was Opening Night.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Is it's a different lineup, right, Yes?
Speaker 2 (20:20):
So are there dishes here that you've tried already or
are you trying them for the first time to time?
Speaker 3 (20:25):
I'm trying them all for the first time to now.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Yeah, what's on your radar? I mean it's a I
know it's a massive well.
Speaker 6 (20:31):
Neil Frasier's yes, obviously amazing, Chris Cosentino's an incredible and
you know, I offhand, I can't even think of what
they're preparing, but I'm always excited for them. Brendan Collins
is amazing, Joel Hammond, We've got, you know, Frank Ryan
Saparito from Wife and the Song. So there's just there's
(20:54):
a lot of incredible chefs, right.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
We just had Christina and Chris on the show a
couple months back. Yeah, I'd be curious to meet him
as well. But the looking at the lineup, I was
very excited to see the varied chefs that you have.
And I had some great spirits here last year. Another
thing that I think sets us apart is you yourself are
(21:18):
a foodie. We go way back, Yeah, and we would
bump into each other at these events all the time.
What was the inspiration to do it yourself?
Speaker 6 (21:27):
You know? I actually just love over time and being
a part of Like I was part of Los Angeles
Food and Wine when I first want launched at LA Live.
We did All Star Chef Classic and I used to
be the publisher of Los Angeles Magazine and we do
about fifty food wine events a year and I just
love the experience of these events. Like you know, when
(21:48):
you go to a sporting event or a concert, you know,
it's a different experience. You sit in your seat and
you watch what's on stage or what's on the court.
But these events, like if you come with friends, and
it's just a great when you can try great food,
great drinks, like have fun with friends. Like what's not
to like. And so I just started to love the
experience of it. And then when I looked at the
(22:10):
landscape nationally, there's a lot of you know, kind of
food and wine events.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Some are done better than others.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
And I was really inspired by, like some of the
more renowned festivals like Pebble Beach Food and Wine, Aspen
Food and Wine, and I really felt like Manhattan Beach
is just a wonderful community. There's an opportunity to create
something really special here. We've been really fortunate, the city's
really been very supportive. The mayor was here last night,
(22:38):
you know, it's it's been incredible, and so we just
felt like and the chefs love coming to Manhattan Beach.
So there's, you know, just an opportunity to kind of
create something really special and meaningful if.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
We do it the right way.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
And I agree, I think you did it the right
way last year. I'm looking forward to it to again
this year. Last year, I noticed you could pockets of
different people. You get a little bit of this if
you go on the website Manhattan Beach Food and Wine
all spelled out dot com. You see some photos of
it there. But I noticed that you'd be you'd see
like a couple that were obviously very into wine in
(23:14):
a corner talking as they were sipping.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
You'd see a.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
Girls' night out, you see a guy's night out. You'd
see uh, you know, a couple going from place to place,
checking things out and then pausing and talking about the food.
So I loved that last year, people that were dancing
to the music and everything. So I'm gonna be curious
tonight to see the different people that it brought because
I thought it was a really fascinating group last year.
Speaker 6 (23:36):
Yeah, that's awesome, And and you know, we wanted to
be a party like and and it's really enjoyed better
with friends, Like if you get a group of people,
I mean, it's just such a fun place to be.
So and then on the on the on the drink side,
like we we have four over forty different beverages, and
like you said, we have wines, we have spirits, we
(23:58):
have craft beers. We have non alcohol beverages and for us, like,
we want people to have the opportunity to try things.
Talk to the wine maker like and it might be
a brand that you're aware you've known, or it might
be something completely new, but it's an opportunity to kind
of try some different things and explore some it drinks.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
It you may love that you never realized.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
So that's the voice of the event organizer. Shall We
Russell also happens to be a dear friend of mine.
Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival tonight. There are still
some they added you heard it here first. They added
some VIP tickets. They will go quickly. But if you
want to come down tonight, the VIP starts at six
(24:42):
and the general admission gate opens at seven.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
But it is a great event.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
I'm out here broadcasting today, but man, this is the
calm before the storm when everybody gets here, stick around.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
More to come. It is the Fork Report on Neil Sevadril.
Speaker 5 (24:57):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Neil on demand
from KFI Am six forty.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
I am your friendly neighborhood for reporter Neil Savedra. How
do you do happy Saturday to you. Slightly cloudy today,
but man a cool breeze and the sun's still doing
its thing here in southern California. As we broadcast live
from Manhattan Beach Food and Wine Festival.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
Year two.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
I'm super excited because not only is Shelby Russell the
one who put it on a friend of mine, but
I met him through food. I know him through food,
and whenever a food he puts on an event like this,
you know that it's going to be based on what
they expect, and so it is. It was great last year,
looking forward to it again this year. Ellen Ky's popping
(25:44):
over a little bit later. She from Coast has been
promoting it and so she's got some listeners coming. I
know there's at least a pair of listeners from KFI
coming out that I'm looking forward to meeting you coming.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Up in a little bit.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
But right now we want to talk to Lisa. Lisa,
I wanted to say fontanesca and I'm like, that's not right.
It's putin esca. I'm putting esca. No, that's a dish ahead. Yeah,
there you go. Yes, But Lisa is with the Culinary
(26:20):
Careers program we affectionately refer to them as Sea Cap
Los Angeles here and you say you're growing into Orange County.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
We are, we are.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
We have a lot of listeners in Orange County, so
please do tell us start with that.
Speaker 4 (26:33):
Okay, well, thank you for having us on. We are
me on.
Speaker 7 (26:37):
We always love I love seeing you and talking to
you about our program.
Speaker 4 (26:41):
You're always such a great supporter.
Speaker 7 (26:43):
But yes, prior to this year, we were SEACAP Careers
through Culinary Arts program. We are still that program, but
we thought, let's make it easier for people who.
Speaker 4 (26:54):
Don't know about us to understand what we do.
Speaker 7 (26:56):
We're culinary Careers program and we have been around.
Speaker 4 (27:02):
Thirty six years nationally, thirty two in LA.
Speaker 7 (27:05):
And one of our teachers that used to teach in
Glendale Unified moved down to Orange County and said, I'm
bringing the program. And so we started the conversation last year.
And we're going to be in the Anaheim School district,
Santa Ana and Anaheim, and we're picking up anywhere between
one and three schools this season. You know, we have
our Mars Santana se Kapa Lum who's got two restaurants
(27:25):
down there and about to open one up in downtown
La His vodka is also going to be up there. Hiromyertinez,
who was here at the Manhattan Beach Food and Wine yesterday.
He's the executive chef at the viv Hotel right.
Speaker 4 (27:39):
There in Anaheim. Wow.
Speaker 7 (27:41):
Yeah, So, I mean it just makes sense for us
to start moving south and we'll you know, we have
kids at apprenticeships at the Ritz Carlton Bacara up in
Santa Barbara, So we're going north.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
We're everywhere, and the chefs love you guys because you're
putting forth. So if you don't know, they are a
force to be reckoned with when it comes to supporting
and training and giving the tools to the next generation
of hospitality folks.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
So chefs, seues, chefs, all.
Speaker 7 (28:13):
The in front of the house, wine makers, I mean,
Carlton McCoy, he's huge, He's another seacap Belum.
Speaker 4 (28:20):
He's a monster in the wine world. So we have it.
Speaker 7 (28:23):
Every writer's food, photographers, cookbook authors, content. I mean, there's
so many other jobs than just behind the kitchen, and
that's part of what as a workforce development, what we
do is let them see and show them all the
opportunities they have. We also show them We have kids
out here and if they hate it, well great, We've
(28:43):
just saved them fifty thousand dollars, you know. Or and
it's not the program or not the right program for them,
and that's fine. And we also we spend so much
time just developing the kids soft skills, how to look
somebody in the eye, how to shake their hands. So
wherever they work, whatever they do, it's going to help them.
And that's what we're there to do, is help these
(29:05):
young people find a pathway.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Culinary Careers dot org. Culinary careers dot org is where
you will find them. Do we who's coming up after
the top of the hour, Matthew, Okay, we've got somebody.
We've got somebody lined up, so it's the end of
our time to chat. But what else do they need
to know that?
Speaker 4 (29:28):
We will be doing some fun, exciting events.
Speaker 7 (29:31):
We're part of the Chef's Conference over at Redbird, Vibiana.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
We'll have kids there. We have twenty five kids tonight.
Speaker 7 (29:37):
We'll have a great fundraiser probably come May at the
Jonathan Club and other big things coming. So once we
know for sure, we'll be back on to talk about it.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
And you have a young person that is interested or
maybe interested or not really sure what they want to do,
and you're out in the Orange County area, you're in LA. Well,
now you can look it up culinary careers dot org,
culinary careers dot org. And maybe this is that thing,
that itch that needs to be scratched by your son
or daughter or somebody that isn't sure which direction they
(30:09):
want to go.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
And I think this would be a great place to start.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Culinarycreers dot org, Culinary careers dot org.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
At Lesa. Always nice to see you, my friend, Thank you,
thanks for coming on.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
Good to see you.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
It's the Fork Report broadcasting live today from Manhattan Beach
Food and Wine, and this festival is going to be
kicking off. It's six o'clock for VIPs and then seven
o'clock for general admission. We are doing the we're doing
the tailgating right now before it starts for everything that's
going to be going on.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
So go nowhere.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
This is KFI heard everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. You've
been listening to the Fork Report, you can always hear
us live on KFI AM six forty two to five
pm on Saturday and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app,
The Fork Report w Neil Saavedra News
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