More and more each year, Los Angeles–the bands, the people, the fashion–comes to dominate Coachella's aesthetic and vibe. It has become the way the LA scene puts its best foot forward playing host for international scenesters and lookers on.
This year, for the first time ever, Coachella allowed Los Angeles restaurant and craft beer makers to set up pop-ups on Empire Polo Grounds, furthering the “everything LA” feel of the festival. “You go to SXSW, you see all your friends from LA… you come here, and all the beer is from LA,” jests KCET's Drew Tewksbury at the Terrace craft beer garden Saturday evening. A keen observation.
Here's a little taste of some of the hottest menu items Coachella has to offer this year.
]
The mac & cheese empanadas by the Semi Sweet Bakery were flying off the stand weekend one–a scrumptious salty-sweet stoner snack available in the Rose Garden VIP area.
The pork belly chips from Beer Belly is like an order of bacon, but better. The paleo way to snack. The stand is located in the re-vamped Terrace area.
If you're feeling the pork belly, but want to go a little bigger, the Sticky Icky Berkshire Pork Belly at the Stripped Back pop-up is the answer. Ooh-wee.
[
Around the corner from Beer Belly, the Mexicali Taco & Co. was slinging chicken tacos (shown here), also offering up quesadillas the size of your face.
The craft beer on the Terrace was a popular place weekend one for good reason. For about the same price as a regular old Heineken, you could get a hop-alicious LA-brewed IPA with a much more respectable ABV level, a huge selection curated by Tony's Darts Away and Mohawk Bend. We recommend the Coronado Jurata, a creamy dark that packs an 8% wallop.
If you're drinking in the VIP Rose Garden, the Mint Julip from HoneyCut is the way to go–a hand-made cocktail with fresh mint, ideal for drinking while the sun is still up.
See Also:
The Best of Coachella 2014
Do You Have What it Takes to Be a Member of Lucent Dossier?
Johnny Shockey's LED and Goldenvoice Bring a New Era of EDM to Indio
Like us on Facebook at Heard Mentality, follow us on Twitter @OCWeeklyMusic
