This is San Francisco, so obviously people are just as excited (if not more so) for the food, wine, and beer vendors as for the music lineup at OUTSIDE LANDS this year (August 8th-10th in Golden Gate Park). Tickets to the show are sold out, but if you’re going, it’s a good idea to target ahead of time what you’re going to want to eat. As my family says, strategery!
Like last year, there’s a mega list of food vendors. Yeah, you’ll have more than 200 food and drink options, with new additions like Chino and AQ. Returning vendors (and dishes) to look for include Del Popolo’s pizza, Nojo’s spicy chicken wings, and Wise Sons’ pastrami cheese fries. Vegetarians, you’ll want the fried plantain and black bean burrito from The Little Chihuahua. Everyone wants Rich Table’s porcini doughnuts.
Another bonus: Blue Bottle Coffee Co. will be there to perk you up, along with lots of dessert vendors at Chocolands including Humphry Slocombe and Sharona’s Chocolate Shop. Five La Cocina alumni and culinary talents join A Taste of the Bay Area this year; these include El Huarache Loco, Azalina’s, Sabores Del Sur, Endless Summer Sweets, and Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas. Cheese Lands? Cheese Lands! Sadly, though, hopper favorite Outside Lambs is no more; that lamb poutine rocked.
Beer Lands is also awesome; with Dave McLean (Magnolia Gastropub and Brewery and Alembic Bar) curating the lineup, you know you’re in good hands. There will be 30 breweries pouring 64 beers, including Calicraft Brewing, Magnolia, and Pacific Brewing Laboratory. Look for Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.’s Outside Lands Saison again, too. And of course there’s Wine Lands, led by Peter Eastlake (a Food & Wine magazine “Sommelier of the Year: 2013”) overseeing 37 winemakers pouring 120 wines, including Sean Thackrey, Paperboy Wines, and Olivia Brion.
On Saturday June 7th, check out Chipotle’s Fourth Annual Cultivate San Francisco festival. The festival is all about sustainability and food, with cooking demos from chefs, live music, and lots of food and wine to sample. Many local chefs will be participating, including Cortney Burns and Nick Balla (Bar Tartine), Sarah and Evan Rich (Rich Table), and Dennis Lee (Namu Gaji and Smokestack). It runs from 11am-7pm in Golden Gate Park’s Hellman Hollow and is free; check out the music lineup here.
Azalina’s chicken curry nachos. Photo: © tablehopper.com.
