Phototasting at Cube Café & Marketplace: They Shot It, and Then They Ate It.

There are only two human pleasures I can think of that involve all five senses. One of them I won't mention in this post. The other one is eating.

We taste sweet, salty, bitter, sour and sometimes, umami.

We feel the shiny globules of fish roe burst on our tongues.

We hear the crunch of perfectly fried pork skin as it gets crushed between our teeth.

We smell a truffle's wonderful earthy aroma.

We see the complex marbling of fat on a slice of glowing pink toro.

Traditionally, recreating these gastronomical sensory experiences is not an easy task, lest you cook and/or eat that meal again. In our digital age, however, it's never been easier to stir up memories of all the pleasure we had at any given meal-- a simple photograph can help us bring it all back. This is why we continue to annoy our dining companions by whipping out our cameras and snapping away before anyone is allowed touch their food.

This is why Phototasting exists.

This is why several camera-wielding, food-obsessed strangers converged upon Cube Café and Marketplace on a Saturday afternoon, eager to learn about basic food photography techniques and even more eager to savor the four delicious seasonal Italian courses that they shot. After some brief presentations by Tony, Claire and myself, the room was abuzz with the sounds of shutters clicking, forks clinking and food lovers socializing and networking.





Their photos are what they--and we the readers--have left to stimulate our senses with.

I'll stop talking now. Let's just let their delicious photos describe what they ate, shall we?


First Course: Heirloom Tomato & Fresh Peach, Cube Imported Buffalo Mozzarella, 6 yr. Balsamic, Fruity Olive Oil

(Photo: Flickr member Forchetta 1)

(Photo: Meal Muse)

(Photo: Spoondles)

(Photo: Foodie Comes Clean)

(Photo: I Dine, I Whine)

(Photo: Rocket Lunch)

Second Course: Black Truffle Pizza with Mozzarella and Fried Egg

(Photo: Captured Worlds)

(Photo: Meal Muse)

(Photo: Jewels from the Roving Stove)

(Photo: Flickr member Forchetta 1)

(Photo: OakMonster)

Third Course: Pancetta Wrapped Porchetta, Creamy Polenta, Roasted Broccoli

(Photo: Rocket Lunch)

(Photo: OakMonster)

Fourth Course: White Nectarine Shortcake, Lemon Verbena, Fresh Cream

(Photo: Flickr member VenusPix)

(Photo: Jewels From The Roving Stove)

(Photo: Captured Worlds)

(Photo: Foodie Comes Clean)

Can you practically taste, smell, touch, hear and see what they ate?

I can.


Please check out what some of our participants had to say about Phototasting at Cube:
Foodie Comes Clean: Phototasting
Hmm...Food...Good: Tasty Food and Gorgeous Photos at Phototasting
Jewels From The Roving Stove: Developing a Taste For Photography
Meal Muse: Phototasting
Rocket Lunch: Phototasting at Cube
Spoondles: Taste My Photos


For more information on Phototasting or to be informed of future Phototasting events, email us at info@phototasting.com or follow Phototasting on Twitter!

A special thank you to Cube Café and Marketplace for making Phototasting an amazing experience that was beautiful to both the eye and the palate. To those of you who've never been to Cube, go. Now.

Cube Café and Marketplace
615 N. La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 939-1148
www.cubemarketplace.com
Follow cube_LA on Twitter!

Phototasting at Cube Marketplace and Cafe 7/31/10

Taking pictures of what you ate is kind of becoming the norm these days. Look around any restaurant and you're bound to see diners snapping away with their cameras, whether they be ginormous DSLR's, standard point and shoot cameras, or smart phones.

Are you one of these people? Do you wish that your food photography looked a little better? Ever wondered how to get one of those cool looking photos where the food's in focus and the background's kinda blurry?

If so, you're in luck because I am excited to announce that Phototasting is coming back on Saturday, July 31st!

What is Phototasting, you ask?

Phototasting is a unique food sampling and restaurant photography workshop where participants are able to both shoot and savor a restaurant's cuisine. Local food blogger The Kitchy Kitchen and I will be introducing simple tips on basic nerdy photography lingo like white balance, ISO, aperture, shutter speed, exposure, and composition and guiding participants as they shoot some of the restaurant's dishes before getting a taste!

But wait, there's more! Are you ready for some really exciting news? This particular workshop will be held at Cube Café and Marketplace. Yes, that Cube...the cute little cafe and gourmet shop on La Brea with the delicious regional Italian cuisine focusing on seasonal ingredients.

Delicious Italian food, food photography tips and a chance to meet other food and photography enthusiasts like yourself? It's really a win-win. Reserve online for $50/pp at http://bit.ly/phototasting. Spaces are limited and the workshop did sell out last time, so be sure to reserve your space soon!

Check out the following write-ups about our first Phototasting workshop held at Checkers Downtown:

Rants and Craves: http://www.rantsandcraves.com/2010/02/they-shot-they-savored-phototasting.html
Pardon My Crumbs: http://pardonmycrumbs.blogspot.com/2010/02/review-phototastings-art-of-food-porn.html
Nad's Bakery: http://www.nadsbakery.com/2010/02/food-porn.html
Wan Life To Live: http://www.wanlifetolive.com/2010/02/learning-from-best.html
DJJewelz: http://www.djjewelz.com/2010/02/08/phototasting-lobster-bisque/

Thanks and hope to see you shooting and savoring at Phototasting!


Phototasting at Cube Marketplace and Café
Saturday, July 31 from 2-5pm, $50 per participant
Advance reservations required: http://bit.ly/phototasting
Email: info@phototasting.com
Follow @phototasting on Twitter!

They Shot, They Savored: Phototasting, Checkers Downtown, 02.06.2010

There were people there who actually have food blogs.

There were people there who blog mainly about non-food subjects with the occasional post about food.

There were people there who owned food businesses.

And there were people there who simply wanted to know how to use their cameras better.

But no matter what their backgrounds and interests are, all the participants and the first Phototasting workshop--held on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Checkers Downtown--had one thing in common:

They all know that food is art.

And they came to Phototasting to both shoot and savor it.

Our attendees were given an overview of cameras as well as photography and composition basics, but the real meat of the workshop was allowing participants to both sample and photograph eight courses prepared by Checkers' Executive Chef Todd Allison and Sous Chef David Baker.

(Chef Baker, L, and Chef Allison, R. Photo by WeezerMonkey)

(Clockwise from upper-left: Participants learning about their cameras, photo by WeezerMonkey. Sampling forks, photo by djjewelz. Participants trying to achieve great bokeh, photo by WeezerMonkey. Digging into the braised kurobuta pork course, photo by me!)

The beautiful, delicious star of the show was Chef Allison's market-influenced cuisine with our participants there to capture it in all its glory. And a lovely job they did, I must say. Take a look at some of the gorgeous photos they took that afternoon:

(Lobster Bisque with wild mushrooms and lobster medallions. Photo by djjewelz.)

(Ahi tuna salad with pomegranate, blood oranges, baby Lola Rosa lettuce. Photo by diglounge.)

(Grilled local calamari with kalamata olives, cippolini onions, haricot verts, roasted garlic aioli. Photo by Nad's Bakery)

(Alternate plating of the grilled local calamari. Photo by Glutton_In_LA.)

(Class participant capturing Braised Kurobuta pork belly with roasted shallots, brussels sprout gratin. Photo by Nad's Bakery)

(Another view of the Braised Kurobuta pork belly. Photo by diglounge)

(Myers Ranch Beef Tenderloin w/ Bloomsdale spinach, fingerling potatoes, bearnaise sauce. Photo by Wan Life To Live.)

(Grilled Alaskan salmon with asparagus quinoa, roasted tomatillo and chili relish. Photo by Thirsty Pig.)

(Shortcake with Farmers Market Berries with fresh mint and whipped cream. Photo by Pardon My Crumbs.)

Please also check out what Nad's Bakery, Wan Life To Live, Pardon My Crumbs, and djjewelz had to say about Phototasting!

To be notified of future Phototasting events, please email dailygluttony@yahoo.com.

Phototasting: A Gastrophotoblogging Experience, Checkers Downtown 2/6/2010

For those of you who have been with me since the beginning, do you remember when my food photos looked like this???

Well, it took four long years of experimenting with my photography for sushi to represented in a much better fashion on my blog. (OK fine, I got a new camera, but you know what they say. It's not the camera...) Now, I can make photos of sushi look more like this!


Where was Phototasting when I needed it? If only I had a fun workshop to go to back then when I couldn't take a picture to save my life and knew not a soul in our wonderful food blogosphere. If you can relate to what I went through, you're in luck! By coming to Phototasting--an interactive gastrophotoblogging workshop led my myself and other local food bloggers--you'll have an opportunity to learn and practice basic food photography skills while also getting a small tasting of Chef Todd Allison's winter seasonal menu and meeting new people. This workshop is geared toward both Point-and-Shoot and DSLR users, so don't worry if you don't shoot with fancy-schmancy equipment.

The workshop will be held on Saturday, February 6, 2010 from 12:30-3:00 pm at Checkers Downtown. Please see the media release below for more information. Register soon at http://phototasting.eventbrite.com/ as spaces are limited!



Phototasting

Do you like food? Do you like taking photos? Do you like taking photos of food? Phototasting is a unique opportunity to do all of the above with the guidance of several seasoned Los Angeles restaurant bloggers and the gorgeous new Winter Seasonal Menu of Chef Todd Allison. Not only will you practice capturing the splendor of Chef Allison’s culinary masterpieces, but you will get to savor them as well.

This workshop offers simple tips for both point-and-shoot and DSLR cameras and is geared toward photography of dishes in restaurants. Through hands-on demonstrations, you will learn elementary elements of exposure, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance. The interactive presentation will also introduce core composition and digital post-production techniques.

LA restaurant/food blogger extraordinaire Daily Gluttony, as well as contributors to The Knot and Tripvine.com, will guide attendees through this fun gastrophotoblogging experience. To register, please visit http://phototasting.eventbrite.com/

A newly renovated boutique hotel, the Hilton Checkers Downtown serves as the perfect backdrop for Phototasting. Come to Phototasting to learn elementary restaurant food photography, sample Chef Allison’s delicious and innovative dishes, and experience the cool elegance of the Hilton Checkers Downtown.

Date: Saturday, February 6th, 2010

Time: 12:30pm – 3:00pm

Location: Checkers Downtown, 535 South Grand Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90071

(213) 624-0000