Friday, September 26, 1997
Garlic Festival in Westwood to serve up unique selections
FESTIVAL: Restaurants, entertainers and vendors come together in
celebration of herb’s many uses
By Sandra Kim
Daily Bruin Contributor
Drooling with blood-filled saliva, Dracula smells the young,
fresh spirits, soon to be filling the entire parking lot of UCLA’s
lot 32. Overwhelmed with tempestuous thoughts and a hunger for
blood, he follows his cravings until bam! His nose crashes into the
ever-so-pungent and vampire-repelling scent of, none other than,
garlic. And this time, the garlic is hitting harder than ever in
this weekend’s 14th Annual Garlic Festival.
Celebrating this aromatic and delicious white herb, the garlic
festival will feature food and drinks from 20 restaurants and bars
in Los Angeles including the Stinking Rose, Houstons and Dive!.
Also included are jazz musicians such as the Polyester Players and
King Cotton, entertainment and rides for kids, lifestyle/fashion
exhibits, a historical and medicinal exhibition of this "stinking
rose" and even a Singles’ Night held after 8 p.m. on Saturday. This
is one show any hungry Bruin should not miss.
Howard Maskopf, producer of this delectable event, explains what
will take place at this unique food festival.
"Here we have the fancy restaurants, lifestyle exhibits, and
good live music. We have drinking, a little bit of fashion – Donna
Karan and BodyGlove, a little bit of art, a lot of jazz and blues.
It’s all meant to try and be very cool."
Originating in the late ’70s in a small garlic town called
Gilroy, the Garlic Festival in northern California now attracts a
crowd of 100,000 each year. With growing success and recognition,
the festival decided to expand to southern California, first as a
small-scale restaurant event. Now after 14 years in Los Angeles, it
draws crowds of 20- to 30,000 people.
"It’s one of the largest food events that there is," Howard
adds.
Expect a lot of this flavorful food at this event, from Fiore’s
cafe/pizzeria whose "Margarita" pizza was recently recognized at
the Absolut Best of L.A. Festival, to Jody Maroni’s garlic cumin
sausage to Dive!’s famous garlic fries. There’s even food for sweet
tooth types, such as Mrs. Field’s garlic cookies and garlic ice
cream.
John Moore, general manager of the Stinking Rose, adds to the
list.
"We have a garlic filet mignon chili with big chunks of filet
mignon, foccacia bread and garlic french fries, which are deep
fried and seasoned with roast relish. (Roast relish) is raw garlic,
parsley and garlic olive oil, and it is tossed with the garlic
french fries like a garlic parmesan cheese with little minced up
garlics," Moore says.
So as mouths begin to soak up the zingy and sometimes sweet
taste of garlic, seasoned in the scrumptious garlicky foods, the
question arises; what could be more fun than garlic?
To win over non-garlic enthusiasts, the festival also includes
non-stop musical entertainment by jazz groups such as the West
Indies Band, Lisa Haley and the Zydecats, the swingin’ band Jumpin’
Jimes, and even UCLA’s own Jazz Ensemble. One may also want to try
a freshly hand-rolled Fuego Cubano cigar, drink Real Soda In Real
Bottles which offers over a hundred eccentric carbonated beverages,
or perhaps glide down the enormous slide placed in front of the
lot. The Count himself may even make a surprise visit.
If money is a concern, the Garlic Festival will offer a special
to all UCLA students and faculty. For anyone with a UCLA ID, the
festival is half price all weekend with a special deal on Sunday
between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. where anyone with an ID can get in for
free.
Food prices range from $1 to $5 per dish, making it easy to eat
a $20 meal for around $8 to $10.
Also, for those unfamiliar with garlic, the Garlic Festival will
reveal the great potency and unique side effects of garlic.
"Garlic is great because people like it, because it tastes
great, because of the health benefits of supposedly reducing
cholesterol. It purifies the blood, and supposedly it’s an
aphrodisiac – that’s why Saturday is Singles’ Night – and people
like it’s cause it’s nutritional," Howard says.
Howard admits, "Everyone is close together, they all have bad
breath, no one cares, people loosen up, no one is really
self-conscious. That lowers the defenses and makes everyone have a
good time. It’s been a lot of years and people get into it."
FOOD: Tickets for the 14th Annual Los Angeles Garlic Festival
are $10 for adults, $5 seniors and students with ID, $2 children
under 12 and free 11-1 p.m. Sunday with ID. For more information,
call 1-888-97-GARLIC.
Daily Bruin file photo
Last year’s garlic festival featured a variety of exotic
garlic-laced food.