More than a “Taste of Venice”…Was it too hot to taste, play and pa-tay in a day long festival of most of Venices’ finest ‘hot’ spots on Sunday Sept 14th when the temps in the shade hit 91 degree? Yes. Was it worth the sweat? You bet. No less than 10 of Venices finest and funkiest happening haunts joined together like the VIP event that it was in the lot at Electric Lodge.

See image: LA Art Party staff writer Gigi Fields (right) with Yvonne Garcia (left) from Cerveteca/Venice Beach Wines.

Offering up some delicious bites-plates-bowls and other samplings- way too fabulous to be called samples. Toss in to those fine food offerings- 8 individual bars!!!

There were 4 boutique vintners- 1 micro brewery, and my fav… 2 booze bars with funky new twists on the ever changing craft cocktail. Did you hear about the 190 lb fully loaded crispy roasted pig on display for your carving fantasies offered from Venice Beach Wines. I just couldn’t tease you with the photos.

So many super restaurants represented, but by far my favorites were:

1) Hosteria Del Piccolo (see image) with its super traditional Rigatoni and italian style sausage in a light tomato creme sauce-but soooo al dente (means ‘to the teeth’ ..not mushy) it was painful to toss out-but I had no choice – I had to save precious stomach space for the tasting crawl to come. Also notable was their Nella Panza traditional Italian bread salad=heirloom tomatoes, cukes,red onion, black olives, basil and those unique croutons… reminded me of my old life in ROMA!

2) Superba Food + Bread came in a close 2nd with their smoked trout crostini and a modern take on Tiramisu (means ‘to pick me up”) for the espresso soaked lady fingers inside. Those guys at Superba cut tiramisu into bite size squares and dipped them in white chocolate then topped it with dehydrated espresso fans shooting out – Gordon Ramsay would have served them! http://www.superbafoodandbread.com/

3) Komodo (see image) extremely super tasty ‘Komodo 2.0′ seared sirloin steak tacos with jalepeno aioli and southwest corn salad from our new main st addition ”Komodo’ near rose (which was even written up in GQ magazine.) This place is cool, vibey, modern, indoor outdoor, healthy, super tasty Asian California Mexican fusion for very much less than a full service restaurant, with everything else… but the server.

4) Santinos had yummy roasted eggplant rolls=marinated eggplant, feta and roasted peppers and Empanadas Argentinas=eggplant, spinach and beef empanadas! santinosrestaurant.com

Those who attended “Taste of Venice” were treated to all this entailed-but the buzz between souls was…DONT EAT TOO MUCH HERE NOW THERE ARE 15 VENUES TO HIT ON THE TASTING CRAWL AFTER THIS!!!

The main event that followed was small groups taken on individual tours to sample the wares inside 15 of Venice’s hip and trendy, groovy restaurants-bars-coffee shops-ice cream spots-and hidden gems all on Abott Kinney. They were such varied places that they crossed label bariers. There was Tom’s Flagship shoes that is so multi purposed-leveled and functioning in evades a true title.Is it a coffee shop? shoe shop? computer singles meet up?

Willie Jane, which I had sadly overlooked – is so sweet and cool with 4 areas of indoor -outdoor varied vibes with such relaxed comfort.Their place is worth checking out -be sure to go outside and see both patios- super happy hour as well.

The tour also introduced us to a hidden, out of the way eatery named Another kind of Sunrise, which recently opened on Abbot Kinney this past May of 2014.

See image: (LA Art Party) Left to right Kristina Von Hoffmann and Mary Smith

Chef and Owner, Lela Buttery partnered with the previous owners to create a more dynamic menu which included a buttery brew and paleo baked goods.

After our 15 stop crawl we were invited back to the lot at Electric Lodge to PA-TAY with a sweet DJ till the sun went down with open bars-dessert buffets and what else? MORE FOOD!!!  GLUTTONY RULED Sunday as the sun went down!

2022 UPDATE: Unfortunately for all of us The Taste of Venice event is no longer taking place and the website has been shut down. See Destinations Section for a full list of food festivals or CLICK HERE for a direct link to the best LA annual Food Events.Visit the Stories Section; under Dining Drinking – the Events Page to read reviews of these food events or CLICK HERE for the direct link.