![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/itsnotaboutme.tv\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/QOwVN_1s.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo courtesy of Masters of Taste, as is the one at the top of this article.<\/p><\/div>\n
In case you don\u2019t know, Masters of Taste is a fun and delicious all-inclusive one-afternoon food and beverage event that\u2019s held on\u2026the Rose Bowl field! The pal who\u2019s accompanying me there this year is even more restaurant-obsessed than yours truly, so I was shocked that he was equally excited about the prospect of not only going<\/em> to the iconic Rose Bowl for the first time ever, but to get to walk on the actual\u00a0field<\/em>! (I have to admit that, even though I\u2019ve been on that field many, many times\u2014particularly when I was friends with lots of UCLA athletes\u2014I still get a thrill as I enter the stadium and see the tableau.)<\/p>\n And the fact that it’s a totally outdoor event means that you can be as close to, or far away from, strangers as you choose to be. That’s another reason it’s a perfect first outing for those of us who have been wise enough to hole-up for these past couple of years!<\/p>\n Over one hundred restaurants\/caterers\/food purveyors\/beverage masters will be participating this time, with each one featuring an item or two of their most popular dishes. The variety is so wide that I\u2019ve always found that there are truly multiple treats for\u00a0everyone<\/em>.\u00a0 As you may have figured-out by now, I\u2019m, for sure, the pickiest restaurant critic ever, but even I<\/em> have very many choices Masters of Taste; I never know which booth to stop by first! I’m like a whirling dervish trying to get to all of them!<\/p>\n Chef Vanda Asapahu of Ayara Thai. Photo courtesy of Masters of Taste.<\/p><\/div>\n This year, because the Thai New Year is in April, there will be a concentration on Thai restaurants, which will be all featured together in a special pavilion in the Rose Bowl end zone. I can\u2019t wait to meet Chef Vanda Asapahu\u00a0of Ayara Thai, who is the first-ever\u00a0female\u00a0Host Chef\u00a0of\u00a0Masters of Taste. It appears that she and I have a few things in common, particularly that she graduated from UCLA, which was my own third of four colleges. And she did her graduate work at Yale, which is the first place I ever smoked marijuana!\u00a0 (Okay, so her<\/em> resume is a tad classier than mine<\/em>. But we\u2019ll still have a lot to talk about.)<\/p>\n As if the delicious food, beverages, (many alcoholic,) classic location, and being able to experience some camaraderie again, (especially after missing out on all that for the past two years,) were not enough, the kind<\/em> among us, (which, after all we\u2019ve been through and are actually\u00a0still<\/em>\u00a0going through, should now be all<\/em> of us,) will appreciate this<\/em> aspect of Masters of Taste\u2014all<\/em> of the proceeds will benefit\u00a0Union Station Homeless Services, which is a nonprofit organization committed to helping the homeless rebuild their lives. With more and more encampments popping-up all over Los Angeles, (and I do mean\u00a0all over<\/em>\u2014even in neighborhoods where you\u2019d least expect them,) this organization\u2019s services are needed more than ever!<\/p>\n Another good aspect of\u00a0Masters of Taste this go-round is that they’re\u00a0partnering with Careers Through Culinary Arts Program, Los Angeles, (C-CAP LA), which is a\u00a0non-profit that provides culinary, job,\u00a0and life skills to thousands of middle-and-high school students across the United States, including here in LA. A group of those students will even be volunteering to help at this year\u2019s Masters, so we get to meet some future<\/em> restaurateurs.<\/p>\n<\/a>