DineLA Kicks off Summer Schedule With Cooking Competition

For the first time in its history, dineLA Restaurant Week will be heating up the summer for 12 consecutive days (July 16 – 27, 2012). Sponsored by the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board and American Express, this year’s dineLA Restaurant Week will feature more than 250 of the city’s top restaurants, each offering special prix-fixe lunch and dinner menus.

To kick-off this first-ever summer program, dineLA invited celebrity chefs Susan Feniger (Street, Border Grill) and Ben Ford (Ford’s Filling Station) to square off head-to-head in a cooking competition at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills. Each chef, armed with an assistant home cook and an arsenal of fresh seasonal ingredients, was tasked to create the perfect dineLA “summer bite.” “I’m really excited about the change with dineLA this year,” noted Chef Ford, who created the winning dish with cooking partner Valerie Mitchell – a play on a shrimp escabeche with crispy fried garlic chips. “The earlier, extended dates give locals and tourists both the opportunity to enjoy everything the LA food scene has to offer.” His competitor, Chef Feniger, who with amateur chef-partner Benjamin Budzak created a vegetable and halibut ceviche with avocado, fennel, melon, and sumac vinegar, agreed. “DineLA is one of these things that just brings people together, and the energy within the restaurant community is so amazing. It’s really hard to beat.” For more information on dineLA or to see a list of the participating restaurants, click here.