Foodbuzz Community Table at Beso

Early last month, I received an email from Foodbuzz saying they were having a raffle to take ten LA food bloggers out to dinner at Beso. I decided to enter not really thinking I would make it. A few weeks later I received another email saying I was one of the lucky chosen to dine courtesy of Visa Signature. I have heard of Eva Longoria's and Todd English's restaurant before, but had never been so I was definitely up for a new experience.

Since LA traffic always sucks, I arrived about twenty minutes late so when I arrived the bloggers behind Sippity Sup, The Culinary Image, Pleasure Palate, Pink Stripes, South Bay Foodies, TableConversation, Viva LA Foodies, The Food Addicts, and Food Art LA were already seated as well as our hosts from Foodbuzz, Dorian and Ryan. Luckily I didn't miss too much with my lateness. I still got to sample the avocado guacamole and artichoke guacamole and have some tasty sips of sangria.



The appetizers then came. A taqueria tasting, shrimp and chorizo flatbread, and margarita flatbread were all good. There was also a grilled flatbread served with a red pepper hummus that I really enjoyed and normally I don't like red pepper anything.



Of these I sample the chicken adobo, steak, and plantain. The steak was the best.





I wish there had been a few more pieces of shrimp on the sides



One of the highlights of the meal was the seared diver scallop. It was served on top of an oxtail rosti and topped with a horseradish cream. It was delicate and flavorful without being too fishy. It was also the first time the chef had made the dish for diners to sample. Lucky us!



At this point, I was starting to feel very full, but I pressed ahead with the entrees. The chili rubbed skirt steak had that always loveable balance of salty and sweet.



I think I was the only one that didn't get a bite of the crispy onions that topped the chicken, but it was a good dish though it got lost a bit with the steak and paella.



I can be really picky about paella. I'm pleased to say that this one was quite excellent.



After seeing all this food, you're probably wondering how I had room for dessert. Well, I didn't really, but I managed a bite of each. Unfortunately, the first dessert I tried was my least favorite. I am huge fan of manchego cheese, but I don't think it belongs in a cheesecake dessert.



The hit of the dessert table was the Nutter Butter. I assume you can probably guess what this tasted like, it was heavenly. Such peanut buttery and frozen deliciousness.



The light crispy churros were a great way to round out the extensive meal.



At some point during our dinner, the owner of the restaurant herself came out to say hello to us as well as the chef. It was almost like we were the celebrities which was kind of funny to me. Overall, I thought it was a very good dinner. I really enjoyed the wine pairings with each dish especially the La Posta organic Malbec. I think Rico put it best when he said it was a good dinner, nothing extraordinary, but very good. I've been tweeting with Abby for a while now so it's good to put a face with a name and I got to see Michael again. I am looking forward to seeing these same faces and more at Foodbuzz's blogger festival in a couple of months!