Angeleno Magazine's Chef's Night Out 2010: The Recap

Angeleno Magazine celebrated their annual restaurant awards with Chef's Night Out, a tasting extravaganza. This year's event was held at The Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, hosted by their restaurant, FIG.

The night started with a VIP reception, where they presented the awards to the winning chefs for photo ops accompanied by small bites from FIG and cocktails courtesy of Oxley gin.

Here's a rundown of the winners, selected by Brad Johnson:

Chef of the Year: Michael Cimarusti (Providence)
Runner Up Chef of the Year: Ludovic Lefebvre (Ludobites).
Best New Chef: Michael Voltaggio
Restaurant of the Year: Hatfield's
Best New Restaurant: Lazy Ox Canteen
Pastry Chef of the Year: Zoe Nathan (Huckleberry)
Outstanding Wine & Spirit Awards: SAAM at The Bazaar
Outstanding Service: The Grill on The Alley
Vanguard Award: Water Grill

Compared to other food/charity events LA had seen, Chef's Night Out turned out to be a smaller yet one of the best. Quality over quantity is the name of the game.

This event brought forth big name chefs like Josiah Citrin from Melisse, who was personally on hand preparing this loup de mer.

More indulgent bites:
Cauliflower panna cotta with Transmontanous caviar from Chef Ben Bailly Petrossian.

Fried chicken and Indian spiced waffle from Nine Thirty at The W. The fried chicken failed to stand out but the waffle was not only unique and creative but also delicious.
Capesante day boat scallops with farro, summer corn, heirloom tomatoes by Chef Victor Casanova of Culina.

I made sure to try the tequila/chocolate pairing from 123 Tequila since Caroline on Crack highly recommended it.

Speaking of chocolates, Bistro LQ served up some intense (and deliciously dark) absinthe chocolates!

And even more:

For those who had valet-ed their cars, they also got a little present from FIG: a tee featuring the FIG Dog and a frisbee.