Crave Expo

Was impressed last year and even more impressed this year! The organizers CRAVE and Dr. Events did a fantastic job with getting vendors together to showcase their products and services. This year’s event took place in Majestic Downtown Los Angeles; a much bigger venue than Mark for Events location.
The expo was well executed and planned. There was plenty of food and drinks to try out along with various entertainment/​service vendors. It’s a great event to get some planning done for a wedding or party. The vendors varied from last year but they all have different talents they can bring to the table. Highly recommended to check out!

Crave Expo was absolutely amazing! It was my first Unilocal event, and I couldn’t have been happier with how it turned out! Crave Expo is a bridal/​event expo that focuses on food and beverage tasting, as well as entertainment. It was held at The Mark for Events, a stylish event space with multiple connecting rooms. Though the line that had formed around the corner seemed a little daunting, it increased the anticipation, and thankfully, there was still plenty of food left!
THE MARK CATERING: One of my favorite booths! Everything from their booth was delicious! We started off with the Tuscan Kale Salad — Duck confit, pickled onions, faro, currants, and pinenuts, which was a tasty and unique blend of flavors. We later came back to try the Tomato Soup with smoke chili oil, basil purée, and buttered croutons… soo good! I had to get another cup, shh! They also had a super cool S’mores Bar! Open flames to toast your marshmallows on a skewer and then graham crackers and Hershey’s chocolate available to build-​your-​own s’more! I’d love to have this at my next event!
CHEF KEVIN WARREN: Unfortunately, we missed the gumbo that everyone was talking about, but we got to try the Vegan Kale Salad.
PAPPAS ARTISINAL: The rep was super nice, and they had a beautiful display. Food was unique and nicely presented, too! I had the Oak Grilled Cauliflower, Pork Belly BLT, and Squid with White Bean.
VITACOCO: We got to try various coconut waters… who knew it came in so many different flavors?!
NEW SCHOOL OF COOKING: Candied Ginger Scone — I’ve never had a ginger scone before, and this one was pretty good! The ginger was not overpowering at all.
BANCHAN A LA CARTE: Another one of my favorite booths of the night! Everything would get snatched up super quick, so you knew they had good stuff! We had to wait a while for the Kimchi Quesadilla, but it was worth it! It was very tasty – a perfect blend of cheese and kimchi. The Arancini with Spicy Tuna and Pork Belly Banh Mi Crostini were also very good!
MR. BARTENDER: They had a few signature drinks for the night. I had the «Livin’ Is Easy» (vodka, ginger, grapefruit, lemon, watermelon), and it was refreshing! I also tried a sip of the «Farm Julep» (bourbon, strawberry peach, lemon, and mint), which was also quite tasty.
CAFFE CONCERTO: As soon as I saw this booth, I was immediately drawn in by the cute macaron tree! I was so excited to try the macarons, but there were none left. Luckily, the lady was super nice and said she would look for some more for me! A few minutes later, she brought out a platter of various flavored macaron samples! I was also able to try their Sushi Snow Sandwich and strawberry cream puff. I definitely want to check out this restaurant in KTown!
LAWRY’S: Lawry’s offered some really great tastes, available through their catering. The Vodka Infused House Cured Salmon was definitely memorable, and the Hoisin Duck Confit Soba was also another winner.
PDA CUISINE: Broccoli Quiche with crispy prosciutto and hollandaise… this booth had run out of most of their food by the time we got there…
KAYA SUSHI: The Tuna Delight cucumber tacos were good! I saw some pictures of the other sushi they featured earlier in the night, and everything looked great!
MAGGIANO’S LITTLE ITALY: Paccheri in Pink Sauce (Smoke mozzarella in speck)…rich and flavorful.
JAMAICA CAKES: Mini cupcakes. I tried the Vanilla Strawberry which was not bad… but then again I’m not really a cupcake person…
LOVESOME: Such an intricately designed booth! You could tell they put in a lot of effort in setting up their display. They had plates of truffles and cookies on top of dressers and tables fit for a tea party! I enjoyed the French Lavender Bark and Jasmine Green Tea Cookie.
SUGAR SPIN: This was a fun booth! You could watch them make your cotton candy right in front of you! They offer different flavors of cotton candy (strawberry cheesecake, salted caramel peanut butter, matcha green tea, ube cake, and orange creamsicle just to name a few) with toppings like cereal and potato chips! I was able to try the Yabba Dabba Fruity Pebbles cotton candy, a sweet blue cotton candy covered in fruity pebbles.
ENTERTAINMENT FROM SHOWMANCE BAND: We were entertained by the sounds of this great jazz band! Definitely kept things fun and lively!
Overall, I had a really fun time at this event. It was definitely well-​coordinated, and vendors did a good job of pacing the amount of food that went out at a time so that there was plenty throughout the night! Drx. Events did a great job with the décor! It was stunning! Hope to come back for a future event!

Crave Expo is an intriguing mashup of a tradeshow and tasting event geared towards various tastemakers, poseurs and, those in the market for a wedding. There was a bit of a line outside The Mark of Events which, on the bright side, allowed for chitchat and a chance to see who all was going to this thing. Some serious-​minded blogger types, and others looking for a free party.
Once past the Door, there was an easy check-​in, followed quickly by the welcome appearance of Mr. Bartender (
). And, no, they’re not Misters
. Two speciality drinks were featured, and, as a responsible poseur, I mean, tastemaker, I tried them both. Both had fresh ingredients
, including citrus and either vodka or gin. The latter was way too sweet, but the ‘Living is Easy’ hit all the right notes.
Chef Kevin Warren was next, and he had some very tasty Spicy Gumbo, featuring chicken, sausage, shrimp and crab. He does cooking classes, too (
). The Mark for Events had a booth, as well, and they impressed as much as anyone. (Cauliflower soup, if I recall. And they had a killer S’mores Station) Having had zero experience with The Mark, it was great to get (literally) a taste of their range of goods and services. I could totally see this for a wedding.
I loved Pappas Artisanal (
) — from their pork belly to their octopus to their sure-​take-​one mini tins of Bahn Mi spice rub. (The rub worked beautifully on my own BBQ of Lamb Shank, fyi) I wish I was in LaVerne to visit them in person, but there’s always the web. Their card says they cater Events, Beer parties, Office Gatherings, Wedding dinners et al.
Maggianos had cookies and pasta. Was full before I got there, so glad to snag a few cookies for the road: solid chocolate chips
which were great the next day.
The ‘kids’ at New School of Cooking had an endless array of awesome scones and treats.
Homemade butter, homemade preserves (to-​die-​for raspberry) and smiling faces. They have an Open House tomorrow night in Culver City (for which I’m now on WL).

So many others — Yes, even Unilocal had a table there. Other lovely desserts were from

Really good place located on the West Side. Lovesome (
) also had some, well, lovely cookies and treats. Alas, it got to be overwhelming (Note to self: pace thyself). Still, I do feel this was an excellent introduction to places I had no idea about, or in some cases, of old standbys seen in a fresh light.
Saw some great arrangements by either Robinson’s Flowers and/​or
. There were big lines to get a caricature (
) as well as some some beautifying going-​on with Pasadena’s own LuxeLab.
Impressive, organized, and delicious. Glad to partake.

Hello everyone! My girlfriend brought me to the Crave Expo at The Mark. First time being here and here’s your first expectation! The line can get realllllyyyy long and you could be waiting a while because they slowly let people in so if your hungry, you might be staying that way for a while… sorry…
Now when you get inside that’s a completely different story! There are two methods you can go about this place because it will get crowded soon enough! First is you scout the entire place which can be done quickly if your the first group in because the place isn’t that big. Then get the food that you really want.
Or you can just dive right in like a barbarian which is what I did because I was impatient and didn’t think clearly hehe.
WARNING! There is a limited supply of food so if your planning on getting multiple servings of the same thing make sure you do so because the food will eventually run out! It is meant for you to try everything and you will but just bear in mind that the best food there run out pretty quickly! They do give you some nice tote bags so you can carry your goodies and we did see Unilocal there and got the awesome shotglass! Please be careful some people won’t be as nice as you and walk recklessly so be ready to dodge people trying to get past you. Secondly there are limited seats as well so if you have to play musical chairs with a buddy do so if you want to be sitting the whole night!
Have fun everyone!
P. S. Can’t believe Lawry’s Prime Rib didn’t server any prime rib samples! I mean come on… right?

My first Unilocal event! I actually was able to go because I visited Crave expo’s site after putting in an RSVP request with Unilocal.While there, I filled out a little info request for anyone wishing to attend. I was wait listed with Unilocal and then Martin emailed me saying he would put my husband and I on the list since he saw I was a Unilocaler and was interested. Thank you!
When we first got there we noticed the long line to get in and had a hard time finding parking. FYI, for myself and others going to a Unilocal event – get there on time or early. We eventually found parking in a neighborhood three blocks away. We actually considered leaving because we had already drove about 45 minutes to get here and it was a Sunday. The crowd also seemed very LA stereotypical (the guy behind us bragged about his business deals and loudly talked about being in line for «some event» and commented on people’s outfits), which is not our crowd. Luckily, saw We decided to stick it out and I am so glad we did!
We had a great date night. The first booth we stopped by was the Mr. Bartender cocktail area. It was probably our favorite booth. Fun, good drinks! The Living’s easy (watermelon, vodka, and other fresh summery ingredients) and Calypso (tequila, Thai chile, and I forgot the rest) were my favorites. I am not a big tequila person and that drink was the right amount of spice and so tasty, the other was just refreshing. My husband loved the Bring Home the Bacon cocktail (bourbon, bacon syrup) and he isn’t a huge Bourbon fan. We kept talking about the cocktails even after leaving crave Expo.
Our favorite booths were Pappas– they gave away a spice rub to cook with (loooved that) and had a smoked octopus dish. The Mark catering had a yummy tomato soup and my husband liked their salad with duck in it. PDA cuisine has so many items to choose from– sweet and savory. I loved the caprese and my husband enjoyed the sushi sandwich. Also, Hirano or Hinano sushi was so good and fresh!
I was more in a savory mood, so I didn’t really have the sweets.
There was also, the cartoonist here and a salon! We didn’t get to try these because of the lines.
Overall, it was well organized and fun night. I liked the music playing all night too! The venue looked beautiful and nobody ran out of food. I think it was a great idea to showcase different caterers. We definitely took a lot of business cards, though they may be out of our price range. We also came across a lot of nice people running the event and other people taste testing.

My first Unilocal event ever and Crave Expo definitely set the bar high. The whole event was very well organized and the vendors were super friendly and easy to mingle with. Just to provide a brief background on the event, Crave Expo is an opportunity for local businesses to meet potential clients that may need caterers for any of their own future events. It’s also a great venue for businesses to get exposure towards those that have never heard of them. But in layman’s terms, I guess you could describe it as a free-​sample haven.
I find that this event is better appreciated when you converse with the vendors, rather then just going up to each booth and leaving with samples in-​hand. If you take the second approach, you’ll be out of things to do here very quickly. I don’t plan events, but I still found it interesting to learn how certain businesses set up their events, what they typically serve, and how many people they usually cater for. That’s all I’ll say regarding that, because I want to talk about some of the amazing food I had that night.
For me, the best in show had to be the booth at Pappa’s Artisanal. They had this octopus dish served with white beans and a red pepper relish that was absolutely to die for. The octopus itself was so well-​prepared and the relish gave the dish so much flavor. PDA cuisine also had this amazing spicy tuna tartare that was also very tasty. The wasabi avocado purée is what really sold me; it was very light and complemented the marinated ahi tuna beautifully. Caffe Concerto definitely had the most elaborate booth serving everything from macaroons, ceviche, and their own rendition of a caprese salad.
There were many other amazing dishes from desserts, sushi, pasta, etc., but those were probably the most memorable to me. Definitely come with an appetite because you’ll be stuffed by the end of it. The space is huge, meaning an ample amount of vendors with food ready to taste. Aside from food, Mr. Bartender also creates a variety of amazing cocktails to order. I forget what I personally ordered that day, but there’s one with vanilla and citrus that was absolutely amazing.
A big thank you to the Unilocal team for the opportunity to attend this wonderful event and definitely another big thank you to the team that put Crave Expo together. My guest and I had so much fun and left with our somewhat sophisticated palates fully satisfied.

Thank you Unilocal for inviting me to this event. My husband and I had such a great time!!!
When we were first invited we didnt know that it was a wedding vendor expo. But a few of my friends are getting married and I am a bridesmaid for a few of them. This was perfect for me to research.
When we first walked in we hit the bar. Mr. Bartender was the vendors hosting the bar. They had amazing drinks and the service was excellent. Such clever drinks so delicious. They also roll cigars.
We then hit all the food vendor stands:
Maggiano’s — The pasta samplers were so delicious.
Vita Coco — Free Coconut water!!! I dont know how they fit into weddings but cant say no to free.
Pappas Artisanal — Amazing Puffs. The quiche was excellent as well. Lots of beautiful finger foods.
Lawry’s Catering — The soba noddles were decent.
Chef Kevin Warren — Gumbo was off the charts. This booth had the longest line.
New School of Cooking — Scones were so soft.
Hanaro — My fave!!! Presentation and food was amazing. All the rolls were made into ball shapes. so cute.
Caffe Concerto — They had so many options. I always loved caffe concerto’s food and desserts, I didnt know they catered. I’m so glad i found out.
Sugar Spin — different flavors of cotton candy. When we got there they had the cookies and cream flavor. yum
Lovesome — such beautiful presentation
The North Hollywood Ice Company provided a beautiful Ice Luge with the Crave Expo Logo.
The food was all great. The venue itself was amazing too. The Mark for Events had three separate rooms. The first room was very warm and woody. Perfect for a bar /​photobooth area. The second room was very clean, white, and modern. Perfect for the wedding ceremony. Third room has the stage and would be perfect for a reception. I could picture a 100 – 150 person wedding here.
Now I’m debating what to do. Am i suppose to write small reviews for each vendor? Blegh.

Thank you to crave and dr. Events for this awesome experience! I got to try lots of new foods and desserts that I wouldn’t normally stumble upon.
Some highlights were the pork belly BLT, vita coco vanilla latte, kbbq tacos and quesadillas, mr. Cappucino, and the macaron desserts! Of course, everything and everybody was awesome! There was a plethora of food, and lots of drinks to go around as well.
The vendors were super nice and allowed us to try anything and everything that we wanted. Spinner conto candy’s spicy mango was to die for! Some places allowed us to take snacks or drinks home too.
The Kims were great event coordinators and funny hosts. They gave away great floral arrangements and gift cards at the end of the night.
I hope to attend some future crave events and try more delicious foods!

A very tasty event indeed! It was organized and not as packed as I had thought it would be. They weren’t kidding that it was an invite/​credentialed only type of event and so happy they monitored that because the only line that was long, was just trying to get in. Obviously because they had to vet everyone’s attendance. Once in, it was beautifully decorated and I really enjoyed the location at The Mark. They had valet for $ 8. not expensive, otherwise you rely on street parking. The specialty drinks were so yummy. 5 vendors did stand out 1. PDA with Chef Jeff (yummy!!!) — seriously talented as everything on his booth was flavorful, 2. the sushi, but for some reason, I forgot the name 3. right next to them Lawry had the most delicious nutella mousse! 4. The mark had yummy kale salad and 5. Obviously the bartender guys. The cocktail recipes were so tasty. This was a well organized event and the samples were more than just samples, I walked out of there completely full I didn’t have enough room for all the desert vendors. I really enjoyed being there as it was so easy to navigate through and taste all the samples and drinks and being able to network with everyone present. One of the rooms had a dj playing and normally its so loud you can hear anyone around you, this dude played his jams perfectly. there was a cartoon sketcher, and salon people — but those were the lines that were LONG!

We came right on time. Most people valeted for $ 8. It was a super easy transaction. The line to get in was very short at 5:30, we got in, were given tote bags, and were treated very kindly. The event was well put together by Dr. Events. There was a ton of bites, very short wait, and places to stand or sit and mingle. Even when it got packed, the venue was large enough to hold the amount of people.
I discovered Mr. Bartender, which had an amazing menu for the evening. They had quite a few bartenders on staff as well so their craft cocktails took no more than a few minutes. The drinks were made with fresh juices, Revel tequila, and even VitaCoco.
Another favorite caterer was PDA Cuisine for their mini quiches, risotto mushroom ball, and some type of fish. There was a lot of fish, which was perfect for me. Lawry’s and Maggiano’s were also present.
Overall, the bites were pretty good especially The Mark for Events and Pappas Artisanal. Others were fair. Desserts were lacking — they were available but none of them were too outstanding.
By about 6:30, it was getting too full. One vendor had given out all their food items by 7. By the time we left, around 7:30, there was a line outside waiting to get in.

Impressive event and brilliant concept. Invite vendors for special events then bring them together with potential customers. Mostly food, some photography & drinks give you a sense of what your event can look like. Not sure if all customers are potential buyers, but it’s a well run event and likely to get larger over time. My experience with Martin Kim was top notch and I would highly recommend it especially to bride and grooms to be.

What an amazing event!!! I was invited by Martin Kim about a month before. I’m a Wedding Planner and was able to bring my bride as my guest. Not only was the staff very helpful beforehand with all the details, but they were on top of it the day of. They had the best vendors there and everything ran so smoothly. The caterers where so diverse and phenomenal, it was truly great experience for myself and my bride. I will be connecting with a few catering companies from this event. It was well worth it, and I cannot wait to attend another Crave Expo event!!!
Best,
Samantha Hall