What's on your plate, Coachella?
This year's food options range from noodles to mocktails to pricey feasts and more
It's known as the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but it's also a celebration of food culture, with innovative chefs, trendy restaurants, international fare and celebrated up-andcoming places joining the food lineup every year.
This year more than 65 restaurants and at least a couple of hidden bars will be spread throughout the festival grounds, serving everything from Tijuana-style tacos by Tacos 1986 to Szechuan garlic noodles from Bang Bang Noodles to seasonal California soul cuisine from award-winning restaurant Post & Beam to higher-end pizzas,
Pollo asado, adobada and carne asada tacos from Tacos 1986 at and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. smash burgers, vegan dishes and even fancy sit-down dinners prepared by celebrity chefs.
“There are so many experiences that are part of Coachella. To me the food is
Szechuan garlic noodles with pork from Bang Bang Noodles is a returning favorite to the music festival in Coachella. part of the overall experience. Food is part of our everyday life, and if we don't come to the table with that then we're really missing something. “t's what people expect and what I would want
The VIP menu
VIP ticket holders will not only get access to their own areas but their own food, with some of the most exciting vendors setting up their kitchens in the exclusive spots. Among the vendors in the 12 Peaks VIP area will be The Last Pizza, a collaboration of Prince Street Pizza and singer Grimes. It will be serving a thin, spicy pie drizzled with hot honey. This area also will house Bang Bang Noodles and Tacos 1986, and people can grab a banh mi from modern Vietnamese kitchen My Lai while sipping on Ethiopian coffee from Samra Origins, which is a collaboration of Blue Bottle Coffee and The Weeknd. On the other side of the field, the VIP Rose Garden will include modern Chinese outlet MìLà, which will serve soup dumplings and noodles, as well as Love Hour, making crisp smash burgers.
Indio Central Market
With its many food vendors, shady grounds and places to sit, the Indio Central Market is always a busy hub at Coachella. This year it returns with 15 restaurants, including Kogi, with chef Roy Choi's creative tacos. The Loaded Korean BBQ Fries are a must-try here. The Central Market is also where Chef Kasem Saengsawang of Farmhouse Thai Kitchen will be serving Volcano Cup noodles topped with fried chicken and where people can get Sumo Dogs, which mix Japanese and American flavors in a bun, and sweets from Happy Ice from Los Angeles. “Not only is it a delicious cold treat but it's a gorgeous presentation as well. I can't wait to see those roaming around the site,” Garcia said, referring to Happy Ice. Thirsty people who don't want to get drunk can get a mocktail from The New Bar, which will be on hand for the second time with a large menu of alcohol-free mixed drinks.
The Speakeasies
One of the festival's most popular pastimes is trying to find the various themed, hidden speakeasies that offer high-end cocktails and a place to chill. “I love the speakeasies because you give people something to search for; you give people something they want to show their friends that they found,” Garcia said. Since the fun part is finding these joints, Garcia wasn't spilling the beans about how many will be there or, of course, where they would be. But expect to see the return of New York based PDT (Please Don't Tell) and Sonny's by Attaboy, an '80s-themed, “Miami Vice”-inspired bar. “Finding them is really all about being willing to explore the site. Things move every year; we have to have some fun with it. There may be things in weird corners where you don't expect anything,” Garcia said.
Fancy sit-downs
to see as a patron coming to Coachella,” said Adrian Garcia, the food and beverage director for Goldenvoice festivals whose job it is to put together the lineup for the festival.
Garcia and his team spend a lot of time visiting restaurants, checking social media for what's hot and reaching out to established chefs to come up with an eclectic blend of food. And just like the musical lineup is anchored by headliners, there are heavy food hitters on his list.“You always want to give the fans those festival favorites like the Spicy Pie and stuff like that. But you also want to get those places that people haven't yet tried around town,” he said.
Here's a taste of what's coming to Coachella this year.
Aperol Spritz is returning to Coachella for a second year and creating the Aperol Aperitivo Italiano experience inside the 12 Peaks VIP area. This sit-down table service meal is a collaboration between chef Samuele Silvestri of Terrazza Aperol in Venice and Carvingblock. Reservations are required for this dinner between 4 and 7 p.m. each day of the festival on both weekends. “I'm definitely looking forward to what they bring and what they create in this Italian kind of oasis,” Garcia said. But the biggest sit-down meals will once again be the Outstanding in the Field dinners at the Rose Garden VIP area. This is where, for $350 per person, about 200 people sit at a long, long table for a four-course dinner created by various chefs each day of the festival. This year chefs include Burt Bakman of Slab barbecue restaurant in Pasadena, Ilan Hall of Ramen Hood at Grand Central Market in Los Angeles, and Gabe Kennedy of Checker Hall in Highland Park.