Culinary guide to Coachella
One of the best food festivals in the country might actually be the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, happening Friday through April 15 and again April 20-22 in Indio. Although the annual event isn’t technically a food festival — think multiple stages and music tents, a lot of dust and cutoff denim — for the last four years, Goldenvoice, the company behind Coachella, has been inviting the country’s best chefs to cook in the desert. Attendees go for the music, but the culinary lineup is just as exciting.
Last year a secret tiki bar (in general admission!) was introduced. This year, Nic Adler, who curates the food and beverages at the festival, was on a mission to one-up himself.
“Now I would say if you’re a festival and you don’t have some type of culinary program, you’re probably not doing it right,” he said recently. “We’re at a place where everyone realizes there should be a food experience, so how do we do what’s different? What’s going to push us ahead again?”
This year’s big additions include a 40,000-square-foot food hall called Indio Central Market (inspired by Grand Central Market in downtown L.A.), located in what used to be the Mojave music tent. The indoor space will have 15 food vendors (Wingman Kitchen, Ramen Hood, Ms Chi) and a kombucha bar with more than a dozen flavors on tap. This is also where David Chang, who just opened his first L.A. restaurant, Majordomo, in Chinatown, will have a pop-up version of Fuku, his New York City restaurant. The tiki bar will return (although Adler is remaining mum on the location), and a new bar called Bar Not will serve nonalcoholic drinks by bartender Jason Eisner, of Block Party in Highland Park, in general admission.
Also coming: a Van Leeuwen ice cream shop. Rather than a stand with a couple flavors, Adler says you’ll be able to walk in, sample items and actually sit down in an air conditioned space and eat your ice cream. And Shake Shack, the popular New York City burger chain with a couple recent SoCal locations, will have a full replica of the Madison Park location at the festival.
Other full pop-up restaurants include Gwen, chef Curtis Stone’s Hollywood butcher shop and restaurant, and Little Pine, Moby’s vegan restaurant in Silver Lake. Outstanding in the Field, the popup dinner crew, will return to the Rose Garden VIP area with long-table dinners throughout both weekends. And on the bar front, the team behind the Broken Shaker is setting up a venue, as is the 213 team behind Las Perlas in downtown L.A.
Take a look around the page to find out which restaurants will be on hand, and check out chefs’ tips.