It’s not just residents and local bands emptying out of Los Angeles and trekking to Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival this year. Some of the region’s best restaurants and chefs are joining them too.
Fans will fly in from all over the globe for the three-day festival that’s set to take over Indio’s Empire Polo Club from April 11-13 and April 18-20, with superstar headliners Lady Gaga, Charli XCX and Megan Thee Stallion performing alongside rising acts.
Now in its 24th year, the festival’s food and beverage program has come to garner nearly as much attention as the musical lineup, and even a general admission ticket grants access to numerous food halls, immersive drinking dens and culinary activations.
A tented food bazaar with views of the Outdoor Stage, Indio Central Market returns with 15 concepts, including Roy Choi’s newest taqueria Tacos Por Vida, home to one of the best al pastor tacos in L.A., alongside Kogi, Choi’s long-running food truck that weaves Korean influence with street food favorites, resulting in dishes like loaded Korean barbecue nachos.
In the same structure, you’ll also find Florentine-style sandwiches on fresh-baked schiacciata bread at All’Antico Vinaio; combo plates with vibrant blue jasmine rice and yellow curry at Farmhouse Thai Kitchen; plant-based pizza at Forever Pie; Philadelphia-style rolled ice cream from Happy Ice and creamy scoops from McConnell’s Fine Ice Cream; and when it’s time to refuel, head to Indio-based Everbloom Coffee for a caffeine boost or #Juicebae to restore with alkaline, cold-pressed juices.
General admission guests should also seek out Pizza Remix, a pop-up from Postmates and Prince St. Pizza, for limited slices inspired by local restaurants. Blending elements of a pizza parlor with a recording studio, the centrally located space will feature a retro photo booth and serve unique cocktails along with two remixed slices. One option is made in collaboration with the Boiling Crab and dressed with the seafood chain’s signature Whole She-Bang sauce, mozzarella, shrimp and smoked sausage; a second slice from East Hollywood’s Bridgetown Roti is topped with honey jerk chicken, mango masala and smoked mozzarella.
Clandestine speakeasies provide an oasis away from the low desert’s punishing afternoon sun, including a new concept from New York City’s Please Don’t Tell called Mixteca, with agave cocktails that festivalgoers can preview ahead of the bar’s West Village debut.
For those who prefer to skip the booze, look out for the New Bar and its candy-apple-red storefront. The festival’s official nonalcoholic partner will be mixing up spirit-free craft cocktails and pouring nonalcoholic beer, wine and ready-to-drink options at the Terrace GA and 12 Peaks VIP areas, with magic hour portraits offered every evening at the Terrace location.
Plant-based attendees can find Monty’s Good Burger and Good Boy Matcha by Monty’s in Terrace North. Nearby, L.A.-based chef Eric Greenspan will oversee a trio of concepts serving grilled cheese sandwiches, pulled pork sliders and carnitas-loaded fries. And if you want to get messy with a Cajun seafood boil, head to the Boiling Crab in Terrace South. For a quick and affordable bite, try Phoenix-based Lovebite Dumplings, a Gen Z- and woman-owned operation.
Aside from freshly poured brews, the Craft Beer Barn is hosting returning vendors as well as newcomers, including Fat Sal’s with its massive sandwiches, Mano Po for Filipino favorites, the Goat Mafia’s legendary birria and the Cabin, an immersive cocktail den from Houston Hospitality’s Mark and Jonnie Houston.
VIP festivalgoers will gain access to even more culinary experiences, including caviar-crowned chicken nuggets from Le Burger by Camphor and Wagyu and uni-topped delights from Chubby Club in the 12 Peaks VIP area. Choose between Sicilian-style slices at Prince St. Pizza or Neapolitan pies at Ronan, order a hot dog or sausage topped with Japanese ingredients from Indio-based Sumo Dog or, for something lighter, look to Alfalfa for salads, Sweetfin for poke bowls, Oakberry Acai for acai bowls and smoothies or an espresso pick-me-up from Menotti’s.
The VIP Rose Garden will once again play host to the Outstanding in the Field dinner series that spotlights a roster of noteworthy chefs who will prepare unique four-course, family-style feasts each evening at sunset, complete with an Aperol spritz welcome cocktail and optional wine pairings throughout.
Los Angeles chef Diego Argoti will helm the Saturday dinner on weekend one; most recently Argoti served as chef-in-residence at recently shuttered Poltergeist in Echo Park, a restaurant critic Bill Addison called “the most manic, unchecked and wildly envisioned cooking in Los Angeles.”
“For me, food has always been about connection,” said Argoti. “Just like music, it brings people together, sparks conversation and creates lasting memories.”
For weekend two, Outstanding in the Field will invite Eric Greenspan, the newly announced chef behind Hollywood’s forthcoming Tesla diner; Wolfgang Puck’s son and protégé Byron Lazaroff-Puck; and Danielle and Alessandro Zecca of Highland Park’s Mexican-Italian restaurant Amiga Amore into its open-air kitchen.
Additional vendors setting up in the blooming VIP Rose Garden include Birrieria Michi, Korean gastropub Inssal and Koreatown smashburger bar Love Hour, plus Clink Wine Bar, an L.A. natural wine club offering organic, biodynamic and hand-harvested wines to festivalgoers.
Festivalgoers camping on-site won’t go hungry this year either. Dave’s Hot Chicken is bringing its newly minted food truck to the grounds, and will be joined by Five03 Pupusas, Monty’s Good Burger and its plant-based hot dog counterpart Monty’s Dog House, as well as Yeastie Boy’s with bagel sandwiches.
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