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Roy Choi Previews His Korean Barbecue at Life Is Beautiful

Plus more food at the festival

Life Is Beautiful
Life Is Beautiful
Amelinda B Lee

Life Is Beautiful took over Fremont East in Downtown Las Vegas last weekend with a lineup of music, art, comedy, and most importantly, food. Fans who descended on the event over three days found local restaurateurs and chefs, as well as future stars dishing out their fare all over the event.

Food trucks drew long lines of fans looking for at Eighth Street and Ogden Avenue. White Rabbit with Filipino fare, Coolhaus with ice cream, Boqueria Street with Barcelona-inspired sandwiches, and Omings Kitchen with Filipino barbecue huddled around a square with lines galore.

The Kogi food truck at Life Is Beautiful
The Kogi food truck at Life Is Beautiful
Amelinda B Lee

In the corner, Kogi BBQ, the Korean food truck from Roy Choi out of Los Angeles, showcasing possible dishes that might make an appearance at Best Friend, his restaurant opening at the Park MGM in December. The pared down menu featured short rib tacos, spicy pork burritos, quesadillas, and more as fans stopped by between music sets.

Spicy pork and carne asada tacos at Kogi
Spicy pork and carne asada tacos at Kogi
Amelinda B Lee
A burrito at Kogi
A burrito at Kogi
Amelinda B Lee

Masso Osteria from Scott Conant hosted a popup restaurant near the Downtown stage, only opening for a short time until the

Grilled corn with truffle butter and ricotta salata from Masso Osteria
Grilled corn with truffle butter and ricotta salata from Masso Osteria
Amelinda B Lee

sold out. Sam Marvin of Echo & Rig featured his lamb chops on Saturday night. He says his new restaurant in Sacramento has really taken off. He was flying out of Vegas to Sacramento to put together a brunch for 800 people the next morning.

A roster of local chefs including Mike Minor at Border Grill, Khai Vu at District Kitchen & Bar, Roy Ellamar at Harvest, Brian Howard at Sparrow & Wolf, and Justin Kingsley Hall at the Kitchen at Atomic cooked limited edition food over an open fire at the Cookout until the dishes such as burnt end burritos, golden hen and field green salad, and roasted squash salad sold out.

Seafood spiedini with burnt lemon bagna cauda from La Strega
Seafood spiedini with burnt lemon bagna cauda from La Strega
Amelinda B Lee

Another preview of what’s to come came from La Strega, showcasing seafood spiedini with burnt lemon bagna cauda.

Sample Eataly, NoMad, and Roy Choi at Life Is Beautiful [ELV]

Eataly

3770 South Las Vegas Boulevard, , NV 89109 (702) 730-7617 Visit Website

Masso Osteria

11011 West Charleston Boulevard, , NV 89135 (702) 797-7097 Visit Website

White Rabbit

3 Smolenskaya Square, Tsentralnyy administrativnyy okrug, 121099 8 (495) 510-51-01 Visit Website

The Kitchen at Atomic

927 East Fremont Street, , NV 89101 (702) 534-3223 Visit Website

Border Grill

3500 Las Vegas Blvd South, Las Vegas, NV 89109 (702) 854-6700 Visit Website

Best Friend

3770 South Las Vegas Boulevard, , NV 89109 (702) 730-6770 Visit Website

Echo & Rig, HENDERSON

2270 Village Walk Drive, , NV 89052 (725) 258-3246 Visit Website

Las Vegas

, , NV

Sparrow & Wolf

4480 Spring Mountain Rd Ste 100, Las Vegas, NV 89102 (702) 790-2147 Visit Website

District One Kitchen & Bar

3400 South Jones Boulevard, , NV 89146 (702) 413-6868 Visit Website