Monterey's Coastal Luxury team kicks off L.A. Food & Wine

With a company, and a city, that enjoy ambitions on the scale of Coastal Luxury Management and Los Angeles, going small—even a teeny bit—isn't really a thing.

But both Monterey-based CLM and its Los Angeles Food & Wine have executed a reduction sauce of sorts with the 2015 installment, which starts today in downtown with a Curtis Stone cooking demo, Carlo Mirarchi VIP dinner and an Ultimate Bites of L.A. tasting on iconic Grand Avenue with Mike D. of the Beastie Boys providing a DJ set.

From those names and the likes of Michael Chiarello, Alex Guarnaschelli, Charles Phan, Thomas Keller, and more than 100 other elite chefs participating—and The Roots anchoring a major concert-tasting in the heart of reborn and bustling downtown L.A. on Saturday—you'd be forgiven for not noticing any real adjustments.

Close observers will note there aren't as many distant Santa Monica beer bashes and South Beach dinners and Beverly Hills fancy feasts.

Seems like a wise play from here, this swapping out an overwhelming and far-flung playlist of 70 or so events for a more centralized version of life-experience lunches, demos and dinners.

Nothing can kill an appetite or a pleasant post-event reverie like a two-hour commute from the westside to L.A. Live, which snarled myself and local spirits pro Todd Hlasny two years ago.

LAFW marks the latest production in a eventful '15 that saw the arrival of Monterey County/CLM stars like James Beard nominated Chef Jason Franey, pastry whisperer Ben Spungin and wine mind Bernabe de Luna, who will be among the featured tastemakers.

But the year also observed the departure of key players like CLM co-founder Rob Weakley, corporate chef Levi Mezick, operations ace Tobias Peach and remaining co-founder David Bernahl's right-and-left-hand Sarah Potter.

Not that there was ever a lack of intrigue, but this should be interesting. 

I'm betting my tip jar Chief Operating Officer Anand Menon's expanding leadership and key component James Velarde's ever-evolving event experience more than make up for the absences, even Potter's (!).

But I'm on Amtrak heading there now and will update via @MontereyMCA from the ground (even if it's red-carpeted), but only after trying some of the best hand rolls the City of Angels has to bless upon me.

For now, a look back at some coverage highlights of LAFWs gone by:

How it came to be: "Monterey’s Coastal Luxury Management uncorks major moves in L.A. and Las Vegas."

The first-person peek at year one: "A look at the bold dream Monterey County’s Coastal Luxury Management realized with L.A. Food & Wine."

A look at how it informed the ongoing epic: "Coastal Luxury Management schemes and dreams up Los Angeles Food & Wine 2.0."

David Bernahl on difference between year 1 and 2: "Co-founder David Bernahl on Putting Together Los Angeles Food & Wine 2012"