Super Bowl LVI weekend is jam packed with a flurry of exciting parties leading up to Sunday’s championship game between the home team Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals. But, the one bash that served the most delicious food was the Taste of the NFL, an immersive culinary affair where NFL legends, sports icons and entertainment stars gathered to eat delightful, unconventional, bite-sized game-day dishes created by world-renowned celebrity chefs.
On Saturday, with a record-breaking heat wave of 90 degrees in Los Angeles, 2,500 hungry guests gathered at this year’s annual – and highly popular – Taste of the NFL event held at the famed Petersen Automotive Museum. Top celebrity chefs, including Andrew Zimmern, Carla Hall, Tim Love, Ming Tsai, Lasheeda Perry and Mark Bucher joined together to participate in a friendly, but competitive, live cook off. Separated into teams NFC (Tsai, Love and Perry) and AFC (Zimmern, Hall Bucher), the celebs whipped up an array of innovative dishes and tasty tailgate specialties that were served to guests and earned rave reviews. Some of the sweet and savory items they made were root beer glazed pop overs, worcestershire infused michelada drinks, sweet and sour meatballs and gluten-free, vegan power pocket cheese burgers. Celeb chef Marcus Samuelsson cheered from the audience and team NFC was announced as the winner of the cook off.
“The Taste of the NFL is one of the most fun events and one of the most important,” Tsai told The Knockturnal moments before the cook off. “Us chefs, above everything, we love to make people happy through food and we also want to make sure to leave our mark by giving back. So here at this event, we get to do both. We are able to make a lot of delicious food and raise a couple of millions of dollars for the GENYOUth organization. The fact that one out of four children are hungry, that’s a stat that has to be eliminated. We’re in America. We’re the smartest most powerful country in the world. So if all of us can help just a little bit, and also bring awareness, that’s a huge win, win.”
Established in 1992, Taste of the NFL has become a yearly important fixture during the Super Bowl created to raise money and awareness in the fight against hunger and food insecurity. The NFL is partnering with the nonprofit organization GENYOUth to support children in the U.S. who are food insecure. All net proceeds raised from the Taste of the NFL will benefit GENYOUth’s End Student Hunger fund.
Throughout the party, guests roamed around the numerous outdoor food stalls enjoying the free flowing cuisine, such as lobster rolls chilled with mayo from Broad Street Oyster Co., beef and cheese empanadas, Cajun crab stuffed mushroom caps, nitrogen artisanal cookies ‘n cream ice cream from Super Cool Creamy and thirst-quenching alcoholic drinks. NFL greats, including Charles Woodson, Miles Sanders and Leonard Wheeler were spotted signing autographs and posing for selfies with fans during the four-hour all access food event. Other celebs at the party were Miss America 2022 Emma Broyles and Lisa Leslie, the former WNBA star.
“I am so proud to participate in this fantastic party that has a purpose,” said Zimmern, a four-time James Beard Foundation Awards winner who is best known for hosting the Travel Channel show Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern. “Food is a tool for understanding people and it’s also a solution to improving lives. Let’s help everyone. Now is the time!”
Photo Credit: Hector Sandoval at Sandoval Media
