Review: 2025 Manhattan Beach Food & Wine Festival

I attended the 2nd annual 2025 Manhattan Beach Food & Wine Festival, and boy was I blown away. The first year was pretty amazing as well. However, this year the number of participating restaurants increased significantly, and so did the attendees. The Manhattan Beach Food & Wine Festival has rapidly become the hottest place to be in the South Bay every Fall. The wine, beer and spirit vendors seems to have doubled this year. There were smiles for miles, as friends and families gathered to enjoy some of the best food and libations on the West Coast.

2025 MB Food & Wine Festival

As soon as we entered, the cuisine was flowing. It was a festive super fun night. I always eat a bit, before I start my wine tasting. So I began with a Maine Lobster Rock Shrimp Roll (house slaw, sweet red onion, celery) from Lunetta in Santa Monica. This was super fresh and so tasty…it was a great way to kick off the festival. My husband needed to take photos quickly to “catch the light,” so we went our separate ways. I love to watch the crowd and see which booths receive the most action prior to engaging with all the amazing cuisine. So I started walking through the festival.

Wine

Italian Cuisine

I spotted some Italian scattered about, so it was time to taste some wine. The unique name and labels of Fun Mom Wines drew me in. Orrin and Erin Oles created the brand as a way to celebrate the moment in time when we pause and catch our breath. Wine enthusiasts know just what this is all about. I loved the 2021 Red Wine Blend (92% Grenache, 7% Syrah, 1% Pinot Noir). Orrin has an extensive background in winemaking, and this was a wonderfully balanced easy sipping wine with notes of dark berry.

With wine in hand I headed straight to The Pizza Prof, where I met Hillary Leonard, wife of Pizzaiolo Matt Leonard. She had so much spirit and spunk. Her passion was unmistakable.

The pizza was fantastic as well. Dubbed as Neapolitan, the crust was chewy and deliciously charred on the edges with gorgeous golden bubbles. So good. It turns out this was one of my husband’s favorites as well. As soon as he met Hillary and tried their pizza, he sent me a text. “Make sure you get to The Pizza Prof. It’s the bomb.” Hillary, Matt and their lovely daughter worked their butts off to keep up with the demand which exceeded their expectation. The Pizza Prof is a family affair with a great background story. 

More Great Food

I went on to try a variety of incredible tastes from Chef Joel Hammond of Uchi, Chef Chris Park of the Strand House, Chef Neal Fraser of Redbird, as well as Chef Alice Mai and Chef David Lefevre of Attagirl. They were all top notch culinary creations which was no surprise. The Manhattan Beach Food & Wine Festival attracts many of the most creative culinary artists, and they seem to test their boundaries here. 

Next I discovered The Girl & the Goat, where a huge crowd had gathered. Chef Stephanie Izard offered a phenomenal dish. The Hamachi & Tuna (ginger chili yum, sesame crackers) was to die for. The overall Asian flavor palette was superb. As a combo, placing the tuna with all its swirling flavor on top of the cracker brought a whole new dimension to the dish. This was when I just had to text my husband. “Get to the Goat honey. It’s incredible.”

Favorites

My husband raved about Chef Ray Garcia’s Duck Tamales with Manchamanteles Mole provided by Broken Spanish Comedor. And I fell in love aInk Squash blossom (buttermilk ranch and trout roe) dish created by Chef Dustin Trani of Trani’s Dockside Station and J. Trani’s Ristorante. This was both delicate with an outer crunch with the briny after thought thanks to the trout roe. 

Chef Jason Fullilove brought us an unusual dish beautifully presented. The Nduja (Carmelized Smoked Pork with charred California corn, corn age, cilantro, hot sauce, plum espuma, and spiced Pecan truile) was something truly special. I watched as Jason told another guest how to eat it (something I have never seen). The idea was to get each ingredient into our mouth all at once and finish it in two bites. My husband did it, and said it was phenomenal.

Beyond Exceptional

Chef Frank Ryan Saporito of Wife and the Somm outdid himself with his local Bluefin Tuna Tartare (braised salsify, Green Goddess espuma, crispy salsify with wild flower blossoms, and onion ash). This was truly magical.

Classically trained in French technique, Chef Brendan Collins of BOA has been working in restaurants since he was 15. Tonight he prepared an absolutely delicious Wagyu Cigar. The ground beef was infused with flavor and wrapped in a crusty cigar shaped delicate pastry dough. This was exceptional 

As a food writer, there are always one or two chefs and restaurants that stand out at these food festivals. I have featured Chef Michael Reed and his business partner/wife Kwini Reed in many of my reviews. So every time I see them, I think I can’t feature them again. It seems unfair. Then I taste their food and simply have to. 

This year’s sampling from Poppy & Seed and Poppy + Rose was a Corn Ravioli with Jumbo Lump Crab, (Crescenza, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Alleppo, Pepper). It was unbelievable – a flavor bomb in my mouth. There were multiple layers, the crab was audacious, and all the cheeses and spice woke up my tastebuds. Luckily I just so happened to have stopped for a lovely full-bodied red (2022 Gemstone Facets Cabernet Sauvignon). Wow what a pairing. Yummy Yum Yum! Read more about the food and see a pix of this cute couple on another ETG foodie event review from a couple months ago.

Dessert 

Of course Porto’s Bakery comes through every time. Chef Anthony Greco distributed some delectable sweet treats this year. In addition to boxes filled with baked goods to go, he also provided Mojitos In Manzanillo and Arroz Con Mango. Both were amazing, however my favorite for sure was the latter dessert. The Arroz Con Mango was a creamy rice pudding with carabao mango compote with a puffed rice crunch sprinkled on top. This was so decadent. I fell in love. 

Another favorite, Chocolatier Jeffray Gardner of Marsatta Chocolate was handing out exquisite samplings of his world famous Marsatta Chocolate.

C-CAP

The festival continued its support of the nonprofit C-CAP organization. Careers Through Culinary Arts teaches students from underserved communities skills allowing them to pursue a career in the culinary field.

What a night! So many amazing tastes, and libations! Don’t miss next year’s events. Visit the website for more info – https://www.manhattanbeachfoodandwine.com/

Read last year’s 2024 MB Food & Wine Review along with other Foodie Event Reviews.