Eight Things You’ll Want to Eat at Desert Trip This Month

If you’re heading out to Desert Trip this weekend, you’ll probably want to know what kind of food awaits. And just like Golden Voice’s other major event on this space, Coachella, the food is going to be a pretty major component of the operation. Of course, the scheduling is a little unusual for Desert Trip, since there are only two performers each night (The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Roger Waters, and The Who — heard of ‘em?) that means the best times to eat well at the fest are before the first show each night (which is at 6:30 p.m.) and in between.

The doors open each day at 2 p.m., which means plenty of opportunity to experience one of the three main dining formats: a la carte (traditional festival style), the culinary experience (an unlimited food and drink experience for $179 a day, or a whopping $499 for the entire weekend), and a nightly full tasting menu by a murderer’s row of chefs at Outstanding in the Field (which costs $225 per person for each meal). Here now, the eight things that Eater recommends that you try while you’re out at Desert Trip from October 7 to 9 or October 14 to 16.

Dinner by Marcus Samuelsson: The Red Rooster NYC chef is preparing dinner solo on October 9 with gravlax, fried yard bird, and finishing with an apple and quince crostata for one of the most elegant Outstanding in the Field meals on the first weekend. A lot of the other dinners are collaborations, but this one is all Samuelsson.

Pizza from Roberta’s: one of New York’s most hipster restaurants is making it first foray into Southern California. Roberta’s is serving their margherita, famous bee sting (pictured above with spicy sorpressata and honey), and speckenwolf, made with speck, mozzarella, oregano, and red onion. Definitely one to try if you’re in the Culinary Experience.

Hot Dog and Chicken Burger by The NoMad: The NoMad’s truck is serving officially for the first time at Desert Trip’s Culinary Experience, which means you can try the truffle chicken burger. The trio of dishes comes with a bacon-wrapped Humm dog too (named for The NoMad’s chef, Daniel Humm). After the NoMad truck serves at Desert Trip, they’ll be rolling into hot spots around Los Angeles before the fuller restaurant opens in 2017.

Michael Chin

Grilled pork skewers by Pok Pok: Another Culinary Experience spot, Pok Pok’s Andy Ricker will be preparing Thai-style grilled pork skewers, an instant ramen with a pork broth, and a Chiang Mai-style sausage.

New York-style Chinese food by Genghis Cohen: All you need in life are crispy egg rolls, turkey dumplings, and ginger chicken. Who would’ve thought that you’d be able to eat Chinatown-style fare in the middle of a California desert? This Fairfax mainstay is heading out to the Coachella Valley to make it happen.

[Official Photo]

Banh mi from Phorage: If you’re looking for a low-level meal that doesn’t require a trip to the Culinary Experience, check out the main dining area, which offers a la carte dishes. Phorage, the Culver City modern Vietnamese spot, will have a slate of banh mi from which to choose.

Stan Lee

Spicy pork ribs at Hanjip: Chris Oh’s bringing his famous spicy pork ribs to the Culinary Experience, along with braised short ribs, and sweet corn cheese for a comforting Korean meal in the desert.

Oh Man! Ramen: Luke Reyes and Phillip Frankland Lee are doing a special sneak preview of their upcoming Encino concept, with shrimp dan dan noodles with tofu. They’ll be in the main dining area instead of the culinary experience, which is great.

• Desert Trip’s All-Star Culinary Lineup Is Almost as Good as the Music [ELA]