On October 14, Fig Santa Monica executive chef Ray Garcia hosted chef Graham Elliot Bowles from Chicago and winemaker Beth Nickel of Napa Valley’s Far Niente and Nickel & Nickel wineries for a “simply seasonal” LAFW lunch. Beforehand, sommelier Staci Miller poured glasses of oaked Chardonnay and waiters circulated with plates of hors d’oeuvres, none better than The Gulp. Garcia graced glutinous pulled pig trotter and shoulder meat with a light panko crust before deep frying the tiny patty. The melt-in-my-mouth disc appeared with punchy jalapeno aioli in a soft, slider-sized rye bun that Garcia crowned with sea salt, which really made the pork pop. As he said, “We’ve got a vegetarian entree so we had to get the pig in there somewhere.” He said that while he developed The Gulp for LAFW, there’s a chance it could resurface at FIG Santa Monica.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.