STAY AHEAD OF THE PACK
We don’t follow the trends. We create them. We created and produced the first-ever LA Street Food Fest in 2009, gathering LA’s best gourmet food trucks, old-school food carts, and a star-studded cast of celebrity chefs all in one place for the very first time, galvanizing a movement. We walked the walk in support of LA’s “Mom & Pop” artisanal vendors before it was cool, with the first ever Artisanal LA event in 2010, showcasing LA’s finest local, sustainable and handmade edibles all under one roof. And perhaps most memorably, we worked with a culinary star studded team to bring the collective vision of Test Kitchen to life in 2011, giving a home to chefs and restaurateurs looking to test new dishes and menu concepts on a hungry audience of Angelenos that’s enjoyed multiple iterations since.
nick’s test edit
We Thrive On Challenging Projects That Produce Bigger Rewards.
Sauce LA is a Los Angeles-based boutique hospitality and lifestyle marketing and PR firm founded by Shawna Dawson in 2009. The firm consults clients, including top chefs, award-winning restaurants, boutique hotels and both established and burgeoning brands, on the virtues of experiential, grassroots, social and viral media marketing coupled with traditional PR. Sauce LA also consults in the areas of business development and management and has partnered with visionaries on numerous projects. We have launched more than fifty restaurant projects, from downtown’s Lazy Ox and butcher shop Lindy & Grundy, to Bill Chait’s Sprout Group restaurants including Test Kitchen, Sotto, Picca, Short Order, Short Cake, Playa, Bestia, Petty Cash and République.
Meet Our Team
At the helm of the boutique marketing and PR firm Sauce LA, Shawna and her team consult clients, including many of the city’s top chefs and award-winning restaurants, on the virtues of grassroots, social and viral media to complement traditional PR. Shawna and her team have launched more than forty projects of their clients’ and their own in the last few years from downtown’s Lazy Ox and Lindy & Grundy to Bill Chait’s Sprout Group restaurants from Test Kitchen, Sotto and Picca to Short Order, Short Cake and Playa, to Bestia, Petty Cash and Republique, creating a foundation for one of the city’s most prolific press machines to pass the baton to an in house team. The team currently works with a client roster of talent that ranges from top chefs and brands to some of the city’s most iconic, historic restaurants.
Separately, she’s dreamt up and developed her own events like the historic crowd drawing LA Street Food Fest and trendsetting Artisanal LA, a biannual event showcasing the best independent and sustainable chefs, edibles, makers and home goods that’s evolved into a growing brand with regular pop-ups and events with partners like the Producers Guild of America, Coachella, West Elm and Whole Foods. Both brands and their events are going strong into their sixth and seventh years and are still curated, managed and produced entirely in-house.
She’s passionate about supporting and creating marketing opportunities for other small business owners and helping them get from idea to execution. Shawna, her brands and clients have been featured in numerous publications from the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly to Bon Appétit and New York Magazine and she was most recently recognized by the City of Los Angeles for her work supporting other entrepreneurs through Artisanal LA. She’s partnered with the city’s brightest luminaries on a number of community projects including the recent bid for the Greek Theatre with Nederlander and AEG, and a separate project with Bill Chait set to launch in Spring 2017. She gives her time to teach various groups about marketing and PR, is a Kiva Trustee and a proud board member of a number of local groups and associations.
Our Events
In addition to our work with clients, we have 3 event brands drawing more than 30k+ people per year. Our events are industry leaders and trend creators, celebrating the fabulous food culture we know and love.
Artisanal LA
Artisanal LA was launched in 2010 to showcase the best local, artisan food vendors in Southern California. The seasonal shows feature a wide array of edible treats from local butchers to chocolate makers, and programming like hands-on workshops, chef-led demos, expert panels, and speakers educating guests on everything from urban farming to craft beer making, as well as the opportunity to learn about non-profit organizations changing the local food scene in Los Angeles.
The seasonal shows and holiday pop-up shops give attendees the rare opportunity to shop from more than 100 hand-selected food and beverage artisans all in one place, as well as meet up-and-coming food and drink vendors who share a passion for healthy, local, and sustainable ingredients and production. Many artisans have launched their businesses through Artisanal LA prior to even being available at farmers markets. The exciting events make it easy to buy local, support LA’s economy, discover new favorites, meet producers, and join in community while having a ball with the growing number of Angelenos who want to know where their food comes from. 100% of Artisanal LA’s vendors’ products are made right here in Southern California with local and sustainable goods.
LA Food Fest
Our goal when we started the LA Street Food Fest in 2009 was not only to fill a gap in the local food and events scene, but to create community and a platform to support independent small business owners. For that reason, all of our events aim to do much more than just entertain. Historically, each event has benefited at least one local charity (including the LA Food Bank and St Vincent Meals on Wheels) and we host mandatory meetings for our street vendors that cover everything from the basics of food handling and marketing, including keys to generate and keep customers.
Charity and promotional tasting events require vendors to donate their food, labor and time, something we know can be especially challenging for new and less established vendors. At every event, we subsidize the food costs of all of our (nearly 100!) vendors and sponsor entirely the participation of some of our smaller vendors we know otherwise wouldn’t be able to be there. For us, every event is an opportunity to do a little good and to help make this amazing city we call home a little better for it.
In 2016 we launched the all-new LA Food Fest in Partnership with independent promoter Nederlander and Executive Producer Adam Burke.
Coming in 2017… Clean Made + Clean Food Fest
Clean Made and the Clean Food Fest is a new lifestyle brand and festival that celebrates the feel good food we love – and many need – to eat.
Fresh, clean, and free from all of the things a growing percentage of adults and children need or choose to avoid, the Clean Food Fest is a veritable wonderland for anyone with food sensitivities, the health conscious, and those who simply want to go to a food festival and eat their heart out without paying for it the next day. #feelgoodfood
Part food festival, part conference and part marketplace, the Clean Food Fest will bring the city’s best chefs and restaurants making the food you crave, can never seem to find, and don’t want to be “that guy” and have to ask a million questions to special order.
Organic and non-GMO is just the beginning. Everything will be gluten, dairy and soy free, with an easy to read guide and signage for other concerns like rice, corn, nuts, legumes, and other potential allergens. Plus, plenty of options for vegans and vegetarians.
Always free from artificial colors, flavors and preservatives. All proteins will be organic and grass fed. All seafood will meet the seafood watch guidelines and standards. If it gets our stamp of approval, you know it’s #beyondorganic #feelgoodfood.
Whether you’re launching a new restaurant, a series of pop-ups, or master minding a game changing event, we’ll use our marketing expertise to get the word out, get your brand noticed and most importantly, keep you successful in the long-term. Need proof? Take a look at some of our own success stories.
Why We’re Not Just Publicists
We don’t rely on press releases to get our clients noticed and traditional PR isn’t the only tool in our shed. Instead, we strongly believe that creating a custom marketing strategy that uniquely brings your brand’s personality to life—whether it’s an irreverent ruler-breaker in need of street art, or a high-end sophisticate craving coverage in the country’s highest of highbrow publications—is the best way to effectively get, and keep, your brand in the hearts and minds of potential consumers.
Instead of long contracts, we build long term relationships and work with all of our partners to keep them successful in the long run. Want to learn more? Contact Us
Clients
We work with trendsetters who are looking to stay ahead of the game including many of the city’s top chefs, award-winning restaurants and sold out events. We’re behind-the-scenes marketing and PR gurus, developing innovative media strategies—from viral, grassroots, and social media to word of mouth marketing campaigns—that generate actionable results for our clients and their brands. If everyone’s talking about it, we’re probably working behind the scenes on it.
We’re honored to have worked with many of the city’s top chefs and restaurants, including launching more than thirty projects over the course of the last three years.
Featured Profiles
Carrie Kommers | Shawna Dawson- Curator, Marketer, Homesteader?
Huffington Post | Artisanal LA: Shawna Dawson’s Local, Sustainable, and Handmade Wonderland
Los Angeles.com | LA, Her Way: Shawna Dawson of Artisanal LA and Street Food Fest
UNIQLO | UNIQLO LA: Shawna Dawson
Featured Event Press | Artisanal LA
Downtown News | Artisanal LA Show Returns to LA Mart
Racked LA | Artisanal LA’s Fall Show Hits DTLA This Weekend
Pass the Butter | Artisanal LA
Where LA | Best Los Angeles Things To Do in April
LAist | Weekend Eats: Ojai Olive Oil Tasting With Artisanal LA
Grubstreet | Artisanal L.A. Pop-Up Show Returns to Help You Holiday Shop for Foodies
iDig LA | Locavore Heaven at Artisanal LA
NBC Los Angeles | Edible, Affordable and Made Around Here
LA Weekly | An Anti-Establishment Black Friday: A Few Foodist Places to Shop
LAist | What to Try and Buy at Artisanal LA
LA Downtown News | Artisanal LA Takes Food Quality Seriously
LA I’m Yours | A Taste of Artisanal LA
Featured Event Press | LA Street Food Fest
Time Out | Time Out Love Los Angeles Awards 2014: The Results
LAist | 10 of the Best Things We Ate at LA Street Food Fest
E! Online | 15 Things We Ate at the LA Street Food Festival (including the Infamous Churro Ice Cream Sandwich)
LA Times| LA Street Food Fest: Crispy octopus tacos, churro ice cream, and more
Fork Report | LA Street Food Fest at the Rose Bowl on June 28
LA Times | Jonathan Gold’s Top Picks of 2012
Food GPS | LA Street Food Fest 2012 @ The Rose Bowl
Huffington Post | LA Street Food Fest 2012 Preview: Buns & Balls Will Reign At This Year’s Event
CBS Los Angeles | LA Street Food Fest Returns for 3rd year
Smashbox Studios | Interview: Shawna Dawson & Sonja Rasula, LA Street Food Fest
Mondette | Eats- Preview of the LA Street Food Fest with Creators Shawna Dawson and Sonja Rasula
Featured Project Press | Test Kitchen
LA Magazine | Test Kitchen Returns Next Week at Bestia
Grub Street | Test Kitchen Returns With Five Chefs in One Night at Short Order
LA Magazine | Oh My Dinner: Pig’s Ear Nachos by Walter Manzke
New York Times, T Magazine | Feeding Frenzy