MLB Life, popular spots celebrate Japanese culture in baseball at EEEEEATSCON LA

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. -- For two days, June 8-9, the Barker Hangar adjacent to the Santa Monica Airport hosted The Infatuation’s EEEEEATSCON, a gathering of some of the region's best and most popular local restaurants and eateries.

There was a palpable buzz in the air throughout the event, as influencers and Angelenos alike packed the hangar and enjoyed all kinds of delicious entertainment.

MLB Life hosted a sizable footprint, attracting more than 4,000 visitors into its space over the two days and offering all kinds of baseball-themed things to do: Fans and passers-by could watch Dodgers-Yankees, the London Series and two full days of baseball via big-screen TVs at the back of the space, pick up some free baseball cards and limited-edition MLB Life merchandise packs, take photos with a World Series trophy, get an up-close look at the last three Nike Jackie Robinson Day shoes, view anime-inspired baseball card art paying tribute to some of the game’s brightest stars such as Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Elly De La Cruz, and more.

The goal of the MLB Life footprint was to offer visitors a chance to take a break from the hustle of the rest of the festival with one of the more unique spaces offered at the event and celebrate the coolest aspects of baseball. And that’s exactly what the footprint provided, as only a few (if any) other vendors offered up a space as accommodating and sizable as this one, and with a theme that wasn’t solely focused on food.

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Previous MLB Life EEEEEATSCON events in Chicago and New York focused on food inspired by classic ballpark fare like nachos, French fries and desserts -- but at the L.A. event, the intention was to emphasize Japan’s influence on the sport and its culture as a whole.

In focus were The Brothers Sushi in Woodland Hills, Calif., and Budonoki in Virgil Village, Calif., each of which offered a limited menu of sushi and Japanese-inspired dishes for the event, with every order from both restaurants coming with souvenir MLB Life or Dodgers branded chopsticks.

Max and Natalie, first-timers to the EEEEEATSCON experience, found themselves immersed in all things baseball unexpectedly.

“I was waiting for him to get out of line,” Natalie said, “and I just kind of hung out, and started watching the game that was on,” as they prepared to dig into two dishes served up by The Brothers Sushi -- The Triple Play (a nigiri trio of bluefin tuna, salmon and yellowtail) and the Don (tuna, salmon, yellowtail, albacore and shrimp with a creamy soy sauce and marinated salmon roe on sushi rice, served in a mini baseball helmet).

“It’s not a bad place to watch some baseball,” Max added. While they were local to the area, Natalie pledged allegiance to her hometown St. Louis Cardinals, while Max cited Derek Jeter as his favorite player growing up.

Osher and Zoey, co-owners of Heirloom Pizza over in the Melrose Ave. shopping district of Los Angeles, also took in the ambience of the MLB Life footprint before they, too, indulged in the Triple Play and the Don.

“I really like it, the vibe and everything,” said Osher, standing at one of the bar tables in the space, while Zoey said it was a “nice surprise” to find a baseball-themed booth to appeal to her personal affinity for the Yankees, even as the New York rival Mets were displayed via the London Series game on the TV behind them.

Walking around any baseball stadium concourse these days, you’re likely to find sushi and/or Asian-inspired cuisines offered up alongside hot dogs, ice cream, beer and other ballpark staples. The Dodgers, for example, have an entire stand dedicated to takoyaki, delicious fried octopus balls of various flavors.

Exploring the grounds at EEEEEATSCON, it was apparent how popular the MLB Life footprint was; the Brothers Sushi stand had a sizable line and sold out by mid-afternoon each day, perhaps due to its popularity in the region (and the fact that its sushi dishes were served in little MLB Life baseball helmets). Budonoki was also busy serving up dishes to a steady line of customers, though co-founder Eric Bedroussian told MLB.com the restaurant opened its doors just seven months ago.

Fans were especially drawn to The Heater, offered up by Budonoki: Ora king salmon, Shiro miso and serrano peppers, arranged on a sample plate that offered a kick far stronger than its small size might suggest.

Bedroussian -- who grew up a Giants fan and held Barry Bonds as his favorite player -- multitasked while taking orders, commenting on the busy nature of the day in Budonoki’s first EEEEEATSCON experience.

“It’s going really well, we got a really big turnout,” he said, citing The Heater as the most-ordered item on the afternoon.

While juggling the assembly of several orders at the same time, The Brothers Sushi chef Mark Okuda remarked that each of their offerings -- including dry aged bluefin tuna nachos and a nigiri sushi combo, each served in a miniature MLB Life helmet -- seemed equally popular amid the interested visitors who had the booth packed consistently.

Teaming up with MLB in this fashion is “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Okuda, who grew up a “huge” Dodgers fan. He searched for the right answer as to his favorite player and settled on Tommy Lasorda’s personality as his answer -- a solid choice, honestly, as a significant figure in Dodgers lore.

At EEEEEATSCON, the partnership between Major League Baseball and these two sushi and izakaya restaurants effectively hybridized standard Japanese dishes with quick-bite, ballpark formats, and by all accounts it was a … home run.