L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade 2016, the 7th annual fundraiser for Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, an organization that raises money for childhood cancer research, took place last weekend on Royce Quad at UCLA, and once again did gangbusters. I’ll let the blurb on the top of the event website speak for itself:
Over 2,000 people attended our 2016 L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade event which brought in superstar chefs and mixologists from across the country to Los Angeles to lend their support and fight childhood cancer. This event on September 10, 2016 raised over $1 million. Our live and silent auctions brought in $440,000 alone. Late-night host, Jimmy Kimmel and several chefs pulled together two spontaneous dinners that went for a total of $110,000. The Kids’ Campaign raised $23,000 through their lemonade stands, bake sales and other creative fundraising activities throughout the year.
The event is known for bringing in top talent from across the country, but my favorite bites this year happened to all be from Los Angeles area chefs and restaurants. This year, some chefs teamed up to present a single dish, like Jeremy Fox (Rustic Canyon) and Bryant Ng (Cassia), or Josiah Citrin (Melisse) and Michael Cimarusti (Providence), and their dishes were among my favorites:
My wife’s favorite dish of the event was another chef collaboration, between Ben Ford (Ford Filling Station) and Neal Fraser (Redbird), among other highlights:
The event held a nice, low-key after party across from Royce Quad for the chefs, crew, staff, and volunteers. Roy Choi’s Kogi truck and Maple Block Meat Co. provided the food, while the drinks continued to flow. Cocktails were courtesy of Christiaan Rollich of the Lucques Group, who also made a delicious drink during the main event called the Rule Breaker.
In a sea of food events, this one probably ranks highest for me, and this year I was able to bring my wife and older daughter thanks to a handful of tickets that Table8 obtained by being a sponsor of the event and generously gave out to its members (those who were fast enough to grab them before they were all gone). As always, children 12 and under got into L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade free, so we were able to bring my younger daughter and a few of her friends, for a great time supporting a great cause!
For more of my food shots from L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade, check out my hashtag #offalolemonade2016 on Instagram! Already looking forward to next year!
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