Looking Back At 7 Moments from Plate by Plate LA
Photobooth at the 9th Plate by Plate
Plate by Plate is a premiere tasting benefit that brings you an elevated dining experience in the heart of Los Angeles. Every year, all proceeds from Plate by Plate is donated to support programs and activities of the chosen beneficiary partner. Since our first annual tasting benefit in Los Angeles, this noble endeavor has drawn in thousands of attendees!
We welcome everyone from advocates and activists to foodies and celebrities. We survey our attendees, and they continue to cite the unique moments exclusive to every year as the attraction that convince them to come back.
There are lots of things to do at Plate by Plate beyond tasting, so let’s take a look back at some of our favorite moments from our past Plate by Plate events in Los Angeles that have drawn guests like you!
#1 Top Chef - Season 2
For our 4th Plate by Plate in Los Angeles, we invited the hit television series Top Chef to join our curated list of restaurants with a live contest for Season 2, Episode 2! The contestants split into Team Vietnam and Team Korea to deliver two separate multi-course series of tastings. Team Korea wowed us a delectable dish of spicy braised pork with kimchi sticky rice and lotus chips, while Team Vietnam served up a comfy bite of pork pho with carrot vermicelli.
Over a thousand attendees decided who won this challenge, but only one dish can reign supreme among the contestants’ entries. Watch a snippet of the episode to find out who won!
#2 Celebrity Sous-Chefs!
MC James Kyson Lee with a panel of celebrity sous-chef at 7th Plate by Plate
Not getting enough of the charming actor James Kyson Lee at the 6th Plate by Plate, we invited him back as the MC to host a fun and exciting round of guest sous-chef. Joining James was a huge crowd of celebrities including actor Archie Kao, dancer and voice actor Dante Basco, and actor Aaron Takahashi.
Then we were served a real treat when Debbie Lee (Next Food Network) joined James on stage to celebrate our “Golden Plate” and “Golden Beverage” awards for the best dish and best drink! What an amazing evening of laughter, as some of the guest celebrities even surprised us with their flairs of cooking!
#3 A Comedic Note with Aziz Ansari
Chef Marcel Vigneron (L) & Aziz Ansari (R) grabbing a bite from XIX
We were thrilled to invite the brilliant (and arguably the most observant comedian when it comes to the modern Asian American experience) Aziz Ansari to our 7th Plate by Plate at the beautiful California Science Center! What could be better than combining food and comedy together for an exclusive interaction with our VIP guests?
What about pairing Aziz with Los Angeles’ celebrity Chef Marcel Vigneron*? Together, this energetic and funny duo served up delicious bites from our VIP restaurant participant, the renowned restaurant, The Bazaar, in Beverly Hills!
*Chef Marcel is now the chef and owner of Wolf, the winner of the “Golden Plate” award for best dish at the 15th Plate by Plate!
#4 Spice it up with Wong Fu Productions!
Philip Wang (Wong Fu Productions) with the JRod Twins and Mike Bow
We get it. Foodies and vloggers love us. And we love you back!
We are always excited to welcome back the folks behind Wong Fu Productions! Wesley and Philip visited the 10th Plate by Plate via their popular series, “Wongfu Weekend”. Their recap video really highlights how much have Plate by Plate at Los Angeles has grown since 2002!
Both their production company and the non-profit organization behind Plate by Plate have signaled the emerging prominence of the Asian American experience, and it will be a pleasure for us to showcase how much have we grown since – all while consuming deliciousness from the best of the best chefs and restaurants in Los Angeles!
#5 National Recognition
PbP-LA President Vickie Chan (L) & US Congresswoman Judy Chu (R)
At the 14th Plate by Plate, Congresswoman Judy Chu* (CA-27) awarded our then President of Project by Project - Los Angeles, Vickie Chan, a Congressional Certificate of Recognition as a testament to her incredible dedication to this worthy cause that has touched scores of people’s lives (and their appetite)! Our gratitude towards her capacity as our president highlights that the nature of our movement is founded on the selfless volunteering work from every single member of our organization. We hope this year you will feel the same level of sincerity for our cause as Congresswoman Chu did!
*Her recent achievements include introducing and passing a Congressional resolution addressing the historic ramifications of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and working with President Obama to declare and protect the San Gabriel Mountains as a national monument.
#6 Siena & Toast
Siena & Toast performing at the 15th Plate by Plate
Siena Lee-Tajiri and Toast Tajiri of the group, Siena & Toast graced us at the 15th Plate by Plate with their enchanting voice that hearkens back to the lovely time of childhood happiness. Their first album, Makena, won “Folk Album of the Year” at the Hawaii Music Award in 2007. The songs from these incredible sirens echoed the beautiful atrium thru the evening, and heralded a calming but majestic tune!
#7 Announcement of our Chair
Plate by Plate - LA 2018 Chair Michelle Krusiec (L) and Actor Leonardo Nam (R)
We are excited to welcome actress and writer Michelle Krusiec as the Chair of the 16th Plate by Plate at Los Angeles! This newly introduced position will help promote and raise awareness of our selected cause in 2018: Asian American and Immigration! With her reach and starpower, we expect to hit our goal of contributing all our proceeds to the Mentored Path to Citizenship Program with our beneficiary partner OCA-GLA.
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We reminisce back to the moment when Siena & Toast played one of their songs, “House at Pooh Corner”, when we look forward to this year’s Plate by Plate at Los Angeles. As the lovable bear once commented on the joy of anticipation, “ Well, what I like best," and then Pooh had to stop and think, “although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called!”
We hoped that our followers, share the same anticipation of joy as the Philosopher Pooh-Bear when looking at our food pictures of the upcoming vendors! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for our spotlight series on the participant restaurants this year!
For more information, please visit https://platebyplate.org/la/