As immigration enforcement operations intensify nationwide, two Los Angeles chefs are hosting dinners — with tickets priced as high as $1,000 — to raise money for immigrant and refugee legal aid.
The dinners sold out almost immediately.
The first of the two dinners, scheduled for this Saturday, includes a 10-course tasting menu with wine pairings at a private residence by music industry veteran Sarah Lewitinn and chef Daniel Patterson. Patterson previously partnered on the modern soul food restaurant Alta Adams in South LA with Keith Corbin.
The second dinner is slotted for Tuesday at Guelaguetza in Koreatown. That one is a Oaxacan-style cookout featuring meats grilled live on site and assembled on fresh tlayudas.
In a statement, Guelaguetza’s chef Bricia Lopez said she wasn’t surprised by people’s willingness to participate.
“As an immigrant girl from Oaxaca, I’ve known fear, but I’ve also experienced the strength that comes from standing together in our power,” Lopez said.
Rebecca Yale and her husband Nick Andert live in the Mid-City area. They immediately snapped up tickets to the $1,000 Anti-ICE Supper Club dinner.
“It felt like a no-brainer to sign up for this one,” Rebecca Yale told The LA Local. “I’ve been feeling really helpless since the election. Everything is getting so bad so fast, exactly as was expected.”
The Anti-ICE Supper Club proceeds are going to Al Otro Lado, a nonprofit that provides legal and financial aid to migrants, refugees and recent deportees navigating the U.S. and Mexican immigration systems.
“There’s no price tag too high to fight them,” Andert added.
The dinners are organized by Roads & Kingdoms, an independent travel and food media company. It began as an online magazine and was backed by the late chef and TV host, Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain was its sole outside investor until his death.
“Food is the entry point to a lot of very deep topics around culture, history and politics,” Roads & Kingdoms co-founder Nathan Thornburgh told The LA Local. “It just breaks down all barriers, turns strangers into friends, neighbors into collaborators.”
This isn’t the first time Thornburgh’s company has used food to help immigrants.
In 2017, Roads & Kingdoms and Bourdain launched the Banned Countries Dinner Series in response to the first Trump administration’s travel bans.
Thornburgh noted that ICE has impacted restaurants at large. “Food systems are incredibly powered and reliant by immigrants,” he explained. An estimated 1 million people in the U.S. work in restaurants, according to the Center for Migration Studies.
“We are so deeply grateful to the Roads & Kingdoms team, chefs Daniel Patterson and Bricia Lopez for standing with immigrant communities and supporting us in this fight,” Al Otro Lado legal director Cassandra Lopez told The LA Local.
Lewitinn and Patterson previously partnered to host the tasting menu pop-up Jaca Social Club. Patterson told The LA Local that his new Jacaranda restaurant is set to open this spring in Beverly Grove.
Patterson said he quickly agreed to the fundraiser.
“Immigrants are the soul of our communities, especially in Los Angeles,” he said.
Los Angeles’ culinary scene offers globally diverse cuisine, making it one of the most competitive dining markets in the country. Restaurateurs have to battle on Instagram and TikTok, hire consultants for local SEO placement, make influencer partnerships and pay for targeted digital advertising just to stand out in such a crowded market.
Despite this, both pricey Anti-ICE Supper Club dinners have sold out within a week. In fact, the second one at Guelaguetza — with a price tag of $55 — sold out within 48 hours.
But Guelaguetza co-owner Fernando Lopez told The LA Local he wasn’t surprised that LA diners snapped up the pricey tickets.
“I think it’s a reflection of how people are feeling about ICE,” Lopez said.
The dinner series is already gaining support from more restaurants hoping to host their own Anti-ICE Supper Club event.
“We’ve been getting messages from all over the country from chefs who are saying, ‘How can we do this in my town?’” Thornburgh said.
