Chefs Helping Farmers

On Monday, I received an email from Evan Kleiman, owner/chef of Angeli Caffe on Melrose and voice of Good Food on KCRW. She and Suzanne Goin are organizing a series of special dinners to help some of the farmers who sell at local Farmers Markets that have been hurt by the recent Big Freeze.

Since its inception, the ExperienceLA website has promoted Los Angeles area Farmers Markets as a place where the local community can connect, eat healthy, bring visitors into the area, and support the farmers and their workers that sell a variety of farm products. In the Wednesday LA Times Food Section, Suzanne Goin talked about her motivation in calling on her friends to organize these dinners that begin on February 8th. The restaurants involved in these fundraising efforts have a symbiotic relationship with these farmers who provide a steady source of fruits and vegetables that are incorporated into the daily menus of these restaurants. The farmers have also listened to the chefs on the type of fresh ingredients that they would like to include in such meals. However, the recent Big Freeze destroyed upwards of 80% of these crops, putting a financial squeeze on many of these producers.

The link to the special ExperienceLA webpage with these dinners will be updated as more restaurants decide to participate. As of this morning, the following restaurants are participating: Angelli Caffe, Lucques, The Hungry Cat, AOC, Grace Restaurant, Border Grill, and Canelé. I've already made my reservations.