Los Angeles Times Unveils Lineup for Cook-A-Thon Benefitting World Central Kitchen

The Los Angeles Times today announced the lineup for its first-ever Food Bowl: Takeout and Give Back Cook-A-Thon. The online fundraiser in collaboration with World Central Kitchen will include cooking demonstrations, kitchen tours, recipe tips and conversations from an all-star roster of local and international culinary talent, plus celebrity appearances from actors Danny Trejo, Jack Black, Jamie Lee Curtis and Eric Wareheim, among others. The event will be livestreamed on Saturday, Oct. 17 beginning at 5:30 p.m. PT via the Los Angeles Times YouTube channel and Facebook page. The fundraiser also will air on Spectrum News 1 or on the Spectrum News App on Sunday, Oct. 18 from 1 to 3 p.m. PT.

Bringing together culinary stars from across the country and around globe, cook-a-thon special guests will include Alice Waters (Oakland), Ana Roš (Slovenia), Dominique Crenn (San Francisco), Éric Ripert (New York), Ferran Adrià (Spain), Fuchsia Dunlop (United Kingdom), José Andrés(Washington, D.C.), Josh Niland (Australia), Lamar Moore (Chicago), Musa Daĝdeviren (Turkey) and Zaiyu Hasegawa (Japan). Food personalities that will contribute to the event include Evan Kleiman (KCRW’s “Good Food”), Lisa McRee (Spectrum News 1 and L.A. Times’ “L.A. Times Today”) as well as writer and producer Phil Rosenthal (Netflix’s “Somebody Feed Phil”).

Participating L.A. chefs and restaurateurs include Daniele Uditi (Pizzana), Dave Beran (Dialogue and Pasjoli), Greg Dulan (Dulan’s), John Cleveland and Roni Cleveland (Post & Beam), Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Jon & Vinny’s), Jonathan Whitener (All Day Baby and Here’s Looking at You), Ludo Lefebvre (Trois Mec), Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger (Border Grill), Nick Montgomery (Konbi), Steve Samson (Rossoblu) and Wes Avila.

As a key initiative in the Takeout and Give Back campaign, which launched in August to garner awareness for local restaurants and communities impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, proceeds from the cook-a-thon will support hunger relief efforts in collaboration with the event’s charity partner, World Central Kitchen.

Hosted by The Times Food staff and guest co-hosts, Ludo Lefebvre and Evan Kleiman, the event will stream from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. PT on Oct. 17.

Highlights will include:

• World-renowned chef and World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés will present a special cooking demonstration, chef Greg Dulan will share his tips and tricks for cooking fried chicken and Australian seafood master Josh Niland will show viewers how to clean a whole fish.

• Eric Wareheim will showcase his culinary knife skills; Jack Black will talk about his favorite “yum yums”; Danny Trejo will discuss his passion for spices and his “Machete” kitchen knife; and Jamie Lee Curtis will tell viewers about her favorite restaurant in Los Angeles to eat takeout from during the pandemic.

• Viewers will get an inside look at the cooking spaces of acclaimed chefs with virtual kitchen tours from Daniele Uditi (Pizzana), Lamar Moore (Bugsy Meyer), Mary Sue Milliken (Border Grill) and Zaiyu Hasegawa (Den).

• World Central Kitchen chef partner Ludo Lefebvre and L.A. Times Senior Food Writer Jenn Harris will host a live discussion about the pandemic’s impact on the global food crisis and how the restaurant industry has been meeting the moment.

• L.A. Times Deputy Entertainment and Arts Editor Laurie Ochoa will present the fourth annual Gold Award to the 2020 award recipient, Post & Beam, followed by a live discussion with the restaurant’s chef-owner, John Cleveland.

The Takeout and Give Back Cook-A-Thon is sponsored by Food Bowl’s founding partner, Citi. To RSVP for the event and for additional information on how to donate, visit lafoodbowl.com. Connect on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @LAfoodbowl (#LAfoodbowl).