Celebrity Chefs Unite To Create An Elevated Vegetarian Feast [PHOTOS]

Man, I love watching celebrity chefs in action. Years ago, it was through binging reality cooking shows on my laptop. Recently, however, I was privileged enough to see some of my culinary idols work up close.

At the recent All Star Chef Classic, some of those idols chefs Richard Blais (Juniper & Ivy), Michael Voltaggio (ink.well), Josef Centeno (PYT), Amanda Cohen (Dirt Candy), and Wylie Dufresne (Du’s Donuts) came together to headline a stadium full of hungry Angelenos where they prepared a multi-course vegetarian feast.

Held at the Event Deck at LA Live, the five-course meal featured each chef’s take on elevated treatment of vegetables, paying homage to the growing popularity of plant-based dishes as of late.

Each chef was tasked with creating an amuse-bouche, a main course, and an alcoholic pairing for their meal. Below are some photos capturing the events of the first dinner of the Classics.

Left to right: Chefs Dufresne, Voltaggio, and Blaise.

Amanda Cohen’s confit carrots.

Michael Voltaggio crafting his sunflower seed risotto milanese.

Josef Centeno’s castelfranco and sprouting brassica salad.

Wylie Dufresne hard at work.

Michale Voltaggio’s beet shank and sunflower seed risotto.

Richard Blais demonstrating his spring onion and ricotta dumpling course.

Amanda Cohen preparing to demonstrate her vegetable course.

Wylie Dufresne’s frosted donut dish.

Somewhere in my dream journal regular journal is a bucket list featuring some of these very chefs, where young me dreamt of trying their cooking once before dinner reservation in the sky. Now, not only do I get to check off some of those names (looking at you, chef Dufresne) I can say I enjoyed one of the best vegetarian meals of my 20-something year old life.

Even though I’m a meat eater at heart, I have to say this dinner actually made me forget about my carnivorous cravings — at least for those three hours that I was there.