This fundraiser for the LA Gay and Lesbian Center was quite divine! Bites of food, free flowing drinks, entertainment and auctions made the night fun, while raising money for a good cause. The $150 tickets as well as the proceeds from the live and silent auctions raised money for the Center, while providing us all with the opportunity to sample and enjoy some new restaurants.
The food and drinks:
Vegetarian and vegan options were limited, but sufficient and satisfying, while meat eaters had an ample selection ranging from sliders to ceviche. Susan Fenigers Street featured a delicious and refreshing edamame salad, which provided a healthy contrast for my next favorite. The Village Bakery featured my favorite desserts of the night, a decadent and rich vegan chocolate cupcake: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7Td2vaRiiU7HU5BqSoQBMg?select=rkff63Xw9WK1e3e_wNpPeA and the best colored/decorated item, a rainbow cake: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7Td2vaRiiU7HU5BqSoQBMg?select=CUufSS8Rlc8e3FspgJbDNw.
There was a great variety of drinks available, with numerous wine selections, as well as some liqueurs, margaritas, beers, and even champagne. Non-alcoholic options and bottles of water were also available, but didnt seem to be as popular! You probably wont get $150 worth of food if you bought a ticket, but the money is going to a good cause, which is why almost everyone was here to begin with! I was lucky enough to win tickets, but I couldnt help but bid on at least half a dozen items, so I know that my money went to an organization I am happy to support!
Regarding the event organization:
Some great things I appreciated:
-Plate + Wine holder combo made it so much easier to navigate the crowd by freeing up my drink-holding hand.. Every event should have these: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/7Td2vaRiiU7HU5BqSoQBMg?select=fVCYu2JB0R24aHj-985QDg
-The silent auction set-up was great! Ive seen good, great, and bad silent auctions and this was a great one. After signing up and giving my credit card info, I was given a sheet of bar code stickers to place on the bidding sheets. All the bidding sheets already had increments listed on them. No writing name, phone number, amount, etc. necessary! So easy and fast that it made it so easy to bid on so many, I just put my sticker next to my max bid amount. The items were also well organized based on type, such as restaurants, beauty/spa, travel, etc. A few days after the event, I received an email notifying me that I was a winner, and a few days later my card was charged and I got my certificates in my mailbox!
Area of improvement:
Compared to other similar events I have been to in the past, this one was crowded. While the lines were usually short and the items I was interested in trying didnt run out until the end of the evening, maneuvering from one area to the next was difficult at times. The space the event was held in was great for an event like this, but not for the amount of people.
Everything considered, especially the purpose of the evening made this event worthy of 5 stars! read more