Stars and Chefs Help L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade Raise $1.2 Million to Fight Childhood Cancer

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The 10th annual L.A. Loves Alex’s Lemonade Stand benefit jointed a clutch of stars and more than 100 chefs and wineries to help fight childhood cancer on Saturday at UCLA.

Each year, personalities like Jimmy Kimmel and Laura Dern turn out to support the Alex’s fundraiser, check in with their favorite chefs, try new restaurants and bid on lavish auction packages.

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Kimmel said he supports Alex’s because “great people put it on, there’s great food and they do really good work.” The talkshow host said he enjoys seeing chef friends like Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo and pizza master Chris Bianco, but also checking out restaurants from far afield as Chicago, Charlotte, N.C., New Orleans and Miami.

The organization was started Alexandra Scott, who started her first lemonade stand fundraiser at just 4 years old. After she died of cancer, her parents Jay and Liz Scott carried on her work across the country.

Kimmel and his wife Molly McNearney donated a dinner at their Hollywood Hills barn featuring food prepared by their chef friends. Other auction items included a weekend at the Rosewood Miramar in Montecito with dinner from chefs Michael Cimarusti and Josiah Citrin, plus a visit from Pink and her winery.

Spotted at the lively tasting event was Dern with her mother Diane Ladd and daughter Jaya Harper, “Modern Family’s” Nolan Gould, Joe Mantegna, Timothy Olyphant, Kirsten Vangsness, Aisha Taylor and Johnny Knoxville.

Chef Ludo Lefebvre revealed his strategy for the best tasting festival food: “Something you can pick up and eat in two bites, that’s easy to plate and serve.” His offerings are always among the most unusual at the tasting event, and this year’s was no exception: crispy tapioca squares flavored with passion fruit and Parmesan were unexpected and memorable. Among the other restaurants represented were Republique, Border Grill, Jon & Vinny’s, Chicago’s Avec, Kismet, Otium, Redbird, Broken Spanish, Rossoblu and Providence.

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