California Spirit Gourmet Gala raises funds for American Cancer Society

There’s nothing like fantastic food (and lots of it)  from top Los Angeles chefs and great California wines to get people excited about supporting a very good cause.

Founding partner of the iconic Beverly Hills eaterie Spago, Barbara Lazaroff, along with her ex-husband chef Wolfgang Puck and friend — former head of Paramount Studios head Sherry Lansing – hosted the 27th annual California Spirit Gourmet Gala on Sunday (Aug. 7) benefitting the American Cancer Society. The ACS is the nation’s largest private, non-profit source of funds for ongoing cancer research.

Hungry Angelino foodies and wine lovers (over 650 of them) had a field day at the event held at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. Everyone was tasting the scrumptious creations from the top-rated chefs in Los Angeles with an excellent array of California wines.

The honoree of the event was Margaret Loesch, the founding CEO and president of The Hub, the children’s network brand on the Discovery Channel.

Lazaroff — an interior designer, artist, author and speaker — spoke about her commitment to the American Cancer Society. “It feels extraordinary to me because there are so many people supporting such an important cause,” Lazaroff explained.

“Because of the American Cancer Society, people are living longer and living well,” she added. Everybody’s lives have been touched by cancer. It’s a disease that does not discriminate between age, race, sexual orientation or religion. It’s a global issue and one we have to solve. We’ve found many of the answers, yet there are so many more yet to find out. But there is so much more hope these days. We’ve made amazing progress with our research.”

Loesch gave her thoughts on the fundraiser: “I’m very honored and I’m looking forward to meeting so many of the people that have been so generous with their time for this cause. This is a privilege for me and I so admire these wonderful people.”

Lansing, who left Paramount seven years ago, and is a co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer, now works full time on her Sherry Lansing Foundation, which supports cancer research, education and putting retired people back to work. She explains her ongoing involvement: “What I really feel so good about is the consistency of it all, that Wolfgang, Barbara and I have been involved for 27 years.”

“We basically have all the same chefs’ participation that we started with. Now we don’t have room for the new chefs who want to be involved. We can’t even invite more guests because the same ones come back every year.”

“I also feel so glad that this money is put to incredibly good use,”  Lansing added. “So, while we’re here eating the best food in the entire world the money raised will go to research, and that’s what I feel best about.”

For more information on how you can help the American Cancer Society, check out their California Facebook Page

Reporting credits: Leah Sydney

Photo credits: Courtesy of Barbara Lazaroff.