After a tournament that began with eight of Long Beach’s strongest culinary talents, Chef Danny Le of Chez Bacchus has emerged as the winner of the second annual Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe.
Chef Danny defeated Chef Jordan Domingo of the Slao steakhouse pop-up in the final round at Partake Collective in DTLB, earning the highest diner score and closing out a competition that spanned multiple weeks of head-to-head dinners. Chef Jordan had advanced to the finale after defeating Chef César Sánchez of Ruta 15 in the semifinals, while Chef Danny secured his place by prevailing over Chef Jessie Franco of Zuzu’s Petals.
The finale provided a fitting conclusion: two chefs whose cooking comes from incredibly similar approaches—classically trained, leaning into French-Californian influences—each given an evening to show what they could accomplish outside the usual expectations of their restaurant or pop-up.
As is tradition with the finale, and in the spirit of the competition, guests have no menus upon arrival. Served in true omakase style, it asks the patron what we’ve asked the whole time: to trust the people who make their community’s food.
Chef Jordan Domingo comes to the finale with finesse, technical precision, and wild effects.
Chef Jordan structured his menu around color, bringing in a flair and sense of showmanship that was, truly, marvelous.
Beginning with “Fire,” this amuse-bouche was a crab cake at heart, lined with smoked paprika and cilantro as its stars. Of course, patrons had to set fire to the box the dish was presented in, revealing the bite-sized crab cake.
“Orange,” his appetizer, was a sculptural stunner: a wreath of perfectly placed, various leaves and small flowers spiraling from an ice-mold cup, where Ora King salmon slivers were shaped into a flower with gooseberry, ginger, and kohlrabi, topped with nitroglycerin-ed marigold leaves that became a dusty topping.
For “Red,” he served a Snake River Farms flat iron with celery root, kale, beets and a smoked strawberry jus that tasted of red wine but had not one drop.
His concluding “Gold” dessert—a crowd wow-er with its bubbling “sauce” used to accompany the plated dish—brought together passion fruit, jasmine and vanilla.
Chef Danny Le went with the style he knows best: Californian in sensibility, French in technique.
Chef Danny opted for a menu that offered a bit of every part of who he is: Asian in heritage. Californian in spirit. French in technique. Witty and whimsical when needed.
Photos by Brian Addison.
Chef Danny opened with his most accessible dish of the evening: a scallop amuse-bouche topped with fried onion, layered with garnet yam, and served with a smoking bushel of herbs.
Photos by Brian Addison.
This was followed by a fried sea bream, whose meatiest sections were portioned out, battered, and fried individually while the rest of the body was fried separately. Serving patrons a plate of Asian slaw slathered in a gochujang vinaigrette, the fish’s body was used a frame for the fried chunks, individually plated before patrons were allowed to pick at the fish as a whole. It was Chef Danny’s way of “introducing the communal eating habits of my Asian heritage within a tasting menu.
Photos by Brian Addison.
Next was his rack of venison, resting on a wonderfully smooth chestnut puree and surrounded by charred chanterelles and Romanesco cauliflower. Hearty and rich, it was—for some—their first time having deer, with some calling it “better than a rack of lamb.”
At the end, Chef Danny aimed for pure nostalgia, creating an elegant version of what might be called a mix between a Little Debbie Nutty Bar, a Reese’s peanut butter cup, and a Nutter Butter. Peanut butter and heavy cream are whipped into a delicate cream, placed atop house-made wafers crafted from crepes, and paired with dots of marshmallow, nuts, and chocolate.
Why the Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe isn’t just a competition…
At its best, the competition creates a kind of temporary culinary laboratory: a space where chefs can serve food that might be too costly, unfamiliar or risky to earn a permanent place on a restaurant menu. A whole fried sea bream or rack of venison can ask more of a diner than the dependable dishes that keep a dining room full.
In a competition, however, that uncertainty becomes part of the appeal. Guests arrive expecting to be challenged, and chefs are granted permission to move beyond what their customers—or even their own restaurant concepts—usually demand of them.
That freedom matters in a city filled with chefs whose abilities often extend far beyond the menus they oversee each night. Restaurants require consistency and must answer to labor costs, food costs, recognizable branding and the practical realities of attracting repeat business. The Grand Prix Fixe temporarily loosens those restraints, allowing participating chefs to cook more personally and express themselves without having to wonder whether every idea could survive as a permanent menu item.
The competition also creates a direct line between those chefs and Long Beach diners. Someone encountering Chef Danny’s cooking for the first time at Partake Collective may now be more inclined to visit Chez Bacchus. A diner introduced to Chef Jordan through the finale may follow Slao into its next pop-up or eventual permanent home. The same is true for the six chefs eliminated in earlier rounds: Every dinner became an introduction, and every introduction has the potential to develop into stronger, longer-lasting patronage.
A personal note about the Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe…
While last year’s competition was filled with chefs who have cemented themselves into the Long Beach food scene—perpetually active social accounts, restaurants that have spanned years upon years, ownership of their spaces, a presence established beyond their restaurants…—this year was filled with chefs I feel deserve that clout but haven’t yet received it.
And with the utmost sincerity, I thank each of them. There is a weight to agreeing to do something like this—anxiety about potential performance, the drive to want to win, the ever-present self-questioning that could steer toward a goal or a cliff…—and I can genuinely say each chef performed with class, tact, and humility.
There was a camaraderie built. They shared a mutual respect for everyone’s skills. A shared desire to challenge oneself. And the collective belief that community can be built through food.
The relationship is reciprocal with patrons: the Grand Prix Fixe doesn’t just ask diners to watch chefs compete; it asks them to invest their attention in the people shaping Long Beach’s culinary identity.
Long Beach has both the culinary talent and the dining audience to sustain an event built around experimentation. Eight chefs produced two finalists, and two distinctly personal menus produced one winner. For this iteration, that winner is Chef Danny Le—a chef who entered the finale representing Chez Bacchus and left it as the newest champion of the Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe.
