Chef Johnathan Benvenuti—the “Hell’s Kitchen” runner-up whose Bar Becky gave Long Beach some of its most personal, playful Italian-American food—is bringing his food back for the ultimate Friendsgiving. And he is bringing three chef friends with him.
Dubbed “Hell of a Feast,” the Nov. 17 gathering at The Linden Club in Bixby Knolls will bring together Chef Johnathan, fellow “Hell’s Kitchen” alumni Dafne Mejia and Cody Candelario, and former Bar Becky sous chef Nathan Vo for an evening that takes the familiar comforts of Thanksgiving and gives them a rather glorious detour. Of course there will be aged duck with foie gravy. Of course there will be pasta with turkey neck. And yes, there will be fried mashed potato balls with caviar aioli.
“This is honestly just a way for me to reconnect with both Long Beach and my friends,” Chef Johnathan said. “We have such a diverse array of backgrounds—Honduran, Vietnamese, Spanish, Italian… It’s just going to be cool seeing XO sauce next to gravy. We’re making the food we grew up on, and we hope the guests enjoy that nostalgic journey with us.”
And yes: Chef Johnathan’s famed sourdough focaccia, this time accompanied by duck liver mousse and dashi olives. Please plan your emotional reunion accordingly.
Bar Becky’s doors closed. But Chef Johnathan’s connection to Long Beach continues with “Hell of a Feast.”
The loss of Bar Becky at Long Beach Exchange this summer left a particular kind of hole in the city’s dining scene. Named for Chef Johnathan’s mother, the restaurant made room for food that carried family memories while allowing its kitchen to keep experimenting. It was a place where comfort could be the starting point for something unexpected.
This dinner offers a welcome chance to reconnect with that cooking—and with the collaborative spirit that helped make Bar Becky so compelling.
Chef Johnathan has already shown what can happen when he uses his relationships to bring other chefs into Long Beach’s orbit. His previous “Hell’s Kitchen” alumni dinner at Bar Becky brought Season 22 winner Ryan O’Sullivan and third-place finisher Sammi Tarantino into the kitchen. The appeal extended beyond recognizing someone from television: Diners could experience how those chefs cooked together, with each contributing to a dinner rooted in the restaurant hosting them.
“Hell of a Feast” carries that idea into a new room. A restaurant’s closure can scatter its community; a dinner like this gives that community another table to gather around.
Four chefs bring different experiences to the Friendsgiving table.
Joining Chef Johnathan, the Season 22 runner-up, is Chef Dafne Mejia, who finished as runner-up on Season 21, and Chef Cody Candelario, whose Season 19 run placed him among the competition’s top five.
Then there is Nathan Vo, whose résumé connects SingleThread, Bar Becky, and his current role as executive chef at Brodard. His participation makes this something of a reunion within the reunion: A former member of Johnathan’s kitchen returns alongside friends connected through the television competition.
That mix is precisely what makes these collaborations worth paying attention to. Johnathan’s connections create opportunities for Long Beach diners to encounter chefs with different kitchen backgrounds, approaches, and reference points in a single evening. And the holiday gives them a shared language to work with: bread, squash, poultry, potatoes, something sweet at the end.
Looking at the menu, they have plenty to say.
Expect Thanksgiving comfort with some very welcome twists.
The opening stretch moves from tuna crudo with honeynut squash and pickled seaweed to chicories with apple, blue cheese, and fennel pollen. Fried mashed potato gets caviar aioli; grilled chicken wings meet rosemary stuffing. Prawn toast arrives with lemongrass curry and apple nước chấm, bringing another interpretation of autumn’s familiar fruit into the mix.
The heartier portion of the menu is where the holiday references become especially fun. Aged duck comes with fermented cranberry and foie gravy—a particularly enticing answer to the usual poultry-and-cranberry pairing. Orecchiette brings together smoked beans and turkey neck, giving turkey a place in the feast through pasta.
Alongside that returning focaccia are asparagus and prosciutto with koji and Sichuan pepper; acorn squash with mint, pomegranate, and pistachio; and Long Beach mushrooms with chestnut and pumpkin seed. It is a spread that gives vegetables their own reasons to command attention.
Dessert keeps the same restless spirit. Banana bread tiramisu incorporates miso, cocoa nib, and hazelnut. Candied yams come with macadamia milk, piloncillo, and honeycomb. Chocolate-and-vanilla-swirl pan dulce rounds out the menu.
“Hell of a Feast:” What else do I need to know about?
For those who miss Bar Becky, there is an obvious draw in seeing Johnathan and Nathan cooking together again. For everyone else, it’s a chance to see what happens when four chefs build a holiday meal around their collective talents.
Either way, come hungry and get your Friendsgiving on in a way like no other.
“Hell of a Feast: A Chef’s Friendsgiving” takes place Tuesday, Nov. 17, at The Linden Club, located at 3636 Linden Ave., with seatings at 5:30PM and 8PM. $125 per person, including dinner and a welcome cocktail; additional beverages are available for purchase. Reservations are limited. Book through Eventbrite. The event is 21 and older.
