[dropcap size=big]E[/dropcap]very first Thursday night of the month, the Far East Plaza hosts an event called Chinatown After Dark that has emerged as a favorite food incubator for young cooks. It’s a food open mic with a strong sense of community.
Attendees will wander through the stalls and work their way through each vendor. Then they’ll eat on the picnic-style tables with colorful floral table covers. “It’s like a backyard party,” says Jessie Nicely, a chef from the Bay. The crowd at After Dark is made up of loyal returnees, loyal social media followers, or some stragglers from the enormous line at Howlin’ Rays downstairs.
At After Dark you’ll find Royce Burke, of Secret Lasagna and Yarrow Cafe fame, cooking up something he came up with that day. You might see chef Nicely expressing her Burmese roots with Burmese Please. Other times you can find young chefs like Johnny Lee, previously of Side Chick and Monkey Bar, staging his cantonese concept, PRD. Notable past chefs have included: Alta cuisine chef Ted Montoya; Isa Fabro, a pastry chef who specializes in Filipino baked goods; and Beth Kellerhalls the pastry chef of Good Gravy Bakes, who created desserts for Kogi, Crawfords, and several others.
On occasion big chefs like Roy Choi have stopped by. Even the late Jonathan Gold was known to make an appearance. Burke tells L.A. Taco that he got to cook for Jonathan Gold because of After Dark. “I wouldn’t be where I’m at in my career without After Dark,” Burke says. “I’d do anything for them.”