It was a warm spring night, Champagne flowed freely, and the Huron Substation setting was both unexpected and spectacular, a vintage brick building in the oft-forgotten Cypress Park neighborhood with a high ceiling and a pair of King’s tables. The raison d’être was Le Fooding’s kick-off dinner for Le Grand Fooding Crush Paris-L.A., a two-night event at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA featuring avant garde chefs from Paris and Los Angeles. On April 25, Le Fooding founder Alexandre Cammas and MasterCard invited participating chefs, tastemakers and giveaway winners to experience food from Craig Thornton (Wolvesmouth) and Miles Thompson (Allumette), who traded contemporary courses.

My favorite plate was the fifth course, an original surf and turf featuring a meaty, caramelized slab of pork belly with a creamy, herbaceous remoulade, subtly sweet tostones, and crab salad with sweet, lump meat and crunchy snap peas. Yes, there were more elements, but we didn’t have a printed menu, and servers were stingy about dispensing keywords. No big deal. What mattered was enjoying the experience, and that was easy thanks to the vibe and dishes like Chef Thornton’s savory finale.