In a town full of transplants, the Passover holiday presents a unique challenge for Jewish residents without immediate family in the area. I’m speaking from experience. Every year, I wonder (read: stress) about the three whos: who will take us in, who will lead-and-read and who will doing the cooking?
A Passover seder is intended to be an annual rite of passage, as so many religions have in some form, but the menu if almost as challenging as the Hebrew prayers recited and symbolic rituals recreated, to say nothing of the downer stories of slavery, plagues and all-around suffering.
Cold fish balls and dry flatbread doesn’t sound all that enticing — yes, it’s ultimately all about the food — which is why I was so enchanted to learn of an elevated interfaith seder experience right here in Beverly Hills, courtesy of dining institution Spago.
Leave it to Barbara Lazaroff, co-founder and owner of restaurant (and the former Mrs. Wolfgang Puck), to host, curate and fundraise an evening that she calls “a sophisticated twist on the traditional Seder meal,” adding, “dare we say, your grandmother would be asking for the recipes.”
Indeed, I attended last year and was wowed by the quality — and quantity! — of the creative, multi-course meal which has all the pizazz of Spago’s staple offerings. The 2025 edition is to be held on April 13.
Spago executive chef Ari Rosenson, chef de cuisine Areg Avanessian and executive pastry chef Della Gossett present a menu that includes homemade gefilte fish, chicken and vegetable matzo ball soup, roasted wild Alaskan king salmon, braised beef short rib “Flanken,” vegetable ratatouille and roasted Moroccan carrots. For desert: matzo toffee, fromage blanc cheesecake, Passover puffs with caramel sauce and sorbet.
“Everything is made in-house,” says Lazaroff. “And the oven-baked matzah is the biggest hit each year; guests are gifted with a package to take home, along with our delicious coconut macaroons.”
The restaurant itself, meanwhile, is transformed with ballroom-like precision into a full-scale event space complete with a stage for musical performances and remarks.
In addition to gathering an eclectic room of local luminaries, Hollywood powerhouses and otherwise interesting people, the event serves to help feed and support underserved families in L.A. via the benefit MAZON and the Jewish Response to Hunger, a nonprofit working to end hunger among all faiths and backgrounds in the United States and Israel.
Multiple seatings are offered, starting at 5 p.m. Head over to Seven Rooms for more info.