The average wedding registry is filled with blenders, dishware and sets of fancy glasses and knives. Bride-to-be Liv Dansky didn’t need any more kitchen equipment.
As a seasoned recipe developer, food writer and kitchen gear reviewer, her collection of appliances rivaled the most well-stocked test kitchens in the country. When it came time to marry her longtime boyfriend, she knew they didn’t want, or need, a traditional wedding registry.
She and Jeffrey Rosenthal met at Washington University in St. Louis. He was from Manhattan Beach. She was from Denver. Their relationship blossomed as the two ate around their new city, trying as many restaurants as they could on a college kid’s budget.
“Exploring restaurants and food are my love language,” says Dansky. “I love trying new restaurants, and so does he.”
With her heart set on a career in food, Dansky spent a year abroad at Le Cordon Bleu in London. Rosenthal continued his medical studies, and Dansky eventually landed a job in the test kitchen of Food & Wine and Southern Living magazines in Birmingham, Ala. She spent her days shopping for groceries, assisting with food styling on shoots and testing and developing recipes.
When the two decided to marry and move to Los Angeles, they knew how they wanted to discover their new home together.
“Food has just been my entire life,” says Dansky. “I decided that it would be fun to get gift cards to restaurants in Los Angeles because it’s a really great way to get to know a city,” she says.
Her Los Angeles bridal shower took place in a back room at Mercado La Paloma with food from Gilberto Cetina’s Holbox on the tables. And the invitation included a special request for guests in the form of a poem:
As you may know, Liv and Jeff love to eatExploring food in L.A. will be such a treat From Salt & Straw to Sugarfish Even In-N-Out is so delishSo instead of gifting them a new Crock-PotPerhaps a gift card to a restaurant that’s hot!Although a registry is the typical dealI bet they would love to try your favorite meal.
The guests delivered. Dansky and Rosenthal received dozens of gift cards to restaurants all over the city. There were classics like Dan Tana’s and Musso & Frank, award-winning restaurants like République and Bavel. The selection ranged from Pink’s Hot Dogs to the crisp, white-tablecloth-covered tables at Nancy Silverton’s Osteria Mozza.
“It was so fun,” says Dansky. “Jeff’s aunt really took it to heart and she got us a ton of gift cards to places we probably would have never gone to like Dan Tana’s and Philippe’s.”
Rosenthal’s aunt arranged the gift cards in a binder with specific instructions for the newlyweds. They could use the the cards for a date night at least once a month. And for each meal, she included two blank note cards.
“How about writing about the food and your favorite dish,” she wrote. “Possibly write about another restaurant that you want to try that has the same chef.”
She told the couple to keep the note cards a secret and share the memories with each other the following year.
Dansky and Rosenthal found themselves all over Los Angeles. They obsessed over Margarita Manzke’s baguette at République, ordered with both butter and pan drippings. Though Rosenthal has spent a fair amount of time in the South, she couldn’t get enough of the shrimp and grits at Keith Corbin’s Alta Adams in West Adams and the cornbread at Hatchet Hall in Culver City. She’s still dreaming about an orange meringue dessert from Funke in Beverly Hills and a plate of crispy rice with squid ink she ordered as a special at Crudo e Nudo in Santa Monica. They spent the day in Pasadena after a meal at Union, an excellent Italian restaurant in Old Pasadena.
“I had never been to Pasadena, so it was fun to get to explore new parts of the city,” Dansky says. “I mostly just want to eat out, and we don’t really do a lot of other things. I would have spent all this money eating at these restaurants, so it saved us quite a bit.”
With restaurants and food vendors across the city still struggling to recover from the Hollywood strikes, January fires and the immigration raids and demonstrations, the gift cards were also a way to help Los Angeles restaurants. Gift certificates offer immediate revenue and often lead to repeat customers and diners spending more than the total value of the cards.
Dansky says she and Rosenthal have already returned to some of the restaurants they discovered through the certificates multiple times. They’re now budding regulars at Hatchet Hall.
After a year and a half of eating their way through the city, they still have a few gift cards left. Lobster rolls at Brooke Williamson’s Playa Provisions, French dips at Philippe the Original and sandwiches at Johnnie’s Pastrami in Culver City will all be future date nights.
“I lived in a lot of cool places, but in L.A., anything you want is accessible,” Dansky says. “On the weekends, we can spend the entire day running around, eating and exploring new neighborhoods. It’s the best way to get to know a city.”
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