For three evenings this October, Executive Chef Danny Le serves his championship menu exactly as it was judged — at communal tables, just as the diners who voted for it were seated at the competition. Sixty seats an evening.
Scallop · Fried Sea Bream, served to share · Rack of Venison · The Snack Cake, reimagined
Friday, October 23, 2026Opening Night
Cocktail hour 6:00 · Dinner 7:00
Doors open at 6:00 PM for a no-host cocktail hour to open championship weekend. Dinner is served promptly at 7:00 PM.
$125 per guest plus a $5.88 booking fee ($130.88 all in), reserved online; tax and gratuity settled at the restaurant. Optional wine pairing, $75 per guest, added when you reserve: 2024 Hartford Court Chardonnay, Russian River Valley; 2024 Brooks “Amycas” White Blend, Willamette Valley; 2021 Teeter-Totter Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley; Blandy’s 5 Year Old Bual Madeira.
The menu is served exactly as it was judged, so the kitchen respectfully declines modifications and substitutions. Complimentary cancellation until two days before your evening (the booking fee is not refunded). Reservations close Friday, October 16.
The Evening
Three rounds. Three new menus. One room deciding.
On Monday, September 14, at Partake Collective in Downtown Long Beach, the diners in the room cast the final votes of the 2026 Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe. When they were counted, Executive Chef Danny Le of Chez Bacchus had won.
The Grand Prix Fixe is not judged by a panel. Eight Long Beach chefs are seeded into a bracket; two cook head-to-head each evening, three courses apiece, served side by side to the same table of guests. Those guests score each plate on presentation, taste, storytelling, and cohesion, and the chef who wins the room advances — with an entirely new menu required for the next round.
Chef Danny cooked three times. He won his opening round on August 25 against Chef Eduardo Chang of Sushi Nikkei, a menu Longbeachize described as “California-driven cooking … a tight progression from the sea to a richly braised centerpiece.” He won the semifinal on September 8 against Chef Jessie Franco of Zuzu’s Petals, in what the same writer called the tightest battle of the competition. And on September 14, in a sold-out finale opposite Chef Jordan Domingo of Slao, under the round’s theme of Seminal — the menu a chef would call their own — he won the room a third time, with the highest diner score of the evening.
The moment the result was read. Partake Collective, September 14, 2026. A phone snapshot, kept small on purpose.
We are quietly proud of this one for the same reason we are proud of the People’s Choice award from 2025: it was decided by people who sat down, ate, and said what they thought. There is no better jury for a cook.
Here, Every Week
The room he cooks from.
The competition dinners were held elsewhere in the city. The kitchen he cooks from every Wednesday through Sunday is at 743 East 4th Street — and for three evenings this October, it serves the menu that won the final.
The dinner menu here turns with the season. On Fridays and Saturdays, The Chef’s Table is the closest thing to the competition format: no menu and no selections, an evening composed by Chef Danny on the night, served at a communal table for two to ten guests. Reservations are confirmed by our Director of Hospitality with 48 hours’ notice.
To Brian Addison and Samuel Cornejo of Longbeachize, who built the Grand Prix Fixe and wrote every round of it. To Partake Collective, whose kitchen hosted all seven dinners. To the seven other chefs in the bracket — the competition was as strong as the city’s dining has become. And to the guests who bought a seat, tasted six plates, and voted with care: thank you.
After the result. The Chez Bacchus team at Partake Collective, September 14, 2026.
Good to Know
About the Grand Prix Fixe
What is the Long Beach Grand Prix Fixe?
An annual bracket-style dinner competition among eight Long Beach chefs, presented by Longbeachize with Partake Collective in Downtown Long Beach. Two chefs cook head-to-head each evening, three courses each, and the diners in the room vote on presentation, taste, storytelling, and cohesion. Winners advance with an entirely new menu each round. The 2026 edition ran from August 24 to the finale on September 14.
Who decides the winner?
The guests at each dinner. There is no judges’ panel. Every plate is scored by the people eating it.
Can I order the winning menu at Chez Bacchus?
For three evenings only. Chef Danny serves the exact menu that won the final on Friday, October 23, Saturday, October 24, and Sunday, October 25, 2026, at communal tables — $125 per guest plus a booking fee, reserved online. The rest of the week he cooks from a seasonal California menu, and on Fridays and Saturdays he composes The Chef’s Table — no menu, no selections, two to ten guests at a communal table, with 48 hours’ notice.
How do I reserve?
Through OpenTable or by calling (562) 336-1440. Dinner is Wednesday through Sunday, 5:00 to 9:30 PM. Afternoon Tea is Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
The Kitchen
Meet the Team
Executive Chef Danny Le came to the room by way of Napa Rose. Read about him, Proprietor and Advanced Sommelier John Hansen, and Master Sommelier Michael Jordan.
