CRUSTACEAN
HIGH DINING – AND MEDIA HOLIDAY DINNER/November 15th 2023
Can’t think of a more appropriate word. Longtime owner and chef, “Mama” Helene An, is one of the pioneers of Asian fusion food: Vietnamese meets European meets American. She created Crustacean’s infamous garlic noodles, made with pasta instead of rice noodles, for an American palate. It’s the restaurant’s most famous dish – but the long, mostly fish, menu, is filled with creativity: caramelized prawn ravioli, spicy tuna ‘cigars’ with caviar, langoustine spring rolls, Vietnamese caesar salad, lemon chicken, filet mignon Shaken Beef, garlic crab, and basil or lychee sorbet.
On November 15, CEO Elizabeth An and her husband, entrepreneur Gordon Clune, invited special media guests/friends as a big thank you for supporting the place over years. What a holiday gift it was: cocktails and mocktails shook up patrons at the upstairs private bar), after which luxurious wines flowed to accompany countless courses.
Merle Ginsberg is a fashion writer and television personality who was one of the judges on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” in the first two seasons of the show. She is also an award winning journalist and writer, and a NY Times bestselling author. She started her long media career in NY at the Village Voice, MTV and Rolling Stone. Then, moving to L.A., she wrote for People, Us, L.A. Times and W Magazine and Women’s Wear Daily, where she presided over the West Coast bureau for 12 years, also contributing to L.A. Magazine, Jane and Details. She also served as Senior Style Editor of The Hollywood Reporter.
