Zach Pollack’s Silver Lake restaurant Alimento was just shy of a month old when the chef decided to pop the question to his longtime girlfriend, Alessandra Torre, on her 30th birthday while she was getting ready for bed. “I could have postponed the proposal until I had more time to plan, but I was so tired of calling Ali my girlfriend and wanted to seal the deal,” says Zach, who met his now-wife in seventh grade but didn’t start dating her until college.

The proposal may have been spontaneous, but the wedding day was planned out like one of Zach’s thoughtfully orchestrated menus. A celebratory feast ensued at Greengate Ranch & Vineyard in San Luis Obispo, helmed by chef Neal Fraser, who mentored Zach more than a decade ago at the now-shuttered Grace restaurant. “I don’t often get asked to cook for chefs, especially ones who started out their careers with me,” says Fraser.

In addition to dishes the couple selected off Fraser’s menu at Redbird, the chef also prepared one of his signature whole roasted pigs. The meal was savored by fellow top toques and foodies in attendance, including Night + Market’s Kris Yenbamroong, best man Sang Yoon of Lukshon, and pastry chef Sherry Yard, who baked the couple’s spiced-carrot cake. “If Sherry Yard offers to make your wedding cake, you let her do whatever she wants,” says Ali. “Because it’s going to be beautiful, perfect and beyond delicious.” And it was. alimentola.com.

PHOTOS: Jenny Smith and Co.
Written and edited by Lesley McKenzie.