Leave it to the world’s strongest creators to take a plunge into uncharted waters. David Dobrik, the prince of digital entertainment, celebrated his 26th birthday on July 24th with a clamor of friends and high-profile names in the business, standing as one of LA’s most coveted events of the year. Among those in attendance, New York’s culinary captains at Something Good Hospitality curated a supple menu of Michelin-made snacks and finger foods that stole the show entirely, a pleasant surprise for a foodie like Dobrik. Set against the balmy sunsets of Beverly Hills, the event was more than a birthday party and represented the artistry that blooms from collaborative affairs that unite diverse industries. With Dobrik’s arsenal of influencers and digital creators matched with the elevated dining experiences that have become synonymous with Something Good Hospitality, July 24th became a celebration of innovation and good taste, from the food and drink to the whirling music ensemble. Excellence demands creativity, and the resulting demonstrations at Dobrik’s party highlighted the most exciting developments in modern cuisine and hospitality.
In 2013, Dobrik became a household name on Vine, the video-sharing platform that laid the foundation for TikTok years before it took flight. His warm and playful content held court on digital domains, where he eventually disrupted the YouTube community after launching his own channel in 2015. Since then, Dobrik has remained a force in various corners of entertainment, taking projects in voice acting and television in addition to his regular video content. That being said, it’s no surprise that his birthday celebration welcomed some of the hottest names in media today, including Josh Richards, Madison Beer, Toddy Smith, and, of course, the Vlog Squad. In addition to nearly 400 in attendance, the party was peppered with 1970’s nostalgia, shaped by the crooning melodies of an ABBA cover band.
This kaleidoscope of characters was to be expected, as Dobrik routinely enjoys millions of views and subscribers to his YouTube channel each month. The setting was Sherman Oaks, the refreshments were Lobo’s tequila, one of Something Good’s long-standing partners, and the fit was undeniably groovy and casually deluxe. Between the sparkling disco balls and volcanic spirits, guests were treated to a savory menu by Chef Raphael Jacob Khutorsky and the team of Something Good Hospitality, a powerhouse in experiential culinary installations.
Officially introduced in New York earlier this year, Something Good Hospitality takes the opulence of a fine dining cocktail and shakes things up a bit. This collective of Michelin-star chefs and culinary creatives is redefining the essence of quality food experiences by challenging our understanding of what “fine dining” is and how we access it. Chef Raph comes from a diverse background in food that spans years of refined innovation in traditional spaces, part of the anatomy that makes Something Good Hospitality so unique. Chef Raph and his team bring elevated cuisine to pop-ups, functions, special events, and private parties, often paired with unconventional industries that support one another through a shared understanding of excellence. Earlier this year, Something Good Hospitality teamed up with their stronghold alliance with Lobo’s tequila to raise funds for the war in Ukraine, an event that generated conversation around the power of good food and drinks worldwide.
At Dobrik’s birthday celebration, Chef Raph marqueed a menu featuring dynamic spins on familiar favorites like the Nashville Hot Chicken Sando, Heirloom Tomato Schnitzel, and a cacio e pepe fresh black truffle pizza, which Dobrik himself devoured with ease. Chef Raph was joined by partner Chef Owen L’Aquila, who served as sous chef at New York’s Carbone and also co-designed the evening’s menu offerings. Both Chef Owen and Chef Raph bring a bombastic panache for Italian cuisine to Something Good Hospitality’s pantry, building off years of perfecting the art and science behind housemade pasta and coastal Italian flavor. The L’Aquila Pasta, for example, featured housemade cavatelli, broccoli rabe pesto, and parmesan, a sinuous staple in seaside villages and a perfect dish for LA’s oceanic climate. The most notable feature of having Something Good Hospitality counted at any event is the scale of their quality second to none, albeit their versatility and malleability in any given space. Chef Raph spent several years learning from the seasonal enclaves of the west coast while stationed in San Francisco, nurturing his love and appreciation for locally-sourced provisions and farm-to-table relationships.
In New York, where Something Good Hospitality currently maintains an outpost and kitchen in SoHo, Chef Raph is a regular at local farmer’s markets, where he has fostered those relationships on trust and transparency, two top-shelf ingredients that always find their way into his craft. Because of his intentional approach and commitment to creativity, Chef Raph routinely elevates quality to new standards we typically only find in stuffy establishments that call for a suit and tie. Given his colorful background with names like Atera and Marea, where he learned the art of handmade pasta, and the Gramercy Tavern, where the cooking was largely performance-based, Chef Raph is opening the shutters on fine dining to reveal a space where everyone has a seat at the table. Something Good Hospitality is known for uniting different markets like art, technology, and music over a shared appreciation for good food and good times, as was the case with Dobrik’s birthday party, where guests had the opportunity to observe the craftsmanship first-hand by looking over Chef Raph and Chef Owen’s shoulder. Fine dining at your fingertips never tasted so good or felt as fun as it was under LA’s twilight.
Creating community is embedded in the DNA of people like Dobrik and Chef Raph, who find compassion and a sense of purpose in camaraderie. Dobrik’s extensive network of artists and fellow creatives breach all forms of categorization and coexist in a compelling space that awards supportive connections. Similarly, Something Good Hospitality’s brigade of Michelin-starred chefs does more with their craft that goes beyond the dinner table. The company’s decorated partnerships with Luxury Lifestyle, Lobo’s Tequila, and the Billionaire’s Club positions their services as a premiere destination for affluent culinary craft, but the experience is built upon community, quality, and memories packed with flavor.
A birthday celebration like Dobrik’s 26th highlights the best parts of humanity. As a people, we love nothing more than sharing experiences with creative minds over stellar food and drink, bonus points if ABBA is involved. The unique approach to cuisine and culinary arts driven by Something Good Hospitality is just the beginning of a new era in experiential dining, and with names like Chef Raph and Chef Owen writing the recipe for prolific progress in food affairs, we’ll know what’s coming next when we taste the difference for ourselves.
Written in partnership with Ascend
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