Celebrating Laurent Manrique
Founder of Taste & Tribute
Compassion itself is a gift. It's an even more beautiful thing to turn that compassion into action, and rarer still to bring others along with you.
Laurent Manrique’s path to this impact started somewhere unexpected: a few classes at the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley, taken after the acclaimed French chef moved from New York to the Bay Area in 1999. What he encountered there, and what he learned about the plight facing Tibet's culture and people, left him asking a simple question: what could he do to help?
Drawing on his own talents as an Executive Chef, he proposed a benefit dinner and invited his friends, some of the finest chefs in the area, to join him for a good cause.
The first Taste & Tribute benefit gala took place in 2001, in support of the mission of the nonprofit Tibetan Aid Project to support Tibet’s culture through book distribution. Held for over a decade in the ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel in San Francisco, the event featured up to 24 of the Bay Area’s star chefs cooking tableside for 220 guests, exquisite cuisine, fine wines, and dazzling live and silent auctions. Laurent was not only a participating chef at each event, but a leader and guiding force. His energy and goodwill helped create an event that others were naturally drawn to. From 2008 to 2011, the event even expanded to a second dinner in New York City.
Suspended during the pandemic from 2020 to 2022, Taste & Tribute returned in 2023, reimagined as a select gathering at the Nyingma Institute in Berkeley. The annual event continues its mission with an intimate group of 60-70 guests, showcasing local and visiting chefs who bring a community-focused approach to the culinary experience. The seeds that Laurent planted continue to grow, calling new chefs and supporters to the table each year and continuing his spirit of generosity.
Though Laurent has stepped down as Lead Chef, he remains a close advisor and a dear friend. Every book that reaches a monastery, every text placed back into the hands of a young monk or nun, carries something of the evening he imagined. We are profoundly grateful for his confident vision, generous heart, and continuing guidance.
