On the triple-digit-hot day that was Thursday, April 27, some 12,000 local foodie philanthropists chose to keep cool by showing their community pride and participating in Dining Out For Life® at breakfast, lunch, happy hour, dinner, and late-night. And “cool” they indeed all were, sporting the badges of honor — those meaningful, orange and yellow “I Dined” lapel stickers — they earned by joining in a great cause on behalf of DAP Health. A total of more than $270,000 was raised in Greater Palm Springs, making this one of the best showings ever for the Coachella Valley.
DOFL is the annual, North America-wide gastronomic fundraising event that has not only collected more than $100 million for community-based HIV/AIDS service organizations since its inception in 1991, but perennially encourages those who may not know their HIV status to get tested so that they may be connected to the care they need to thrive.
Every year since 2005 (save for 2020 and 2021, when COVID-19 derailed best-laid plans), Greater Palm Springs has participated in the all-day/all-night affair during which the owners of many Coachella Valley restaurants, bars, cafés, and bakeries donate anywhere from 30 to 110% of their entire day and evening’s receipts — not just the profits — to the popular effort.
Each year, Greater Palm Springs not only joins more than 50 local nonprofits that partner with “2,400+ participating restaurants, 4,100+ volunteers, and 300,000+ diners to raise over $4.5 million for people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States and Canada,” per DOFL National’s website, but makes a rather valiant individual showing. In 2022, 68 desert restaurants participated to raise $207,000 — more than San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and other large urban centers — to make ours the second-most-successful market on the continent.
Number one was Denver. But since our Indio-Cathedral City-Palm Springs 2022 metro population came in at 487,000 — versus the winning city’s nearly 3 million — it’s clear that, when a per capita perspective is taken, Palm Springs actually was number one in community pride and generosity.
For 2023, with 72 establishments participating, every effort was made for DOFLGPS to officially take that top spot by encouraging diners to make more than one meal matter. Until all the beans are counted, we’ll patiently wait to find out if we succeeded in that goal. Either way, the day and night were smashing successes, with an inaugural Arenas Bar Crawl held the night before — at Blackbook, Chill Bar Palm Springs, Dick’s on Arenas, Hunters Nightclub, QuadZ Video Bar, and Streetbar Palm Springs — shedding an additional spotlight on the culinary benefit.
“FARM has been participating in DOFL since Mark and I took over [in 2017],” says Liz Ostoich, a power restaurateur who, with her husband, owns a total of four eateries. “Tac/Quila started participating just a few days after opening in 2019. That was brave, but we pulled it off. The Front Porch and Clandestino opened last fall, so this [was] their first year.” And why is being part of the fun so important to Liz and Mark? “We believe that being part of a community means investing in people, lifestyle, and infrastructure,” she continues. “DAP Health is an easy choice for investment, as this important organization cares about the whole of the person, meeting our residents where they are, and providing comprehensive health care wrapped in grace and compassion.”
“In the ’80s and ’90s, I lost two brothers and too many friends to HIV/AIDS,” says Palm Springs power diner Melissa Lundgren, who has dined out for life for the last 12 years — first in Nashville, and here for the last five years. As usual, in 2023, Lundgren spread the word high and low among family, friends, and co-workers, urging everyone to get their head in the game. “I so appreciate all of the AIDS service organizations that have worked so hard to get us to this point where the disease is no longer a death sentence. I will continue to dine out for life until there is a cure.”
“At its heart, Dining Out For Life is a win-win community event where people get together with friends to feast for the greater good,” has said DAP Health CEO David Brinkman. “Each year, I’m awestruck not only by the generosity of our participating restaurateurs, but by the enthusiasm and pride of our deeply committed desert dwellers. What a genius way to have fun while giving back.”
Naturally, DOFLGPS would not be the smashing success it always is without the generous support of sponsors such as Gilead, and Steve Tobin and Johnny Krupa of the Grace Helen Spearman Charitable Foundation.
About DAP Health
Founded in 1984 by a group of community volunteers, DAP Health is an internationally renowned humanitarian health care organization and federally qualified health center (FQHC). In 2012, the nonprofit expanded its scope to care for all people.
Thanks to nearly 40 years of caring for people both directly and indirectly affected not only by the HIV/AIDS epidemic but by various other public health emergencies, DAP Health has the physical and intellectual resources, the desire, and — most importantly — the imagination to effect even greater positive change in the desert and beyond.
The next epidemic hasn’t surfaced — yet. But just as DAP Health met earlier community health crises decisively and successfully, its experts stand at the ready.
2023 Dining Out For Life Greater Palm Springs Participating Eateries
533 Viet Fusion
1501 Uptown Gastropub
Al dente Trattoria Toscana
Aspen Mills Bakery & Cafe
Barracks Bar
Bar Cecil
Birba
Blackbook
Bongo Johnny’s
Boozehounds
Carousel Bakery
Chef Tanya’s Kitchen (Palm Spring)
Chef Tanya’s Kitchen (Palm Desert)
Chicken Ranch
Chill Bar Palm Springs
Clandestino
Coachella Valley Coffee
Copley’s on Palm Canyon
Cork & Fork
Cowboy Cantina
Del Rey at Villa Royale
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit
Dicks on Arenas
EIGHT4NiNE Restaurant & lounge
El Mirasol at Los Arboles
El Mirasol Cocina Mexicana
Elmer’s Restaurant
El Patio
FARM
4 Saints
Gelato Granucci
Grand Central Palm Springs
Heirloom Craft Kitchen
Hunter’s Nightclubs of Palm Springs
Ice Cream & Shop(pe)
I Heart Mac and Cheese
Impala Bar & Grill PSP
Jake’s
Johannes
Johnny Costa’s Ristorante
Kaiser Grille
King’s Highway
Loco Charlies Mexican Grill
Le Donne Cucina Italiana
Lulu California Bistro
MidMod Cafe
Mr. Lyons
Nature’s Health Food & Cafe
On The Mark
Palm Greens Cafe
Purple Room
Quadz Palm Springs
Reforma
RUNWAY Bar & Restaurant
Shame on the Moon
Sherman’s Deli & Bakery
So-Pa at L’Horizon
Spencer’s Restaurant
Street Bar
Tac/Quila
Tailor Shop
The Barn Kitchen at Sparrow’s Lodge
The Front Porch
The Pantry at Holiday House
The Penney
The Tropicale Restaurant & Lounge
Townie Bagels
Trio Restaurant
Tu Madres Cantina & Grill
Willie’s Modern Fare
Wilma & Frida’s Palm Springs
Zin American Bistro
