It's common practice for politicians to call on their powerful friends to help raise money. Hollywood has long been involved in politics, and wealthy socialites and campaign fundraiser parties need one another to thrive and survive. But it's new for us to see prominent chefs in the city get involved in city politics quite as publicly as an upcoming fundraiser dinner being held for mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti.

Chefs For Garcetti, which will be held at Petersen Automotive Museum on Feb. 20 and is open to the public, features John Sedlar of Playa and Rivera, Jason Travi of Littlefork, Ricardo Zarate of Picca and Mo-Chica, Jiro Kobayashi of Sushi Roku, Antonia Lofaso of Black Market Liquor Bar, and Kris Morningstar of Ray's and Stark Bar. You can get in and enjoy “savory small bites, hand-crafted cocktails, and music” for $125, but you can also pay $500 to be considered a “friend” or $1,300 to be considered a “host.”

We asked Sedlar why he decided to get involved with Garcetti's campaign. “We chefs are quite opinionated, as you know, so it's natural for us to get behind civic leaders that we feel have good credentials and high morals,” Sedlar said. “To not get involved could mean the wrong person could land in office and that's just not an option if we can help prevent it.”

Garcetti has long been pegged as a guy who enjoys the finer things in life, so it's probably not that surprising he knows a few of the city's top chefs and would call on them to help him with his campaign.

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