This week's cover story examines Dinner Lab, the pop-up dinner company that's looking to build a restaurant based on customer feedback and other data. A membership in L.A. — necessary just to get the chance to attend one of Dinner Lab's pop-ups— is $175. And after that you still have to pay for dinner. (Getting to be a part of the process that builds the first data-driven restaurant? Priceless!)

But there's a way around that: A charity dinner scheduled for Aug. 14 will be first and only event that's open to the non-membership-holding public. And it's a really cool dinner at that. 

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The dinner is titled With Love To Mexico, and proceeds will go to Mexico Unido, a charity organization promoting peace and justice in Mexico. The idea began with a young chef, Francisco Guzman, who works at Scratch Bar in Beverly Hills. In addition to raising money, Guzman hopes to bring awareness to the problems of violence and drug cartels in his homeland. And he and Dinner Lab have brought together a number of talented chefs, each cooking a dish from six of the most affected regions in Mexico.

The six-course meal will feature courses from the Yucatan, Oaxaca, Nayarit, Morelia Michoacan, Jalisco and Puebla. Chefs include Gilberto Cetina from Chichen Itza, Jason Fullilove from Malibu Pier Restaurant, and a number of chefs from Scratch Bar. Unlike most Dinner Lab dinners, where the location is secret until the last minute, this location is being advertised: 5400 Wilshire Blvd., in Mid-Wilshire. You can see the full menu, as well as buy tickets ($75 per person, all-inclusive) to the dinner, here. 

And you can read our cover story, about Dinner Lab's quest to build the perfect restaurant using data, here. 

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