D.J. Javier center, was honored at the MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Hamachi Kinilaw, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
D.J. Javier | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Jennifer Gonzalez-Neely, owner of Mother Dough, and her brother Chef Chris Gonzalez, prepared this Kamayan meal in honor of D.J. Javier’s exhibit at MCASB. MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Jennifer Gonzalez-Neely, owner of Mother Dough, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Anna Rice of Artiste Winery, which has a special bottle featuring artwork by D.J. Javier, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Part of the Kamayan Feast at the MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Flowers by Ivy Seigle of Aivy Floral, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Guests enjoy a Kamayan Feast at the MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Team members biked over this artful vehicle from the Museum, which is part of D.J. Javier’s exhibit at MCASB. MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Calamansi Mojitos were on the menu at MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Flowers by Ivy Seigle of Aivy Floral, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
MCASB Executive Director Dalia Garcia | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Jennifer Gonzalez-Neely and Freddy Janka at the Kamayan meal in honor of D.J. Javier’s exhibit at MCASB. MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Wines by Artiste, flowers by Aivy Floral, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
SB Independent arts & culture editor Leslie Dinaberg and MCASB board president Freddy Janka at MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Flowers by Ivy Seigle of Aivy Floral, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Wines by Artiste, Flowers by Ivy Seigle of Aivy Floral, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Flowers by Ivy Seigle of Aivy Floral, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Flowers by Ivy Seigle of Aivy Floral, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Santa Barbara Magazine featuring D.J. Javier’s exhibit at MCASB and a special limited edition print of the artwork | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Flowers by Ivy Seigle of Aivy Floral, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Guests enjoy the MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
D.J. Javier, MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Hand stamped, fresh, whole coconuts were on the menu in honor of D.J. Javier’s exhibit at MCASB. MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
The menu display in honor of D.J. Javier’s exhibit at MCASB. MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom 
Tablescapes at MCASB Supper Club at Mother Dough, October 29, 2025 | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom
Sometimes, fate brings people together in a most delicious way.
Such was the case on Wednesday night when Mother Dough Bagels owner Jennifer Gonzalez-Neely brought in her brother — Connecticut-based Chef Chris Gonzalez, who likes to bring the family’s Asian roots to his dishes — to cook up a Kamayan-style Filipino feast to celebrate the exhibition DJ Javier: San Milano Drive, currently on view at MCASB.
Jennifer and Chris were born in the Philippines, and Javier’s Filipino-American heritage also has a big influence on his art, so when MCASB Board President Freddy Janka read in the Independent (see George Yatchisin’s story here) about Gonzalez-Neely’s incorporation of Asian-fusion flavors into Mother Dough’s offerings, he had the idea to bring them together.
As a fundraising effort, Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) has recently been spreading its cultural wings into some artful dining experiences, including an earlier event at Bibi Ji.
Guests at this week’s special event at Mother Dough got to experience Kamayan, a Filipino dining tradition where food is served on banana leaves and enjoyed with your hands (after a special hand-washing ceremony).
With wines from Artiste (featuring artwork by DJ Javier on the limited edited 2024 “Under the Sun” sauvignon blanc, which also celebrates the 50th anniversary of Santa Barbara Magazine) and an assortment of dishes including Santa Barbara uni, hamachi kinilaw, lumpia, grilled spiny lobster, lechon kawali, mushroom inasal, aligé fried rice, pancit palabok, tomato and salted egg ensalada, laing, and peach mango hand pies, it was indeed a feast to be remembered and celebrated. As Gonzalez-Neely shared, “Mabuhay (which was stamped on our menu cards) is a word people say to greet Filipinos and it also means to be alive.”
This was indeed a lively and worthwhile evening rooted in the celebration of art, culture, and community — all in the name of supporting our local nonprofit contemporary art museum.
For more information, see mcasantabarbara.org.
