Peter Facinelli of "Twilight: New Moon" fame failed to bare his fangs on Sunday at the 23rd Annual Great Chefs of Los Angeles Benefit held at CBS Studios; he was expected, but after a long weekend of promoting the upcoming film, he headed to New York instead. His equally famous wife Jennie Garth of "90210" fame, however, turned up to sample the amazing goodies being served by SoCal's favorite chefs.

Pretty Jennie showed to give her friend George Lopez some celeb support -- the food and wine bash was a benefit for the National Kidney Foundation of
LOS ANGELES, CA | November 8, 2009 -- George Lopez with chefs Neal Fraser and Mary Sue Milliken at Great Chefs Of Los Angeles "Go Green, Go Organic" at CBS Studios in Studio City. (Photo via Wire Image)
Southern California.  As a national spokesperson for the Foundation, it's a cause close to Lopez's.. um ..kidney, as he is alive today because of a replacement.

Lopez' wife Ann gave him that organ back in 2005, and celebrated accordingly with free-flowing wines from Grigch Hills, Frank Family, Duckhorn, Torbreck, and Sterling (who recently launched a reasonably priced organic wines line).

Organics were the rage at the sun-drenched outdoor party; the theme of the year was "Go Green, Go Organic." We're not sure how organic the Hawaiian walu was that Keven Alan Lee of EAST Restaurant and Lounge was serving, but no one seemed to mind. Keven described the offering as "a delicate little flavor-filled bite," and it was hands down the dish of the day among the who's who of L. A. haute cusine.

Neal Fraser of Grace and BLD, along with Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger of Border Grill and Ciudad were the Chefs of Honor of the day, while Akasha Richmond of Akasha, Celestino Drago of Drago, Yoji Tajima of SHU, Jonathan Burrows of Mr. Cecil's California Ribs and Govind Armstrong of 8 oz. were cooking up a storm, too.

And they were just the beginning - Joachim Weritz of Moonshadows, Ben Ford from Ford's Filling Station, Josie Le Balch of Josie's Restaurant, Roberto Maggioni of Lago, Steven Fretz of XIV, Brian Moyers of BLT Steak, and Adam Horton of the Saddlepeak Lodge also dished it out -- on biodegradable plates.

Foodie fans like "American Idol" star Ace Young, country singer Deana Carter, men's fashion designer Woody Wilson, and actors Mark Rolston, John J. York, Skyler Shaye, and "The George Lopez Show" star Aimee Garcia wandered through the crush.

Garcia came to support Lopez, and she's probably hoping for a chance to hit his new talk show, "Lopez Tonight," which premiered this week, with Santana, Eva Longoria, Kobe Bryant and Ellen DeGeneres as his first guests.

"Make sure to watch my new show on TBS at 11pm," Lopez exhorted the crowd as he emceed the live auction. "Oh, and support the National Kidney Foundation, too!"