Local pair raise money as ‘America’s Favorite Couple’
Bocage co-owners raise money for a nonprofit they love as they celebrate their own love via a national contest.
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When Bocage Champagne co-owner Zac Denham found out he and husband Clark Gale were nominated as an “America’s Favorite Couple” contender, he was thrilled that the potentially silly contest involved raising money for Oceana — a serious cause close to his heart.
The couple’s Champagne and caviar hot spot serves only white sturgeon caviar that is sustainable and humanely harvested, and the couple partnered with Hollywood actor Ted Danson just last year for a high-profile event (Rumer Willis and Susan and David Rockefeller were in attendance) that raised $1.5 million for the nonprofit.
“We’ve encouraged everyone we know to make a donation,” Denham says. “So much waste ends up in the oceans, which is having a profound effect on our planet. We do our part both as individuals and as our business.”
Anyone can vote once a day for the popular Phila Street duo — in addition to the three-year-old Bocage, their restaurant Standard Fare opens later this month — with additional votes requiring a donation. In addition to Oceana, money is also being raised for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

Winners of the contest, which is being thrown by the prestigious Variety magazine, receive $20,000 and an advertorial in the publication, which has a readership in the hundreds of thousands.
As for why they should be named “America’s Favorite Couple,” Denham quips, “Clark’s a brave man because he puts up with me! It takes a special kind of person.” He also raves that, “He remembers things from a moment that might seem super-trivial to someone else and makes it into something so special, such as a thoughtful gift or something he says. We rarely have disagreements and we never allow them to blow up. First, we always validate the other’s opinions and emotions and then find common ground.”
Adds Gale, “We balance each other: I build the vision, and he keeps me from setting it on fire with my anxiety. Opening a business, getting married, moving cities—none of it ever felt too big with him in my corner. He reminds me that anything is possible—and then helps me make it happen.”
Abby Tegnelia does contract work for Bocage. All opinions are her own.
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