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Los Angeles Times
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Keep that downtown Los Angeles dining reservation. It's safe to go to dinner
It sounded like the alarm for a severe weather warning. At 8:19 p.m. on Monday evening, my phone blared with a public safety alert that a curfew was in place from 10 p.m. to 6 am. in downtown Los Angeles. It came just as I crested the hill on the south 110 Freeway that offers a sweeping view of the city below. I was on my way to meet a friend for dinner at Kinjiro, a snug izakaya in the heart of Little Tokyo. The area is one of the downtown neighborhoods most gravely affected by the aftermath of the recent demonstrations protesting President Trump's immigration policies and the ensuing raids. Mayor Karen Bass' curfew, enacted a week prior in an effort to quell any chaos associated with the demonstrations, meant the streets were empty. It was the latest hurdle in an ever-expanding list of challenges for Los Angeles restaurants, which in the last five years have faced drastic drops in business from a pandemic, Hollywood writers' strikes and fires. All along 2nd Street, the windows and doors were hidden behind plywood. Graffiti featuring choice words for the police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement covered nearly every surface. The frequently bustling Japanese Village Plaza, where shoppers dine at a revolving sushi bar and stop for cheese-filled corn dogs, was desolate. When I made it to the izakaya, it was clear that they were closed. The windows had been boarded up and a security gate was pulled across the entrance. We drove over to Bavel in the Arts District, curious to see if one of the city's most consistently booked restaurants was feeling the effects of the curfew, which covered the area of downtown between the 5 and 10 freeways and from the 10 to where the 110 and 5 freeways merge. You can probably measure the state of dining in Los Angeles by the fullness of the dining room at Ori Menashe and Genevieve Gergis' Levant-leaning restaurant. A last-minute prime table at 8 p.m. on any other night? No chance. When we arrived as walk-ins, we found a patio that was mostly empty, sparse patrons at the bar and a dining room that felt devoid of the usual Bavel energy. A quick scroll through the week's upcoming reservations on OpenTable showed multiple openings each night. I drove home past curfew, expecting to see a checkpoint of sorts or maybe even an increased police presence. There wasn't a single police car or protester. All the streets were open. The 8 p.m. curfew, first issued on June 10, was changed to a 10 p.m. curfew on Monday. On Tuesday, the curfew was lifted altogether, but many downtown restaurants are still struggling to fill their dining rooms. Just last week, Kato restaurant lost 80% of its reservations. Jon Yao, Ryan Bailey and Nikki Reginaldo's Arts District tasting menu restaurant celebrates Yao's upbringing in the San Gabriel Valley. It was named the No. 1 restaurant on the L.A. Times 101 List three times. Earlier this week, Yao won the James Beard Award for best chef in California. If there's a destination restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, this is it. On Tuesday, in light of the lifted curfew, the restaurant was still looking at a 70% drop in reservations for the upcoming week. 'The direct impact of the media's portrayal of DTLA being unsafe, which it is not, has impacted Kato immediately, and we were forced to close two nights,' Bailey says. On Friday, around 20 of the reservations canceled were for dinners booked weeks and months in the future. 'I had two specific instances where the guest called to say they were canceling their upcoming trip to L.A. based on not feeling safe in L.A. anymore,' Bailey says. 'The optimist in me hopes that the curfew, especially given the lifting now, does not cause long-term damage to downtown,' says Cassy Horton, co-founder of the DTLA Residents Assn. The organization works to create a thriving urban community in downtown that supports new and existing residents in the area. 'This is why we have been advocating so strongly to make sure our small businesses can open up,' says Horton. 'We need our neighbors across the region to really rally behind downtown right now because we need their support.' Hours after the curfew was lifted Tuesday, downtown started to show signs of coming to life again. Just before 7 p.m., a line began to form at Daikokuya in Little Tokyo. The small ramen shop is known as much for the perpetual wait as it is for its steaming bowls of tonkotsu ramen. It was a hopeful sight during a week of uncertainty, in an area that was the epicenter of the demonstrations. 'We checked with our friends who live right here and we were really mindful about coming tonight,' says Kevin Uyeda. He stood in line for ramen with fellow Echo Park resident Julie M. Leonard, both eager to make the short trip to Little Tokyo for dinner. 'I think there has been a lot of misinformation about the protests and the levels of everything,' says Leonard. 'I don't think the curfew was necessary. Most of the protests were peaceful.' A few doors down, at Korean restaurant Jincook, the staff removed the boards covering the windows that afternoon. 'It's safe to come here,' says Jincook server Hendrik Su. 'We want people to know that we are open.' At the Japanese Village Plaza, strollers rolled through the winding walkway with patrons sipping boba. Arts District residents Renee Sogueco and Chris Ciszek carried bags of leftovers from recent stops at Daikokuya and Fugetsu-Do, the more than a 100-year-old mochi and mango confectionery on 1st Street. 'Once we heard the curfew was lifted we wanted to come out,' says Sogueco. 'We've been feeling really bad about it with all the immigrant-owned businesses being affected. Daikokuya was fairly busy, but not as busy as we've seen it.' Ciszek's parents decided to make the trip out from Virginia to visit, despite friends back home questioning the decision. 'People are seeing a lot of very curated images online,' says Ciszek. 'They don't reflect what's been happening downtown. From what we've seen, the protesters have been happy, dancing, playing music, not violently disruptive.' I took a short drive west to the South Broadway block that houses Grand Central Market and found people eating tacos on the tables that line the sidewalk. A few locals sipped glasses of wine at nearby Kippered, the wine and tinned fish bar from Lydia Clarke and Reed Herrick. 'With everything boarded up, it doesn't feel inviting for tourists or people to come,' says Clarke. 'We still need people from outside the neighborhood, so people don't forget how great downtown is, how easy it is to come and pop around to a couple of places.' With the curfew being lifted, many restaurants that closed, temporarily opened for lunch or moved to entirely new locations outside of downtown Los Angeles, started to announce that they would return to regular business operations. Lasita, the Filipino rotisserie and wine bar in Chinatown, reopened for dinner. Steve and Dina Samson's Italian restaurant Rossoblu, which operated as a pop-up in Playa Vista over the weekend, returned to dinner service at its Fashion District location recently. 'I know we deal with so much in downtown, but when things get harder, our hearts get bigger,' says Clarke. 'I'm feeling really hopeful again.'
Eater
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
Where James Beard Nominees Ate and Drank in Chicago
The top chefs, restaurateurs, bartenders, and sommeliers descended on Chicago last weekend for the 35th annual James Beard Foundation Restaurant and Chef Awards, and they came hungry. While some nominees arrived the night before or even the day of the gala on Monday, June 16, at Lyric Opera, leaving only time for a quick bite at their hotel or a fast-food run, most spent the weekend attending or working at the many James Beard Awards pop-ups and events and hitting up some of the best restaurants in Chicago. From tasting menus to carnitas picnics, here are the best dining and drinking experiences James Beard Award nominees had in the Windy City. 'I went to Kasama and was able to meet chef Timothy [Flores]. I was super blown away by the pork belly adobo and that breakfast sandwich.' — Emil Oliva, Leche de Tigre , San Antonio, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Texas) 'There was this lemon mascarpone ice cream with caviar at Monteverde that was delicious: sweet, savory, and funky.' — Ryan Castelaz, Agency , Milwaukee, (2025 finalist, Best New Bar) 'We had ramen at High Five Ramen. We had two different ones, both broths were incredible. Love the basement ambiance of it all.' — Jay Blackinton, Houlme , Orcas Island, Washington, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific) 'We had dinner at Boka last night and it was absolutely an incredible experience from start to finish. [We ate] essentially the entire menu. There was maybe only one thing we didn't try, and everything was from top to bottom pretty much a hit.' — Joseph Harrison, Aria , Atlanta, (2025 finalist, Outstanding Hospitality) 'We had a beautiful omelet this morning at Lula Cafe that was just fluffy and delicious with a little bit of onion relish on top of it.' — Andrés Loaiza, Aria , Atlanta, (2025 finalist, Outstanding Hospitality) 'We went to another of our fellow nominee's bars, Kumiko, and had some phenomenal cocktails. I couldn't even pick just one. I feel really honored to be recognized in the same group because they're excellent.' — Max Overstrom-Coleman, Wolf Tree , White River Junction, Vermont, (2025 finalist, Outstanding Bar) 'We went to Uncle Mike's Place for breakfast and it really hit the spot. The lugaw on the table when you first walk in is like the most nourishing, delicious bite, and it's a really good way to start the day. [They have] excellent pork chops. It's absolutely fantastic.' — Silver Iocovozzi, Neng Jr.'s , Asheville, North Carolina, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Southeast) 'Late night empanadas at Estereo.' — Ryan Roadhouse, Nodoguro , Portland, Oregon, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific) 'Carnitas Uruapan. We just had a picnic at the park right next to it. It's one of those places that I always say when you're in Chicago, go there for carnitas by the pound. It just hits all the spots.' — Johnny Curiel, Alma Fonda Fina , Denver, (2025 finalist, Best New Restaurant) 'We got the duck a la presse from the Alston. When you see that on the menu, you have to order it.' — Brandon Cunningham, The Social Haus , Greenough, Montana, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Mountain) 'We ate the shawarma chicken at Avec. It was absolutely delicious. We also were at Asador Bastian and had one of their steaks, which is also surreal.' — Ignacio 'Nacho' Jimenez, Superbueno , New York City, ( 2025 winner, Outstanding Professional in Cocktail Service ) 'We had dinner at Alinea. That was definitely a once in a lifetime experience that we were looking forward to the whole trip here. That was beautiful.' — Eleazar Villanueva, Restaurant de Joël Robuchon , Las Vegas, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Southwest) 'Monteverde is an amazing restaurant. We were just recapping again for the fourth time all the pastas, especially that eggplant that [chef Sarah Grueneberg] does. It's unreal.' — Stuart Brioza, Atomic Workshop , San Francisco, (2025 finalist, Outstanding Restaurateur) 'Every time I go to Chicago, going back all the way to 2005, I stop at Avec. I always have to stop at Avec. It's old, it's classic, but it reminds me of a long time ago. We did a really great dinner at HaiSous. We had a wonderful time. We did a wonderful event at Bar Sótano. It's Chicago. You always find good food.' — Zack Walters, Sedalia's Oyster & Seafood , Oklahoma City, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Southwest) 'I'm a sucker for Avec. I love Avec so much. The vibe, especially the one in the West Loop, is so close and intimate you always end up sharing food with someone random next to you. The sight of the kitchen and all of the flavors are great.' — Noam Bilitzer, MeeshMeesh Mediterranean , Louisville, Kentucky, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Southeast) 'We went to an all-you-can-eat wagyu Japanese barbecue spot, Wagyu House, that was like from the future. I love seeing different forms of dining and that's something that I could just enjoy — just pure product on a plate. I haven't had a bad meal here. We did a sandwich crawl yesterday. I have a sandwich shop and we tried about nine to 10 different sandwiches. The [best was the] dip from Bari. I could have just had a gravy bread from there. It's too hot in West Texas for me to do that there, but there's nothing better than broth and bread.' — Michael Anthony Serva, Bordo , Marfa, Texas, (2025 finalist, Best Chef: Texas) 'We had dim sum at MingHin and it was amazing. The shumai was incredible. Then we went to Loba for pastries and there was a mole strawberry croissant that was amazing.' — Jake Howell, Peninsula , Nashville, Tennessee, ( 2025 winner, Best Chef: Southeast ) Disclosure: Some Vox Media staff members are part of the voting body for the James Beard Awards. Eater is partnering with the James Beard Foundation to livestream the awards in 2025 . All editorial content is produced independently of the James Beard Foundation. See More:
Business Wire
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Business Wire
CookUnity Hides Cash-Filled Tomato Cans Nationwide to Celebrate the Return of Pop Culture's Hottest Chef
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- CookUnity, the 100% chef-led meal delivery platform, is calling on Americans to say 'yes, chef' and join the hunt for its latest campaign: the 'Tomato Can Cash Drop,' a nationwide scavenger hunt hiding thousands of dollars in cash and prizes inside tomato cans across major U.S. cities. From Friday, June 20 th to Tuesday, June 24 th participants can head to CookUnity's Instagram (@cookunity) for daily drops and clues in culinary hotspots across the country, including; Each tomato can contains $500 USD in cash and $500 in CookUnity meal credits, so lucky winners can enjoy meals crafted by elite chefs, like the chefs we love binge-watching on TV. CookUnity knows a thing or two about award-winning chefs, with the brand's meals crafted from some of the world's most critically acclaimed masters, including James Beard Award Winner Jose Garces, Iron Chef Cat Cora, James Beard Award Winner Rick Bayless, and more. 'CookUnity's mission is to connect real people with the talents, passions, and nourishing food of the very best chefs,' said Cam Ferrin, VP of Brand Marketing at CookUnity. 'Our culture is obsessed with chefs and inspiring food, but the way we eat every day is far from that ideal. 'Tomato Can Cash Drop' is our way of celebrating pop culture's love for chefs, while also trying to close that gap and redefine our standards for daily eating, by bringing the expertise of chefs off our TV screens and onto our tables, every day.' Scavenger Hunt & Sweepstakes Details: Every second counts! June 20-24 CookUnity is hiding tomato cans across Chicago, New York City, and Austin with daily clues on @chicagocollectors, @findthecashny, @findthecashatx, respectively. Be the first to find a can and you may just win a prize valued at $1,000 USD in cash and CookUnity credits. Not located in one of these iconic food cities? Follow @CookUnity on Instagram and (1) Follow @CookUnity (2) Comment with your favorite chef moment from a movie or TV show and (3) Tag a friend in your comment that you'd hire as sous-chef for a chance to win nationwide. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and Washington D.C. 18 or older at time of entry. Begins June 18, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. EDT and ends on June 24, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. EDT For official rules, follow this link: The CookUnity Tomato Can Surprise Contest Official Rules So, grab your sous-chef and hit the streets with CookUnity. As for those other meal delivery services? 86! About CookUnity CookUnity is a premium, chef-made meal delivery platform that connects top chefs with discerning consumers seeking restaurant-quality meals delivered to their doorstep. With a mission to redefine convenience without compromising on taste or quality, CookUnity offers a diverse menu curated by culinary professionals, using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible. Through innovative partnerships and a commitment to culinary excellence, CookUnity aims to reimagine the home dining experience, making chef-prepared meals accessible to food enthusiasts throughout North America. With thousands of recipes developed by top chefs, CookUnity offers the greatest range of cuisines for food enthusiasts. Learn more at
Indianapolis Star
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
King Dough to open by-the-slice eatery in closed Kan-Kan Restaurant space
The Kan-Kan Restaurant is no more, but a big name in Indianapolis pizza will soon take its place. Two days after the Kan-Kan Cinema and Restaurant announced its Japanese-inspired kitchen would close, co-founder and co-owner Ed Battista told IndyStar on June 18 that Central Indiana pizza mini-chain King Dough would take over the restaurant space with a quick-service counter operation. Battista said the pivot from sit-down fare to by-the-slice pizza is intended to offer a more approachable, affordable dining option for moviegoers and create a more sustainable business model for the Windsor Park neighborhood's hybrid arthouse theater-restaurant. "We just can't get the volume of people that we need to choose to dine with us," Battista said of the recently closed eatery. "We need to serve the filmgoing community in a way that is the most inclusive to everybody.' During the renovations, which Battista said should last three to four weeks, the Kan-Kan concession area will remain open, though the restaurant's bar will close (the Kan-Kan Restaurant's social media posts announcing the kitchen overhaul originally said the bar would remain open). Once the renovations are complete, King Dough will serve pizza slices and salads made in house from a walk-up counter. All three existing King Dough locations, including the nearby full-service restaurant at 452 N. Highland Ave. in the Holy Cross neighborhood, will remain open. Battista said Kan-Kan Restaurant staffers will receive two weeks' pay in addition to their final paycheck. He hopes to relocate some kitchen and wait staff to Bluebeard and Amelia's, which he co-owns with his father, Tom. Some staffers have been put in contact with King Dough management, though it is unknown how many, if any, will work in the reimagined restaurant space. Kan-Kan Cinema and Restaurant opened in August 2021 after a more than year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Multi-time James Beard Award nominee and then-Bluebeard executive chef Abbi Merriss filled the same role in Kan-Kan's kitchen, which operates independently from the cinema with which it shares its home at 1258 Windsor Street. In late 2022 Merriss stepped down to focus on Bluebeard, with chef Michael Conley (previously a cook at the since-closed Rook in Fletcher Place and chef de partie at Kan-Kan) taking her place. Last year, the Kan-Kan Restaurant promoted longtime chef Travis Hitch to lead the kitchen, replacing Conley. While the ever-changing high-end restaurant found a place in the hearts of many Indy diners and film buffs, the Kan-Kan Restaurant ultimately didn't prove a reliable source of revenue. "It is definitely heartbreaking because we had a vision for what this could be for our city, and it didn't hit the way we wanted it to," Battista said of the now-closed restaurant. 'I'm still proud of it. I think we did something very special."
Eater
a day ago
- Business
- Eater
Workers at Seattle's Most Prestigious Restaurant Group Have Unionized
In December 2024, the employees at the Sea Creatures restaurant group were called into a meeting. Sea Creatures, founded by acclaimed chef Renee Erickson, runs some of Seattle's most celebrated restaurants, including oyster bar the Walrus and the Carpenter, innovative steakhouse Bateau, and the Whale Wins, which earned Erickson a James Beard Award in 2016. At the meeting, ownership announced there would be changes coming. After years of accepting tips, Sea Creatures restaurants would be switching to a service charge model. Starting in January, every guest check would explain that 22 percent of the bill (about what the average customer tipped) would be added to the total. This 'is retained entirely by the house,' the checks would say. 'Revenue from this service charge is used to pay operating expenses, including labor.' At the meeting, employees learned that what this meant in practice was that about half of the service charge would be paid out to hourly workers, who, before this change, all shared in the tip pool. (Back of house employees, including dishwashers, were part of the tip pool.) The hourly rate would go up to a base rate of $25 an hour. While in theory it might appear roughly equivalent to the pre-service charge take home, workers say that in practice it spelled a sharp reduction in income from tips. It was 'a huge pay cut for all of us,' says Jeff Kelley, who was a front-of-house worker at the time. 'They said, you either hear what we're saying and decide to continue to work here, or you quit and you go somewhere else... We immediately were like, 'No, there's a third option.'' They could form a union. In the months that followed, Sea Creatures employees won union elections at the Walrus and the Carpenter and Bateau — Sea Creatures' biggest and most famous restaurants — as well as the doughnut shop chain General Porpoise. United Creatures of the Sea is an unusual union for several reasons. It's not affiliated with any larger union, doesn't collect dues from workers, and really only has one issue it's arguing with management about: the service charge. 'We needed a way to force Renee Erickson to listen to her employees,' says Ford Nickel, a former server at Sea Creatures. The union says hourly workers across the board have seen pay cuts as a result of the new service charge. Unionized employees at Walrus made a combined $140,000 less so far this year than they would have under the old tipping model, according to the union's calculations. Jeremy Price, a Sea Creatures co-owner, disputes this — some workers have made less under the new system, but some have made more, he writes in an email. 'We're seeing that back-of-house workers at less busy restaurants are generally making a little more now, including dishwashers. Servers, especially at our busier restaurants, are making a little less now.' At Walrus specifically, hourly workers make between $28.14 and $56.81 per hour, Price writes. 'We believe these wages, along with the benefits we can fund through the service charge, are among the most competitive in the industry.' United Creatures of the Sea is now negotiating a contract with Sea Creatures. The union is represented at the bargaining table by Kelley and Nickel, both of whom no longer work for the restaurant group and volunteer their time to the union. (The union also has pro bono legal counsel.) They're hoping to get management to reduce the service charge to 10 percent or lower and encourage customers to leave tips once again. To make the math work for Sea Creatures, union employees are willing to reduce their hourly rate. 'We just want to work for our tips' — Jeff kelley In part, this conflict reflects the shifting, complicated debate over tipping in American restaurants. Some in the industry feel that tipping is inherently inequitable, which has led to a shift to service charges, with some restaurants spelling out on receipts which portion of the service charge goes directly to workers. But in Seattle, several restaurant groups have been sued for not distributing this money precisely as promised; today many restaurants, including Sea Creatures, say the house retains the entirety of the service charge, which according to the Seattle Met shields them from lawsuits. This makes the whole process opaque from the customers' perspective. Ford and Nickel argue that a tip pool, where all hourly workers share in tips earned during their shift, is a more fair and transparent way of working. 'We just want to work for our tips,' is how Kelley puts it. 'I don't want restaurants to be able to operate this way. It's deceptive.' Nickel and Kelley have also been frustrated by the recently announced temporary closure of Bateau and its attached General Porpoise. Price said the steakhouse is closing so it can 'refresh and retool,' and United Creatures of the Sea doesn't believe the decision was motivated by the unionization of the restaurant. Still, the closure harms the union by cutting its membership in half. If Bateau reopens as a brand-new restaurant the union might have to hold a whole new election. Nickel and Kelley say that Sea Creatures is required by the National Labor Relations Act to negotiate with the union over the terms of the layoff, including which employees would be rehired once Bateau reopens. If they don't reach an agreement, they say they will file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board. They say management's reticence to engage with them about that issue — and the slowness of the overall negotiation process — is what motivated them to reach out to local media. Price says that management has been 'emailing back and forth all the time,' adding that they had just increased the frequency of meetings and were 'bargaining in good faith' when it came to layoffs at Bateau. 'We believe everyone is working in good faith and with the best interest of staff and the businesses in mind.' In a statement, Erickson said, 'We have a lot of pride in the restaurants that we operate, and that starts with having great staff. The well-being of employees at every location is a real focus for us. We are supportive of our union locations and will continue to collaborate with and listen to them.' The union thinks that this listening process has been disappointingly slow. 'I was hoping that if I'm the owner of a restaurant and all my employees think that what I'm doing is wrong,' says Kelley, 'I would maybe listen.' See More:
