Amid Tragedy, Local Restaurants Are Serving the Community While Facing Empty Seats
By Dolores Quintana
The city of Los Angeles has pulled together to help the victims of the Palisades and Eaton Fires in the last week. Donations, of goods and money, have flowed in to help people who have lost everything. The restaurants of Los Angeles, cooks, chefs, bakers, taqueros, baristas, coffee shops, and pizzaiolos, have all leaped into action to feed the evacuees and first responders.
But the sad fact is that while they are working so hard to feed Los Angeles, many restaurants have been empty this week. For the first time, I was able to walk into Helm’s Bakery directly up to the counter without waiting in line.
Lien Tigre, owner of Koreatown’s Here’s Looking at You and the now-closed All Day Baby, is holding a waffle breakfast this Sunday to raise money for relief for people who lost their homes. The $25 entry tickets will go towards all the affected families in the form of gift cards to small independent markets + shops to recirculate the dollars back into our local economy.
The event is sold out, but Tigre posted this plea for help for restaurants and restaurant workers today, “Restaurant workers can’t afford to have their hours cut but that’s what happens when there isn’t any business. Workers can’t afford to lose their jobs because yet another restaurant is closing their doors for good (née bad). These are workers who are volunteering by day and clocking in for their restaurant shift by night to attempt to behave okay (again if they haven’t been cut).”
“So if you can, will you help fill our seats? Will you help keep us all together, no matter how flimsy it all feels right now?
Trust me, “business as usual” right now is difficult for all of us.
But together, we can stop the negative ripple effect. Together, we can power a good ripple effect.”
She closed the post by saying, “So if it is safe for you to do so, please go and support your Los Angeles workers. And if I may highlight, please support your Los Angeles restaurant workers especially those employed by small independent operators. Out there living out the word “community” right now and always. Unsurprisingly, my peers amaze me.”
When we are overwhelmed with all the tragedy and pain of the last week, going out to get a coffee and a croissant or ordering a sandwich provides a relief that is good for the soul.
