- The Los Angeles fires have ravaged the city over the past week.
- Local places like Yeastie Boys Bagels and Sunday Gravy are working to feed evacuees and first responders.
- Pizza joints, including LaSorted’s and Jon & Vinny’s, are also sending free pies to firefighters.
On the second day of the Los Angeles fires, in a hotel restaurant packed with evacuees, bartender Jeff Braga watched as a child approached his father for advice. They wanted to comfort a friend who had just lost his home.
“Daddy, what should I tell him?” asked the child.
It’s a question nearly everyone in LA has been asking themselves as the wildfires — which have killed at least 10 people and burned more than 35,000 acres — continue to rage.
For chefs, owners and service workers in the city’s vast restaurant industry, the answer to how to help was immediate — they had to feed people, even in the midst of their evacuations.
A fire unlike any other
Flames engulf homes on January 7 in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. Eric Thayer/Getty Images
Many of the chefs who spoke to Business Insider recalled seeing the Palisades fire that first broke out Tuesday morning.
“We have a clear view of the Palisades from our patio, so we watched the fire grow from a small cloud to a spread of darkness across the bay,” said Calin Senciac, owner of Papille Gustative in Santa Monica. “From the beginning we were very worried.”
“The winds were crazy and we started seeing smoke coming up in the Palisades, and I said, ‘Wow, I hope this doesn’t turn into something bigger,'” recalled Sol Bashirian, who co-owns Sunday Gravy. with his sister in Inglewood. “I never would have imagined it could lead to so much destruction.”
As new flames burned in Pasadena and the Hollywood Hills, Tommy Brockert of LaSorted’s Pizza fled with his 3-month-old baby to his sister’s house. Evan Fox, the owner of Yeastie Boys Bagels, grabbed only his passport and bar mitzvah photo album before heading out.
Then, it was time to figure out how they could help.
“I didn’t know what I could do, but the least I could do is offer a pizza,” Brockert said. “It was important to stand up and say, ‘We’re here for you.’
Rallying through food
Jon & Vinny’s has donated food for first responders. Courtesy of Jon & Vinny’s
As the fires raged Wednesday, Fox decided to send his bagels to anyone in need. Yeastie Boys Bagels trucks went to evacuation centers across the city and are now coordinating their efforts with World Central Kitchen to feed hundreds of people every day.
Local businesses are also finding small ways to help their neighbors. Senciac is keeping its doors open and baking big batches of fresh cookies to offer milk and baked goods to anyone who walks by.
“It’s a comfort food that makes people happy and brings a smile to their face,” Senciac told BI.
Sunday Gravy’s Bashirian has been providing free family meals – spaghetti, garlic bread and salad – to hospital workers and anyone in need.
On Wednesday, Rob Noyola began serving free bowls of chicken noodles or vegan lentil soup at Oy Bar, his restaurant in LA’s Studio City neighborhood. Now, with more staff available, Noyola told BI the restaurant is offering free burgers, sandwiches and fries to evacuees and first responders, “no questions asked.”
Okay Inak runs the Sora Craft Kitchen himself in downtown LA, but a lack of staff didn’t stop him from making free grilled chicken cups. And Gigi Ganieva and Azim Rahmatov, who opened Zira Uzbek Kitchen less than two months ago, have shifted gears to feed first responders.
A piece of comfort
Caroline D’Amore of Pizza Girl Venice with the first answers. Courtesy of Pizza Girl
Several LA pizza restaurants have also been working around the clock to offer free pies to first-timers in any way they can.
“Our first thought was we want to feed the firefighters and frontline workers. We want to sustain the people who fight for our city; that’s what we do,” Daniel Holzman, chef and owner of Danny Boy’s Pizza.
Holzman and Brockert of LaSorted’s Pizza have been delivering free pizza to fire stations, relying on volunteers to hand out the pies. Brockert has also added a link to LaSorted’s submission page that allows people to buy a $25 pie for first responders.
Caroline D’Amore, owner of Pizza Girl Venice, has been handing out pizza and drinks to first responders on Pacific Coast Highway after having to evacuate her home with her husband and three children.
Meanwhile, Jon & Vinny’s has sent food from its five LA locations to the main command posts for first responders near the Eaton and Palisades fires. A spokesperson told BI that Jon & Vinny’s is also helping collect and distribute free food from other LA restaurants.
“You understand how fragile life is”
Delivering a Jon & Vinny to an LA fire station. Courtesy of Jon & Vinny’s
Restaurants that remained open during the fires have become safe havens for those who evacuated, lost their homes or took in displaced friends and relatives.
“I was serving people who were just broke,” said Braga, a bartender at The Surfing Fox. “It was really tough, but also really nice to see this community group together.”
“It’s solemn. You can see it in their faces — they look tired and exhausted. They look like they’ve been through the most traumatic thing of their lives,” Bashirian said.
But through the tragedy, there has also been overwhelming support. Fox, of the Yeastie Boys, told BI that amateur chefs have been asking for help, while Bashirian has raised nearly $15,000 to help fund Sunday Gravy’s family meals.
Celia Ward-Wallace, the co-founder and CEO of South LA Cafe, said the organization had a “huge influx of volunteers” to help deliver fresh groceries to those in need.
The dust has yet to settle, and chefs who spoke to BI said they are just getting started in their efforts to help the community. But they hope to illuminate just how broken the city is.
“People are tired and think LA is glitz and glamour, but they’re real people, just as real as anywhere else in this country,” Bashirian said. “They could use as much help as possible.”
“Moments like this, you just realize how fragile life is,” Brockert said. “In my 42 years in Los Angeles, I’ve never experienced this. But the people from here are salt of the earth, hardworking, good everyday Americans, and we come together and take care of each other.”
