Everybody calm down, Langer's isn't closing
Plus, Chick-fil-A enters the streaming wars, Jackson Kalb cooks up a pivot, and an LA fusion burger gets a national close-up.
LA FOODSTACK is a curated list of the week’s most essential food news through a Los Angeles lens. Prepared by The LA Countdown and The LA Food Podcast.
1. Pastrami sandwich or political pawn?
Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez published a dissertation in clickbait this week by teasing that Norm Langer is considering closing his eponymous deli if the city doesn’t clean up MacArthur Park:
“I’m considering closing,” Langer told [Lopez], even though he considers his customers and employees “100% safe,” perhaps in part because uniformed cops frequent his deli and the southeast corner of the park is relatively calm…
“It’s a strong consideration,” Langer insisted, saying he’s exhausted by City Hall’s face-plant when it comes to answering the basic needs of nearby residents and merchants…
Langer said he would like to continue his run, depending.
His message to City Hall: “Let them get their act together, and I won’t go anywhere. How does that sound?”
If you read between the lines, you kind of get the sense that Ole Norm isn’t really planning on shuttering the deli. It means too much to him and to the people who work there. However, what’s notable is how Lopez’s column sent shockwaves through Los Angeles, short-circuiting local news coverage and inspiring an impromptu meeting over sandwiches with Mayor Karen Bass and Councilperson Eunisses Hernandez. You’ve got to give it up to Lopez - if the goal is getting the city’s attention, coming for the #19 is the way to go. Maybe I’ll interview Norm next time I get a parking ticket…
2. Chick-fil-A goes to Hollywood
Would you like some extra Chick-fil-A Sauce TM with your family-friendly reality show? The chicken giant announced this week that it was ready to throw down with Netflix, Apple, and the rest of the streaming giants. Deadline’s Peter White with the news:
Deadline understands that the fast-food firm has been working with a number of major production companies, including some of the studios, to create family-friendly shows, particularly in the unscripted space. It is also in talks to license and acquire content.
We hear that this includes a family-friendly gameshow from Glassman Media, the company behind NBC’s The Wall, and Michael Sugar’s Sugar23, which is behind series such as Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why. Deadline understands this show has been handed a ten-episode order.
While you’d expect most people to roll their eyes and deem this a naked corporate publicity play, The Ankler’s Elaine Low had a different take:
[C]hick-fil-A apparently means serious business, with reported budgets of around $400,000 for a half-hour of unscripted content, and an order for a 10-episode series from Michael Sugar’s Sugar23 and The Wall producer Glassman Media.
Chick-fil-A would also not be the first iconic brand this year to launch a studio. LVMH, the $375 billion market cap luxury conglomerate, and Starbucks (one step ahead of Chick-fil-A as the second-largest restaurant chain in the country) opened their own production studios in February and June respectively. That puts them in such company as Nike and REI.
What’s next, I wonder? Netflix opening a restaurant? Oh, wait, that's already happened.
3. Is Jackson Kalb’s Brentwood pivot a sign of the times?
Handsome gentleman, talented chef, and all-around-decent human Jackson Kalb announced this week that he would be transforming his Brentwood restaurant Jemma di Mare into another outpost of his successful Venice restaurant, Ospi. Here’s what he shared on IG:
I have been bursting at the seams to open a restaurant in this exact location since 2016. I have also wanted to open Ospi here since 2020. I can’t share the specific details here, but we have FINALLY been given the green light to do what we originally set out to do.
Jemma di Mare did way better than expected. So much better, in fact, that it beat the previous owner’s highest grossing sales day within 72 hours of opening, even after counting for inflation (please don’t ask me how I know that 😉).
But we aren’t satisfied with good or even great. We want to give you the absolute best. You asked and we listened - we’re going back to our roots in brentwood to transform into our beloved sister spot, Ospi. And we like to move quickly. Give us a week (Monday, Aug 26th to Monday, Sept 2nd) to get ready to serve you guys allll the pizza, pasta and other ospi faves.
I don’t know Chef Kalb, though what I have gathered from very brief interactions is that the man is an incredibly capable businessperson in addition to being a kickass cook. I fully believe that Jemma di Mare did well in Brentwood, but I also believe that he knows Ospi will do even better.
To me, this reinforces a trend we’re seeing in this challenging restaurant economy - minimizing risk is essential, and therefore established name brands are almost always the way to go when opening a new concept. That’s why we’re seeing a ton of proven concepts (from LA or other cities) open second locations, as opposed to chefs taking swings on entirely new and unproven concepts.
4. A low-key LA burger gets the NYT treatment
THE New York Times’ Priya Krishna and Tejal Rao wrote, nay, PAINTED a fabulous portrait of the burger in America, exploring its many dimensions, from the Oklahoma smash to the Minnesota juicy luce. My eligibility for Ozempic spiked just by reading the piece.
The Los Angeles inclusion might surprise you:
The sisters Katy Noochlaor and Amanda Maneesilasan grew up in their family’s restaurant, Chao Krung, a Los Angeles fixture in the 1970s, before Thai food businesses, markets and bakeries flourished in the city. In an effort to distinguish their work from their parents’, they opened Ban Ban Burger in April.
The shop reimagines dishes like krapow and laab as nostalgic, paper-wrapped smash burgers that look and taste as if they’ve always existed. For the krapow smash burger, a thick smear of garlic, holy basil and hot bird’s-eye chiles is slathered on the patty.
I, for one, f***ing love this choice. Well played, Mmes Krishna and Rao.
5. Best thing I ate this week? Tons of tuna, and handrolls from Norikaya in Koreatown.
I’ve been scouring the city for weeks in search of the best tuna sandwich. I did this after realizing that my 2023 quest to eat 100 iconic LA sandwiches in 365 days included very little tuna. While I’ll let you watch the video to discover my rankings (and boost my SEO), here are my superlatives:
Most Likely to Dirty Your Shirt: Carla Cafe
Most Likely to Become a Regular in the Rotation: Gjusta’s Tuna Conserva
Weirdest (But Weirdly Perfect) Amount of Lettuce: Bub and Grandma’s
Most Ingenious Construction: Cassell’s Hamburgers’ Tuna Melt
Most Likely to Go to Prom Alone: Ghost Sando Shop. You’ll notice its absence from my list.
Finally, I also had the pleasure of attending an extraordinary dinner at the brand new Norikaya in Koreatown. I would describe this as Chef Akira Back’s opulent yet extremely personal handroll experience. The stand-out bite of the night was this handroll with unagi and strawberry, an unusual combination Chef Back says is his mom’s favorite thing that he does. My mom is partial to my Tony Robbins impressions, but to each their own, Ms. Back.
Other stories to chow down on…
Janette Villafana covers the TikToker on a mission to share LA bathroom codes for LA Taco.
You might know Hannah Ziskin for her princess cake, but The Angel’s Emily Wilson spoke to her about another sweet passion - ice cream.
Taste’s Aliza Abarbanel sat down with NYT’s interim food critic Priya Krishna for their podcast. I’m kind of hoping she gets the job full-time.
Bill Esparza gives us a sneak peek of Wes Avila’s ambitious new steakhouse for Eater.
This week on The LA Food Podcast…
Father Sal is physically with us in Los Angeles today to discuss the Langer’s drama, J.D. Vance’s donut antics, and all of the amazing food he’s had in LA this week, from a beachside South American feast to an all-time steak dinner in Beverly Hills. I have him try the viral Ggiata Chicken Caesar Wrap live on the air, and we give a special shout-out to our two biggest fans in LA.
In Part 2 we’re joined by Chef Avner Levi, the man behind Cento Pasta Bar in West Adams. Cento remains one of my favorite meals I’ve had all year, and Avner’s story is inspiring as hell. At the end of the day, it’s the tale of a normal guy learning who he is and going hell-for-leather in doing things his way. We chatted on Cento’s patio with a bottle of wine and, I don’t know if it was the alcohol or what, but I was legitimately moved by Avner’s passion and vision for Cento.
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