The Final Foodstack (for now)
Featuring political consulting for restaurants, Eater's influencer-palooza, and a Dodger-coded food list in light of the World Series.
*Sigh* Hey. I’m going to be taking a break from the newsletter for the remainder of 2024. I’ll be taking the time to assess what’s working, what’s not, and how to make it more additive to the overall food media landscape. If you have any feedback, please shoot me a message. If you accidentally passed out onto your keyboard and snagged a paid subscription, you may want to pause or cancel. I appreciate all of you who read this more than you know. Enough sap, let’s get to it.
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 presented by Rusty’s Chips.
1. All politics is local
…is a saying you’re drummed over the head with when you major in Political Science, as I did. ‘Tis a phrase mostly attributed to former Speaker of the House Tip “Just the” O’Neill, pithily capturing the idea that, while global issues like wars and pandemics grab the headlines, what voters actually care about is whether their proverbial potholes get filled.
The phrase came to mind as I read Gustavo Arellano’s latest for no-party-preference The Los Angeles Times, which looked at (among other things) how the owners of San Bernardino’s legendary Mitla Cafe got caught up in some political backlash after meeting with Governor Gavin Newsom to discuss concerns over the city’s general direction:
“Newsom sat down and asked real questions and just was great,” Montaño said. “No media, no press.”
Then, the cousins posted photos of Newsom’s visit on Instagram.
Soon, longtime customers accused them of being Newsom stooges, even though neither Montaño nor Oquendo is a Democrat. Many vowed to never return. Other politicians have visited Mitla since, but the cousins have learned their lesson.
“That’s why I’m afraid to talk politics” publicly, Oquendo confessed. “Because it’s so divisive now that it’s unbelievable.”
In an age when a mere meeting with an elected official can cause such furor, how should restaurants strike a balance between advocating for their interests and not alienating customers? Here are three thoughts…
Politicians come and go, staffers are forever. Like restaurants used to do with food critics, I would look up who the staffers are working in my local councilperson/congressperson’s office, and I would pin a board with their faces on it up in my kitchen. Building good relationships with staffers is an excellent (and pretty incognito) way to optimize your chances of getting to the front of the line next time you have a concern. And, what’s more - while politicians are term-limited, staffers are not and often bounce from office to office.
Know your customers. In a city like Los Angeles, your neighborhood probably matters. Get to know your regulars and maybe take a peak at publicly available voter data to see the voting demographics of your neighborhood. Posting a picture with Gov. Newsom at your matcha cafe in Highland Park? Go nuts. Doing the same at your old-school sub shop in Tarzana? Ehh.
Doing what’s right and doing what’s smart aren’t mutually exclusive. At the end of the day, you are free to make your own decisions, and that includes making your voice heard as you see fit. That said, there are some things any good business can do to protect themselves in the face of criticism. For example, most well-run businesses have a clearly articulated set of guiding values (e.g. INTEGRITY! QUALITY!! EXCELLENCE!!!). As long as you can always defend your actions by ensuring they ladder up to your core values, fuck the haters and do what you want. Your core customers will continue to love you, and maybe you’ll even attract new customers who share your values.
2. How to win followers and influence eaters
It’s been a big week for food influencers. Kenan Thompson parodied Keith Lee on Saturday Night Live. Snack brand Bibigo announced it’s releasing a “car kitchenette” for content creators. And, oh yeah, Eater LA dedicated about a gazillion words to how influencers are shaping the food discourse.
Here are the four stories included in Eater’s “Under the Influence” package:
Cathy Chaplin reminisced on the days of early-aughts food blogging, which she argues paved the way for what influencers do now.
Mona Holmes broke down the different categories of content creators (critics, marketers, chefs, and explorers), dissecting the nuances that distinguish their content.
Matthew Kang spent the day with Lisa Wahl, better known as LisaEatsLA, to understand what the influencer grind looks like firsthand.
And Rebecca Roland looked into a new ilk of celebrity chef whose primary channel is TikTok.
My two cents: I’ve often found that food media can come across as pretty defensive when discussing influencers, but the Eater team did a fantastic job in acknowledging the good influencers bring to the conversation, while thoroughly discussing the discernment consumers should apply when consuming these videos.
3. The little mochi shop that could
Meghan McCarron wrote a tour de force for THE New York Times this week exploring how one Little Tokyo mochi producer has weathered more than a century of constant change (and challenges) in one of LA’s most recognizable neighborhoods:
Since 1903, a Japanese confectionery called Fugetsu-Do has been making mochi in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Los Angeles…
The [Kito family has] stewarded Fugetsu-Do through many eras of upheaval that have threatened Little Tokyo: Japanese internment, urban renewal, the L.A. riots. Today, the store is thriving.
Now 68, Brian Kito is preparing to pass Fugetsu-Do onto his son, Korey. For Brian, keeping the store alive has meant more than even the gargantuan task of sustaining an established family business. It has also meant striving to preserve the Little Tokyo he grew up with, building on cultural traditions that span not only generations, but oceans.
This piece is a great reminder that our restaurants aren’t just observers when it comes to our city’s history - they are active witnesses, shaping the fortunes of entire communities. That’s why it’s so important to have good stewards, like the Kito family, running businesses, and why it’s essential we foster the conditions for those good stewards to get into the business in the first place. If you’re interested in this topic, listen to my LA Food Podcast interview with Botanica’s Heather Sperling on how we can push our elected officials to do just that.
Can someone help me down from the soap box now? Thank you.
4. Let’s go (eat like) Dodgers!
Doing a massive solid for their colleagues in the food section, the LA Times sports desk thought to ask the Dodger players where they enjoy eating at the start of the season. Danielle Dorsey compiled their answers into a timely list ahead of the Boys in Blue (wait, isn’t that the police?) playing in the World Series tonight.
Here are my favorite shouts:
Mookie Betts is apparently a fan of old-school Italian joint Panzanella in the Valley, which somehow makes so much sense.
Pitcher Alex Vesia turns out to be somewhat of a ramen nerd, citing Sato in Pasadena as his go-to.
While Gavin Lux always struck me as somewhat vanilla, turns out he’s a Howlin’ Rays head.
Walker Buehler is a man after my own heart, demonstrating true sandwich knowledge by shouting out Daughters’ Deli in West Hollywood.
Finally, confirming my suspicions that he’s a bougie-ass bitch, manager Dave Roberts declared his love for Stephanie Izard’s Girl & The Goat.
5. Best thing I ate this week? The new fried mortadella sandwich from The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills.
Why is everybody and their grandmother making the fried mortadella sandwich Anthony Bourdain once off-handedly called his “favorite sandwich?” Beats me.
All I know is that nobody is making it better than The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. These geniuses are frying the mortadella in duck fat to imbue it with a little something extra, and pairing it with a cornichon-and-pepperoncini-laced aioli to cut the copious amount of fat with some extra acid. It’s probably the best sandwich I’ve had all year.
Please note you can only enjoy the sandwich on the patio! They refuse to pack it to-go lest you discover an oily, inedible mess when you finally unwrap the sando in front of the Love is Blind finale.
Other stories to chow down on…
If you like Porto’s, then you’ll love this Karen Palmer deep dive on the storied Cuban bakery for SF Gate.
LAist’s Gab Chabran profiled the woman who unknowingly challenged yours truly to make next year’s Countdown all about breakfast burritos.
Former NYT food critic Pete Wells dedicated his word count to exploring whether the new AirPods can help the noise-averse endure loud restaurants. Sure.
Cathy Erway explored the somewhat worrying “pouchification” of adult food for Taste.
This week on The LA Food Podcast presented by Rusty’s Chips…
Father Sal is with us to somersault into Eater LA’s four-story package on the dreaded “i” word - influencers. Are they adding something valuable to the overall conversation? Or are they scammers that everybody from restaurants to consumers should be wary of? As always, we have the definitive, unquestionable, and unchallengeable answers. Get excited, cuz this conversation is Lox Level 9.9.
In Part 2, I caught up with the iconic Dominick DiBartolomeo at The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills. While The Cheese Store has been in business since the 60s, the latest iteration on Santa Monica Blvd has LA’s culinary nerds abuzz with excitement. Dom and I talk all things cheese and sandwiches, we learn what his favorite cheeses are right now, and he tells us the crazy lengths he goes to source his incredible product.
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