Los Angeles Restaurants Are Giving Out Free Meals Amid Wildfires

• Wildfires in Los Angeles have devastated the city over the past week.
• Local establishments like Yeastie Boys Bagels and Sunday Gravy are working to feed evacuees and first responders.
• Pizzerias including LaSorted’s and Jon & Vinny’s are also sending free pies to firefighters.

On the second day Los Angeles firesIn a hotel restaurant filled with evacuees, bartender Jeff Braga watched as a child approached his father for advice. They wanted to console a friend who had just lost their home.

“Dad, what should I tell him?” – asked the child.

That’s the question nearly everyone in Los Angeles has been asking themselves as wildfires that have killed at least 10 people and burned more than 35,000 acres continue to rage.

For the chefs, owners and service workers in the city’s sprawling restaurant industry, the answer to how to help was immediate: They needed to feed people, even during their own evacuation.

A fire like no other

Many of the chefs who spoke to Business Insider recalled seeing Palisade fire first breakthrough on Tuesday morning.

“We have a great view of the Palisades from our patio, so we saw the fire go from a small cloud to darkness spreading across the entire bay,” said Kalin Sensiak, owner Taste Bud in Santa Monica. “We were very concerned from the beginning.”

“The wind was crazy, and we started seeing smoke billowing out of the Palisades, and I thought, ‘Wow, I hope this doesn’t turn into something bigger,’” recalls Saul Bashirian, co-owner Sunday sauce with his sister in Inglewood. “I never would have thought it could cause such destruction.”

As new fires broke out in Pasadena and the Hollywood Hills, Tommy Brockert of Pizza LaSorted fled with his three-month-old child to his sister’s house. Evan Fox, owner Yeastie Boys BagelsI grabbed only my passport and bar mitzvah photo album before heading out.

Then it’s time to figure out how they can help.

“I didn’t know what I could do, but the least I could do was offer pizza,” Brockert said. “It was important to step up and say, ‘We’re here for you.’

Uniting through food

As the fires raged on Wednesday, Fox decided to send his bagels to anyone who needed them. Yeastie Boys Bagels trucks have been deployed to evacuation centers across the city, and they are now coordinating their efforts with World Central Kitchen to feed hundreds of people daily.

Local businesses are also finding small ways to help their neighbors. Sensiak keeps her doors open and bakes huge batches of fresh cookies to offer milk and baked goods to anyone who stops by.

“It’s comfort food that makes people happy and puts a smile on their face,” Sensiak told BI.

Bashirian of Sunday Gravy offered free family meals – spaghetti, garlic bread and salad – to hospital workers and others in need.

On Wednesday, Rob Noyola began serving free bowls of chicken noodles or vegan lentil soup at the restaurant. Oh Barhis restaurant in the Studio City area of ​​Los Angeles. Now with more staff on hand, Noyola told BI the restaurant is offering free burgers, sandwiches and fries to evacuees and first responders, “no questions asked.”

Okay, mom is running Sora Artisan Kitchen in downtown Los Angeles on his own, but a lack of staff didn’t stop him from getting down to business and cooking up free grilled chicken cutlets. And Gigi Ganieva and Azim Rakhmatov, who discovered Zira Uzbek Cuisine switched to feeding first responders less than two months ago.

A piece of comfort

Several Los Angeles pizza restaurants are also working around the clock to deliver free pies to first responders in any way possible.

“Our first thought was that we want to feed the firefighters and frontline workers. We want the people fighting for our city to be energized; this is what we do,” Daniel Holtzman, chef and restaurant owner. Danny Boy’s Pizza– said BI.

Holtzman and Brockert of LaSorted’s Pizza sent free pizza to fire departments, relying on volunteers to deliver the pies. Brockert also added a link to LaSorted delivery website it allows people to buy a $25 pie for first responders.

Caroline D’Amore, owner Pizza Girl Venicewas delivering pizza and drinks to first responders on the Pacific Coast Highway after she was forced to flee her home with her husband and three children.

Meanwhile, John and Vinny delivers food from its five locations in Los Angeles to major command posts for first responders nearby Fires in Eaton and Palisades. A spokesperson told BI that Jon & Vinny’s also helps collect and deliver free food from other Los Angeles restaurants.

“You understand how fragile life is”

Restaurants that remained open during the fires became refuges for those who evacuated, lost their homes or hosted displaced friends and relatives.

“I served people who were just devastated,” said Braga, a bartender at the restaurant. Surfing fox. “It was very hard, but also very 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 have gone through the most traumatic event of their lives,” Bashirian said.

But the tragedy also provided overwhelming support. Yeastie Boys’ Fox told BI that amateur chefs have been asking for help, and Bashirian has raised about $15,000 to help fund Sunday Gravy family meals.

Celia Ward-Wallace, co-founder and CEO South Cafe Los Angelessaid the organization has a “huge influx of volunteers” who help deliver fresh food to those in need.

The dust has not yet settled, and the chefs who spoke with BI said they are just beginning their efforts to help the community. But they hope to shed light on just how devastated the city is.

“People are jaded and think Los Angeles is all glitz and glamour, but these are real people, just as real as anywhere else in this country,” Bashirian said. “They may need as much help as possible.”

“It’s moments like these that make you realize how fragile life is,” Brockert said. “In my 42 years in Los Angeles, I have never experienced this. But the people from here are the salt of the earth, hardworking, good everyday Americans, and we come together and take care of each other.”