HOW LA EATS

Los Angeles is one of the greatest eating cities in the world. This is in large part due to our immigrant communities who have planted roots here generations ago. Over the decades these restaurants became institutions not only for its locals, but for Los Angeles as a whole. 

The character of our city is built on these restaurants. The way we eat in LA is unlike that of any other city in the world. Geographically sprawling, connected by a meandering web of highways, our neighborhoods are microcosms of culture. Our diversity is our identity. And our food has always been our soul.

The way we eat in LA is a direct reflection of this intersectional geography and our overlapping cultures. Driving 30 minutes south to Gardena to get fresh soba noodles is just another Tuesday night in LA. An Angeleno knows that if you want real Chinese food, you need to pass through Chinatown and head East on the 10 for another 20 minutes to the SGV where the signs along the road abruptly turn from English to Chinese for as far as the eye can see. And institutions through South LA and East Los have been feeding us food from the soul for decades. 

And this may change forever. 

How LA Eats may change forever. 

For the better part of 2020 and into 2021, we’ve watched as Covid has devastated our restaurant industry. But layered on top of a pandemic that has affected businesses unlike anything we’ve seen before, it has disproportionately affected minority-owned small mom and pop restaurants. As restaurants we grew up eating at since childhood shuttered their doors for good, we felt the need to give back to those who had given us so much through the years.

As born-and-raised Angelenos, we chose 5 neighborhoods that represent How LA Eats. Within each of those neighborhoods, we partnered with 5 multi-generational minority-owned restaurants that represent that community. Each of these restaurants have played their part in not only representing the way we eat in LA, but also defining our larger multicultural identity. 

In our small way, we’re hoping to bring a little extra shine to these restaurants to help them get through Covid. As a small gesture, Finery is donating custom designed aprons. A beautiful apron won’t save a restaurant. But it can play its part in helping tell the unique stories of each of these families and their food. 

We’re hoping that through these aprons, we can provide that little extra reminder that we all need to do our part- big or small- in ensuring the face of our communities don’t change forever. If this serves as a reminder to order take-out from your local restaurant just once more than you would have otherwise, then it was all worth it.  

Additionally, Finery & Roy Choi will be selling the 2 Kogi collaboration aprons with all proceeds going to feed our friends at No Us Without You LA. Launched with a goal of feeding 30 families a week, No Us Without You LA is now providing food security to over 1,300 of the most disenfranchised and vulnerable hospitality workers affected by the pandemic. Every week they provide pantry essentials and fresh produce to back-of-house staff such as dishwashers, line, and prep cooks. 

So let’s celebrate LA and our food together. Let’s celebrate our diversity and the food that it has brought to generations of Angelenos. Together, if we all get back to eating out like we used to just a few more times this winter, we can help save the diversity that has made LA one of the greatest eating cities in the world. This is How LA Eats…forever.