Los Angeles Downtown News 12-28-20

December 28, 2020 I VOL. 49 I #52

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Kuniko Yagi and her journey to Pikunico It’s a GIVEN LA giving back for the holidays Page 5

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Resolutions are for the Birds: Flying into 2021 B

By Ellen Snortland lue Black (BB), my new love is. I don’t usually speak like Yoda, but I have a crush on a new bird pal: BB, the crow or raven. For the New Year, my resolution is to learn more about birds and use them as a source of joy and calmness.

This desire stems from watching BB fly in and fly out after washing her glorious wing-pits in our fountain/birdbath. Our front yard in Altadena is an urban jungle with flora worthy of a fancy-schmancy park. Although I have a withered thumb, even I can’t kill our garden. Like our Kapok silk floss tree, some plants have spent close to 100 years on our property.

As I bird watch from my office window, BB’s feathers give off an iridescence. I wish I could talk to her. I can’t tell if she’s a Raven or a Crow. And truthfully, I don’t know if she’s a female or male since their outward gender markers are not obvious. Plus, it would be rude to peek under her tail feathers.

When my hubby and I go on our Altadena dog walks, we yell “hello, crows!” when encountering them. We learned that crows remember the faces of people who have been either good or bad to them. Some ornithologists put a crow’s intelligence level on par with a 6- to 7-year-old human. That’s way ahead of infant human goo-goo gaw gaw, or in their case, coo-coo caw caw.

My go-to bird expert is my friend and All Saints Church choir “godmother” Elizabeth Tatum. A glorious singer, it’s not a surprise that she’d also be a bird watcher.

When I asked her for tips about beginning bird watching in our yard, she replied, “That’s how I started. Once you start bird watching, you’ll be amazed at how much you were missing and didn’t know it.” This concept is not dissimilar to my dating years: If I dated someone who had a Land Rover, I would start seeing Land Rovers everywhere, even though I had not noticed them before.

For years, I’ve read the studies showing how wrong we are about the epithet “Bird Brain.” It turns out our human-centric snobbery is way off. Corvids—aka the crow family—are found around the world. For some cultures, they represent doom and gloom; for others, magic and auspicious events. The Corvids include ravens, magpies, rooks and jays. They are all highly intelligent and recognize human faces, so do not hurl anything at them! Corvids are also renowned for gift giving and taking— and, as it turns out, returning.

Early this year, we hosted a fundraiser for the All Saints choir. Another choir pal who had attended told me she was excited because she’d spent some of her father’s inheritance to splurge on the earrings she was wearing. She discovered she’d lost one of them when she arrived home afterward. It was late at night, so we promised we’d leave no stone or cushion unturned to find it when the light was better the following day, after coming up empty-handed on our first pass.

The next morning, we combed our living room, front porch, walkways. We called our friend back and got the location of her previous evening’s parking spot. We

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walked up and down our street, looking at every square inch. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

My orphaned earring friend even came back to go over the same “territories” Ken and I had already scoured. Again, nothing. We gave up and she went back home.

Two hours later, I went outside, and there, glinting in the sunlight on one of our porch steps, was the earring! It was in a place where it would be impossible to miss it.

No human could have put it there. Our gates are padlocked, and climbing our fences would have had severe consequences, given the succulents and cactuses acting as a natural barbwire barrier. The only answer was that a crow friend saw us searching and returned it to where they’d found it. (Crows also famously love shiny things.) Now, we not only say “hello” on our walks but “thank you.”

Corny as it seems, there’s science behind the benefits of bird watching. Ecowatch. com and Audubon both report that people are happier when they pay attention to birds, which is why bird watching has risen in popularity during the pandemic.

Tiredly, bird watchers are unfairly stereotyped as white “feathered” dweebs, when in actuality, people of all ages, sizes and colors partake. (Watch the 2013 documentary “Birders: The Central Park Effect” for not only the diversity of birds shown but of people.) Cindy Cooper’s racist verbal attack against a Black bird watcher in CenEXECUTIVE EDITOR: Christina Fuoco-Karasinski tral Park brought even more attention to the NYC birding phenomenon. Look! It’s a STAFF WRITERS: Andrew Checchia, Andres De Ocampo, Julia Shapero plane, it’s Supergirl, no—even it’s a Kamala bird! Kirk CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:better, Sara Edwards, ART DIRECTORS: Olivares, Now, I’ll finish wingingArman it and wish Stephanie you all aTorres fabulous New Year. I admit that, after Luisrequire Chavez much. Hey… if Corvids can return earrings, 2020, this is STAFF a lowPHOTOGRAPHER: bar that won’t CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Myriam Santos can they help drive Drumpf and COVID-19 away? And I’ve put out an orphan earACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Catherine Holloway, Michael Lamb ring or two for BB. Waiting for her to pick them up.

FOUNDER EMERITUS: Sue Laris Ellen Snortland has written “Consider This…” for a heckuva long time, and she also coaches first-time book authors! Who knew? Contact her at ellen@beautybitesbeast.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Christina Fuoco-Karasinski STAFF WRITERS: Andrew Checchia, Matthew Rodriguez, Annika Tomlin CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Frier McCollister, Ellen Snortland ART DIRECTORS: Arman Olivares, Stephanie Torres STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Luis Chavez CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Victor Aleman, Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Catherine Holloway, Michael Lamb FOUNDER EMERITUS: Sue Laris

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Covered help LETTERSCalifornia TO THE will EDITOR

OPINION

Tasty meal Editor: Last year, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told President Trump “good riddance” when he learned that the president would leave New York City for Florida. The president cited high taxes and the poor treatment he received from New York leaders as reasons for his move. But it turns out that he was right—once again.

Now major Wall Street firms have announced that they, like the president, will also move because of exorbitant taxes, high crime levels and spikes in violence.

Maybe that’s why Gov. Cuomo’s attitude has improved a bit these days, as he offers to cook dinner for company CEOs who choose to stay in New York. I don’t support most of Cuomo’s policies, but I would be thrilled to dine at his home, for a homecooked meal of his famous spaghetti and meatballs. Yum! David Tulanian

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Giving back is a GIVEN M

By Annika Tomlin ayor Eric Garcetti has partnered with the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles (MFLA) to announce the Grocery Intervention for Vital Emergency Needs (GIVEN) initiative that will provide thousands of Angelenos in need with $300 in cash assistance to help purchase groceries and other essential items.

“Our most vulnerable neighbors can’t wait for the end of the pandemic to get relief, and there is no greater gift we can give our fellow Angelenos right now than the ability to put food on the table and cover basic necessities,” Garcetti said.

“GIVEN is the perfect present this holiday season—a chance to lift up people in a time of dire need and make a small but meaningful difference as too many families come face to face with the devastating health and economic impacts of COVID-19.”

MFLA combines the best of private, philanthropic, nonprofit and government resources to take on the city’s most pressing challenges.

The fund reaches across LA, enhancing the overall quality of life for Angelenos by sponsoring programs that address acute and long-term needs, insisting on rigorous standards to provide measurable impact.

“At the beginning of the pandemic the nimbleness and the flexibility that we have as a nonprofit organization allowed us to quickly partner with the city for standup programs like Project Safe Haven to help expand the shelter programs for domestic violence victims and expand the number of senior meals delivered to help out seniors when the first day of the at home order came down,” said Deidre Lind, president and CEO of MFLA. Lind said through other initiatives during the pandemic, such as the Angeleno Card, which “provided direct cash assistance to Angelenos in need back in the springtime,” MFLA learned “how important access to cash was for people who are in a crisis situation.”

Toward the beginning of the pandemic, Garcetti and MFLA activated the Angeleno Card Initiative to provide direct cash assistance to more than 105,000 Angelenos in need. The initiative helped raise more than $36,000 to give back to the community.

“From the Angeleno Card program that we launched earlier this year, we know that more than 70% of the funds were used directly for food or household essentials by the recipients,” Lind said. “We know that this money and the big resources are being used for very important purposes.”

MFLA contributed $550,000 to GIVEN with the goal of raising $3 million through donations to provide a one-time amount of $300 to at least 10,000 households.

GIVEN builds on a series of initiatives developed by Garcetti and the city to support the community that has received limited federal assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through a partnership with the city’s FamilySource Centers and its network of community-based, nonprofit partners, GIVEN has identified more than 11,200 clients at or near the poverty line who have enrolled in and qualified for services. GIVEN will be focused on supporting those households.

According to one of the reports completed by the USC Dornsife Public Exchange regarding food insecurity in LA County, 6.4% of people who were food secure were likely to get COVID-19 while 11.6% were likely to be infected if they were food insecure.

At the beginning of this month, Garcetti worked with MFLA in announcing the Secure Emergency Relief for Vulnerable Employees (SERVE) initiative to

Mayor Eric Garcetti has partnered with the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles to announce the Grocery Intervention for Vital Emergency Needs (GIVEN) initiative.

File photo

provide 4,000 local food-service employees with a one-time $800 stipend.

While restaurants continue to have limited service during the pandemic or are completely closed, SERVE will provide assistance to food-service workers such as the dishwashers, cooks, servers and hosts who lost their jobs or had their work hours cut to make it through the holiday season.

Anyone who wishes to donate and help fund the initiatives can visit mayorsfundla.org/covid19.

“We’re asking for Angelenos who have the resources during this very difficult time for our neighbors to please go to the website and to please take a moment to give,” Lind said.

“Not only will these funds underwrite the GIVEN program, but they will also help support the other programs that we continue to support, one being SERVE, which we launched in earlier December. Another program that was launched earlier in December was ACT, the Angeleno Connectivity Trust, which is providing 18,000 vulnerable students with access to free Wi-Fi. These are students who may have a device from their school but their family is experiencing homelessness. They are foster youth. They are the kids that are falling in and out of connectivity. That program we are continuing just to make sure those kids have access to free Wi-Fi.”

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Covered will help NEWS - California COVID COUNT

DECEMBER 28, 2020

Covered NEWS California will help

Reported cases in Downtown LA and surrounding areas as of December 21 Chinatown: 374; Little Tokyo: 197; Los Feliz: 524; Silverlake: 1,619; South Park: 4,072; Wilshire Center: 2,548 Total confirmed cases in DTLA: 1,982 Total deaths in DTLA: 21 Total confirmed cases in LA County: 623,670 Total deaths in LA County: 8,875 LA County reported more than 100,000 cases in eight days as the region struggles to quell the surge. In one day, the county reported 13,315 new cases, accounting for 35% of the total number of cases in the entire state. As of December 20, the county continues to surpass its bleak records, reporting a new high of 5,549 people hospitalized. This news comes after the ICU bed capacity in the Southern California region dropped to 0%. If the surge continues, LA County hospitals will have no room for other emergency patients. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this. We are getting crushed,” said Dr. Brad Spellberg, chief medical officer at LAC+USC Medical Center

Los Angeles Unified School District will not reopen its campuses when the spring semester starts on January 11. Superintendent Austin Beutner reported that the district will remain in “online-only mode until community health conditions improve significantly.”

He also reported that 10% of students tested at school-based COVID-19 testing sites were positive for the virus. Beutner provided no timetable for the continuation of in-person learning, only saying, “It’s clear we’re a long way from reopening schools with the level of (the) virus this high.”

The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the Moderna and National Institutes of Health Vaccine December 18. The news comes a week after the Pfizer vaccine was approved and shipped to California. The state anticipates shipments of the Moderna vaccine to arrive this week, just in time for Christmas.

Similar to the Pfizer vaccine, the Moderna vaccine tested 94.5% effectiveness in clinical trials.

Information compiled by Matthew Rodriguez.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Adopt-a-Family program will replace its in-person, volunteer-based gift and food distribution to underserved families in Skid Row and Downtown LA with distribution of gift cards.

Photo courtesy Victor Aleman/Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Gift cards replace visits for Adopt-a-Family

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski ue to the pandemic, this year the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Adopt-a-Family program will replace its in-person, volunteer-based gift and food distribution to underserved families in Skid Row and Downtown LA with distribution of gift cards to more than 500 families through different organizations that serve the families.

The effort was possible through donations from Homeboy Industries, St. Anne’s Center, Los Angeles Police Department and the Knights of Columbus, among others.

“For the past 30 years, the Adopt-a-Family Program at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels has brought a ‘magical Christmas’ to the children of Skid Row and the Downtown Los Angeles area,” said Msgr. Terrance Fleming, executive director of the Archdiocese’s mission office.

“Neither sleet nor snow or COVID has diminished either the need or the ‘will’ to deliver this. Instead of boxes of groceries and toys, this year it is gift cards. I am overwhelmed of the generosity of our donors and very thankful for all who help carry out this dream.”

Every year, the Archdiocese’s Mission Office gathers nearly 1,000 volunteers of all ages at the Cathedral of the Lady of the Angels to hand-deliver donated food and Christmas gifts, including toys, houseware, clothing and school supplies, to hundreds of underserved families in Downtown LA and the Skid Row area, serving more than 1,230 children annually. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the annual program had to adjust to the guidelines established by the Archdiocese and state and local public health authorities.

In addition, the Knights of Columbus donated 200 coats for boys and girls.

“We, as members of the Knights of Columbus, work hard every day to support our church, our community and our clergy,” said Stephen E. Bolton, state deputy of the California State Council of the Knights of Columbus.

“We also have a new motto, ‘Leave no neighbor behind.’ We hope and pray that these Knights of Columbus coats will put a smile on a young person’s face in one of our local parishes and maybe he or she will remember that the Knights of Columbus were there for them during the Christmas season in 2020.”

Adopt-a-Family was created in December 1990 to serve the needs of families who were outside of the help of government programs or other charitable programs. Many of this year’s recipient families continue to be underserved and lack the means to offer a dignifying Christmas celebration to their children.

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Adopt-a-Family Program adoptafamilyla.org

DECEMBER 28, 2020

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Covered DINING California will help

Angry Egret Dinette: Wes Avila returns Downtown

By Frier McCollister hen Wes Avila formally stepped away from his iconic flagship taqueria Guerrilla Tacos in early August, it seemed to trigger a wave of surprised alarm in local food circles.

In an Instagram post this summer announcing his departure, Avila noted, “Now, I have decided to step down as executive chef.

I am looking forward to the ability to spend more time with my family.”

His departure from his Arts District outpost seemed to draw more attention than his quiet return to DTLA—this time in Chinatown—with Angry Egret Dinette in late October.

Located in the inner courtyard of Mandarin Plaza, the new concept offers a limited menu of breakfast items and sandwiches. Like his now-fabled tacos, the new menu creations at Angry Egret all reflect Avila’s interest in bringing his sophisticated, classically trained palate and techniques for humble dishes and ingredients.

On a stray visit one recent Sunday morning, the courtyard was in a quiet lull. The order window has a simple menu pasted on the glass. The cheerful Tanya Mueller answered questions and took orders. She’s Avila’s wife and business partner. Apparently, Avila had run off on an errand. He’s definitely spending more time with his family—in Chinatown.

Unlike the ongoing ripple of forced openings by restaurant operations otherwise blind-sided by the pandemic lockdown and restrictions, Avila and Mueller chose to open the Angry Egret Dinette deliberately and swiftly.

“We got the lease and five days later we opened,” Mueller said. “If you know my husband, that’s him. If he has an idea, the next day he’s doing it.”

The impetus came from a combination of quarantine doldrums and sudden opportunity.

“It was pure serendipity,” Mueller said. “We were hanging out at the house. Wes was getting stir crazy. He said, ‘If something comes up, I’m gonna jump at it.’ The very next day Yeekai (Lim) from Cognoscenti Coffee called and said, ‘I have this space.’ It seemed like divine providence.”

A native of Pico Rivera, Avila graduated from Rancho High School and joined the Teamsters, driving a forklift for seven years.

Finally following his calling, he enrolled at the California School of Culinary Arts in South Pasadena.

Upon graduation in 2005, he matric-

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ulated into the kitchens of Walter Manske then at L’Auberge and Gary Menes at Palate Food+Wine and later Le Comptoir. In the meantime, he had traveled to France, where he studied under Alain Ducasse. After six years honing his classical technique in fine cuisine, he’d had enough. Following an ambition “to be the best taquero in Los Angeles,” he took to a food cart and a year later the truck and Guerrilla Tacos was born. The timing was excellent.

Following the high-low food truck trend that was sparked by Roy Choi’s Koji truck, the local mania for ingenious and inexpensive culinary compositions slung from food trucks was as hot as ever. The popular and critical sensation led to Avila’s opening Guerrilla Tacos in his first brick-and-mortar location in the Arts District in 2016.

Four successful years later—including the award of a Bib Gourmand by Michelin and the release of a cookbook—the pandemic unleashed itself while he was opening a new venue, Pio Piko Tacos, at the Ace Hotel in Kyoto, Japan. On his return to LA, he spent less time at Guerrilla Tacos and then abruptly announced his departure in the first week of August.

“After I left, I was in limbo,” Avila said.

“There wasn’t anything going on. It’s COVID. You’re at home. You’re trying to survive and trying to have some mental health with your partner, trying not to kill each other. After a while, I was like, dude, I want to get back to work. (I said) if an opportunity came up where I can take over a space, where there’s patio seating already and there’s a takeout window, I’d jump on it.”

As Mueller said the next day, the space arrived via Lim. “I swear as soon as I walked in, (I said) holy (expletive), this is the space,” he said.

So, what’s with the name?

“We saw some egrets on the LA River,” he said. “It’s so iconic to Los Angeles. I’m into the weird oddities of Los Angeles. I wanted to represent something a little bit funkier from Los Angeles. I wanted to pay homage to the LA River.”

At this point, Avila’s reputation deservedly and understandably precedes him. Those in the know, know where to go. Before I could continue my Sunday chat with Mueller at the window, a gang of food-wise hipsters appeared in the courtyard and I ceded the order window to them.

As they deliberated on their orders, I approached the aptly named Chandler Chow, 35, of Los Angeles, who was happy to lend his opinion.

Chef Wes Avila owns the Angry Egret Dinette.

Photo by Luis Chavez

As he ordered the duck banh mi and pantomimed his golf swing, he offered, “Yeah, generally I’m a Wes Avila fan. I think he’s great. He’s a good representative for LA. He’s traditional but he mixes it up.”

So, what is being served? For breakfast, there are two finely crafted burritos: Hey Porky’s ($13) stuffed with roasted pork shoulder, scrambled eggs, pinto beans, Oaxacan cheese and salsa verde; and the Atwater ($12), which swaps the animal protein for shiitake mushrooms, roasted peppers, braised leeks, scrambled eggs, swiss cheese and salsa china.

There’s also a beef machaca flauta ($9) laced with onions, serrano chiles, salsa china and cilantro. (It’s parenthetically noted as “very spicy.”) Add a duck egg for an extra $4.

Finally consider the pig foot chilaquiles ($18).

These are chilaquiles tossed in mole negro with pig foot and fried duck egg, dressed out with Monterey Jack cheese and avocado.

If a sandwich is in order there are a variety of intriguing options, each sporting Avila’s uniquely original touch. Chandler’s duck banh mi ($18) should be self-explanatory to fans of banh mi, and this one is composed fairly traditionally. That said, it includes a whole seared duck breast with slivered cucumbers, carrots, cashews, bird’s-eye chiles, cilantro and sambal paste served on a crunchy baguette.

The Whittier Blvd ($13) actually requires description. Here, beef brisket, red peppers,

avocado, queso fresco, horseradish cream and serrano chiles combine for the knockout punch. The Mookie melt ($14) features a grilled chicken thigh with candied bacon, gruyere cheese, poblano salsa and scallions.

No meat? No problem. The Saguaro ($14) starts with tempura battered and fried broccolini and squash blossom, heirloom tomato, fresh market greens and ricotta with salsa macha.

There’s also a Baja shrimp po boy ($16) with fried shrimp and the requisite cabbage, pico de gallo and chipotle crema.

Yes, this is where you go to find braised leeks in a breakfast burrito and squash blossom tempura in your sandwich. It’s only Avila, and it’s always tasty. With Guerrilla Tacos, Avila demonstrated a wider scope of technique and imagination than most nouvelle taqueros, and he extends that brand of finesse here at the Angry Egret Dinette.

Chatting on the phone, Avila was interrupted as he directed his crew in a massive tamale-making project. For the holidays, he took orders for more than 200 dozen tamales in five varieties.

“It’s helping us stay afloat right now,” he explained just before Christmas.

“For New Year’s, we’re doing cheese and charcuterie boards to go—and we’re doing tamales for the Super Bowl as well. I’m just having fun here. I’m cooking the way I want to cook and the way I want to eat. We’ll do it for as long as we can.”

Angry Egret Dinette 970 N. Broadway, Suite 114, Los Angeles 213-278-0987, aedinette.com

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DECEMBER 28, 2020

Japanese fried kitchen shop Pikunico, named by combining chef/owner Kuniko Yagi’s first name and “picnic,” is a casual affair meant to provide a genuinely welcoming space to all kinds of hungry customers.

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Covered DINING California will help

Real Nourishment: Kuniko Yagi and her journey to Pikunico

By Andrew Checchia ifferent philosophies about the “culinary arts” can push chefs in wildly different directions. Some want to be the next big thing, become rich and famous, and find themselves hosting game shows on the Food Network. Others see cooking as pure creativity—an expression of themselves and their culture heritage, so they use their dishes to tell stories.

But Kuniko Yagi, the chef and owner of Pikunico at ROW DTLA, has a totally different perspective.

“It’s not me trying to be an artist. It’s me wanting to nourish people,” said Yagi on why she cooks. “Nourishing people, taking care of people with the food I cook. That’s different from ‘this food is my art.’”

But that shouldn’t take anything away from Yagi’s fascinating, nonlinear journey before opening up Pikunico, her own casual picnic-style karaage (Japanese fried chicken) restaurant. Her creativity came through naturally as she navigated difficult situations and constantly learned new skills.

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Years ago, when she entered the workforce after college, she got a job as a banker in her native Tokyo. But almost immediately, she realized a life of bland corporate humdrum wasn’t for her. So, she went to her father to express her unhappiness. He answered with an ultimatum: She could leave after three years. Yagi counted down the days. “‘Understood, three years,’ I said. I’m counting right now. But I never imagined I would live in the United States. I was just working in the middle of Tokyo. My boyfriend at the time was from LA, and that made me come here,” Yagi said. “I had never been here.”

Unfortunately, Yagi’s relationship ended after about a year, and she found herself alone, stranded in a foreign land. She barely spoke English and only had the skills to work a job she hated. So, she took the lead of thousands of LA transplants before her and looked to the restaurant industry. She worked for a while as a waitress in a Japanese restaurant.

As Yagi grew comfortable in her new environment, she spent more time with the cooks and more time thinking about the very real career prospects for chefs. Still, she had reservations. Back in Japan boys train with culinary masters starting at age 16 to become any kind of professional in the restaurant world. But she realized she left behind so many of her cultural expectations when she moved across the Pacific and decided to look for kitchen jobs around LA. “(People working in kitchens) can get a job anywhere in the world. I’ll have a job if I’m a chef. Everyone needs to eat and be fed,” said Yagi. “(But) it was never starting from ‘I wanted to be a chef since 3 years old.’

When I told my best friends in Japan I’m becoming a chef they couldn’t understand.”

After advice from a regular customer at her waitressing job, she scoured Zagat guides for good restaurants in need of kitchen staff. In a wild turn of fate, she applied to work at Sona, one of Los Angeles’ only Michelin-starred restaurants at the time. Amazingly, one of her other regular customers was David Myers, Sona’s head chef. After what she described as an awkward interview, she managed to get herself a position in one of LA’s top kitchens without ever setting foot in a culinary school.

At Sona, she quickly learned the intensity of working in a high-level professional kitchen, along with constant creativity that Myers uniquely demanded from the entire kitchen staff.

“A lot of Michelin restaurants will restrict everyone from creating anything because they want consistency,” Yagi said. “Sona was the only place that was against that. The

owner-chef took a chance to be a vanguard and totally different from everyone else. Every week we had a meeting with the entire team and everyone had to bring their own ideas.

“We were on the edge, reading, researching and studying every single night.”

Yagi hit the ground running, learning culinary fundamentals (and a whole lot more English) as she fumbled her way through this new world. She managed to adjust and soon became an essential chef in the Sona kitchen. Not long afterward, she even opened a new restaurant alongside Myers called Hanoki and the Bird. But a deeper conviction about her life’s work nagged at her the whole time.

“I always wanted to be my own boss, ever since I was working in a corporate company after college. I never fit in just listening to what somebody says,” Yagi said.

Finally, after years establishing herself under head chefs, Yagi opened Pikunico—her own restaurant. The Japanese fried kitchen shop, named by combining Yagi’s first name Kuniko and “picnic,” is a casual affair meant to provide a genuinely welcoming space to all kinds of hungry customers.

The idea for Pikunico came from two places. First, the decision to serve fried chicken came from Yagi’s fond childhood memories of eating karaage with her grandmother in Japan. She also realized American fried chicken, made with its signature thick batter, could never really be gluten free like its Japanese counterpart.

Second, the choice to start a casual restaurant after her years in fine dining was inspired by a memory from her time as a

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banker. Once a week a woman with a cart would come to her building and serve delicious, fresh food to the office workers—a welcome break from the processed sandwiches in a nearby 7-Eleven.

“I don’t want truffles, I don’t want foie gras, I’m done with that,” said Yagi about her decision to open Pikunico. “Cooking at a fine dining restaurant is wonderful, you learn a lot, but I was always thinking I wanted to be a chef who can cook for a majority of people. Who is going to be like everyone’s mom feeding kids. It was important for me who I was feeding. Not every chef thinks about that.”

Now, as Pikunico weathers the COVID-19 pandemic, Yagi is looking ahead to the

state of the culinary world from her comfortable position at the head of her own restaurant.

“It’s tough, it’s really tough for them,” she said. “But I know people need restaurants, and people need to dine. Pikunico can feed people regularly, but there are restaurants that need to make it memorable. All that stuff is their effort, great service, great food, great atmosphere. People won’t forget that, and people will come back for that.

“It’s like sifting flour. Coronavirus is the sift. If you really want to stay in your business as you are, you can. It’s how you take it. You need to have a really strong will and say, ‘I’m going to come back and figure it out.’”

Pikunico ROW DTLA, Building M2 767 S. Alameda Street, Suite 122, Los Angeles 213-278-0407, pikunico.com

Kuniko Yagi is the chef and owner of Pikunico at ROW DTLA. Submitted photo

DT

Covered California will help BUSINESS

Financial District’s 915 Wilshire sold

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski ewmark has arranged the sale of 915 Wilshire, a 22-story, 388,126-squarefoot Class A office building in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles’ Financial District.

Newmark’s co-head of capital markets, Kevin Shannon; executive managing directors, Ken White and Rob Hannan; and senior managing director, Laura Stumm, represented the sellers, Rockwood Capital, and Lincoln Property Company West, in the transaction.

The buyer, Deka Immobilien, a German-based global real estate investment company, purchased the asset off market.

Newmark’s Vice Chairman David Milestone led the refinancing effort.

“This is yet another example of foreign capital buying Class A office assets in gateway markets with credit and attractive lease terms,” Shannon said. “The weighted average lease term on 915 Wilshire was over eight years and the rent roll was anchored by a GSA 15-year lease for nearly a third of the property.”

White added, “915’s above-average parking ratio compared to other DTLA office assets will be valuable post-pandemic, as more employees will likely opt to drive Downtown initially.”

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The building is located at 915 Wilshire Boulevard and recently underwent a comprehensive renovation. Features include sweeping skyline views, highly efficient, 23,000-square-foot floor plates, an upgraded lobby, open-air mezzanine rooftop deck, elevator cabs, building signage and a nearly complete full-service bar and restaurant. The building was 90% leased at the time of sale to 30 tenants spanning a variety of sectors, including professional and financial services, entertainment, insurance, law, health care and government.

The property is directly adjacent to the 110 Freeway, blocks away from the Seventh Street Metro Station and presents optimal ingress and egress for all modes of transportation. With immediate proximity to dozens of top-rated restaurants, bars and hotels, including the neighboring Wilshire Grand, the asset offers tenants one of Downtown LA’s most central and accessible locations.

According to Newmark Research, Downtown Los Angeles has a number of longterm selling points, including being at the center of the metro’s transit system; substantial multi-housing development in recent years; an evolving amenity base, available office space for expansion or consolidation; and lower office rents than most West Los Angeles areas.

915 Wilshire recently underwent a comprehensive renovation. Features include sweeping skyline views, highly efficient, 23,000-square-foot floor plates, an upgraded lobby, open-air mezzanine rooftop deck, elevator cabs, building signage and a nearly complete full-service bar and restaurant.

Photo courtesy Newmark

TWITTER: @ DOWNTOWNNEWS

10 DOWNTOWN NEWS

Courtney Henggeler plays Amanda LaRusso, the wife of Ralph Macchio’s character, Daniel LaRusso, in “Cobra Kai.” Season three begins in January.

DT

Covered California will help ARTS & CULTURE

Cult favorite ‘Cobra Kai’ kicks its way into season 3

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski ourtney Henggeler was like many teenage girls, covering her walls with posters of heartthrobs like Ralph Macchio and, later, New Kids on the Block.

Now she finds it surreal to play Amanda LaRusso, the wife of Macchio’s character, on the hit Netflix show “Cobra Kai.” “‘The Karate Kid’ was very big in my neighborhood,” she recalled. “There were a lot of little boys in the neighborhood who were into karate. I said, ‘I’m into karate, too.’

I didn’t know anything about it, actually.

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But I had ‘Karate Kid’ memorabilia.”

“Cobra Kai” takes place more than 30 years after the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament and sees the continuation of the conflict between Daniel LaRusso (Macchio) and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka).

Season three, which starts in January, is the aftermath of the violent high school brawl between the two dojos, which left Miguel Diaz seriously injured. While Daniel searches for answers in his past and Johnny seeks redemption, Kreese further manipulates his vulnerable students with his own vision of dominance.

Henggeler’s character, in the meantime, is the voice of reason.

“Amanda is the peacemaker, which never sounds sexy when I say it,” Henggeler said with a laugh.

“I think she’s kind of the voice of the audience at times. She thinks it’s hilarious that Johnny and Daniel had a beef over a girl in high school and they are still archnemeses in their 50s. They should have moved on with their lives. Kreese is back. He’s this intense sensei. It’s all kind of hilarious, if you think about it.”

No spoilers here, but Henggeler said season three is her favorite. It was filmed a year ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Season four is still being considered.

“It gets better and better and better,” she said. “It wasn’t on Netflix yet when we were on season three. It was on YouTube Red. Netflix is awesome.”

“Cobra Kai” has become a cult favorite— especially among those who remember the original “Karate Kid.” The movie reflects the 1980s during season three’s pivotal

DECEMBER 28, 2020

Photo by Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix

scenes—especially with music like “In the Air Tonight” by Phil Collins and Journey’s “Open Arms.”

“It brings back all of the feelings we were feeling back then,” Henggeler said. “It’s a beautiful nostalgia. I really didn’t expect it to be so well received. But I enjoy seeing Billy and Xolo Maridueña (Miguel Diaz), their wonderful mentorship. YouTube Red was a venue that no one really had access to or really existed. I thought it was just fun.

I didn’t think it would have the impact that it has.”

She believes the appeal is widespread because “Cobra Kai” has something for everyone. For kids too young to remember the original “Karate Kid,” there are characters like the angry Hawk (Jacob Bertrand); the all-American sweetheart Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser) and the bad girl Tory (Peyton List).

“Our cast is diverse in the sense of ages,” she said. “We have Mary, who just hit 1 million followers. She’s the quintessential American sweet girl. You can’t help but care

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for her. She’s just stinkin’ adorable.

“Some people are all about Kreese, who’s dark and evil. Then there are people who love Billy and Johnny Lawrence. There are some fans of Demetri. It’s funny to watch the interactions and who the fans are gravitating toward.

“I recommend shows to people. I just watched ‘The Queen’s Gambit.’ Phenomenal. I can’t recommend that to my mother, though, per se. She wouldn’t get that. I feel that I can wholeheartedly recommend ‘Cobra Kai’ to everybody. I think it has something for everyone there. You can’t help but walk away feeling good.”

That includes Henggeler, who still is in awe of performing with Macchio.

“I don’t know how it’s going to be with COVID, but I love sitting next to Ralph,” she said. “His family is very lovely as well. I get the privilege to know them. I look at myself shooting on the set with Ralph Macchio and I think, ‘What are you saying to him? Stop.’

Now he’s ‘Ralph’ to me. For the first two seasons, he was ‘Ralph Macchio.’

“He’s so kind and much quirkier than I thought he was. He was the guys in the poster for the longest time.”

Ralph Macchio, who plays Daniel LaRusso, and William Zabka (Johnny Lawrence) butt heads throughout seasons one and two of “Cobra Kai.” Season three begins in January.

Photo by Curtis Bonds Baker/Netflix

DT

Covered California will help ARTS & CULTURE

Back to the Past: The oldest footage of LA

By Andrew Checchia o older generations, the time kids spend browsing social media—using Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube and now TikTok—might look like brain-numbing hours of mindless entertainment.

But as many cutting-edge creators now realize, this growing group of millennial and zoomer youth actually care deeply about the histories and cultures of the places they live. Al Paton, a producer for the online video production company Yestervid, understands this perfectly. He helps research and edit videos compiling old footage of major cities. The studio’s latest effort unearthed films on Los Angeles, including the oldest known footage of the city from 1897.

“When I saw all this old footage, it was incredible. It was inspiring. I thought, we just had to do LA,” Paton said. “The format is new, but the content is old. That’s the way to reach younger people.”

The new video features over 10 minutes of richly historical footage from across LA County, including Santa Monica, Downtown, Hollywood (then “Hollywoodland”) and Long Beach.

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Time-bending clips show busy streets filled with horse-drawn buggies, street cars and even trains barreling down railroads near Santa Monica Pier, one following the route of what is now the Pacific Coast Highway up the coast toward Malibu. That shot of the train is also the second oldest footage of the city, just a few days off from the oldest 1897 date. Other films capture dramatic events in Los Angeles’ history, like the opening of the LA aqueduct, famous Hollywood moments, the 1933 earthquake and floods from the 1920s.

“You see real snippets of the birth of LA. I think it’s important that this stuff is preserved,” said Paton on the videos’ value.

An extended chapter of the film focuses on Downtown from the turn of the century up until the 1930s. Aerial footage surveys famous landmarks, like the strikingly barren surroundings near LA City Hall and the radically undeveloped Bunker Hill neighborhood, before they grew into busy commercial centers. For lesser-known buildings, the video also features a beautiful, period-appropriate, hand-drawn map of Downtown that Paton discovered while getting a sense for the shape of the city nearly a cen-

tury ago. It helps put the shots, which even feature the opening of the famous funicular rail Angel’s Flight before it closed in 1969 and moved a few blocks over in 1996, in appropriate context.

“The rate at which the city grew between 1900 and 2000 is staggering,” Paton noted on Downtown. “It really looked like a little village, and that’s Downtown basically.”

Another fascinating chapter shows iconic moments and figures from Hollywood history. Tracking back to the film industry’s early days as companies moved out West to avoid the high taxes levied by East Coast states, footage highlights the original complexes of the main studios, with aerial shots showing the sprawling campuses of Warner Brothers and Goldwyn. Other prominent actors, directors and artists get candid clips, like Charlie Chaplin, Billy Bitzer, the controversial producer D.W. Griffiths, and Oscar Micheaux—an extraordinarily important early influence on the development of Black film.

“One of the things you can’t help but think while you’re watching these videos is that everybody in them is dead. But you can reflect on your life and think about what you’ll be remembered for. It’s quite humbling. It makes you realize your own mortality,” said Paton on the film’s slightly morbid but powerful effect.

Ending the video, the oldest footage it-

self shows a beautiful “day in the life” moment of the early city. At over 120 years old, the scene captured at South Spring Street still looks bustling. Horses pull a packed carriage down the road as a crowd of pedestrian onlookers bursts off the sidewalk.

A young boy even follows behind the buggy on a bike, giving the grainy, black-andwhite footage a touch of familiarity.

“It’s just astounding how much footage there is out there. The vast majority of it ends up on the cutting floor,” said Paton.

“I want people to look at it and go, ‘Wow, there’s a whole world out there that I could get into.’ This is just the tip of the iceberg.

It’s the edited highlights.”

Whether just moving to the city or a lifelong resident, appreciating the history of LA gives people an opportunity to understand its unique texture. The footage, often over a century old, provides valuable context to the most seemingly fundamental landmarks. Appreciating how radically a city’s landscape can shift helps forecast the years of inevitable future development, an especially important understanding for the younger generations who will soon guide it through such change.

“I’m all on board with kids being into watching videos. If that’s the way to reach them, I’m fine with that. It’s a good way to try and get people interested in something.

That’s a win for everyone!”

The Oldest Footage of Los Angeles bit.ly/2VFHOPm

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DECEMBER 28, 2020

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