DOWNTOWN WEEKLY THE SPIRIT OF DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
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monuments in time THE TOWER THEATER
introducing
vegan curry AT kapoors akbar CELEBRITIES YELP ELITES & TOP
FOODIES ROCK DTLA VEGAN WEEKEND
2 THE CRUELTY FREE SIDE OF DOWNTOWN WEEKLY
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ON THE COVER kapoor’s akbar: vegan curry
PHOTO BY:
wesley clouden LOCATION:
chinatown dtla
SQUARE ONE OUR WARMEST WELCOME ...3 DTLA VEGAN: ROCKING DTLA VEGAN WEEKEND ....5
introducing vegan curry from kapoors ....6 MONUMENTS in TIME: ToWER THeater ....8 THE RAW VEGGIES
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editor and chief KERI FREEMAN
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DTLA VEGAN: ROCKING DTLA VEGAN WEEKEND
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Celebrities, Yelp Elites and TOP Foodies Rock DTLA Vegan Weekend
D
TLA Vegan Weekend is that one weekend out of the year when we vow to dive into Vegan Culture with plenty of participating Downtown destinations offering discounts on everything you'll need to begin or continue your Vegan Journey. From June 18-20th, DTLA Weekly celebrated our community's good Intentions exploring new flavors and alternatives to eating animals while supporting local businesses. We paid homage to all the animals we ate throughout the year and all those we may yet to eat throughout our lifetimes. And with the help of local celebrities, Yelp Elites and some very popular Social Media Foodies, we invited all the world to take the DTLA Weekend Challenge. We found the vegan and the not yet so vegan community down for DTLA Vegan Weekend and the Vegan Weekend Challenge like four flats, leading to record-breaking sales for participating businesses. Here's
a recap!
Celebrity Actress Nika King at Wild Living Foods The world can't get enough of actress and wellness center owner Nika King. Best known as her role on HBO's Europhia, playing Leslie Bennet, mother of troubled teen Rue Bennett, portrayed by actress Zendaya, King is also a standup comedienne, writer, director, and producer.
Keri Eats DTLA at Au Lac
DTLA Weekly Publisher @kerieatsdtla tried out Au Lac on Bunker Hill. They offered a Vegan Menu that was intriguing and unique with Chef Ito's plant-based creations with Vietnamese roots and a fusion of flavors. Keri tried to interview the Chef only to find out he had taken a vow of silence over 20 years ago, but don't worry, it was true "the dishes spoke for themselves!"
Monster Loves To Eat at Tulsi Indian Eatery
Celebrity Actress nika KIng
Recently, King embarked on a personal mission with the creation of the Black YOUtopia wellness lounge.
Tulsi Indian Eatery just opened on Main and 4th in the Old Bank District, consisting of a one-of-a-kind vegetarian/ plant-based Indian fast-casual concept and twenty years in the making. Tulsi dishes demonstrate each region of India, with a vegan menu beginning with Vada Pav, Tulsi Veg Burger, Tandoori, Cauliflower and ending with Samosas.
Monster Loves To Eat is one of the Southland's top foodies boasting a whooping following of around 40k followers on IG. Known as Monster Coming soon, King's new wellness lounge will become a place where healing happens (MJ for short), this foodie wonder from Beijing, China, started posting culinary for individuals and families from brown communities who have experienced racial delights four years ago. Monsters' posts are informative, with plenty of engagement trauma through health & food disparities and bright professional photos. and lack of resources for mental health services. When we asked why she had such a strong interest in helping spread the word "I spent a lot of time focusing on about DTLA Vegan Weekend, MJ stated' my inside, but over the last year, it "Eating something healthy is good for you, shifted to my mental health. I desire and you help save the planet," Continuing optimal self-care not only for myself with, "Sharing is caring. I love to share my but for my community". food experiences with people. I'm happy to see they are happy because they love the King chose Fashion District's Wild food that I recommended." Living Foods who welcomed the opportunity to show off their menu of MJ didn't stop eating in DTLA. She soaked, sprouted, dehydrated, chopped traveled to San Bernadino County for and blending raw foods. Already a strict the soft opening of Taste of Beauty, for vegan, their pairing was a match made in a chance to experience the new dine-in raw food heaven. location's first bites. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8
6 DTLA VEGAN: VEGAN CURRY by KATHLEEN DELANEY
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DTLA VEGAN g n i c u d o r t n I
CHEF AVINASH KAPOoR's NEW
VEGAN CURRy
restaurant r's oo p a K t a ly n O Akbar
G
et your taste buds ready to enjoy traditional Mughlai flavors blended with international influences! With roots in a strong, culinary family, it is no wonder that Chef Avinash Kapoor possesses the talent to infuse traditional flavors in every dish and deliver a uniquely delicious experience. From Gucchi Pillau to Chili Paneer, the menu is bound to hold delightful flavors for everyone.
CHEF AVINASH KAPOOR
The unique style of this executive chef is reflected in the menus of the restaurants that showcase his delectable platters. Indo-Chinese cuisine has made its mark on the Kapoor dynasty of dishes. The new eatery, found inside his existing Kapoor’s Akbar is called VEGAN CURRY presenting delightful cauliflower innovations with an Indo-Chinese flair. With enthusiasm for his new vegan eatery in DTLA, Chef Avinash shares: “It’s a virtual restaurant… I am opening with vegan curry. It is available on GrubHub currently. It will be available on all platforms.”
In every restaurant bearing his name, there is also a choice of delectable vegan dishes. Chef Avinash tastefully incorporates coconut, lentils, potatoes, and other assorted vegetables in his creations to create delightful flavors. At each of his establishments, he exercises his culinary prowess to present an assortment of vegan dishes.
The vegetable titled menu at Kapoor’s Akbar lists a variety of strictly vegan dishes. Baingan ka Salan – featuring eggplants, Vegetable Bhuna, and Chala MasThe quality of each dish is evident to the ala are just a few of the choices available. last bite. Even the menu descriptions cre- Though the highly acclaimed Kapoor’s ate the excitement of great flavors to come. Akbar features 6 vegan plates on the lunch menu, there are over twice as many Vegan Food Galore options in the larger dinner menu. Chef The prominence of vegetables and fruit is Avinash confirms the steadfast promise of a testament to the chef’s mindfulness to even more delectable creations to come. bring healthy options to the overall menu. His modern take on a formerly traditional The concept of creating delicious plantstyle of food has created a delicious opporbased and hearty meals is one Chef Avitunity to enjoy vegan fare! nash has carefully woven into his dishes. @kapoorsakbar
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SUMMER POPS WITH OUTDOOR ART, MUSIC, APPAREL & FOOD EVNETS AT THE ROW DTLA
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OW DTLA upholds its support for the creative community and welcomes The Other Art Fair, an independent artist fair featuring 75+ emerging artists, returning for its first U.S. in-person event this year. ROW DTLA tenants will invite select artists to showcase works within their retail stores, and some will offer special promotions to The Other Art Fair attendees. As part of ROW DTLA’s Summer Fridays series, retailers will stay open late (5-9pm) and offer special promotions to visitors with live DJ sets as folks whiling away their summer nights.
The Return of Smorgasburg
Making its return to DTLA after over a year, Smorgasburg LA officially returns to ROW DTLA on July 4th. The city’s largest weekly outdoor food market will celebrate its 5th year in Los Angeles in the 100-year-old 7th Street Produce Market inside ROW DTLA. Ending the Summer with POP· From July 12-September 29, 2021 Groceries Apparel Pop-Up expect to see Los Angeles-based brand, Groceries Apparel at ROW DTLA.
8 DTLA VEGAN - ROCKING DTLA VEGAN WEEKEND
TOP FOODIES ROCK DTLA VEGAN
WEEKEND
YELP ELITE: ASHLEY HUANG
I
CONT....
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Ashley Food Friends at Nature Well!
DTLA can thank the Vegan fairy for bringing Nature Well to the Spring Arcade building in the Historic Core. All weekend Nature Well offered FREE "Facemelter" ginger shots with any purchase of a cold-pressed or fresh juice, açai bowl, or. Smoothie. Returning from Nature Well, Ashley and pal Videsh posted one of the town's favorite Instagram Reels. The two of them enjoy fresh Facemelter shots in the Historic Spring Arcade Building.
STYLE & INSPIRATION: TRISH LINDO
t's always great to work with vegan Trish Lindo at Gelateria ULI influencers during DTLA Vegan Inspiration and style influencer Trish Weekend. It's even better when Lindo was one of the first to try the new they hold the prestigious online title vegan flavors at Historic Core favorite of being a Yelp Elite. Gelateria ULI. Ashley Huang is a Los Angeles-based New water-based Sorbet scoops food critic for Yelp Elite and Instagram and whole new vegan batches of food influencer. oat milk-based Gelatos inspired Trish to create a fun video to share with her Ashley's partner is a personal chef. She started posting to document the meals she loyal 10k followers on IG. Lindo's smooth shared with her friends; however, in 2019, vocals, writing, and direction had DTLA ready for the scoop and doing the DTLA Ashley transitioned to a vegan lifestyle Vegan Dance she made famous over the and decided to use her social presence to weekend. advocate for the animals, the planet, and our health. When she's not doing the vegan 2-step, Lindo advocates for all women-owned "I share delicious vegan food and businesses and causes. recipes to inspire my food friends to adopt a more sustainable and "I love vegan food. I've been vegan for compassionate lifestyle." Ashley most of my life and living in LA makes told us, "When I'm not cooking or it so much easier." Says Lindo. "I also exploring the vegan food scene, you love to use my platform to support can probably find me at my local Black businesses and Black women. I farmers market, shopping at a thrift believe happiness is an inside job and store, or designing stickers for my I work at it daily." Redbubble store (@vegdumps).
Folks as far as Orange County were rooting for us here in the DT! Vegan Depot in Corona, one of the state's largest Vegan Marketplaces, helped spread the word about DTLA Vegan Weekend. Depot vendors Vegan Tamale and Anita Bakery donated 12 items found inside DTLA Vegan Starter Packs along with Donut Friend and Jinka Vegan Tuna Spread. At the same time, reps from Tequila Azul Imperial sent extraordinary messages to encourage and support.
FOODIE: MJ AKA MONSTER LOVE TO EAT
Folks We Have a Winner!!! DTLA VEGAN OF THE YEAR Announced on Wednesday, June 30th. It was hard to choose, with half the town posting hashtags of their vegan experiences to get our attention, but we finally picked a winner! DTLA Vegan of the Year receives a complimentary meal for two from Beelman's Pub and Wild Living Foods as well as a dozen donuts from DONUT FRIEND and a cookie …. a free vegan cookie from Anita Bakery. The DTLA Vegan Of the Year posted photos of their meals from seven DTLA Vegan locations and introduced us to an eatery we hadn't heard of yet. DTLA WEEKLY would like to give a special thanks to the DTLA community and the courageous people who took the DTLA Weekend Challenge to inspire all of us to GO Vegan from June 18-20th. Thank you, DTLA!
DTLA MONUMENTS IN TIME - THE TOWER THEATER (1927)
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monuments in time the tower theater The year is 1927. Downtown Los Angeles is booming with life and consumerism. After a multi-racial migration consisting of almost every ethnic group between 19221927 doubles our population, Angelenos flock to Downtown for ultimate experiences in shopping, entrainment and nightlife. The Wonder Market spanning from Broadway to Hill Street, offers fresh produce, while street artisans and sidewalk performers and trash bins fail to block newsstands filled with the LA Times and fresh copies of LA Opinion. Angel’s Flight, just across the road, elevates passengers up the steep slope to Bunker Hill. Model T Fords and electric streetcars share the road, while Charles Lindbergh flies high above the city, preparing his twin-engine “Spirit of Saint Louis” for the first transatlantic Flight in history. On his way back, he’ll find a very personalized finished touch at the top of the newly constructed LA City Hall, a beacon of light placed in his honor to help guide him and other pilots through the darkest of city nights. Prohibition is the law of the land, but that doesn’t stop the steady stream of flappers, social elites and cigar smoking gents from enjoying the underground nightclubs, silent films and Vaudeville, the chosen form of entertainment of the day.
This is just one of many theaters that line the neon corridor on Broadway from 3rd to 9th streets fashioned out of fine velvets, glass, brass, and terracotta, where Art Deco, Beaux-Arts collide within Spanish Baroque designed by the day’s most prominent architects, Howard Crane, Anthony B. Heinsbergen and G. Albert Lansburgh. Inside these enormous wonders exist the ultimate social experience, where people welcome the chance to be wowed by their favorite entertainers. Live performances where almost anything goes, burlesque, comedy, minstrels, trained animals and circus acts, this is the time of Vaudeville, the most popular entertainment show in the world. Yet, on this day in 1927, almost every star in Hollywood and who’s who of Los Angeles is standing outside on the corner of 8th and Broadway awaiting the grand opening of Downtown’s newest theater house, the Tower Theater. Amongst them is a small yet immaculately dressed backgammon enthusiast and the famed architect, Charles Lee.
Silent film star Rudolf Valentino is on his death bed, reserving his immortal stay at the Hotel Alexandra. Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith prepare to complete their rebellious split from the constraints of Hollywood in the form of a delightful monstrosity, modeled after the Segovia Cathedral in Spain, soon to open on 9th and Broadway,known as the United Artists Along with his interior design team, Lee has already built over 70 theater houses Theater. across the country, including the
Los Angeles Theater and the Fox Wiltern, and is, on this day, adding the grand opening of the Tower Theater to his repository. As the crowds grow outside, beam lights shoot high above the new theater, exposing a giant clock as it strikes ten. The magic hour as the star-studded mass enters through the brass doors into the theater’s main lobby of lavish decor, marble, gold leaf, silk damask wall coverings, walnut paneling, and a crystal and marble fountain located in the upper hall. The high 50-foot ceiling swings crystal chandeliers while a grand staircase of the main lobby offers a choice between balcony seating, smoking and children’s room or basement lounges all hidden within a maze of opulent French Baroque interiors reportedly modeled after the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. The grandeur that once was the Tower Theater and others, despite preservation efforts, have been replaced by flea markets, movie sets and churches. Tower Theater finally closed its doors this same year. CONTINUED ON PAGE 11
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A cherished musician plays the theatre’s Mighty Wurlitzer pipe wind organ drowning out the steady hum while ushers allow the 2000-seat theater to fill to capacity.
T
he mighty pipe winds stop blowing, lights dim, the audience goes silent. It is the moment history has been waiting for, The Tower Theater’s Grand Opening. Months later, Warner Bros would release a film entitled the Jazz Singer starring Al Jolson. The first-ever “talkie,” synched to film by the newly invented Vitaphone system, marked the end of silent films forever, amplifying the tearing voice of Jolson, then the most celebrated entertainer of his time. Unfortunately, The Tower Theater only continued showing talkies until shortly after World War II. After this time many Broadway movie palaces became venues for Spanish-language movies and variety shows. By 1988, the Los Angeles Times notes that, without the Hispanic community, “Broadway would be dead.” In 2008, the City of Los Angeles, led by then Council-member Jose Huizar, launched a $40-million campaign supporting the Broadway Theater Group and the LA Conservatory to revitalize the Broadway district, known as the “Bringing Back Broadway” campaign. This would become a doubleedged sword, as the Broadway Corridor would indeed shine brightly once again but eventually lead to the displacement of dozens of Latino merchants. Flash forward, over a decade later, The Tower Theater inks a long time lease with the world’s most valuable tech company, Apple Inc. Apple then takes on the job of fully revitalizing the theater as the world waited patiently for the grand reopening now scheduled for Thursday, June 26, when the clock strikemidnight.
Teams of reservationists worked alongside Apple’s design team and a literal task force of local artisans and craftspeople. Using innovative 3D laser scans and forensic paint studies, special attention was given when replicating the original colors and textures found in the old theatre. Gone forever is the theater’s seating, along with the cherub-filled ceiling mural now replaced by a minimalist clear blue-cloud compilation high above rows of display centers, yet the brass railing and the grandiose staircase remains. Elsewhere, plush leather seating makes it comfortable wait as biers remanence thanks to old photographs that stand testimony to this monument in time. Apple also through in a seismic upgrade to help make the Tower Theater more earthquake-proof. “One of Apple’s most significant restoration projects to date, Apple Tower Theatre aims to inspire even more creativity in the heart of Downtown. Apple will also launch Today at Apple Creative Studios, a global initiative that will provide hands-on experience and mentorship to young creatives, kicking off with the opening of the new store in Los Angeles.” Spokesperson, Apple Inc.
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