May 17, 2021 I VOL. 50 I #20
A ‘Really Good Product’
Art Lewin’s suits speak for his clients
RE:Her
Kapoor’s Akbar
Pandemic relief grant
Indian restaurant adds
supports female
street food concept Page 8
restaurateurs Page 5
THE VOICE OF DOWNTOWN LA SINCE 1972
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Covered California will help OPINION
Please don’t ask me to ‘smile’ By Ellen Snortland LA Downtown News Columnist ow that we vaccinated people can once again be outside and “maskless” — at least in certain circumstances — I now realize that there was a definite perk to wearing a mask. Why? Because no one could see my facial expressions. (Note to self: Don’t wear a clear face shield to the grocery store again.) And that finally meant no one — usually men — could tell me to smile. I would like to do my part in wiping out this most obnoxious behavior, and it’s a good bet I speak for a lot of you. I am talking about nipping those folks in the bud who feel obliged to tell complete strangers to “smile!” It usually happens to me in grocery stores. During COVID-19 times, I blissfully haven’t been told to “smile” once — until I wore that clear shield. Then, like magic, there he was in the produce section, reminding me. I have occasionally received “smile!” orders in a parking lot, usually outside a grocery store. I’ll just be pushing my cart along, minding my own business (or fearing for my life, depending on the neighborhood) when some glee-monger pops out with “Smile! You look so serious!” or “Smile! It can’t be that bad!” Well, guess what? I am serious now, and maybe it is that bad, you nincompoops. Basically, my face is no one else’s business. Now, I suspect these self-appointed “smile police” only pick on people who are already quite pleasant looking, or perhaps, just shorter than they are. I can’t imagine that a 300-pound linebacker gets too many directives to “smile” but of course, I don’t see any 300-pound linebackers grocery shopping. I wish I could run a survey on a lot of things. I want facts; I want numbers to back up my opinions. In the meantime, I’ll rely on guessing. I’d wager that a survey would tell me more women than men get told to smile by strangers. I’d wager that both women and men tell women to smile. Smile patrols know in their tummies that a man may punch them, and rightfully so, for messing with his expression. Women are less apt to strike for any reason. Plus, they’ve been told that their job is to be pretty; a smile, even a forced one, is better than the truth. We have all been trained to be uncomfortable with a female frown, which might mean she’s (gasp!) thinking. When a woman is openly thinking about more than her appearance, she just might figure out a lot of things that make her mad. Then she’ll talk to other women who might get angry, and then… oh my gosh, it just might get out of hand, and then where will we be? Shamelessly frowning in grocery stores, that’s where. Listen, you folks who tell us hapless shorter people to “smile” what’s your problem? I go to a grocery store to buy food, not to smile. You’ve been watching too many commercials. If you must see smiles in the grocery store, go over to the breakfast cereal section and look at Quaker Oats cartons or something. Don’t bother me. When I go grocery shopping, I typically think about prices or try to stretch my food budget, or plan meals. Maybe I’m just hungry. I am not there as a decoration for twerps who cannot face reality. I may be a piece of work, but I am not a piece of art. I am, along with other healthy shoppers who get hit with “smile” being emotionally appropriate to the task. I have never wondered about Mona Lisa’s enigmatic expression. She’s simply gritting her teeth as a result of the gazillionth request to “smile!” She didn’t feel like it, OK? I un-
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Los Angeles Downtown News PO Box 1349 South Pasadena, CA 91031 213-481-1448
derstand, Mona. Think about it. Why are these smiley busybodies asking others to smile and also smiling themselves? Are they insane? Do they have gas? Maybe they’re not thinking about skyrocketing grocery prices because they are shoplifting. I am not a relentlessly crabby person, but I guarantee that I do not smile at broccoli or nonfat yogurt. I certainly do not smile at people who ask me to for no reason. I do love to smile when I am happy. I frequently give unsolicited smiles to almost anyone in the vicinity. A smile is a gift, not an obligation. I smile at my husband and my dogs. I smile in the mirror to see if I have spinach in my teeth. So, unless you are Leonardo da Vinci, if you tell me to “smile!” in a grocery store again, I will either make a citizen’s arrest or loudly say, “Kiss my…!” and I don’t mean my instant grits. Perhaps I’ll have a copy of this commentary to give you so I can have something to authentically smile at as I stand there and watch you read it. Or I may just have to get a knuckle sandwich out of the deli case if you catch my drift. Consider yourself warned. There, that ought to cramp someone’s “smile!” Ellen Snortland has written a column continuously since the early ’90s. She also coaches writers. Contact her at ellen@authorbitebybite.com.
Hey you! Speak up! Downtown News wants to hear from people in the community. If you like or dislike a story, let us know, or weigh in on something you feel is important to the community. Participation is easy. Go to downtownnews.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Letter to the Editor” link. For guest opinion proposals, please email christina@timespublications.com.
OPINION
EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Christina Fuoco-Karasinski STAFF WRITERS: Andrew Checchia, Andres De Ocampo, Julia Shapero CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sara Edwards, Kamala Kirk ART DIRECTORS: Arman Olivares, Stephanie Torres STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER: Luis Chavez CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Myriam Santos ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Catherine Holloway, Michael Lamb FOUNDER EMERITUS: Sue Laris
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Covered help LETTERSCalifornia TO THE will EDITOR
The great charade
Editor: oon, we will arrive at the great patriotic day in July, with hopefully a sigh of relief. But I have news for the mayors, parade organizers, country singers, veterans, political candidates, and chamber of commerce gurus who will once again be crowing loudly about “our democracy.” Every real democracy passes out land to families, publishes and sticks to a written law, and requires civic and science education of the youth. Democracy must have an independent judiciary, term limits and return limits, and supremacy of the legislative branch. Democracy curbs luxury, bans special privileges for the rich, and focuses heavily on public health. Democracy protects local decision-making power, uses impeachment to rein in would-be dictators, and requires citizen oversight of government. Oh, and yes, democracy establishes broad voting rights among the people and insists on equal justice for all. In fact, we are doing exceedingly poorly on virtually everything except praising ourselves.
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Kimball Shinkoskey
‘Newsom or No One’ is nonsense Editor: t’s time for many of my colleagues in the California Democratic Party to get a clue about the current gubernatorial recall election against Gavin Newsom. This isn’t 2003, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is not running for governor of California this year. In other words, the hostile hyperventilating that you hear from some of our state’s party leaders is unnecessary, because there is almost no realistic chance that Gov. Newsom is going to be recalled, in large part thanks to the fact that all registered voters in California will automatically receive an absentee ballot in the mail for this year’s recall election. Speaking of unnecessary behavior, the ugly arm-twisting and aggressive suppression of the Democratic candidacies of some well-known potential gubernatorial replacement candidates is unfortunate, not to mention unseemly (and un-American, if you ask me). Democrats, run for office if you want to. Don’t be bullied by anyone. There needs to be at least one viable Democratic gubernatorial replacement candidate on the ballot this fall, just in case the majority of California’s voters do decide to go ahead and recall Gov. Newsom from office. This latest laughable political proposition of “Newsom or No One” being promulgated by not only Gov. Newsom’s inner circle but also by the friends and former underlings of recalled Democratic Gov. Gray Davis is so fundamentally at odds with realpolitik, where does one even begin? How about with the 2003 gubernatorial recall election in California? “Democrat” Gray Davis (who was barely a Democrat at all) lost that recall election for one main reason — and I’m not talking about Davis’ Republican replacement Schwarzenegger or former Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, the most prominent Democratic replacement candidate on the ballot that year. Blaming Bustamante for Davis’ loss is ridiculous. Gray Davis was recalled as governor by California’s voters in 2003, because the then-second-term Gov. Davis had the lowest approval ratings of any California governor in my lifetime (and I’m a middle-aged man who was born and raised in California). Conservative Democrat Gray Davis’ approval ratings were in the 20s at the time of the recall election, in other words only about 1 out of every 4 Californians approved of the job Davis was doing, which is why Gray Davis’ second term as governor of California came to an abrupt, embarrassing end in 2003. The voters wanted Davis to go. Blame the blatant corruption of Bush-Cheney, Ken Lay and Enron for Davis’ ignominious defeat, if you wish, but stop beating up on Cruz Bustamante already, conservative Democrats. Or were you unaware of the fact that a bunch of angry, asinine, over-the-hill, whitehaired white folks falsely blaming Bustamante might backfire on our current Gov. Gavin Newsom? As the worst president in American history, Donald Trump used to say so often, “We’ll see what happens.”
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Jake Pickering
2109 Sichel Street, Los Angeles ● www.SacredHeartLA.org
MAY 17, 2021
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Covered NEWS California will help
Pandemic relief grant supports female restaurateurs By Kamala Kirk LA Downtown News Staff Writer
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n January, nonprofit organization RE:Her hosted a 10-day festival that featured collaborations, thematic menus and conversations between female restaurant industry leaders. To further support the initiative, RE:Her announced a COVID-19 relief grant program to support women-owned restaurants in Los Angeles. Applications for the grant program will be accepted from May 17 to May 23. Grant recipients will be announced June 14. Independent, majority women-owned restaurants and culinary businesses in LA County, including catering companies and food trucks, can apply. Funded by DoorDash and RE:Her, the program will distribute 15 $10,000 cash grants to female food and beverage entrepreneurs in LA County. Recipients can use the grants to bolster their businesses however they see fit. They will also receive access to consulting and mentorship from specialists in restaurant finance, HR and PR/marketing. RE:Her’s COVID-19 grant program was introduced by the app and digital platform Made by Women during Women’s History Month. Made by Women makes it easier to search for “women owned” in the DoorDash app and website. They also launched various fundraising and loan-matching campaigns to benefit female entrepreneurs, including donations to the James Beard Foundation’s Leadership Programs. DoorDash is committed to supporting women-owned businesses and will continue to use its platform to drive meaningful change. “Over the last four months, RE:Her has grown into a platform for connection for 250-plus women to share resources, information and support, and we want to continue to champion and empower our community with these grants,” said Lien Ta, a founding member of RE:Her. “The grant program has been a core element of our organization from day one, and we are excited to roll this out to give our members a leg up as they rebound from the most challenging time in the history of our industry.” RE:Her is devoted to the advancement and empowerment of female restaurateurs and supports members through industry-focused and consumer-facing initiatives, virtual and physical events, in addition to promotion and representation. It launched earlier this year with the mission to provide opportunities, as well as financial and educational resources, to female business owners. “The initiatives DoorDash has implemented over the last year to support women-owned businesses align with the RE:Her mission, and the partnership we have formed will bolster the RE:Her community beyond just grands — including marketing and educational resources for members,” said Heather Sperling, a founding member of RE:Her. “Third-party delivery can be both a lifeline and a challenge for restaurants, but we are excited to partner with one of the key players in this space to funnel resources back into businesses as they rebuild in the coming months.” Info: regardingherfood.org/grant
RE:Her is a newly formed nonprofit that recently launched a COVID-19 relief grant program to support women-owned restaurants across Los Angeles. Photo by Alan Gastelum
Sponsored by DoorDash, RE:Her’s program will distribute 15 cash grants of $10,000 each to female restaurateurs, in addition to providing access to consulting and mentorship from specialists in restaurant finance, HR and PR/marketing. Photo by Joyce Kim
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Covered NEWS California will help
Actors, musicians headline Black College Expo By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski LA Downtown News Executive Editor
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he Black College Expo and the Los Angeles Urban League are hosting the 2021 Black High School Graduation: Rites of Passage, which organizers call an “uplifting cultural celebration.” Among those appearing at the virtual event are television actor, Nickelodeon star and Executive Producer Kel Mitchell; actor and “Blackish” star Marcus Scribner; television star, Grammy-nominated artist and educator Yolanda “Yo Yo” Whitaker; actor (“Superfly”) and “Grownish” cast member Trevor Jackson; and model, actress and Instagram “star” Crystal Westbrooks. The virtual live graduation takes place at 4 p.m. Friday, June 4. Thousands of U.S. high school students will have a commencement ceremony akin to the 2020 inaugural celebration. Visit laul.org/2021blackhsgrad to register for this event. The grassroots Black High School Graduation: Rites of Passage will celebrate the students by giving them the opportunity to enjoy the traditional celebration of their achievements during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 event will feature a live online virtual experience for all the high school graduates who register to participate. The 90-minute ceremony recognizes the variety of Black experience and richness of Black talent (e.g., urban/rural youth, alternative youth, disabled youth, LGBTQ youth). The nationwide event also celebrates students for their accomplishments, aspirations
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and academic excellence. Highlights of the virtual event will include celebrity performances, spoken word presentations, scholarship presentations, student recognitions, keynote speeches and a live Gen Z DJ celebration party with famous DJs from around the country. The Black College Expo is a trademark program of National College Resources Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that functions daily as a full-service student outreach program in various schools throughout California. The expo was founded in 1999 by Dr. Theresa Price as a vital link between minorities and college admissions. The foundation’s mission is to curtail high school dropout rates and increase degree and/or certificate enrollment among underserved and underrepresented students by providing them with social-emotional and mentoring support to access to college, careers and beyond. The expo has helped over 500,000 students get into college, and it has also helped students connect with over $1 billion in scholarships and grants to attend college. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Urban League serves, educates and empowers African Americans and other minorities to secure economic self-reliance and civil rights by providing targeted social programs and advocating for issues that benefit the community. Founded in 1921, the Los Angeles Urban League is a flagship affiliate of the National Urban League, which was founded in New York City in 1910. It is one of almost 90 affiliates in the United States. The Los Angeles Urban League helps thousands of Angelenos annually through its programs, which focus on education, entrepreneurship, job training and placement.
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Art Lewin’s custom suits are hand-cut and handmade, down to the boutonniere and coat buttonholes, by master tailors and cutters requiring more than 55 hours of hand work.
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Art Lewin Bespoke recently signed a 10-year, $2.8 million lease for a 3,000-square-foot showroom/ office in the historic The Petroleum Building.
Submitted photo
Covered California will help BUSINESS
Art Lewin’s suits speak for his clients By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski LA Downtown News Executive Editor rt Lewin doesn’t want to sound cocky, but he delivers a “really good product” in his custom-tailored garments. They’re made in America, which inhouse tailors and customers remind him daily. Now, Downtown folks can take advantage of his services, as Art Lewin Bespoke recently signed a 10-year, $2.8 million lease for a 3,000-square-foot showroom/office in the historic The Petroleum Building at 714 W. Olympic Boulevard, Suite 1010. It joins locations in Beverly Hills, Palm Springs, Orange County and San Diego, as well as Scottsdale, Arizona. “It’s a historic building, about 100 years old, with a gorgeous lobby,” Lewin said. “It’s old fashioned, kind of like my business is an old, traditional business.”
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Lewin said he loves hearing customer feedback, and it’s important to him and his staff. He added his clients stress they enjoy that Bespoke’s suits are made in America. “Everyone now — including big designers — are sending work abroad,” he said. “Giorgio Armani suits are not made in Italy. They’re made in Vietnam. Hugo Boss is not making their suits in Germany. They are made in Hungary.” Since 1989, Art Lewin Bespoke has catered to businessmen and Hollywood stars. Its custom suits are hand-cut and handmade, down to the boutonniere and coat buttonholes, by tailors. Other than reinforcing the seams, suits are created by hand, requiring more than 55 hours of hand work. The bespoke suits should reflect the clients’ personal style, from the fit and the cloth to the details. To help define clients’ style, the staff meets on their schedule, at
their home, office or the showroom. Lewin is big on learning about his clients and their personal style. “We plan, coordinate and maintain our clients’ wardrobe so they are perfectly attired for any occasion,” said Lewin, who boasts a 94% client retention rate. Bespoke’s staff is proud of their business. The master tailors and cutters oversee and supervise the entire suit-making process from its conception to its completion. Lewin said suits are made from the finest materials and supplies available. They cut paper patterns for each customer, so it is easy to create suits that fit identically. Lewin entered the line of work innocently. As a fledgling architect, Lewin was supporting himself by selling pagers. He knocked on a custom tailor’s door, and the prospec-
tive customer encouraged him to enter the business. “It appealed to me,” he said. “Since I was a kid, I enjoyed clothing. I’m from Chile, and we dressed up every Sunday in a suit and went to see the family. I’ve always enjoyed dressing up. It was up my alley to do this.” Born in 1967, he moved to the United States in 1977. His parents relocated in 1970, and it took seven to nine years to put the family back together. “That was hard,” he said. His family bond initially inspired his career, but his motivation has changed. “What keeps me inspired is being the best at what we do,” he said. “We’re a niche business. I want to be the king of suits. I love to see my clients’ faces when I put them in front of the mirror in my suits. They can’t believe how good they look.”
Art Lewin Bespoke The Petroleum Building 714 W. Olympic Boulevard, Suite 1010, Los Angeles 213-785-2400, artlewinbespoke.com
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Covered DINING California will help
Kati Roll Company operates as a fast-casual online concept serving popular Indian street food snacks including Kati rolls and Frankies.
Submitted photo
Kapoor’s Akbar: Street food pivot By Frier McCollister LA Downtown News Contributing Writer v i n a s h “A v i ” K a p o o r i s t h e third-generation scion and chef of a dynasty of Indian restaurants that began in the 1980s. Kapoor and his brother, Atul, were operating seven restaurants across Los Angeles. Most notably was Akbar in Pasadena, which closed in February 2018 after 21 years. The restaurant Kapoor’s Akbar opened a month later Downtown at Grand Avenue and Cesar E. Chavez Avenue. Now, Kapoor’s Akbar and his Akbar Cuisine of India in Marina del Rey are the surviving outposts of the family’s legacy. The pandemic hit Downtown restaurants harshly. Breakfast and lunchtime regulars stopped visiting eateries as offices emptied. Skid Row’s relative borders crept outward. The summer protests that wracked the neighborhoods resulted in proper-
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ty damage and a further diminished interest in the area as an amenable dining destination. “COVID hit, so we decided to do something different,” Kapoor said. North of the Music Center and just west of Chinatown, the upscale Indian cuisine of Kapoor’s Akbar struggled for relevance on a strip dominated by fast-casual franchise outlets. Known for its emphasis on Northern Indian cuisine and Kapoor’s insistence on fresh ingredients, the Downtown location gradually built a following, prior to the pandemic’s advent. “Nothing is ready-made,” Kapoor said. “Everything is made to order. The recipes are made from scratch. Unfortunately, I’m surrounded by fast food. I’m a highend restaurant for this area.” A native of Vadodara, India, Kapoor moved with his family to Southern California in the 1970s and is a graduate of Santa Monica Catholic High School and
Santa Monica City College. His father and uncle owned and operated restaurants in India, including the elegant Gaylord chain, which long had an American outpost on La Cienega’s Restaurant Row in Los Angeles. The resilience and ingenuity exemplified by the success of the Kapoor family’s extended restaurant dynasty has given birth to the latest innovation: Kati Roll Company. It’s a fast-casual concept that runs online, using Kapoor’s Akbar as a ghost kitchen. It serves a limited but intriguing menu of the popular Indian street food snacks, Kati rolls and Frankies. “They’re like little roti wraps,” Kapoor said. “Our Kati roll is freshly made. It’s basically like a taco. It’s open ended.” The Frankie, a popular beach snack in Mumbai, “They’re naan-bread wraps. It’s a like a naan burrito,” Kapoor said. “There’s a chicken tikka masala wrap. There’s a potato wrap. There’s a crispy
fried fish wrap. It’s quick serve. We make them fast, and we serve them fast. We also have rice bowls.” At Kati Roll Company, there are seven varieties of Kati rolls — chicken tikka, chicken tikka masala or fried chicken ($8.99); crispy fish ($9.99); vegetarian paneer or tofu makhana ($8.99); or vegetable and egg with a choice of cauliflower, chickpea or potato filling ($7.99). Each is served rolled in a thin, freshly made round of roti bread. There are four options for Frankies — crispy fish ($12.99), chicken tikka masala ($10.99), griddled paneer tandoori ($8.99) or the aloo gobi ($8.99). These are wrapped in slightly thicker naan bread with a single open end. The rice bowl options include salmon ($14.99); chicken tikka masala ($9.99); or the vegetarian saag panner with spinach and cheese, chana masala with chickpeas or simple dal with lentils (all $8.99). Freshly made lassi beverages — man-
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go and mixed berry ($4.99) or pistachio ($5.99) — are made with yogurt. Like the dishes served at the restaurant, fresh ingredients are used in all dishes, which are made to order. “That’s the concept with the Kati rolls,” he said. “Made to order with fresh ingredients. I’ve always used No. 1 products. My food costs are way higher than a normal Indian restaurant, with all the spices and products I use.” Kapoor hopes the new twist will bring his cooking and Indian cuisine to a wider audience. “I wanted to introduce something that is accessible to everybody,” Kapoor said. “Food that is interesting and fills them up. It helps us to introduce more (varieties of ) Indian food to the general public.” Of course, the concept was born by the exigencies Kapoor faced over the last year. “I kept the restaurant open throughout (the pandemic). I figured if I closed, I wouldn’t be able to reopen. So, it was important to keep it open,” he said.
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“I got the PPP (loan), which was not enough, but it helped me pay the employees for six months,” Kapoor said. “I only used it when I needed it for payroll. I paid as much rent as I could. Now the survival of Kapoor’s depends on who decides to pull the plug — I think I’ll be able to pull through. It has definitely been a struggle. I’ve been doing this for a very long time.” The restaurant, Kapoor’s Akbar, is seating up to 50% of its capacity in the main dining room. “We do get tables. I see some of my regular customers coming back,” Kapoor noted. “We need new people. A lot of people are still afraid to go out.” As D ow n tow n re s t a u r a n t s s l ow ly emerge from the pandemic cloud of painful uncertainty and newly vaccinated diners begin to explore new options, consider Kapoor’s Akbar and his new Kati Roll Company. As the veteran restaurateur and chef concluded, “We’re here, and we can use your support. I’m here to stay.”
Kapoor’s Akbar/ Kati Roll Company 701 W. Cesar Estrada Chavez Avenue, Los Angeles 213-372-5590, kapoorsakbar.com, katirollco.com
Kati Roll Company’s chef Avinash “Avi” Kapoor shows off some of his signature dishes. Submitted photo
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Steak asada tacos come served with verde slaw, citrus marinade and pepita pesto. Photo courtesy of Trejo’s Tacos
Trejo’s Tacos comes to Banc of California Stadium By Annika Tomlin LA Downtown News Staff Writer anny Trejo is well known as an actor, but he is quickly gaining notoriety for collaboration with producer Ash Shah — Trejo’s Tacos. “I was on set with Danny seven or eight years ago (filming ‘Bad Ass’) and we were talking about food, and the idea came up of opening a Mexican restaurant,” Shah said. “We kicked it around for a year and a half after that. We finally opened up our first one in March 2016, which was Trejo’s Tacos.” Serving 11 types of tacos, 12 kinds of burritos and various other Mexican-style meals ranging from steak asada bowls to mushroom asada burritos, Trejo’s Tacos has a variety of food for any dietary preference. The chain has grown to eight dine-in and takeout locations, including in Hollywood, La Brea, the Los Angeles Farmers Market, as well as ghost kitchens in Westside Los Angeles, Pasadena, Miami and Chicago. “We just opened (a new Trejo’s Tacos) in Santa Monica (on May 6),” Shah said. “That’s our newest location, right by the Third Street Promenade.” Shah and Trejo are looking to open a location in the states that surround California. On April 17, the smallest location opened in the southeast corner of Banc of California Stadium, just in time for Los Angeles Football Club’s home opener against Austin FC. Early last year, Shah and Trejo’s publicist, Larry Fink, approached the duo about opening a location within the stadium. “Danny is a big fan of LAFC, and I think (the staff of Banc of California Stadium) wanted to bring in some local brands into the stadium,” Shah said. “I didn’t even know
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there was an available space. “That was last year before the pandemic, and then because of the pandemic everything shut down. This (location) would have been open last year had it not been for the pandemic.” The venue location’s food and drink include chicken and steak tacos, chips, salsa or guacamole, beer and margaritas. “Because of the nature of the stadium and how the games run, it’s a very small menu,” Shah said. “We really only have an hour before the game starts to serve the fans and then 15 minutes at half time. Everything is only like a four-item menu, and it’s pretty divine to feed as many people as we possibly can quickly.” Shah said that the “No. 1 seller probably by a longshot” is the steak asada taco served with verde slaw, citrus marinade and pepita pesto. Rounding out the top three are the chicken tacos served with achiote, verde slaw and pico de gallo along with the steak asada burrito with citrus marinated steak asada, farmers market beans, Spanish rice, cheese, pico de gallo and pepita pesto. “My favorite part of being in this business is kind of growing the business,” Shah said. “I had no experience owning or operating a restaurant, so it was kind of fun learning — and then grow the restaurants but also grow the product side of the business as well.” Shah and Trejo expanded into the breakfast business with Trejo’s Coffee and Donuts in Los Angeles, off of Santa Monica Boulevard, and recently released their new Trejo’s Coffee Nitro Cold Brew. Info: trejostacos.com
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Covered California will help ART & CULTURE
Danny Elfman returns with ‘Nightmare’ By LA Downtown News Staff im Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” is bringing Jack to Banc of California Stadium on Friday, Oct. 29. Tickets are currently on sale through ticketmaster.com for $39.50 to $179.50. Helmed by Danny Elfman, the performance is a live-to-film concert experience set to Disney’s timeless holiday classic. Elfman — who composed the original film’s music, lyrics and score — will reprise his famed original singing voice role of Jack Skellington. Additional original voices and special guest stars will be revealed soon. Acclaimed conductor John Mauceri will conduct a full orchestra and choir performing the film’s classic score and songs live, accompanying Elfman singing live in sync with the film. “Jack is back!” Elfman said. “I was so sorry to have missed last Halloween. (We all know why.) But, I’m not skipping this year. Jack wants to get back on stage. I can’t wait to see you all.” In a statement, concert co-producers Richard Kraft and Laura Engel said, “We’re thrilled to celebrate this iconic film with an extraordinary concert experience mixing film, live music, singers and immersive digital animation that can only be experienced live.” Co-producers Alison Ahart Williams, Tim Fox and Georgina Ryder added, “As the world is able to once again celebrate live music and art together as a community, we are proud to be able to bring Jack back to the Los Angeles community and look forward to celebrating right alongside the fans.” The evening will also include a variety of preshow activities, such as a costume contest (“Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas”-inspired costumes highly encouraged) along with trick-ortreating, bringing the spirit of Halloween Town to the Banc of California Stadium. As the first film-music-concert event at the stadium, the show will also be tailored to its new venue to provide a new experience even for those who have seen previous iterations of the show. The concert event will be transformed into a spectacular and unique visual experience by exhibiting jaw-dropping living scenery and animation cast across giant LED screens to fully immerse the audience in Halloween Town. Banc of California Stadium has a multitude of transportation options at its doorstep. The stadium has am-
“T
ple parking at and around the stadium; ride-sharing options include a designated enhanced Lyft pickup and drop-off location; and for those looking to get their blood flowing on Halloween weekend, there are also permanent bicycle parking spaces around the stadium and Expo Park.
In addition to those options, fans of this event can easily hop aboard the Metro Expo Line, which drops you off at the Expo Park/USC Station, which is just steps away from Banc of California Stadium. The health and safety of fans remains a top priority by the organizers of the
event. The teams involved with this event will follow the guidance of the LA County Department of Public Health to create a safe environment during this COVID-19 period. Once final guidelines are established by local health officials, updates will be provided on the Banc of California Stadium website.
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MAY 17, 2021
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