<\/p>\n
Guests mingle and wait for a seat at the bar inside Somerville.<\/p>\n
(Yasara Gunawardena \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n
Across town on Fairfax Avenue, a similar crush of diners line up outside of Lucia, a modern Caribbean restaurant opened by restaurateur Samuel Jordan this spring. On Sunset Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood, Linden is an all-night destination with Wagyu pot pies and lobster frites, plus cocktails and live music at its adjacent speakeasy.<\/p>\n
For the last half-decade, the local restaurant industry has been struck by one disaster after another: the COVID pandemic, writers\u2019 strikes and most recently, devastating wildfires and immigration raids, all inflamed by factors such as a decline in tourism, rising rents and labor costs, plus increased tariffs on imported goods.<\/p>\n
And yet, there has arguably never been a better time to be a Black chef or restaurant owner in Los Angeles, according to 13 interviews with changemakers this fall and winter.<\/p>\n
As the year closes, a picture is emerging of a restaurant community forged by generations of resilience. Undeterred by present industry conditions, they intend to build on the legacies of landmark Black-owned ventures that paved the way for the successes of younger generations today.<\/p>\n
Their contemporary counterparts, many of them among the buzziest restaurants in town, said a culture of communal advancement has cascaded down to ensure that African diasporic cuisines get the spotlight they are due.<\/p>\n
But how will this burgeoning movement survive what figures to be one of the worst years for restaurants in Southern California in recent memory?<\/p>\n
A soulful legacy <\/p>\n
Greg Dulan, owner of Dulan\u2019s and son of one of Los Angeles\u2019s soul food pioneers, Adolf Dulan.<\/p>\n
(Dania Maxwell \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Greg Dulan\u2019s family restaurants have had a continuous presence in the Crenshaw District for 50 years. In 1975, his father, Adolf Dulan, founded Hamburger City on Martin Luther King Boulevard, and it wasn\u2019t long before it expanded with additional locations. One of them was converted to Aunt Kizzy\u2019s Back Porch in Marina del Rey in 1984, one of the first soul food restaurants to open in the predominantly white neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Today, Greg\u2019s brother Terry runs Dulan\u2019s Soul Food Kitchen in Inglewood, while Greg operates Dulan\u2019s on Crenshaw, which opened in 1992 after the L.A. riots and immediately became an emblem of community resilience. It\u2019s a must-do campaign stop in L.A. during local and national elections. This month, Dulan\u2019s on Crenshaw was named The Times\u2019 2025 Gold Award winner<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up less than half a mile from where my restaurant is. I went to 54th Street Elementary School,\u201d said Greg. \u201cI\u2019m literally serving the people I grew up with \u2014 the parents of my friends, the ministers, the police officers.\u201d<\/p>\n It was this customer base who showed up when Greg launched a fundraiser<\/a> over the summer \u2014 not because the restaurant was struggling, but to cover the adjacent real estate he\u2019d purchased with the intention to build a parking lot and a second kitchen for training and workforce development.<\/p>\n \u201cThe support has been citywide and it\u2019s just coming in all directions,\u201d Greg said. \u201cIt\u2019s made me realize that what I have is bigger than me, that people think about my restaurant in a loving, caring way.\u201d<\/p>\n The outpouring of support significantly boosted the restaurant\u2019s revenue and helped the restaurateur secure the necessary investment to remain open.<\/p>\n Head a couple miles north on Crenshaw Boulevard toward West Adams, and you\u2019ll run into chef Marilyn Cole\u2019s eponymous, cafeteria-style restaurant. Look for the faded sign with her likeness, outfitted in a white chef\u2019s hat and coat and hoop earrings. \u201cSince 1989,\u201d it reads above her smiling face.<\/p>\n Chef Marilyn Cole opened her restaurant Marilyn\u2019s Place in South L.A. in 1989.<\/p>\n (Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Cole opened her first restaurant, Marilyn\u2019s Place, on a whim, after outgrowing the home kitchen where she was making and selling $5 dinners every weekend.<\/p>\n \u201cI was driving down Crenshaw, and I saw this little restaurant on 42nd that had a For Rent sign. I walked in, and the owner, Mr. Lee, gave me the keys that day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Word spread fast, and within the first 90 days of business, Cole earned her first catering job with Nancy Wilson of the rock band Heart, who was celebrating receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She went on to cater numerous birthday parties for Stevie Wonder and two Thanksgiving dinners for civil rights leader Coretta Scott King.<\/p>\n In 1998, she opened Chef Marilyn\u2019s Queen of Down Home Southern Goodies in its current location. And while her local culinary legacy has only deepened over the last 36 years, it\u2019s also been fraught with challenges, especially recently.<\/p>\n In May, Cole was forced to temporarily close the restaurant during a month-long hospital stay. In October, a rainstorm caused her ceiling to fall in and the restaurant to flood, severely damaging her two ovens, including one that caught fire.<\/p>\n But similar to Dulan\u2019s on Crenshaw, when Cole launched a GoFundMe campaign<\/a> to help with costs, customers immediately showed up to do their part, dropping off checks in person and organizing donation drives for the restaurant.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever I think that I\u2019m tired of this or I can\u2019t do this, somebody will compliment me, whether it\u2019s a kid or a senior citizen, somebody saying, \u2018Don\u2019t stop, don\u2019t give up.\u2019 It just keeps me going,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For both Dulan and Cole, it\u2019s the community impact that they\u2019re most proud of.<\/p>\n \u201cI love the fact that so many people have followed in my footsteps and started their own catering companies and their own restaurants,\u201d Cole said, citing former employee Vidal Cortes, who opened Delicious Southern Cuisine in Leimert Park in 2011. She is also a second-chance employer, providing opportunities to the formerly incarcerated.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously it has to be about dollars and cents, but if you really want longevity, there has to be connection with the community you serve,\u201d Dulan said.<\/p>\n \u2018Food is just a piece of the puzzle\u2019 Malique Smith, owner, and Rashida Holmes, chef and owner, at Bridgetown Roti.<\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n It\u2019s the framed Fela Kuti posters and woven light fixtures that hang over the bar at Two Homm\u00e9s. At Bridgetown Roti, colorful shutter blinds are stacked against one wall of the patio, invoking a porch you might find in Barbados.<\/p>\n \u201cWe place a premium on our experience from the second you walk into the door to the second you pay the bill,\u201d said Hagos of the Good Vibes Only group.<\/p>\n At Somerville, that translates to a grand piano under a crystal chandelier, velvet marigold booths and Art Deco details that feel like you\u2019re stepping onto the set of \u201cMo\u2019 Better Blues.\u201d<\/p>\n Linden and its adjacent lounge Dot are entirely Black-owned and operated, with partners Sterling \u201cSteelo\u201d Brim, Alahna Jade, Vince Bryant and Scott Williams, working alongside general manager Genesis Bernard and executive chef Jon Harris.<\/p>\n Jollof platter with fried catfish at Two Homm\u00e9s.<\/p>\n (Ron De Angelis \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n \u201cBack in the day, people of color weren\u2019t always welcome, regardless of how much money they had,\u201d Bryant said. \u201cWe wanted to open something that would give people that service and respect, and recognize them and thank them for coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n At Lucia, an oceanic art installation glows behind the bar, a nod to the Caribbean influence you\u2019ll find across its dinner and cocktail menus. Live DJs provide nightly soundtracks, cycling through soca, reggae and Afrobeat hits.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s music that people don\u2019t typically hear in a restaurant setting, but they love it and it connects with the food and makes it more of a vibe,\u201d said Jordan.<\/p>\n Last fall, when Two Homm\u00e9s co-owners and chefs Marcus Yaw Johnson and Abdoulaye Balde were approved for a liquor license, they took it as an opportunity to relaunch with new menu items and hired cookbook author and designer Kiano Moju to redesign the dining room to better reflect the Afro-Californian menu that pulls directly from both chefs\u2019 backgrounds.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause every restaurant tells a different story,\u201d Balde said. \u201cTwo Homm\u00e9s is telling our story of being born and raised in Los Angeles, but having African parents in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n Whatever their style, these restaurants send a clear message to Black guests in particular: These spaces are for us, by us.<\/p>\n Diners having breakfast at The Serving Spoon in Inglewood.<\/p>\n (Damon Casarez \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n Josh Johnson runs the Serving Spoon in Inglewood with his sister Jessica Bane. Their grandfather Harold E. Sparks first opened the soul food breakfast restaurant in 1983.<\/p>\n \u201cThe food is just a piece of the puzzle,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cIt\u2019s the environment that you create, the way the staff greets you, the way somebody calls you by your first name.\u201d<\/p>\n Building a \u2018recession-proof\u2019 restaurant At Bridgetown Roti in East Hollywood, Rashida Holmes serves her former pop-up\u2019s signature Caribbean items, such as oxtail-and-pepper patties.<\/p>\n (Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Before chef Rashida Holmes opened Bridgetown Roti<\/a>, a counter-service Caribbean restaurant in East Hollywood, with her mother, Joy Clarke-Holmes, and business partner Malique Smith in summer 2024, she first created a buzz around her flaky oxtail patties and curry-bright macaroni pie<\/a> as a pop-up chef and vendor at Smorgasburg L.A.<\/p>\n With just 16 seats, the bricks-and-mortar was smaller than she\u2019d envisioned. But as nearby restaurants closed in rapid succession, Holmes was grateful she had fewer seats to fill each night.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted a pandemic-proof, recession-proof restaurant,\u201d she said. \u201cWe kind of put ourselves in a good position because we don\u2019t have to fill a 30- or 50-seat restaurant every night in order to make our money. We don\u2019t have to change anything about our model to make ourselves work in what seems like it\u2019s going to be a challenging economic season.\u201d<\/p>\n With Angelenos dining out less, Holmes decided to keep Bridgetown Roti\u2019s catering business and still does frequent appearances at festivals and events.<\/p>\n Chef Keith Corbin, owner of Alta restaurant.<\/p>\n (Katrina Frederick \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you build a business out of emergency circumstances, you kind of prepare for all emergency circumstances, and then you hope that those don\u2019t last, but when they happen again, you\u2019re kind of ready for it,\u201d Holmes said.<\/p>\n According to chef Keith Corbin, who owns Alta, a California soul restaurant in West Adams, this emergency preparedness could explain why Black chefs and restaurant owners are able to overcome such a tumultuous time for the industry.<\/p>\n \u201cMy entire life has been navigating crisis and making decisions under pressure. The state of the economy right now, that\u2019s been the constant for many of us,\u201d he said. \u201cSo why are we being recognized right now? Because we\u2019ve been thriving in this s\u2014. It\u2019s not new to us.\u201d<\/p>\n As Corbin shares in his \u201cCalifornia Soul\u201d memoir<\/a>, his ability to adapt was honed during his childhood in Watts and involvement in illegal drug operations that led to a stint in one of California\u2019s maximum-security prisons. While there, his passion for cooking grew as he witnessed the ingenuity among fellow inmates who created elaborate \u201cspreads\u201d out of prison food. After he was released, Corbin found a job as the kitchen manager at Locol<\/a>, a fast-casual spot in Watts focused on community redevelopment founded by L.A. chefs Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson. After shuttering in 2018 and reopening last year, the space is now run by Corbin\u2019s Alta Community nonprofit<\/a>, and offers pay-what-you-can meals and workforce training to the neighborhood.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to be adaptable,\u201d said Holmes. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of the opposite of what I learned as a chef. I was trained in environments where it\u2019s like, we\u2019re gonna serve what we want to serve and people can like it or not, and the public experience taught me that, actually, no, you kind of have to serve what people want to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018The rest is history\u2019 Culinary producer and cookbook author Kiano Moju, who launched her Jikoni L.A. pop up in the spring.<\/p>\n (Jason Armond\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n L.A.\u2019s Black chefs and restaurateurs aren\u2019t slowing down. Even in the current climate, many are expanding their concepts and opening new venues \u2014 Somerville launched jazz brunch on Sundays, Serving Spoon is preparing to open a takeout spot in Mid-City and Two Homm\u00e9s plans to debut a late-night lounge in Inglewood next year.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody has their season,\u201d said Corbin, \u201cand I just think it\u2019s the season of the Black chef and we\u2019re blooming and we\u2019re blossoming.\u201d<\/p>\n When Kiano Moju was on tour for her \u201cAfriCali\u201d cookbook, readers would regularly ask for restaurant recommendations to give them a reference point for recipes that drew from her Kenyan Nigerian heritage and growing up in the Bay Area. <\/p>\n \u201cInstead of trying to come up with a new project, I thought why don\u2019t we bring the book to life as a pop-up, so people can try this food?\u201d said Moju. <\/p>\n A crowd gathers to order at Jikoni, Kiano Moju\u2019s summertime pop-up inside Citizen Public Market in Culver City. <\/p>\n (Bill Addison \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n After a month-long stint at Melody Wine Bar, Moju was invited to do a summer residency<\/a> at Culver City\u2019s now-shuttered Citizen Public Market, where she served lentil nuggets, Swahili-style biryani and mishkaki, marinated meat skewers that are a popular street food in East Africa.<\/p>\n Kenyan-style chicken skewers brushed with chile-lemon-butter poussin sauce at the Jikoni pop-up.<\/p>\n (Bill Addison \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Despite its temporary status at the food hall, Jikoni quickly amassed a slate of regulars. \u201cI was really shocked at how eager people were to have a cuisine that many of them have never had,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would have people who would come on a Friday, and they would bring their partner on a Saturday, and then they\u2019re coming back the next Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n When Citizen Public Market announced its closure in November, Moju found herself looking for a permanent location, a move that had previously held little appeal. <\/p>\n She credits her customers for encouraging her to take the leap, saying, \u201cOur customers are so passionate about telling us their experiences and how they felt. It\u2019s their energy and their nudging for us to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Moju is also motivated to showcase Kenya\u2019s food culture, which is not as widely represented as other African cuisines. \u201cI want to have a space that is reflective of my culture in a very casual, everyday environment,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve never had that.\u201d<\/p>\n Melissa Cottingham, the pop-up chef behind Melnificent Wingz, during her six-month residency at Maydan Market. <\/p>\n (Juliana Yamada\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n first started cooking and selling chicken wings out of her dorm room in college. When she relocated from her hometown of Memphis, Tenn., to Los Angeles and couldn\u2019t find local wings that met her smoky and saucy standards, she decided to launch a pop-up of her own. <\/p>\n She enrolled in L.A. Cooking School while working on set for TV series like \u201cJane the Virgin\u201d and \u201cblack-ish,\u201d and eventually started doing meal prep for industry clients, who encouraged her to do events. After two years of popping up at L.A.\u2019s annual Taste of Soul festival, she decided to go all in on wings.<\/p>\n \u201cMy tagline is \u2018global inspiration with a Southern foundation\u2019 because I\u2019ll never forget my roots,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve trained within all different types of cuisine and I\u2019ve studied under different chefs.\u201d<\/p>\n When Rose Previte opened the long-awaited West Coast outpost of her Washington, D.C.-founded Maydan Market<\/a> in Jefferson Park this fall, Cottingham\u2019s Melnificent Wingz was the first six-week residency. The menu featured a flight of wings \u2014 crying tiger Thai tamarind, Korean gochujang, Carolina honey gold, bacon fat confit with Tennessee whiskey and Jamaican jerk, alongside sides of mac and cheese and a biscuit sandwich.<\/p>\n Carolina Honey Gold wings from Melnificent Wingz.<\/p>\n (Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n The opportunity came about thanks to Holmes, who Previte had originally been considering for the residency. Instead, Holmes recommended Cottingham, whom Previte invited to her home for a private tasting.<\/p>\n \u201cShe loved everything and the rest is history,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Throughout the residency, Holmes made herself available as a mentor to Cottingham. \u201cShe has really, really helped. The main challenge was transitioning to this structure that\u2019s a lot different from a two-day pop-up or a one-day food festival. I really had to learn and get educated when it comes to calculating labor costs, food costs and figuring out where I\u2019m going to source my ingredients.\u201d<\/p>\n Now that the residency is over, Cottingham has her sights set on a restaurant of her own. \u201cThis has really prepared me for a brick-and-mortar.\u201d<\/p>\n The future of L.A.\u2019s restaurant industry<\/a> feels more precarious than ever, with a new California Restaurant Assn. survey finding that business is down compared with last year, according to 84.8% of L.A. restaurateurs. But armed with community and the power of the pivot, these chefs and restaurant owners feel prepared to face those trials.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always going to be something,\u201d said Balde. \u201cOur walk-in refrigerator broke [in September]. Nobody would have known, we just had to get it fixed, take that cost on the chin and get the whole menu up in three hours.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever pivots need to be made, we\u2019ll make them, but we\u2019re not gonna take any losses. And if it\u2019s a loss, we\u2019re still gonna flip that and still come out on top.\u201d<\/p>\n Chef Keith Corbin<\/p>\n (Katrina Frederick \/ For The Time)<\/p>\n Corbin made a comparison to the music industry, and the bad-faith deals that artists often get attached to when they are first signed to a major label.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say to my community that a lot of us have already experienced that on your behalf. We paid the dues for you,\u201d he said. \u201cFor anybody coming from these under-served communities and getting their first opportunity, or if you\u2019ve saved up your money and you\u2019re thinking about doing something, or you\u2019re bringing somebody in, whatever it may be, just ask. You can ask me. I\u2019ll tell you all about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Where to find the chefs and restaurants<\/p>\n Somerville, 4437 W. Slauson Ave., Los Angeles Lucia, 351 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles Linden, 5936 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles Dulan\u2019s on Crenshaw, 4859 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles Chef Marilyn\u2019s, Queen of Down Home Southern Goodies Two Homm\u00e9s, 902 N. La Brea Ave., Inglewood Bridgetown Roti, 858 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles The Serving Spoon, 1403 Centinela Ave, Inglewood Alta Restaurant, 5359 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles Jikoni L.A. Melnificent Wingz <\/p>\n
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(323) 815-1505, somervilleslauson.com <\/a> <\/p>\n
(213) 800-0048, luciala.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
(323) 244-2700, lindenlosangeles.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
(323)-296-3034, dulansoulfood.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
2638 Crenshaw Blvd., Los Angeles
(323) 737-8101, chefmarilyns2638.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
(424) 577-5242, twohommes.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
(747) 221-9026, bridgetownroti.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
(310)-412-3927, theservingspoon.net<\/a> <\/p>\n
(323) 571-4999, altaadams.com<\/a> <\/p>\n
jikoni.co<\/a>
instagram.com\/jikoni.la<\/a><\/p>\n
melnificent.com<\/a>
instagram.com\/melnificentwingz<\/a><\/p>\n