Hello Friends,

This week when my blow-and-go (there’s nothing to mow) gardener came by, I checked in with him to see how he was doing. Tears formed at the corner of his eyes. Was it about immigration worries? No. Instead, he burst out with “Altadena. Those beautiful old houses.” Despite losing clients because they no longer had houses and landscaping he could care for, he was weeping for the lost beauty of the neighborhood. It’s made me focus more on what I have. Specifically, my garden, which I can easily ignore for days on end — especially when it’s cold. So I bought myself a new mug. One that has a lid so I can sit outside and sip hot tea and just be amongst the pots and borders holding plants that won’t flower until spring. I rarely purchase anything new. I’m a found object kind of person. Most of my mugs are from my mom’s '60s collection of potters she knew. But the lid is a simple addition that lets me have a few more minutes of a very hot brew to sip. It’s the little things now that are big things.

This week the restaurant Cassia in Santa Monica announced it was closing in three weeks. As I continue to eat out more, I've been thinking about how powerfully grounding restaurants are. Sitting with friends or a work colleague, taking a pause from the day is a great antidote to free-floating anxiety. On Press Play this week I talk about how comforting the background noise of chatter, plates and cutlery clinking together, liquids being poured, and waiters taking orders can be. Think of eating out now as a counterpart to mutual aid volunteering. I have a few suggestions on where to go if you need reminders. It's DineLA week so I pulled a few from that list. I was influenced to lunch at Zira Uzbek Kitchen on Melrose by Bill Addison's newsletter mention. The plov is so good as are the hand-pulled lagman noodles and the pumpkin manti. I can't wait to go back to eat more of the menu. They serve the Uzbek soup Mashurda, a recipe shared below in the context of the League of Kitchens cookbook interview. Later in the week, I brought lunch from Jeff's Table to Altadena friends, now living in Highland Park. The micro-deli in the back of an incredibly well-stocked liquor store puts out great sandwiches and sides. I could easily live on sandwiches. Today I'm eating a Jambon et Beurre with cornichons from the tiny shop Maison Matho. 

Pick a small thing. Love on it. Evan

The neighborhood bar — what role does it play in a city with as many neighborhoods as greater Los Angeles? And how does that change when the neighborhood that it serves is in a crisis? In the hours and days following the Eaton Fire, Randy Clement of Altadena's Good Neighbor Bar took on the role of surveyor, driving through Altadena answering countless texts and DMs asking, "Is my house still there?" Randy shares his story in our latest installment of In The Weeds. It's extraordinary.

On January 7th, 60 agents from United States Customs & Border Protection descended on Bakersfield. As the largest city in Kern County, it's part of California's vast agricultural corridor where it's surrounded by farms that grow grapes, citrus, almonds, onions, garlic, lettuce, potatoes, and pretty much everything else. These raids were part of a three-day operation known as "Return To Sender." Journalist Sergio Olmos reported on the situation for CalMatters. 

The New York City-based cooking school League of Kitchens was founded on one simple, brilliant idea — immigrant women who are exceptional home cooks invite strangers into their homes and teach them their best recipes. Launched in 2014 by Lisa Kyung Gross, the idea was inspired by her own grandmothers and her longing to cook by their side after they were gone. A decade later, Lisa and her 14 instructors have published The League of Kitchens Cookbook: Brilliant Tips, Secret Methods & Favorite Family Recipes from Around the World. It's a wonderful book.

Los Angeles has worlds of Southeast Asian cuisines at our feet yet the food of Indonesia, that vast archipelago of islands, isn't as well represented. Could that be because it's a cuisine that shows itself best in homes? Mother and daughter Patricia Tanumihardja and Juliana Evari Suparman aim to entice us into the kitchen with their cookbook, Mortar and Pestle. 

Legendary California chef Charles Phan died at age 62 last week. In 1995 he opened The Slanted Door in San Francisco's Mission District. Phan didn't intend to open a restaurant. He went to architecture school. Yet he became one of San Francisco's most beloved chefs by pairing local ingredients with the food he grew up eating in Vietnam. In 2014, he sat down with Evan to discuss The Slanted Door Cookbook and shared the story of leaving Saigon in 1975, when his family boarded a cargo ship in the dead of the night. The meal above from The Slanted Door is available through Table 22.