there is a gofundme for Leo’s family
www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-the-bulgarini-family
this is an IG reel of bulgarini gelato after the fires
www.instagram.com/reel/DEpstXyvMS3
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The gofundme says they lost both their home and the business.
yeah - the restaurant did not burn down, but it will not be operating anytime soon.
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The new location is at the Santa Anita Race track. It’s fully up, functioning and serving those in need.
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With all the social media posts from restaurants offering free food to firefighters, I thought it was interesting to share a message my friend who is a firefighter for the LAFD sent in one of my group chats. Its an interesting perspective worth sharing more broadly. Its nothing against the restaurants, I’m just sharing in case they’re wondering why they’re not getting any LAFD visitors.
From my LAFD friend:
just want you to know that as far as fire fighters go, we super appreciate the support. it’s just that most of us (the good ones at least) don’t do this job for the perks, and don’t want to make this job about the goodies. when we’re on, we’re usually too busy to take you up on your offer and we usually cook our meals anyways. and on our off days, it feels cringey to rock the uniform just to take advantage of the ff discounts and stuff. we get compensated well and almost certainly all of us would rather disassociate completely from this job and pay for our food like regular civilians than be responsible for the representation of the badge just for free food
He suggested donating to LAFD: Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation | Kindful
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We just learned that my wife’s lifelong friend’s home (just below the Summit area) in the Palisades) is OK. A neighbor sent her a picture of it this morning. Last night we’d seen someone interviewed on TV who had gone to the street behind hers to fight fire at his mother’s home so we’d thought the worst.
Now comes the reality that she has a home in a community that doesn’t really exist anymore. Devastating in its own way.
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Certainly very helpful info (and allows those of us who aren’t restaurant owners to show appreciation in a meaningful way).
An acquaintance of mine who evacuated from Altadena said that she’s not sure how she’ll make the drive back to the area, regardless of whether her home is intact or not.
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Also have friends on the job. Same sentiment they appreciate the gesture but they care more about the victims. They would rather have all the food and donations go to the victims of this tragedy.
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The ripple effect is breaking my heart. Ruby Fruit is temporarily (?) closed with a gofundme for their employees. I meant to get there but haven’t made it, yet. I really liked knowing there was a woman owned queer eating and drinking space here in LA.
Their note -
We have come to the heartbreaking decision that at this time, operating The Ruby Fruit is no longer possible due to financial impact from the current natural disaster.
The devastation felt within our small community, as well as the unfathomable destruction that continues day after day, is truly beyond comprehension. Sadly, along with all the feelings of grief and shock that we have experienced over the last few days, also came this undeniable reality: that running our small business is no longer sustainable.
The hospitality industry functions on a day-by-day basis and right now, as they say - the math just isn’t mathing.
We have always been committed to serving the queer community. We remain steadfast in that commitment. As such, we hope that this is not goodbye; that hopefully this is just “see ya later.”
In the meantime, we have a link in our bio where you can offer financial support to our incredible staff if you have the means to do so.
We continue to offer our space as a donation drop-off and distribution center as long as we are able. Even as we write this, we have folks filling their cars and driving supplies to area shelters and resource centers. Please keep an eye on this Instagram account for more information regarding that.
There isn’t much more to say beyond: we love you, LA. We love you, queer fam. We are grateful for the support you’ve shown us over the past almost-two years.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Love, Emily and Mara
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great article from Eater with interviews from many operators. Might have to head out this weekend after all.
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I don’t think that will the problem in the future when mass deportations will have a major impact on multiple ways on the restaurant/food industry
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I missed the whole fire here in DC and don’t have a feel for why people are not going out to restaurants. Is it a guilty feeling that it is wrong to conspicuously enjoy life when others are suffering? Is it the smoke in the air? Collective depression?
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That’s a great question. Think a lot of people with disposable income (Malibu, Palisades, Brentwood, Hollywood Hills, Altadena ect) got devastated and are not eating out nearly as much. Even if you didn’t get hurt the smoke and even potential for evacuation caused a lot of people to stay home. Maybe it is a bit of collective depression that is keeping people home.
Plus it’s normally a slow time of year for restaurants. Curious what other people think.
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I think it’s a combo of: (1) less disposable income / ability to go out, for those impacted by the fire; (2) air quality makes dining outside less desirable; and (3) overall bad vibes and thinking that now is not the time for “indulgence” or “splurging.” And in my own experience, I live in a high fire risk area and it felt risky to go far from the house or to leave the house for any significant length of time – for a few days there, it felt like you may have had to evacuate at basically a moment’s notice.
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Big +1 to your unnumbered 4. I didn’t feel comfortable leaving to eat until Thurs, and I didn’t feel comfortable going to a location that was, say, 30 mins away from home, until yesterday.
A lot of people who were not in any “real” danger of the fire (however you want to define that) left temporarily. I know 2 people who went to a diff county and one person who left the state.
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I also know several people in the ‘disposable income’ set who left town, even way outside the fire evacuation zones. They mostly cited high aqi (air quality index) as their reason for leaving (fair!), but I think the low vqi (vibe quality index) was just as big of a reason.
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The smoke has also shut down some film and TV production, putting some people out of work.
The official AQI has often been pretty good since the toxic ash particles are too big to affect it.
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Echoing what others have said, from the Runyon Canyon fire through the wind event the following Tuesday/Wednesday, there was an impending sense of doom. Would another part of the city catch on fire?
Some are still concerned, perhaps rightly, with the air quality. For a minute it felt like it would be gauche (not judging anyone btw, don’t love I had this reaction) to eat out. Tons of people I know, especially those with young kids, left. And the demos affected by the fires are the patrons of these places.
And may be my social media bubble, but the well intentioned message from a lot of food influencer types was about donating and helping the affected, not supporting restaurants.
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As of this morning, no part of Brentwood is in an evacuation zone.
Anecdotally, and possibly related to the above, Brentwood is POPPING tonight. Got turned away from several restaurants on San Vicente before snagging a bar seat at my 3rd attempt (tables were full).
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