This Changes Everything #17: A Very Different Type of Food Scene

California Groundbreakers

Few business sectors in California were more battered by the pandemic than the dining industry -- nearly a third of the state’s restaurants permanently closed in the past year, and two-thirds of workers temporarily lost their jobs. Now as California opens back up, how many restaurants will reopen, and will they bounce back? We talk with two people who write about California’s dining scene about how restaurants are adapting post-pandemic, and what we should expect now when we go out to eat. GUESTS * Janelle Bitker, food enterprise reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle (https://www.sfchronicle.com/author/janelle-bitker) * Javier Cabral, editor of LA Taco (https://www.lataco.com/author/javiercabral) PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * 0 to min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and this episode * 4:20 min - Janelle and Javier share their "This Changes Everything" moment covering the food scene in the past 15 months * 10:25 min - Do people still want to pay $300 for a fine-dining meal? * 13:30 min - How "ghost kitchens" are changing up the restaurant industry * 18:45 min - How the labor and racial justice movements are changing up the restaurant industry * 26:10 min - More people of color being hired as food critics at top California publications -- how will their articles and POVs change our food scene? * 33:55 min - How we Californians can support and help restaurants stay alive and thrive * 37:50 min - Janelle and Javier give some of their favorite dining-out picks in SF and LA RESOURCE GUIDE * Janelle's eat-here pick in San Francisco: Nari in Japantown (https://www.narisf.com) * Javier's eat-here pick in Los Angeles: Tamales Elena Y Antojitos in Bell Gardens (http://ordertamaleselenayantojitos.com) * LA pop-ups: Golden Rice (https://www.goldenrice.co), Little Fish (https://www.instagram.com/littlefish_echopark/?hl=en) and Quarantine Pizza (https://www.instagram.com/quarantinepizzaco/?hl=en) * Nonprofits that are helping keep restaurants open: SF New Deal(https://sfnewdeal.org)and Restaurants Care (https://restaurantscare.org/get-involved) * "The Taco Chronicles" on Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/title/81040704) * "Counter Intelligence: Where to Eat in the Real Los Angeles" by Jonathan Gold (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312267230)