How Los Angeles’ Bars and Restaurants are Helping a City Rise From the Ashes After Deadly Wildfires

The Eaton Fire rages on a hillside in Altadena. The deadly fire claimed at least 17 lives. (Photo: I RYU/VCG via AP )

As someone who makes a living occasionally tasting spirits, one of my favorite phrases to use when describing liquor or wine is that it has “character.” When a spirit has character, it is layered and complicated, with an element of humanity.

I’ve been thinking about this word a lot since the Los Angeles fires. The deadly Eaton Canyon Fire erupted a few miles from my home, and I watched a hurricane of hungry flames tear its way down the mountain outside my office window before packing up a few things and evacuating with my husband and dog.

For several days, I wasn’t sure if I was going to have a home to come back to. We have a paper sculpture of a house that sits above our fireplace — a piece of art we picked up during our honeymoon abroad. In this city’s comically insane housing market, we used to joke that it would be the only home we could ever afford. Owning our house was a source of pride for us, and it seemed cruel that after two short years, one windswept ember could destroy the impossible dream we had finally achieved. Yet, we were fortunate enough to return to a home that was still standing and had clean running water. Our neighbors just eight blocks north of us were not so lucky.

Reminders of the devastation were everywhere. Ashes of destroyed dwellings drifted into our yard. Soot-covered, dying cockroaches hobbled along the sidewalk, and we found burned-out bible chapters in our gray grass. We presumed them to be from the numerous churches located in Altadena that were leveled to the ground, or the city’s Theosophical Society, which was also destroyed by flames.

(Photo: Cynthia Mersten)

Altadena’s Theosophical Society was a place with a history dating back to the late 1800s considered to rival Egypt’s Library of Alexandria in terms of volumes of religious texts. The Travel reported its purpose was “dedicated to the uplifting of humanity through a better understanding of the oneness of life.” Though I don’t consider myself to be religious, it was a stark reminder that these fires destroyed sacred things for many people.

The Eaton Fire was the second largest fire during the L.A. Firestorm, and it took out local restaurants my husband and I liked to frequent, like the neighborhood diner, Fox’s.

Yet, the most disturbing aspect of the fire was the catastrophic loss of human life in the historically Black, middle-class neighborhood. It was the deadliest fire, and more than 17 people are reported to have perished in the blaze. All of them resided in a small block west of Lake Avenue.

The fire broke out at 6:30 p.m., and the hurricane-force winds pushed it west. According to the Los Angeles Times, eastern portions of Altadena were notified of the fast-moving wildfire as early as 6:48 p.m., but many residents in the neighborhood west of Lake did not get their evacuation notices until 3:25 a.m., when the embers had already reigned destruction on their homes. Some never received warnings at all.

It is impossible not to feel this atmosphere of loss, confusion and rage in my neighborhood. Perhaps the most grim reminder is the series of wooden crosses affixed to the fence on Lake Avenue, testaments to the 17 dead and 24 people who remain missing.

There are countless sayings about suffering and how it builds character. But I believe character comes from the way a person behaves under pressure.

Those working in Los Angeles’ bars and restaurants have no shortage of character — what with the constant pressures of the hospitality industry’s demands. Even during good times, it’s an industry that can push a person to the brink. Hospitality prides itself on taking care of people and prioritizing human connection, yet the disturbing paradox is that the people who work in it are often dehumanized by irate customers and privileged individuals who don’t know any better.

Bartenders, sommeliers, waiters and GMs alike are no strangers to working grueling hours for businesses that often operate on the edge. A week of closures can be catastrophic for the bottom line — even during the good old days before the COVID-19 pandemic and the SAG and Writers Guild of America strikes.

Yet, the people in the hospitality industry love taking care of people. It’s who they are; it’s what they do. Thus, it’s no surprise that in the wake of these deadly fires, Los Angeles bars and restaurants have been joining forces to feed evacuees and first responders.

Some have pledged to do this indefinitely, and their actions have been one bright spot of hope in a community beleaguered by loss and fearful of what the uncertain future holds. These restaurateurs and bartenders are doing what they can to support Angelinos and are determined to help this city rise from the ashes one day at a time.

A City of Angels: How Bars and Restaurants Are Feeding First Responders

Some bars and restaurants are contributing by supporting the heroes fighting these fires. A free meal, a glass of wine, a nice cocktail — whatever they can do to provide a sense of normalcy to these warriors battling the flames. The move is financially risky, but it’s the right thing to do, especially since many of these restaurateurs believe Los Angeles has one of the best hospitality scenes in the world.

“This is the city where the dream you dream can be accomplished and can be met. I’m not talking about The American Dream; I think I’ll call it the LA dream,” Madre! Oaxacan Restaurant & Mezcaleria founder Ivan Vasquez said. “This is where the best people in the industry are, and with all due respect for other cities, this is where the biggest diversity of cuisines and expertise are — either with food [or] with bar programs, and it just keeps growing.”

Madre! opened in 2018 and was one of the early restaurants in Los Angeles to champion the mezcal boom. The Oaxacan restaurant has an impressive mezcal program and made the somewhat risky choice early on to eliminate serving Reposado and Anejo tequilas in its infancy. The impressive agave selection features a variety of blanco tequilas at varying proofs and rare mezcals from small producers that have little exposure in the U.S.

Since the fires, Madre! has been offering free meals to Southern California first responders throughout January at all of its locations.

“We saw that this was not going to be an easy turnaround,” Vasquez said. “So we said, you know, till the end of the month we’ll feed the firefighters. Because even though, hopefully, they say they can control these fires, they’re gonna be tired for the next couple weeks. They’re gonna be on their day off, and they probably need to get some fresh meals without cooking at home.”

Danny Kronfi, one of the founders of Bacari, a popular, multi-location wine bar with eclectic by-the-glass selections, is offering similar support to the firefighters at all of his restaurants. The Hollywood Reporter chronicled the restaurant’s actions during the early days of the fires, reporting that Bacari donated 20,000 meals to the Los Angeles Food Bank to support those displaced by the disaster. The restaurant group is additionally offering free meals and wine to first responders indefinitely for now, and Kronfi says the decision was a “no-brainer,” because his reasons are personal.

Kronfi is a resident of Altadena, and he told Bottle Raiders that nearly all of the houses in his neighborhood around him burned, yet somehow his home was spared. Kronfi is currently living in an apartment in Glendale with his wife and children because the city hasn’t allowed him to return to his home yet. Nevertheless, he realizes he’s lucky compared to the many people who live close by.

“We turned on the news. Our street is on the news, and my neighbor’s house was on fire,” Kronfi said. “The fire department is there, and a lot of our neighbors lost their homes, and they’re good friends of ours, and their kids are good friends of my kids. So, thank God for those firefighters. We were finally able to get back to our house today, and you can see the fire burned right up to our house. I can’t say enough about those guys.”

The day the fire in Eaton Canyon erupted, Kronfi noticed the power went out but didn’t think much of it; losing power is a common occurrence when the winds pick up in the mountains. He took his son to basketball practice, which was near the epicenter of the Eaton Canyon fire. His wife stayed at home with their other children. Kronfi noted that reception is bad at his home, and due to the power outage, his wife had no internet — she couldn’t be informed of the situation.

“I saw a small little fire on the hill over there and thought, ‘Uh-oh,'” Kronfi said. “I see all the firetrucks and the police officers just racing up, and I was like, ‘That’s not good.'”

Forty-five minutes into his son’s practice, authorities evacuated most of Altadena, and the fire was creeping toward Kronfi’s house. He pulled his son out of practice early, called his brother and raced home to his wife.

“We packed a couple of days worth of stuff, went to my brother’s house, and woke up in the morning and saw our neighbor’s house on fire,” Kronfi said.

The restaurateur is uncertain when he will be able to go back to his Altadena home with his family, but he knows he’s lucky compared to many. At the moment, Kronfi’s focus is on the restaurant group and offering aid to the community. Though he admits the uncertainty is what worries him the most, Kronfi’s steadfast determination is inspiring.

“I’ve been kind of just living day by day, week by week, trying to console our team members about what was happening and get them to feel okay about it,” Kronfi said. “You just get this somber feeling everywhere you go, and then you kind of recover.”

Elsewhere, Pouring With Heart, a prolific organization known for some of Los Angeles’ top nightlife destinations like The Powerhouse, Las Perlas, The Normandie Club and Seven Grand, is raising money. Pouring With Heart Community Support Manager Caitlyn Jackson shared that when the fires started, the bar and hospitality group mobilized immediately.

“Our community support managers in L.A. were working on finding the people within our community looking for any type of shelter or were looking for any type of assistance in any way,” Jackson said. “We have a loft above our headquarters in downtown Los Angeles that was offered up to some of the employees, as well. And then it was about just figuring out which bars needed assistance and closures and things of that nature.”

Since then, the organization has launched a program with the California Community Foundation. All 23 of Pouring With Heart’s bars launched a featured cocktail, and $2 from each cocktail sold for the month of January have gone to the California Community Foundation. Each bar also planned its own fundraising event — even those beyond California.

“The one that we’re working on currently is going to be in Texas,” Jackson shared. “We’re partnering with Another Round Another Rally to donate 100% of our raffle ticket purchases to the organization, which provides real-time financial assistance for hospitality workers impacted by the fires through a grant system, and then the California Community Foundation initiative goes to immediate and long-term recovery efforts.”

Jackson’s account of other state’s bars rallying around Los Angeles is heartening, further adding to the solace myself and many other Angelinos found in the firefighters from other states like Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Utah and Idaho, who came to battle our flames. Even other countries offered their assistance in a show of solidarity, with firefighters from Mexico and Canada helping defend our city from the inferno — a welcome sight in such divisive times.

One of Pouring With Heart’s L.A. locations, 4100 Bar, a trendy spot in Silverlake, offered a boilermaker composed of a pint of Arts District Brewing’s House 4100 Blonde Ale and a shot of Ilegal Mezcal as its featured cocktail.

4100 chose the two-in-one “loophole” cocktail to generate as much revenue as possible for charity while giving the customers what they want.

“Our top sellers are our light beers, tequila and agave shots,” 4100 General Manager Travis Baetz said. “I figure if people already like drinking it, let’s give ’em something they can enjoy.”

Baetz shared that some of the vendors who work closely with the bar lost their apartments during the L.A. Firestorm, but fortunately, he hasn’t heard of anybody being hurt.

Baetz remains optimistic about the future of Los Angeles’ hospitality industry.

“I think if anything, it will kind of grow in a sense,” he said. “Bars and restaurants give a sense of community, familiarity and a safe place to go. Guests want to come somewhere with power, to places that have internet and a friendly face on either side of the bar. When you’re in a stressful situation, those creature comforts play a big part of coming back to what’s familiar.”

The GM believes areas on the west side of the city will have a more challenging time recovering. He explained that neighborhoods near the Palisades were in close proximity to lots of restaurants, and entire urban centers were leveled in the Palisades fire, which raged and destroyed 23,713 acres. This fire was the largest of the storm, and it took out legendary institutions like the Reel Inn and Gladstones in addition to claiming 12 lives and counting according to ABC News.

But he is optimistic about what it looks like for Los Angeles’ east side, particularly the heavily urban areas and concrete jungles, with all their grit and street art. He predicts more Angelinos will flock to bars in neighborhoods like Silverlake, Downtown, Highland Park and the Arts District.

“I think the inner city places will be kind of like an anchor for a lot of people,” Baetz expressed.

Regardless of what the future holds for an industry reeling, Baetz’s optimism provides a refreshing outlook on what might appear to be a bleak time. Fortunately, Angelinos are a tough bunch and have learned a lot about dealing with disaster over the years.

Our catastrophes and weather patterns like these Santa Ana winds, though historically destructive, have had a history of shaping us into resilient people able to survive in a society that pushes us to the brink. One of my favorite authors and Angelinos, Joan Didion, put it best in her novel, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem“:

“Los Angeles weather is the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse, and, just as the reliably long and bitter winters of New England determine the way life is lived there, so the violence and unpredictability of the Santa Ana affect the entire quality of life in Los Angeles, accentuate its impermanence, its unreliability. The winds show us how close to the edge we are.”

Since the Los Angeles firestorm, the city has been mobilizing to rebuild itself and bring itself back from the edge.

Many relief drives have had to halt donations due to being overwhelmed with everyday items. Volunteer spots are filling up as those living in the city try to cope with the situation and help in whatever way they can.

“I feel like we kind of went through this five years ago,” Kronfi said, comparing the fires to the pandemic. “Everybody felt terrible, but you deal with it, and then you shift gears and try to get back to normal life again. I think that everybody kind of showed up in L.A. You can see it everywhere. It was really impressive to see how everybody stepped up all over the entire city.”

Though the idea of “normal” frequently changes in this strange world we are living in, Los Angeles’ hospitality industry is carrying a reeling community through one of the darkest times the city has ever seen.

If that’s not character, I don’t know what is.