In Pasadena, a Black-led food community persists

SUPPORT BLACK-OWNED RESTAURANTS THAT CONTINUE TO RECOVER A YEAR AFTER THE EATON FIRE

- BY DANIELLE DORSEY

DA'SHAUNAE MARISA For The Times

THE BIG Band Sandwich, below, at Perry's Joint - owned by Perry Bennett, bottom; a stuffed croissant, right, from Neighbors & Friends; oxtails and fried catfish, far right, from Pasadena Fish Market; Onil Chibas, owner of Deluxe 1717, center.

I'VE NEVER LIVED in Pasadena, but the city that sits below the San Gabriel Mountains in northeast L.A. has always felt like home. As a kid, I'd run into my aunt’s neighbors and coworkers while shopping with my mom on Lake Avenue. I knew to expect a wait at now-closed Roscoe's Chicken ’n Waffles after my cousin's Sunday dance recitals. Years later, when I worked at an office off Fair Oaks Avenue, I'd pass my lunch breaks by walking around the neighborhood and admiring the Craftsman homes.

It turns out, many Black Southern Californians have a similar relationship to Pasadena and Altadena, its neighboring hillside community that suffered tremendous losses in the Eaton fire. After the fire, restaurateur Greg Dulan of Dulan’s on Crenshaw spent months offering free meals to residents in collaboration with World Central Kitchen. Like me, he had fond childhood memories of traveling there from his South L.A. neighborhood to visit relatives.

DA'SHAUNAE MARISA For The Times

A year later, the Pasadena-Altadena area is still recovering, with grassroots efforts led by longtime locals and business owners, including restaurateurs and chefs who opened their dining rooms to provide a safe space for community members to gather and grieve, organized donation drives and provided free meals and resources to those in need.

At Deluxe 1717 on the border of Pasadena and Altadena, chef-owner Onil Chibas extended the bistro’s hours to remain open continuously from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.