We have burgs, which are sandwiches, and there’s a veggie burg, fried chicken burg and bbq turkey burg. Then there’s a section of bowls and that includes crushed tofu and veggie stew over rice; chilli over rice; and a pasta dish made in a wok, which is like a California version of Zha Jiang Mian.
Then there’s a section called foldies, which is a cross between a quesadilla and a tortilla. There’s also a 99c section, which could be a side of rice or a side of braised greens. Basically instead of doing sides like chips or fries we wanted to do something with more nutritional value. But the food is the least interesting part about LocoL. It’s what everyone is focusing on from the outside but if I’m honest, it’s food I can cook in my sleep.
What’s the real essence of LocoL then?
I’ve been spending a lot of time in the Watts community [in Los Angeles where the first LocoL will open later this year] and it has been a very eye opening and humbling experience to see that this is a very different America, one that nobody talks about or recognises. It’s a completely neglected, disenfranchised community and it’s extremely difficult to open a business here because there is no infrastructure to support it.
What I’ve come to realise is that structural discrimination in America is such a huge part of our culture that you don’t even begin to understand it until you start delving in layer by layer. It’s like this rotten onion and beneath every layer you peel away there’s another one that’s just as bad. Watts is one of those places that America has failed and where hope has been left behind. No matter how hard the community leaders are working to change things, they’re unable to succeed because the entire infrastructure is pushing down on them. It’s like you’re under water with an 800-pound weight on you and people are saying: “Why don’t you just swim to the shore?”
How are you hoping to impact communities like Watts with LocoL?
Every time I’m there and I talk to some of the youngsters in the neighbourhood, the same thing happens. They ask what we are doing and when I say we’re opening a restaurant their response is: “No way, I don’t believe you!” The last time I was there someone asked me whom I was hiring and I said: “You.” You see them get excited but then they say things like: “Don’t lie to me.” Because they have been lied to so many times before. So what I have realised is that what’s most important about this project is the human aspect of creating jobs within the community and making the business part of the community; reinvesting and giving the community the opportunity to create its own success.
It’s such a powerful thing to realise that we have an opportunity to be a part of this and we are taking it very seriously. I’m stepping out of one of the best restaurants in the world so I can go and be the chef at a fast food restaurant in Watts. I think it’s something that is meaningful.
Kerstin Kühn is a freelance food and travel writer, specialising in restaurant and chef stories. The former restaurant editor of Caterer and Hotelkeeper, she relocated from London to Los Angeles in 2013, where she lives on the city’s trendy East Side.
With a vast network of chefs from around the world, Kerstin has profiled the likes of Michel Roux, Heston Blumenthal, Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, the Roca brothers and Massimo Bottura. She is a regular contributor to the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, FOUR Magazine, M&C Report and Spinney’s Food, and also writes her own blog,
La Goulue. You can follow Kerstin on Twitter
@LaGoulue_
>>>Read more of Kerstin's blogs here.
