Here’s your latest intel on the local food scene:
- Fonda Tobalá, Chef Manuel and Fernanda Bañuelos’s Mexican concept tucked into the back of Rosemallows in DTLB, will have a special, ticketed, last call dinner on Thursday, April 28, from 6PM to 8PM; for those unable to get tickets, they are encouraged to join in after 8PM for a party open to all. Fonda—one of the city’s best and most innovative Mexican restaurants—announced their closure earlier this year following a flurry of bad business given the weather and lack of foot traffic. To read the full feature on their closure—and why it is such a loss for our local food scene—click here.
- Coffee Drunk, which opened its first location just west of 4th Street and Temple Avenue in late 2020, will be opening a second location in Cal Heights soon as they add signage on the window begin the finishing touches on the interior. Owners Breezy and Matthew Church will move into the northeast corner of Wardlow Road and Myrtle Avenue, just east of the Meat & Vino shop.
- Panxa Cocina, the New Mexico-inspired space formerly headed by the late Chef Art Gonzalez, will be hosting a memorial on May 9 from 5PM to 9PM a year following his untimely death. The restaurant will be closed to normal dinner service as small bites will be served and drinks can be purchased at the bar. Look for my upcoming feature on Panxa’s menu in the coming days. For those wanting to read my remembrance piece on Chef Art, click here.
- Black Dog Coffee Roasters, the second wave coffee roaster which—rather strangely, in my opinion, but I’ll get to that in a second—offered folks warm bags of freshly roasted beans, will have its last day on April 30. According to its owner, the landlord does not want to renew their lease at 1390 E. Burnett St. in Signal Hill. Now, about that fresh roast thing: Unlike, say, lettuce, where freshness is key, coffee beans actually require resting periods after roasting (much like meats—but for much longer periods) to acquire their best flavor. Rest your beans, roasters!
- ICYMI: The Prospector will officially be closing shortly before its 60th year serving Long Beach, following its sale after being put on the market in February of 2022. Headed by Hilco Development, the plan is to revamp the building into two new spaces: One hosting a coffee shop—within a mile from Rose Park, Alder & Sage, Wide Eyes Open Palms, Coffee Drunk, Hot Java, Agua y Viento, and that thing known as Starbucks—and another hosting a pan-Latin American concept should things go forward as planned. To read the full article, including the inspiring story of its owner, Luis Lemus, click here.
