Yes, in Long Beach in 2024, there exists a $100 bagel and a calzone costing you $85. Each have riled up folks for different reasons. And yes, this includes anonymous artist Rich Rexardson, aka Don’t Move to Long Beach, straight up appropriating a Lana Del Rey cover to mock the bagel—more on that in a bit.
Each item shares some sticker shock value for many. However, the push behind them comes from different perspectives, purposes, and philosophies. Ultimately, it forces a more extensive discussion about the evolution of Long Beach’s food scene, its influx of new patronage with much more coin, and the fact that plenty of people are willing to spend hefty amounts of money on things as earthly as food.
The $100 bagel from Olive & Rose’s morning window service.
Olive & Rose—Chef Philip Pretty’s newest space inside the renovated City Center hotel at 3rd and Atlantic—is truly a stellar new addition to the scene. That is me being intellectually honest: It is Chef Phil’s most soulful food in a long while, and though it is not remotely near the kitchen-tweezer systematic-ness of Heritage, it can reach the same peaks of what some may call luxury that comes from Heritage. Or what others, like Chef Phil, just call “having fun with good food.”
There’s a $120 smoked salmon and caviar shareable that could induce sticker shock. But that hasn’t quite caused the stir more than Olive & Rose’s $100 bagel, which they literally call “The $100 Bagel” on their bagel window service menu. The AM concept attached to Olive & Rose and facing the pool of the upcoming boutique reimagining of the City Center Motel, O&R Bagels serves Tuesday through Saturday from 8AM until sell out.
And yes, they have been selling out.
“Yes, caviar is a luxury thing but I think when you go out and see it, you just wanna do it because it’s fun,” Chef Phil said. “People signify it as a ‘rich people food’ but at this point, everyone is eating caviar. At Heritage, out of the 75 people that come in for dinner, 35 to 45 people get our caviar bump. It’s people wanting to be part of a new trend. It’s more of a look-at-me thing, not a status symbol. I think it’s just fun.”
That $100 bagel? It sells out on the daily. And Chef Phil has zero apologies for it.
“You’re not paying for the bagel,” Phil said. “You’re paying for the caviar. The bagel, chives, and cream cheese you get for free. You’re paying for a one-ounce jar of caviar that we pay a significant amount of money for. We basically don’t make money off of it. It’s a nice-to-have—not something we’re making a shitload of money off of. And y’know what? People order it.”
Using a bagel from Boil & Bake—Chefs Carlos Pérez and Luke Bramm’s nerdily wonderful bagel shop, who were connected by Long Beach’s own Chef Carlos Jurado during the R&D process—it is then topped off with cream cheese, lemon zest, Maldon salt, and one ounce of proprietary N25 caviar. A Munich-based brand, their San Francisco office has chosen only three restaurants in California as brand ambassadors; Heritage is one of them.
And it really showcases that that is what the dish is really about. It’s a deep olive-y green with a funk reminiscent of a solid, MSG-crystal-filled slab of PDO Parmesan. And to add to the quality, Chef Phil and N25 only procure the top 10% of the roe inside a sturgeon’s belly, largely considered the best because the rest underneath falls to the pressure of gravity.
“Us getting the caviar was really just a process of time,” Chef Phil said. “Companies notice when a space is going through seven pounds of a high-caliber product each month. They chose us. We wanted to partner with someone who would commit to our facility and what we’re doing here at Heritage. And in doing so, we’re likely to go up to 12 to 14 pounds of caviar a month.”
In other words, he has a niche crowd to cater to—and they “fucking love caviar.” But that doesn’t mean people won’t mock, well, that fucking bagel.
The artist behind Don’t Move to Long Beach—and mocking that very bagel.
One but has to hear the anonymous name of the artist running the Instagram account that is Don’t Move to Long Beach (DMTLB) to see their whole aura is mired with Long Beach-specific mockery and satire.
Rich Rexardson. They prefer to be called Rich Rexardson. If that doesn’t induce a smile, surely some of the artist’s pandering to mocking very niche aspects of the Long Beach food scene should make you grin. For example, when Golden Burger announced it would be taken over by chain Eat Fantastic—and a giant “EAT” sign arose at 4th Street and Junipero Avenue—Rexardson was quick to wittily mock it.
And they wasted no time in turning the $100 bagel into a t-shirt (which Chef Phil happily bought and noted, “Thanks for the support”).
“The $100 bagel is great marketing,” Rexardson said. “The upper class can’t resist that kind of exclusivity. Lana gave a shout-out to Long Beach with her latest album title and her demeanor in the photo felt like a good fit for the sentiment. We followed her album cover’s design format and tried different wording options. ‘$100 fucking bagel’ captured it. If Olive & Rose wants to use the name for their bagel, we’d celebrate it. We’re honored that Chef Phil and Lauren picked up shirts with some of the bagel profits. It basically feels like Don’t Move to Long Beach got a Michelin star.”
The $85 calzone from Marlena
This humble Neopolitan dish, as interpreted by Marlena, stirred up controversy in my food group for another reason. Its buyer was unaware of its price tag. The server, which introduced it as a special, failed to mention its $85 cost and the customer—despite having ordered truffles—rightfully felt sticker shock for a dish that is so widely considered humble. Outside of the server snafu, Marlena ultimately has no apologies for a dish slathered in a product that is wildly expensive.
“We’re gonna stuff our calzone with caviar now,” Marlena owner Robert Smith joked. “Yes, our truffle calzone is expensive—it has expensive ingredients—but it is so accessible and shareable. It’s meant to be shared.”
The $85 Marlena calzone is stuffed with blue oysters from Long Beach Mushrooms, stracchino cheese, smoked mozzarella, basil, and black Umbrian summer truffles inside. Then, it is glorioudly topped with eight to ten grams of more truffle on top. And like the caviar, Marlena can’t keep up with customer demand.
“The advent of social media can have the endorphins kick in by publicly taking a crap on someone,” Robert said. “Internally, we were laughing, with people saying, ‘Damn, you got the shit beat outta you in Brian’s group.’ But the humor was also driven by the fact that we buy a pound of truffles at a time—a huge investment on our behalf—and we consistently sell out.”
Even at the beginning, when Chef Evan Funke-taught Chef Michael Ryan wanted a triple-digit-dollar tomahawk steak on the menu, Robert was hesitant. Ultimately, they had a hangar and a ribeye for their cherished Josper wood-fire grill—and ultimately, the ribeye consistently won out. Even the picture taken above? The reason I couldn’t get an action shot of the truffle being shaved is because there was so little left that this is likely the last one made until more truffles come in.
In other words: Like the $100 bagel, people are buying the $85 calzone.
The question of community: Who are you cooking for? And receiving two very different answers.
“I cook for myself,” Chef Phil bluntly said. “I don’t cook for any of the diners. Don’t cook for any of the guests. I don’t cook for any one person but myself. I think in doing so, I’ve been able to gain a crowd that trusts what we’re doing. And they don’t give us shit for being something we’re not. I don’t cook for the masses; my crowd is a small, niche clientele. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for me. So that’s where we’re at.”
This lies in stark contrast to Robert, whose approach to Marlena is far more community-centric over Michelin-guided. He even goes as far to say he has no interest in garnering accolades like a Michelin star for Marlena because it adds a layer of duty on the kitchen and staff that could alter their ability to create freely.
“I think Marlena is really succeeding on not catering to one crowd or the other,” Robert said. “I like to view it as a Choose Your Own Adventure, where you can easily enjoy something here without breaking your bank. And you can also divulge in a little luxury, if that is your thing.”
When it comes down to it, any and all industries will cater to all corners of the dollar. Even Chef Phil noted that, he doesn’t always want the food he makes; sometimes, he just wants some tacos with his kids from Lola’s. And what might be nothing more than an expensive bowel movement for some could be an experience worth every penny to another.
Therein lies the power of food—experience, connection—and like all human experiences, it has a range of costs because of the endeavor that goes into it. Whether it’s a $100 bagel or a $20 shirt mocking that very bagel, value is only in where we assign it. So if you’re able to, throw down if you want to explore—who are we to judge?
Eat well, be kind.
Olive & Rose is located at 255 Atlantic Ave. Marlena is located at 5854 E. Naples Plaza.
Who are we to judge? Come on. You have judged this all to be okay. And maybe it is, but don’t kid yourself that you haven’t issued a judgement.
With so many options to eat in Long Beach, who gives a shit if you’re eating a $100 Calzone or a burger at McD? Eat what you want or can afford or not afford if that’s what you want to do. I’ve lived in this city for 30 years. I’m from New York and have lived and visited more great cities than I can remember and I keep coming back to this city because it is one of the most diverse and beautiful cities I’ve ever lived in or visited. Big enough and small enough. Close enough to LA and far enough. Don’t want to move here? Cool. More for us. Or as my Puerto Rican father used to tell me when I was protesting the Vietnam war: Love it or leave it. (Okay, maybe not all that). Chill people, it’s only food.
The only issue I have with any of this is that the calzone was a daily special, and the server should have given a heads-up on the price.
I think the price is reasonable, but we’re so used to seeing a few shavings of truffle on something that if I hear something is a “truffle” whatever, I wouldn’t expect the full-on truffle extravaganza that was their truffle calzone, with the accompanying price tag.
Great piece!
Eating out is a luxury these days – period. So if I am too lazy to cook or even order-in I will make my husband go out and grab dinner and support the local chefs and businesses. In doing so, I am agreeing on helping the restaurant pay their rent, salaries, bills, insane utility costs, advertising, marketing, and more importantly, help them put items on the menu which will make the business thrive, stand-out, and get articles written about it or go viral with haters on-line. We all love to indulge and if everyone wanted eat basic food every day, then 2nd street would be lined up with Panera, Panda, Chipotle, Jersey Mikes, and NOTHING ELSE. We need these outrageously amazing items to help us cope with high rent, cost of living, challenges at work, and exhaustion from cooking. We love and hate it at same time. I am all for it!