The Brief

This story was originally published by The LA Local on Feb. 10, 2026.

Two Latinos who run an Argentine empanada place in South L.A. helped build part of Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime set.

One of most striking moments of Sunday’s record-breaking halftime show was when Bad Bunny dropped into his casita, catching the family inside completely off guard. It was the first time anyone got to see inside the iconic set that first made an appearance last summer in his Puerto Rico residency.

The inside of the Super Bowl casita feels so much like a real loving, Latino home because it was brought to life by a real Latino couple. Argentine production designers Federico Laboreau and Maximiliano Pizzi have been taking Hollywood by storm for years, designing sets for film, television and major live performances. They can now add Bad Bunny’s casita to their portfolio.

The couple also own Fuegos, a speakeasy-style wine-bar and eatery in the Exposition Park neighborhood of South L.A. that makes empanadas, sandwiches and asado.

The couple started out in Buenos Aires and Mexico City, where they worked on shows like “Project Runway Latin America” and “Mexico’s Next Top Model” before moving to Los Angeles in 2013. Since then they’ve built careers in TV and commercials, working for clients such as Disney, Amazon and T-Mobile.

Laboreau told The LA Local that he first heard about the Bad Bunny project in late November, with the design process taking place between December and mid-January.

A colleague who was working as a line producer on the halftime show initially reached out to him without sharing details.

“She wasn’t telling me anything,” Laboreau said, explaining that he had to sign multiple nondisclosure agreements before learning more. “She just told me, ‘Block those days — it’s going to be huge.’”

After his portfolio was approved by Bad Bunny’s team and the NFL, Laboreau learned he would be designing the casita, specifically its interior.

“For me, it was huge,” he said. “The casita is a big part of his tour, but nobody shows the inside. And I was like, ‘What the f—-?! I’m going to be doing the inside of the casita? It’s going to be the first time people are going to be seeing it and it’s going to be for the Super Bowl?!’”

A blueprint of the inside of Bad Bunny’s halftime version of ”La Casita.”

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Courtesy of Federico Laboreau and Maximiliano Pizzi

)

For diehard Bad Bunny fans, the casita is instantly recognizable, echoing La Casita stage from his “No Me Quiero Ir De Aquí” residency, a now-permanent fixture in his visual iconography that at the Super Bowl attracted celebrity guests like Cardi B, Jessica Alba and Pedro Pascal.

Laboreau said the significance of the moment didn’t fully sink in at first. “I didn’t really have the perspective of how big it was going to be,” he said, adding that it became clearer once rehearsals began and he saw the scale of the halftime show production.

Laboreau worked with Bad Bunny’s creative team and international directors to design the interior as a familiar, lived-in space inspired by abuelita homes across Latin America.

“They told me, ‘This is the outside of the casita, you need to design what’s happening inside, but it needs to feel like an abuelita house,’” he said.

That led him to draw from shared cultural fixtures that as an Argentine, Laboreau feels he shares with the Puerto Rican powerhouse.

“We all have very similar things — religious images, artificial flowers, sewing kits inside and old cookie cans.”

A designer’s rendering of the inside of Bad Bunny’s halftime version of ”La Casita.”

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Courtesy of Federico Laboreau and Maximiliano Pizzi

)

Despite the scale of the production, Laboreau described the process as unexpectedly smooth. “I was expecting it to be more intense,” he said. “But the process was super nice. Everything was flowing.”

The biggest challenge, he added, was working within union and safety requirements while maintaining a distinctly Latin American aesthetic.

Elements of Laboreau’s personal style are visible throughout the set. “You can see my personal style because I’m an old lady,” he said, laughing. “I’m a pink lady. I’m a cat lady.”

He said the creative team ultimately encouraged those touches. “They let me put pink everywhere,” he said. “There are a lot of details that represent myself, and also represent abuelitas around Latin America.”

That old-school style also carries over to Fuegos, the Argentine restaurant Laboreau runs with his partner, Pizzi, in South Los Angeles.

Bad Bunny fell through the roof of the casita into an interior created by L.A. production designers.

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Screenshot of YouTube stream

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They launched the business during Hollywood slowdowns as a way to generate income while staying connected to their culture.

Although Laboreau has worked on larger-budget projects for major studios and platforms, he said the casita stood out for its emotional weight.

“This one was more meaningful,” he said. “Not just because it’s the Super Bowl or Benito, but because of the message.”

That message, he said, resonated deeply given the current political climate and his experience as a Latino immigrant.

“It felt like the Latino community getting together to show America that we are here,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere. We’re here to bring love, community and happiness.”

A camera rolls during rehearsal of Bad Bunny’s halftime show inside “La Casita.”

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Courtesy of Federico Laboreau and Maximiliano Pizzi

)

Laboreau also met Bad Bunny during rehearsals and filming. He described the artist as professional and focused, despite a packed schedule that included touring and preparing for the Grammys.

“He showed up on set, on time,” Laboreau said. “He delivered everything. He was amazing.”

Looking back, Laboreau said, the casita was one of the most meaningful experiences in his career.

“Other projects are nice portfolio projects, but this one meant a lot, not just because it’s the Super Bowl or Benito or the casita, but because of the message,” he explained. “It felt like I was showing to America that the Latino community has magic, has love — and that we can do whatever we want.”

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday placed on the June ballot a proposed temporary half-cent sales tax increase to fund the county’s struggling health care system, which has been hit hard by federal funding cuts.

If passed by voters, the increase would bring the county’s tax rate to 10.25%. It is projected to raise one billion dollars annually over five years.

The tax would expire in five years.

The background

County health officials said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will cut $2.4 billion from county health programs over three years, threatening closure of some of the county’s 24 clinics and an array of public health programs.

Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who co-authored the proposal, said the county faced a “federally imposed crisis” that in the absence of state action, could only be addressed by raising taxes on county residents.

“This motion gives the voters a choice, given the stark realities that our county is facing,” Mitchell said.

The vote was 4-1, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger the lone dissenter. Barger is the board’s sole Republican. She worried shoppers would go to Orange County, where the sales tax is 7.75%. She also said the state should take the lead on addressing federal funding cuts to county health care systems.

Public reaction

More than 700 people showed up Tuesday to speak out on the proposal. Health care providers pleaded with the board to place the measure on the ballot, saying federal funding cuts to Medi-Cal had hit them hard.

“This is a crisis,” said Louise McCarthy, president and CEO of the Community Clinic Association of L.A. County. “Medi-Cal accounts for over half of clinic funding. So these changes will lead to clinic closures, longer wait times, overcrowded E.R.’s and higher costs for the county.” 

Others opposed any plan that would increase the sales tax.

“Our city is opposed to the adding of this regressive tax to overtaxed residents and making it even more difficult for cities, especially small cities, to pay for the increasing cost of basic resident services,” said Rolling Hills Mayor Bea Dieringer. “The county needs to tighten its belt further.”

Details on the proposed plan

Under the plan, up to 47% of revenue generated will be used by the Department of Health Services to fund nonprofit health care providers to furnish no-cost or reduced-cost care to low-income residents who do not have health insurance. 

Twenty-two percent would provide financial support to the county’s Department of Health Services to safeguard its public hospital and clinic services. Ten percent would be allocated to the Department of Public Health to support core public health functions and the awarding of grants to support health equity.

The rest would be sprinkled across the health care system, including to support nonprofit safety net hospitals and for school-based health needs and programs.

A last-minute amendment by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath set aside 5% of funding for Planned Parenthood.

The spending would be monitored by a nine-member committee but ultimately would be up to the discretion of the Board of Supervisors.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass is directing staff to keep ICE off of city property and asking the Los Angeles Police Department to increase its monitoring of federal immigration agents.

The mayor issued the instructions in an executive directive Tuesday. She's also directing the Los Angeles Police Commission to ensure the LAPD and other law enforcement agencies operating in the city are complying with new state laws attempting to reign in federal immigration enforcement.

The move comes after a public showdown between the police chief and public officials over the LAPD's response to federal immigration agents. Chief Jim McDonnell faced heat after recently saying his department would not enforce a new California law banning federal agents from wearing masks.

That ban was temporarily blocked by a federal judge yesterday — but the mayor wants the police chief to issue guidance to his department complying with the law once legal concerns are resolved.

Mayor directs city departments to ban ICE

The mayor is ordering all city departments to identify property that could be used as staging areas for the Department of Homeland Security, and asking them to put up signs banning federal agents.

She's also directing the city to lock gates and doors where possible to block agents from gathering in city-owned spaces like parking lots and garages. The order gives departments less than a month to make the changes.

"The City has a responsibility to continue to safeguard public spaces," Bass wrote in her directive. "Now, we must assert our authority and actively guard against acts of brazen federal overreach."

The city already bars federal agents from non-public city spaces without a judicial warrant or court order. This executive directive takes aim at public spaces where ICE might gather before conducting immigration enforcement, such as a parking lot at a public park.

L.A. County passed similar guidance last month, designating county property as "ICE Free Zones" and directing county staff to put up signs on county property.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli responded at the time on X, saying that the county cannot exclude federal agents from public spaces.

Mayor asks LAPD to step up monitoring of federal agents

The mayor's directive also asks the Los Angeles Police Department to increase its monitoring of federal agents detaining people, including by recording the name and badge number of the supervising officer at the scene.

The directive requests that the Board of Police Commissioners update the LAPD's guidance for interactions with federal immigration officers. Those updates include requiring that LAPD officers turn on their body cameras when they are at the scene of an immigration enforcement action and inform members of the public at those scenes that they are not there to assist the operation.

Bass is also asking the LAPD to regularly issue public data reports of incidents in which police officers witness or receive reports of federal agents acting unlawfully.

The LAPD did not respond to LAist's request for comment on the mayor's new executive directive.

The Los Angeles City Council approved a ballot measure Tuesday that will ask voters to increase the city’s hotel tax by 2% before millions of tourists visit for the 2028 Olympic Games.

The move would boost Los Angeles’ transient-occupancy tax from 14% to 16% through 2028 and then set it permanently at 15% in 2029.

If approved by voters, the tax increase would bring in an additional $44 million annually before the Olympics and $22 million afterward, according to city estimates.

“I do think that there is a logic that we can explain to the electorate, and to ourselves, that the Olympics create an opportunity to add some jet fuel to our visitor-serving community,” said Councilmember Tim McOsker, who voted in favor of the increase.

The council voted 13-2 in favor of putting the measure on the June ballot. Councilmembers Monica Rodriguez and John Lee voted no.

Lee told LAist he thinks it’s the wrong time to make it harder for hotels to do business in Los Angeles.

“The hospitality sector is already navigating significant pressures, and increasing the tax would only make it more difficult,” he said.

Rodriguez said she worried about any city policy that might discourage tourists from staying in hotels and instead choose short-term rental properties in private homes.

“To be able to have access to that residential housing stock, we need to create some disincentive for the expansion of short-term rentals,” Rodriguez said.

The council considered a larger hotel tax increase —  a temporary 4% and permanent 2% bump — but voted it down.

On Tuesday, several representatives from hotel industry and pro-business groups spoke against raising the transient-occupancy tax.

“While these events will be temporary, any tax increase would be permanent, further undermining the city's ability to compete for budget, budget-conscious conventions and family travelers,” Jackie Filla, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of Los Angeles said.

Nearby cities have varying hotel tax rates. Burbank’s transient-occupancy tax is at 10%, Glendale and Pasadena’s 12% and Long Beach’s 13%. Santa Monica and West Hollywood’s hotel tax rates are more than 15%.

James Finney-Conlon with the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce said L.A. could lose out.

“We are concerned these taxes will fall onto potential tourists who are looking to come to our great city and discourage them from visiting the city of L.A. and contributing to our economy,” he said.

Councilmembers also approved a separate ballot measure to close what they say is a tax loophole exploited by online travel agencies and platforms.

If voters approve that measure, those companies would be responsible for collecting the transient occupancy tax on the full amount they charge customers, including booking and service fees, not just the discounted rate they pay hotels.

The L.A. City Administrative Officer estimates that change would generate an additional $5 million annually.

Both measures are expected to appear on L.A. city ballots in primary elections June 2.

The deadline to adopt final ballot language is Feb. 11.

The Los Angeles Conservancy is working on a full record of historic sites in Altadena — and you can help make sure its heritage is remembered.

The nonprofit has spent a year documenting significant spots that were lost in the January fires, but that’s been hard to do because of gaps in official information. Altadena has plenty of historic areas, but there hasn't been a comprehensive survey.

That’s why the conservancy has expanded its fire-related tracking to cover all of the community — with residents’ help. Its first public meeting is expected to be announced this month. Here’s what you should know.

Taking stock of Altadena

What makes something significant? Historic resource surveys help determine that. Like the city of L.A.’s robust survey, these are usually comprehensive documents that assess a community’s built heritage by researching and identifying important buildings.

They can influence land use planning and essentially lay out the case for preservation, taking into account things like design, time period and cultural importance.

But official tracking of significant sites in Altadena is fairly slim. CEO Adrian Scott Fine says the L.A. Conservancy ran into this while working on its Eaton Fire impact map.

“What it realized for us is that in the city of L.A., there had been good survey data that existed prior to the fire,” Fine said. “In Altadena, it was much less so. In many ways, we didn’t even know what we lost.”

Some of the existing records have helped. There’s a county-run African American historic resources survey from 2020 and a volunteer-led database from Altadena Heritage, focused on architecture. Some sites have also been put on local, state and national registries, but Fine says doing a full review of the community will create a clearer picture of Altadena.

“ This is the way for us to now go forward and say, OK, here’s what is still surviving. What’s the story? Why is it important to acknowledge that and tell that story?” Fine said.

Finding more historic resources could also help prevent future losses in a disaster, he said. L.A. County planning documents show just 12 historic resources within the Eaton Fire’s perimeter — three of which were destroyed.

Reimagining heritage

The L.A. Conservancy already has mapped hundreds of historic resources in the Eaton Fire. Since expanding that work, Fine says it’s helped them redefine what heritage is.

“We traditionally are focused on the built environment — historic buildings, communities, neighborhoods,” he said. “We will continue doing that, but I think it’s amplified even more so for us [that] real heritage comes from people.”

That’s why the project will document important sites, along with what they call “intangible heritage” — community traditions, oral histories and cultural practices.

They’ll also do “cultural asset mapping,” which goes beyond standard historic places to track things like where artists lived and legacy businesses.

Altadena residents and local organizations are encouraged to participate across the initiative to share what matters to them. A date for the public meeting is expected to be announced soon.