The Brief

After hundreds of meals across Southern California this year, these 12 dishes stand out for me — not just for how they tasted, but for what they revealed about our region.

2025 took me from makeshift taco stands in Vernon to Michelin-starred counters in Little Tokyo, from strip-mall gems in Garden Grove to high-profile chef collaborations in Santa Monica and downtown L.A.

I tasted underappreciated cuisines finally get their due, discovered that some of the most memorable meals cost less than lunch at a chain restaurant, and felt embraced by love as a Long Beach chef turned a dinner into a wildfire fundraiser. What tied it all together? Each dish told a story about who we are as Angelenos — our immigrant roots, our creative spirit, our refusal to choose between honoring tradition and pushing boundaries.

So without further ado, here are my best dishes of 2025.

Aguachile at Mariscos Chiltepín (Vernon)

Aguachile mixto with salsa verde and salsa negra at Mariscos Chiltepín in Vernon. Chef Francisco Leal dusts the fresh shrimp with crushed chiltepín peppers for extra heat.

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In the never-ending quest to find the best mariscos in all of Los Angeles, after a few tips from some trusted colleagues, I found myself at Mariscos Chiltepín, a small makeshift outdoor restaurant run by Francisco Leal, who's from Sinaloa, Mexico. Leal's tenure in Los Angeles began when he helped start Del Mar Osteria, a popular mariscos truck located off La Brea, for which he still consults.

These days, Leal can be found on the streets of Vernon making some of the most memorable aguachiles that I've had in recent memory. I ordered a mixture featuring fresh, opaque shrimp splayed in a circle, bathed in two different salsas on either side, which Leal makes himself. I ordered a salsa verde along with his signature salsa negra, both dusted with crushed bits of chiltepín, a tiny, fiery wild chili pepper that's also Leal's stand's namesake, providing that extra added heat. The salsas are dynamic beyond belief, each with its own distinctive flavor profile that combines sweet, savory and spicy notes, highlighting the integrity of the fresh shrimp and making the dish super memorable.

Roasted duck breast at Backbone (Montrose)

Roasted duck breast with caramelized endive and roasted black figs at Backbone in Montrose.

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I've always been a sucker for a good comeback story when it comes to restaurant vets, especially in places like Los Angeles, where there seems to be endless fascination with the new, best thing.

But what if chefs and restaurateurs used their platforms as jumping-off points to grow and develop into something that recognizes its past while embracing its future? That's the vibe I caught while visiting Backbone, located on North Verdugo Road in the Montrose neighborhood, run by Karen Yoo and Nathan McCall. They were the original owners of McCall's Meat & Fish at its first Los Feliz location before selling it. McCall and Yoo have also spent time cooking in some of the most revered kitchens in the world, including the Michelin-starred Daniel in New York and Arzak in San Sebastián, Spain.

That talent is on full display at this cozy neighborhood bistro, where you can grab a seat at the bar or any one of the tables and still get a good view of the team pulling out all the stops. A standout dish for me was the roasted duck breast, dressed in a buttery golden sauce, served alongside caramelized endive with roasted black figs over a bed of greens. It was both seasonal and timeless, capturing McCall and Yoo's ability to stay as relevant as ever, just in a different era of their careers.

Lamb biryani at Jikoni (Culver City)

Goat biryani and sides including kale egusi at Kiano Moju's pop-up Jikoni, which operated at Citizen Public Market in Culver City before the market closed.

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This past year, I had the privilege of hosting the LAist live event series Cookbook Live, in partnership with the James Beard Foundation, where I participated in live cooking demos and conversations.

One of the guests was Kiano Moju. Moju was born in California to African immigrant parents — her mother is Kenyan, and her father is Nigerian. In 2024, she published her cookbook AfriCali.

I got to try some of Moju's cooking at her pop-up Jikoni at the Citizen Public Market in Culver City before it closed earlier this year. When our social media producer, Brandon Killman, and I arrived, Moju informed us that the special of the day was goat biryani. I'm a huge fan of lamb protein and love the gamey flavor it adds to each dish, and I always jump at the chance to try it in a way I haven't had before.

The rich flavors from Moju's version didn't disappoint. The same goes for the seemingly endless side dishes she served with it, which included her egusi, a traditional West African dish with cooked-down kale, where the bitterness of the greens and the nutty flavors of the crushed melon seeds came together with the soft bitterness of the roughage.

Jikoni ended right before the Citizen Public Market closed its doors; however, Moju and her team are still popping up around Los Angeles. Follow her on Instagram to see where she'll be next.

Chochoyotes with squash blossoms, roast Petaluma chicken with pepián at Rustic Canyon x Acamaya (Santa Monica)

Chochoyotes with squash blossoms (top) and roast Petaluma chicken with pepián at the Rustic Canyon x ACAMAYA collaboration dinner in Santa Monica.

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Elijah Deleon's work at Rustic Canyon has consistently demonstrated that Mexican cooking doesn't need to compromise its soul to earn fine-dining recognition. For this collaborative dinner at his home base — where he serves as chef de cuisine — Deleon partnered with Chef Ana Castro of Acamaya, the acclaimed New Orleans mariscos restaurant known for blending Mexican traditions with Louisiana Gulf Coast ingredients. Castro brought the same infectious energy to her cooking as she did working the dining room that night, flitting from table to table like a monarch butterfly with plenty of joie de vivre. The result was a multicourse showcase of what happens when Mexican techniques meet California's peak-season abundance.

The chochoyotes course — an ode to Oaxacan cooking made from the masa from Chef Fatima Juarez's KOMAL, the craft molino located in the Mercado de Paloma — made the strongest case: those distinctive thumb-pressed masa dumplings swimming in a vibrant golden-green sauce built from Valdivia Farms squash blossoms, eggplant and habanada peppers (a fruity, floral cousin of a habanero minus the spice). Whole squash blossoms — some bearing delicate char marks — floated alongside the dumplings, their petals still intact and tender. Where traditional preparations might serve chochoyotes in simple broths, the sauce is carefully emulsified to preserve that just-picked vibrancy rather than the heavier, earthier notes of conventional moles.

The roast Petaluma chicken with pepián proved equally revelatory. That ancient pumpkin seed sauce — golden-green and glossy with natural oils from ground pepitas — pooled around perfectly cooked chicken, topped with a tangle of sunflower shoots and edible flowers. Deleon's refined take maintained a distinctive nutty, earthy complexity, while fresh plums added subtle sweetness to the sauce's savory depth. It was the cooking of both chefs that honored its roots while speaking fluently in California's agricultural dialect — precisely the kind of work that defines both Rustic Canyon and Acamaya's overlapping missions.

Gimmari at Kato x Animae (Downtown Los Angeles)

Gimmari, Korean seaweed rolls filled with shrimp, pork and perilla are topped with salmon roe and are meant to be eaten by hand, wrapped in the perilla leaves.

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When Jon Yao and Tara Monsod, two chefs operating at the highest level of Asian American dining, came together for a Sunday Summer Series dinner pairing, it felt inevitable. Both are committed to honoring tradition while refusing to be constrained by it. But it was the opening course that set the tone for everything that followed: gimmari, those humble Korean seaweed-wrapped noodle rolls, reimagined as sleek rectangular packages filled with shrimp, pork and perilla, then crowned with glistening salmon roe.

Served on wooden planks atop fresh perilla leaves, the dish demanded interaction — you wrapped the crispy, glossy nori bundle in the aromatic leaf. You ate it with your hands, almost like a taco, with the ikura bursting against the savory filling. It was refined and playful, luxurious and humble, a perfect synthesis of both chefs' approaches. This wasn't just elevated banchan; it was a thesis statement about what California's Asian diaspora cooking can be when two masters collaborate.

Carnitas at Carnitas Los Gabrieles (downtown Los Angeles)

Michoacán-style carnitas tacos at Carnitas Los Gabrieles in Downtown's Piñata District.

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There's something fitting about a Gabriel (that’s me) finding his way to Carnitas Los Gabrieles in the Piñata District — call it destiny or just good marketing, but either way, it delivered. This is Michoacán-style carnitas done right: all parts of the pig, slow-cooked until they achieve that impossible texture where the meat simultaneously holds its shape and melts the moment it hits your tongue.

Served on freshly made tortillas that were still warm, the carnitas needed nothing more than maybe a squeeze of lime and some salsa to let that pork fat work its magic. Every bite was pure, unapologetic indulgence — the kind of straightforward, technically perfect cooking that reminds you why carnitas remain one of Mexico's greatest gifts to the taco world.

Tasting Menu at Restaurant Ki (Little Tokyo)

Dungeness crab soup with pine mushrooms and fresh noodles made by Keizo Shimamoto at Restaurant Ki in Little Tokyo.

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Chef Ki Kim earned his first Michelin star this year, and one evening at his Little Tokyo counter made it clear why. The $285 multicourse tasting menu is nuanced dining storytelling at its finest — each plate building on the last, taking you on a culinary journey that feels both meticulously crafted and surprisingly intimate. Kim's cooking has a quiet confidence that never announces itself, letting technique and ingredient quality speak without unnecessary flourish.

What sets Restaurant Ki apart from other high-end tasting menus is its approachability. Despite the price point and the precision on display, there's nothing precious or intimidating about the experience. Kim and his staff engage directly with diners from behind the counter, explaining dishes without pretension, making you feel included in the creative process rather than merely observing it. It's the kind of meal that justifies its cost not through luxury ingredients or theatrical presentation, but through thoughtfulness, skill, and genuine hospitality — the markers of a chef who understands that a Michelin star is just the beginning of the conversation.

Makali pita at Sababa Falafel Shop (Garden Grove)

Makali pita at Sababa Falafel Shop in Garden Grove, stuffed with fried eggplant, potato, vegetables, pickles and tahini.

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In the suburban sprawl of Orange County, finding a parking spot in a strip mall lot can be just as challenging as scoring a reservation. Sababa Falafel Shop in Garden Grove has been quietly earning recommendations for years, tucked into one of those spaces that reward the effort. This is the kind of place that does one thing exceptionally well: stuffing impossibly good ingredients into warm, soft pita bread until it can barely contain itself.

The makali pita was a revelation — fried eggplant and potato tumbling together with assorted vegetables, sharp pickles cutting through the richness, all drizzled with creamy tahini that tied everything together. Every bite delivered that perfect contrast of textures: crispy, tender, tangy, smooth. And as the name suggests, their falafel lives up to the shop's reputation, which everyone is given a free sample of before they order — herbaceous, perfectly crispy outside, fluffy within.

Sesame cold noodles at Liu's Cafe (Koreatown)

Sesame cold noodles with chili crisp and chili wontons at Liu's Cafe in Koreatown.

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What if I told you one of my favorite meals in Koreatown this year wasn't actually Korean food, but instead a hybrid Taiwanese and Hong Kong-style cafe with a modern bent? Liu's Cafe is just that place. Walk inside and you might think it's strictly a spot for coffee and tea — which it is — but you'd be missing the point entirely if you didn't explore the lunch menu, particularly the noodles.

The sesame cold noodles with chili crisp sound simple on paper, but that simplicity is exactly what makes them remarkable. Fresh, extra-chewy egg noodles get bathed in house-made sesame sauce and chili oil, topped with crisp cucumber. Each bite builds on the last, reminding you that not everything needs to be elaborate to be exceptional. The chili wontons hit that same sweet spot — spicy, savory, beautifully textured, tasting exactly like the platonic ideal of what the dish should be. Washing it all down with one of their Taiwanese fruit teas over ice added the perfect fruity counterpoint to all that savory heat. I haven't stopped thinking about this place since, and I'm already planning my return.

Afro-Caribbean shrimp dumplings at Si!mon (Venice)

Afro-Caribbean shrimp dumplings in coconut bisque with coconut rice at Si!mon in Venice.

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It was a Monday night and I was on assignment to write about a $27 Panamanian-style lamb neck tamal, so I made a late reservation at Si!mon in Venice — 8:45 p.m., late enough to put my kids to bed first. Chef Jose Olmedo Carles Rojas' restaurant had been on my radar for years, ever since it opened, but I'd only had Panamanian food once before and honestly had no idea what I was in for.

My server didn't need to work too hard to convince me to order beyond the tamal. The Afro-Caribbean shrimp dumplings arrived in a pool of coconut bisque, highlighted with charred scallion oil and fresh herbs — essentially shumai that had taken a tropical vacation. Alongside it, the coconut rice looked unassuming. Still, it delivered some of the most memorable rice I've tasted this year: deeply coconut-forward with crispy, caramelized bits throughout that left me almost at a loss for words. I ended up pacing myself through both dishes, partly to save room but mostly because I wanted to bring some home for my wife to share in the discovery.

Si!mon is a special restaurant, and I'm already ready to go back to soon — hopefully at a more reasonable dining hour.

Crispy smoked lamb belly at Selva (Long Beach)

Crispy smoked lamb belly at Selva in Long Beach. Chef Carlos Jurado, who grew up in Long Beach, blends Colombian influences with techniques learned at Nashville's Husk and Beverly Hills' Bouchon.

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I'd be remiss not to mention a Long Beach restaurant on this list (where I live), especially when Selva remains one of my favorite places in the city. Chef Carlos Jurado has built a reputation as something of a local culinary alchemist, playfully blending Colombian food with influences from the American South (he worked with Sean Brock at Husk in Nashville) and Southern California fine dining (Thomas Keller's Bouchon in Beverly Hills).

The crispy smoked lamb belly exemplifies his approach — similar to pork belly but lighter, with a distinct gamey richness that sets it apart. It arrived over a bed of forbidden black rice, topped with a heap of purple spring onions and a thick triangle of pickled golden beets that cut through the richness with sharp acidity. It's exactly the kind of dish you get from a chef who honors tradition without being bound by it.

Chicken parmesan at Ellie's (Long Beach)

Chicken Parmesan at Ellie's in Long Beach. Chef Jason Witzl turned this dinner service into a fundraiser for those affected by the Eaton fire, asking guests to donate directly to a friend who lost his home rather than paying for their meals.

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The wildfires that hit Los Angeles were felt everywhere throughout the Southland, even all the way down here in Long Beach. When my wife and I were invited to a special dinner at Ellie's — a charming Italian American bistro run by Jason Witzl, blocks from the ocean — we knew we were coming to support our mutual friend Andre Soto, whose house was tragically lost in the Eaton fire. What we didn't realize was what Chef Jason had planned for the evening.

When he came out to address the whole dining room, he announced he wouldn't be charging anyone that night — instead asking guests to donate directly to Andre and his family. There was an audible gasp. Nobody expected that kind of generosity, but the leadership Chef Jason showed that evening, rallying the Long Beach community around a victim of the Altadena fire, made this one of the most important meals I attended all year. The chicken parmesan — deliciously breaded chicken breast blanketed in mozzarella and swimming in bright San Marzano tomato sauce, served with a simple arugula salad — was exactly the kind of comforting, generous food the moment called for. It was a perfect meal to celebrate a friend and support a good cause.

With tensions already high in Minnesota after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer killed Renee Macklin Good, the Trump administration is ramping up the pressure on cities and states to cooperate with its immigration crackdown.

The administration had already surged federal agents — sometimes accompanied by military troops — to Los Angeles, Portland, Chicago, Charlotte, Memphis, Washington D.C. and New Orleans.

Now the White House is threatening to cut funding for sanctuary cities. Here's a brief explanation of how local governments interact with federal immigration enforcement, and what the White House can and can't require from them.

A fight over federal money 

President Trump threatened this week to cut "significant" federal funding to sanctuary cities. He hasn't said exactly what money his administration wants to cut, though he gave a deadline of Feb. 1.

Nor has Trump said exactly which cities or states will be targeted, though the Department of Justice did publish a list of more than 30 cities, states and counties in August. (That list includes the state of Minnesota, though not Minneapolis or St. Paul or their respective counties).

In remarks on Tuesday at the Detroit Economic Club, Trump seemed to be focused on places that limit their cooperation with ICE.

"They do everything possible to protect criminals at the expense of American citizens. And it breeds fraud and crime and all of the other problems that come," Trump said. "So we're not making any payment to anybody that supports sanctuary cities."

This is not the first time President Trump has made a threat like this. During his first term, the president tried to withhold some federal funding from sanctuary cities. More recently, Trump signed an executive order nearly a year ago directing the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to make a list of sanctuary cities and withhold money from them.

But courts have sided against the administration in nearly every case, saying that the federal government cannot use funding to coerce state and local governments into changing their policies on immigration.

"Here we are again," U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco wrote in April. Orrick granted (and later extended) a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from 16 jurisdictions, including San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Paul and New Haven.

"The threat to withhold funding causes them irreparable injury in the form of budgetary uncertainty, deprivation of constitutional rights, and undermining trust between the Cities and Counties and the communities they serve," Orrick said.

No precise legal definition of 'sanctuary'

There's no exact legal definition of "sanctuary city." But broadly speaking, the term refers to any city, state or county that limits its cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

The legal questions here are nuanced. Local law enforcement cannot block federal agents from doing their work but courts have said that state and city officers can withhold some cooperation.

The legal arguments are rooted in the U.S. Constitution and the division of powers between the federal government, which is in charge of immigration enforcement, and state and local governments, which run their own police and sheriffs' departments.

Courts have backed states that don't want to share data on residents in their records, including information about driver's licenses. And in many places, state and local law enforcement will not honor what's known as a "detainer request" from ICE, which essentially asks police to hold someone in detention until immigration authorities can take custody.

Local officials push back 

Virtually all the cities and states the administration has focused on so far are led by Democrats, who don't seem to be backing down after Trump's threat to cut federal money.

"This is just a threat to intimidate states like New York into bowing into submission. And that is something we'll never do," New York Governor Kathy Hochul said earlier this week. "You touch any more money from the state of New York, we'll see you in court."

State and city leaders argue there is a fundamental public safety rationale for their sanctuary policies. They say that working with ICE would undermine trust and cooperation between local law enforcement and immigrant communities as they seek to prevent crime.

There's clearly a political aspect to this as well. In many sanctuary cities, voters are asking Democratic leaders not to give in to the White House and its immigration agenda, so local leaders may have a strong incentive to dig in their heels.

Why local cooperation matters 

In the past, ICE has found that it's faster and safer to arrest people who are already being held in local jails. And that's one reason ICE was able to make so many arrests during the administration of President Obama, for example, before sanctuary policies were as widespread as they are now.

The White House says a lack of local cooperation is hindering its efforts to build "the largest deportation operation in the history of our country," a pledge Trump made frequently during his reelection campaign.

"Minnesota's 'leaders' have chosen defiance over partnership," the White House said in a statement on Friday.

But Democrats say the administration is deliberately creating confrontations in cities and states that are led by political opponents, provoking chaotic scenes on purpose for reasons that go beyond simply enforcing immigration law.

Copyright 2026 NPR

On a recent Saturday, a group of teenage musicians took to a stage inside an unlikely place: an unassuming unit in a business park at the bottom of Lincoln Avenue in Pasadena.

This space has a stage sitting on its concrete floor with the words "Backyard Party" playfully scrawled across the bottom.

The members of a band called The Wendolls sound checked with Matt Chait at the mixing board.

Backyard Party, one of the area’s newest all-ages venues, is the brainchild of Chait and fellow organizer Sandra Denver.

“The fires crushed garages where kids would have been playing. It burnt backyards where they would have been playing. It burnt down the schools where they would have been playing. So this is the communal backyard party. That’s specifically what we built and why we built it,” Chait said just outside the makeshift venue. The only thing that sets it apart from the nondescript units around it is a handwritten sign that says ‘No Ins and Outs.’

Chait, who was evacuated from his residence during the Eaton Fire, teamed up with Denver to manage the volunteer-run Backyard Party a few months ago. Her daughter sung lead vocals in a band called Sly, one of four bands on the lineup.

“We wanted to provide a space for all of the teen bands all around to come and play and help them create a kind of scene,” Denver said.

It’s the type of spot Denver said she wishes she had growing up in Phoenix, Arizona.

The tip box at Backyard Party

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And she’s just one of several supportive parents here who are helping load in amps and guitars and bass drums.

Sixteen-year-old Jett Bizon is the drummer for Saints of Sinners, one of the bands on the bill. He said there’s another reason there are so many parents in the crowd.

“Well, nobody drives. Everybody needs a ride,” Bizon said with a chuckle.

With his long dark hair, Bizon explained that he’s already played some legendary local venues like The Whiskey a Go Go. But he said it feels like Backyard Party is becoming a much needed space for younger musicians in the area.

“We need to let out some type of energy and everybody’s putting it into music,” Bizon said. “I think it’s a great thing. Finally a scene again, it’s fun.”

As Bizon and his bandmates played their set of hard rock songs, the only people on their phones in the crowd were parents filming.

Some of the young folks taking the stage were affected by the Eaton Fire in one way or another. Some of them were evacuated. Others lost homes or saw their friends displaced.

Payton Owen was part of the crew running the door, taking tickets and dolling out snacks. She too is a musician and writes reviews of some of the concerts here.

“I think it’s amazing. I think it’s really like a point of community,” she said from behind a glass case filled with bags of popcorn and candy. “It’s a really nice opportunity for kids to really have somewhere where they can go.”

Teenager Elise Lamond agreed. She’d been following Chait around all night, learning how to set levels for the musicians, run the house lights and more.

“Most people at this age don’t have those kinds of opportunities,” she said, adding that, as a musician herself, she appreciated having free access to the venue’s music equipment, too.

Chait, who had a hand in running the now closed AAA Electra 99 venue in Anaheim and has been a musician since he was 12, said Pasadena and Altadena have a noteworthy music pedigree.

“I mean, Van Halen started in quite literal ‘backyard parties’ over on Allen. I think it lives here,” he said.

And Chait said he’s blown away by the new talent that’s come to this stage. For his part, he thinks it’s the start of a new scene that will balloon beyond Altadena and Pasadena.

Matt Chait going over the sound setup with Elise Lamond at Backyard Party.

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“The fact that these kids who are now, let's say, 15-20 all lived through COVID and were very separated from each other. And now, in this particular neighborhood, are also separated again because of the fires. And they have supportive parents and now they have the physical place to be... All of the pieces of the puzzle are here,” Chait said.

For now, Chait said this is a labor of love. The space here is provided by Altadena Musicians, a non-profit that’s working to get instruments back in the hands of people who lost their gear in the fires. And as for ticket sales?

“It is the best part of running the venue: the end of the night, when we hand cash to these kids for playing,” Chait said.

Tonight’s bounty from a full-house? $320.

“There’s a couple of these kids, if they play one or two more times, we’re going to have to give them 1099s,” he said.

How to catch a BYP show

Backyard Party
1260 Lincoln Ave. #1300
Pasadena

For a calendar of upcoming shows, check out BYP’s website and Instagram.

On Friday, Southern California Edison filed lawsuits against Los Angeles County and several other agencies over their alleged roles in the Eaton Fire.

Two lawsuits were filed.

In one suit, the utility company alleges Southern California Gas delayed shutting off gas in the burn area for several days after the fire, making the blaze worse.

“SoCalGas’ design and actions caused gas leaks, gas fires, reignition of fires, gas explosions and secondary ignitions during the critical early stages of the Eaton Fire,” according to the suit.

The claim goes on to say this contributed to the spread of the fire and made firefighting and evacuation efforts more difficult.

In the second suit, the utility company alleges the Eaton Fire was made worse by the local government response, “including due to the failures of LASD, LACoFD, OEM and GENASYS in issuing timely evacuation alerts and notifications,” the claim reads.

The same filing says L.A. County was to blame for vegetation and overgrown brush in the Eaton Canyon area that fueled the blaze.

It also named the city of Pasadena and its utility system, Pasadena Water and Power, the city of Sierra Madre, Kinneloa Irrigation District, Rubio Cañon Land & Water Association, Las Flores Water Company and Lincoln Avenue Water Company as parties responsible for water systems running dry in Altadena as the fire broke out.

Edison says hydrants running dry compounded the extent of the disaster.

Those claims will be heard in the L.A. County Superior Court, which is also handling L.A. County’s lawsuit against SoCal Edison.

Edison itself is the subject of hundreds of lawsuits from survivors of the Eaton Fire, which could cost the company billions of dollars in settlements.

Edison has said its equipment likely sparked the Eaton Fire and filed these suits, in part, because it believes these various entities should share some of the blame for the disaster, which resulted in the destruction of thousands of buildings and the deaths of 19 people.

A compensation program Edison established for fire survivors who forgo suing the company has made settlement offers to more than 80 of those who applied.

A new organization is taking over production of the MLK Day Parade, almost 40 years after the first parade was held in South L.A. to commemorate the civil rights leader.

Bakewell Media, publisher of the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper (a partner of The LA Local), was granted the permit in September to organize the parade for the first time by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners. Formerly called the Kingdom Day Parade, the parade has been rebranded as the Los Angeles Official Martin Luther King Day Parade. The parade was previously produced and organized by Adrian Dove and the L.A. chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality California (CORE-CA).

With less than a week before the parade kicks off, LA Local reporter LaMonica Peters sat down with Danny Bakewell Jr., president and executive editor of the LA Sentinel, to discuss the details and what attendees should expect.

This Jan. 12 interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Why did you decide to produce the MLK Day Parade this year?

Bakewell: It all started because Adrian Dove, who was the previous promoter, had announced that he was retiring. When he announced he was retiring, LAPD, city council offices and other people said, “Hey, we still want to do the MLK Day parade. Would you guys be interested? You have the infrastructure to put it together.” And we said yes.

What’s different about this year’s production?

We’re going to start the parade with a singer performing “Lift Every Voice.” We’re going to play the message from Bernice King at the start of the show. Obviously, we have Cedric the Entertainer as our grand marshal to add the entertainment value, but the community has always been and will continue to be a major part of this parade.

Is ABC 7 covering the parade this year? 

It’s still going to be televised by ABC. We’re working diligently on how the show is going to be, but ABC has been a great partner.

What was the preparation for this parade?

Thanks to our corporate sponsors, we have a number of bands. The truth is, particularly in LAUSD at this time, and other school districts, they don’t have the funding to just get a bus and get here. I can’t say enough about Airbnb to Bank of America, all of our corporate sponsors, who are supporting all of the youth organizations.

Were there any unexpected challenges while preparing for this parade? 

This [The LA Sentinel office on Crenshaw Blvd.] is usually our command center during The Taste of Soul. It dawned on me last week that we’re going to be a mile away [from the parade route]. So, we made the decision to bring in a trailer to be our office at the corner of King and Crenshaw boulevards.

Any special guests this year besides the grand marshal?

I’m working on a surprise guest to be the singer for the national anthem. No matter what, we will give tribute to the Black national anthem “Lift Every Voice” as loud as we can next Monday.

What’s the long-term vision for this parade, if Bakewell Media continues to produce it?

We see the MLK Day Parade, and we want the world to see and expect to see this parade, the same way they see the Macy’s Parade, the Hollywood Parade or the Rose Parade. BET has come in this year as a partner. So there’s an opportunity to possibly do a national broadcast on BET. Not that we would lose our local television, but we see this as a major parade in this community and in the national African American community, celebrating the great work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. So, we are very excited.