We explore the the techniques employed by Jewish delis in L.A. to make a great bowl of matzo ball soup. It's Hanukkah on Dec. 25, after all.
Why now: As people are getting ready to celebrate Hanukkah, a matzo ball soup is a good supplementary dish to have at your table, to sop up all the oil you’re consuming in latkes and sugfanyot.
Why it’s important: Checking in with these fabled delis is another way of keeping tradition alive, and making sure authentic matzoball making methods never fade away.
My 5-year-old son Hank has been eating bowls of soup bigger than his head since he could hold a spoon. He is such a matzo ball head that the last time we were at our regular place he got to utter that iconic line “I’ll have the usual.” (It was actually more like “I’ll get that one thing that I always get here.” He’s still working on the idiom).
Josh Heller's son, Hank, surveying the soup at Factor's Deli
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Josh Heller
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LAist
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He’ll be in his element, along with his twin sister Lucy, next week, when Chanukah begins sundown Dec. 25 (aka Christmas Day — the first time they’ve coincided since 2005). Instead of Chinese food, (or along with, whatever you do) we’ll likely have hearty bowls of matzo ball soup at our table.
My dad’s ideal bowl is a thick matzo ball — the kind of thing he says you could throw across the room at a cousin. He also wants the carrots and celery to be so soft they fall apart instantly in your mouth. It’s pretty hard for him to find this at the deli. He said occasionally someone in the kitchen at Jerry’s Deli (RIP) would send out a hardball — but it wasn’t consistent.
My mom’s matzo ball ideal is closer to the L.A. deli standard. A fluffy matzo ball, maybe made airier with the presence of seltzer. Squishy matzo balls with firm vegetables.
Sinkers or swimmers, there’s definitely an argument to be had. (Case in point: when I asked the Save the Deli Facebook group their personal favorite it almost came to blows. Firm! Fluffy! Check out some of their words of wisdom later in the story).
So I decided to speak to the masters, aka L.A.’s delis, to get the inside scoop on making a great matzo ball soup.
Wexler’s (DTLA, Santa Monica, Las Vegas)
Wexler's matzo ball soup
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Courtesy Wexler's
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Wexler’s is a new school L.A. Jewish deli with an old school flavor.
When they opened in 2012 they were the first of a generation to bring handmade chef-driven Ashkenazi cuisine to a wide audience at Grand Central Market. They’ve since added a Santa Monica shop and a location inside the Aria resort in Las Vegas.
Customers regularly kvell over the deli’s ability to make matzo balls that taste like those from their childhoods.
Owner Michael Kassar said the key to great matzo balls “is using extremely high-quality, pasture-raised egg yolks, and not adding too much matzo meal”.
“The goal is to keep the matzo ball light and fluffy,” he said. “Form the balls delicately, use high quality schmaltz, and simmer gently.”
Frank’s Weiler’s Deli (Canoga Park)
Matzo ball soup at Frank's Weilers Deli
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Josh Heller
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LAist
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When my nana and Auntie Jan moved from the old neighborhood to Canoga Park in the 70s they’d still have their favorite deli dishes caravanned over from Pico-Robertson.
(The deli was a big enough deal for our family that my nana wanted to make sure that they catered her funeral.)
Sage soup advice
We asked the Save the Deli Facebook "what makes a great matzo ball soup?"
My loving wife
Dill
Seltzer
Stay away from seed oils and use chicken fat
Use the entire chicken
Parsnip
Never met a matzo ball I didn't like
Frank Mesriani said their secret to a great matzo ball “is to keep the dough in a cooler for about an hour before boiling them.”
Mesriani, who left Iran in 1979, said he also “put a touch of my Sephardic heritage into my menu. I add a bit of turmeric to the soup.”
Mort and Betty’s Vegan Deli
Matzo ball soup at Mort & Betty's
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Mort & Betty's
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If you think keeping a matzo ball together is hard, imagine the challenges of doing it vegan style — without things like eggs or schmaltz. Chef Megan Tucker of Mort and Betty’s has made it her mission to crack the code.
For her, getting a dense umami-full broth is the easier part.
She said that while some of the vegan soup bases are totally fine for home use, she likes to make her broth from scratch. She makes a mirepoix, and adds in shiitake mushrooms (to replace the chicken.)
Then she adds fresh bay leaf, a little fresh turmeric, and fresh thyme. "I can never find parsley root, so I use parsley stems, plus any alliums I have laying around, like leeks,” Tucker said.
She also includes fresh dill, onion powder, black pepper, and traditional aromatics, “to make it tasty.”
The matzo balls have taken a little more experimentation. Tucker said that for the past three years she has been using The Matzo Project, an all-natural artisanal matzo brand founded in 2014. She said the product has “a tastier base to start with, but I had to adjust it because it’s a coarser grind of matzo crumbs.”
As for replacing the egg and schmaltz, Tucker said she landed on psyllium husk: "They’re typically used as a fiber supplement, but they gel when you add water, acting as a binder.”
And instead of the 20 minutes refrigeration for conventional matzo balls, she said they make the mix, shape it immediately and refrigerate it overnight.
You can buy four matzo balls in broth by the quart on Sundays at Atwater Farmers Market.
Factors Famous Deli (Pico-Robertson)
Suzee Markowitz has been running this place with her sister Debbie for more than forty years.
She said the restaurant makes an estimated 3,500 matzo balls a week. Her customers like to customize their matzo ball soups; some just want broth and a matzo ball, others want noodles, others want rice. Her favorite way is to add kasha varnishkes, the bow-tie noodle and buckwheat groat Ashkenazi comfort food. “Try it next time you come in,” she said.
Suzee Markowitz's granddaughter, Margot, being fed soup by her grand-nephew, Benny
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Courtesy Suzee Markowitz
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The kitchen has a legacy as well. Head Chef Silverio Perez has been working in the kitchen with his four brothers and cousins since he started as a young dishwasher in 1981. His father Papa Chuy had been running the kitchen since 1979. Their family is originally from Tala, Jalisco.
His matzo ball making process is to “break an egg into some vegetable oil. Add baking powder, white pepper, salt, and chicken base. Then mix. Once they’re ready, boil in water.”
Suzee playfully interjects that “we blow kisses” into each matzo ball “because they are made with love.”
Canter's matzo ball soup
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Courtesy Jacqueline Canter
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Canter’s (Fairfax)
Jacqueline Canter told me they’ve made over 24 million matzo balls since opening Canter’s on Fairfax. They use a 100-year-old recipe for its soup, which includes matzo balls, noodles, chicken, onions, carrots, celery, and parsnips.
Her grandfather first opened Canter’s in 1924 in Jersey City. Then, after losing the deli to the stock market crash, they relocated to Los Angeles with $500 in their pocket and opened their first location in Boyle Heights in 1931. In 1948 they moved with the Jewish community to the Fairfax neighborhood — then into their current location inside the old Esquire theater in 1953.
Jacqueline Canter said many people swear matzo ball soup is “Jewish Penicillin” and “the cure for the common cold,” to the extent that as soon as they get out of the hospital they go and pick up this comfort food.
Note: they also offer vegetarian matzo balls, as well as vegetarian broth, so everyone can have their fill.
The payoff
Not to get too schmaltzy, but chicken soup really has the power to bring your family together. Even if you’re still figuring out how to keep your matzo balls from falling apart.
“Dad, that was yummy," is the ultimate feel-good compliment. Even if it wasn’t perfect, my family still enjoyed it.
Finally, for the matzo ball lovers among you, I recommend the scene from Janicza Bravo's 2017 movie Lemon, of a family singing along to Dean Friedman’s novelty song “A Million Matzoh Balls.”
It’s just hilarious and reminds me of my family. And now my kids won’t stop singing it.
20-year journey to set 'Fireman's Prayer' to music
By Karl T. Wright
Published August 9, 2026 5:00 AM
The orchestra performing "The Fireman's Prayer" in Los Angeles in July.
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Courtesy The Fireman's Prayer project
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Topline:
Composer Charles-Henri Avelange has spent nearly 20 years trying to find a way to honor firefighters with music.
Why now: In July, that longtime dream took shape when dozens of Hollywood orchestral musicians gathered at Sony Pictures Studios to record the "Fireman's Prayer."
Back story: The poem was written by Wichita firefighter Alvin William "Smokey" Linn, inspired by a 1958 apartment fire in which three children died — words that firefighters have recited ever since.
What's next: Thanks to private donations, Avelange recorded with the Los Angeles Children's Chorus and the Los Angeles Master Chorale in May, then returned last month with Grammy-winning conductor Grant Gershon and dozens of Hollywood's best musicians — some of them survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires — to record the orchestral portion. He is still fundraising to add the California Professional Firefighters Pipes & Drums Corps.
Composer Charles-Henri Avelange has wanted to find a way to honor firefighters with music since the 9/11 attacks.
Last month, that longtime dream started to take shape when over 85 orchestral musicians working in Hollywood gathered at a Sony Pictures Studio soundstage to record the “Fireman's Prayer.”
The poem, written by Alvin William “Smokey” Linn, was inspired by an apartment fire in 1958 in which three children died. It’s something every firefighter learns to recite.
Not long after moving to the U.S., Avelange found the Fireman’s Prayer inscribed on the wall of a firehouse in 2006 — and began singing a melody.
Avelange asked the firefighters whether the piece was already set to music. “Because to me, this is not just a prayer, it's an anthem,” he said.
Twenty-four hours later, he had written the first draft of the anthem.
Charles-Henri Avelange.
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Courtesy The Fireman's Prayer project
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A $100,000 vision, and no idea how to pull it off
Avelange’s vision was to have 200 to 250 musicians, including a children's choir, full adult choir, full orchestra and a 56-piece drum and bagpipe corps for the recording, which costs nearly $100,000. All proceeds from the song would go to firefighters.
“Everybody who knows me eventually always heard about the Fireman's Prayer,” he said. “I have no idea how or when it will get done.”
Composer Charles-Henri Avelange has set the poem, The Fireman's Prayer, to music.
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The Fireman's Prayer project
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Then the January 2025 fires hit Los Angeles. Avelange and his wife found themselves just blocks from a Palisades Fire evacuation zone. They could see the firefighters protecting homes on their street.
“My wife, Jennifer … looked at me and she said, ‘Well, if this is not a sign, Charles, this thing is needed. It is really time.’”
Thanks to private donations, Avelange recorded with the Los Angeles Children’s Choir and the Los Angeles Master Chorale in May. He is still fundraising to record the Pipes and Drums of California Professional Firefighters performing.
Last month, he was joined by Grammy-winning conductor Grant Gershon and many of Hollywood’s best musicians — some are survivors of the Eaton and Palisades fires — to record the orchestral portion of an anthem he had heard only as digital samples for nearly 20 years.
How to support the 'Fireman's Prayer' anthem
The recording is being funded through the nonprofit, Los Angeles County Fire Museum. Learn more on how you can help.
Joining them in the audience were members of the firefighting community.
“When I heard them playing, it sounded exactly the way it's supposed to and actually even better,” he said. “It was quite a magical moment.”
East Los Angeles will undergo months of soil testing and excavation after May’s crude oil spill, with the cleanup expected to continue into early 2027, according to county officials.
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Andrew Lopez
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Boyle Heights Beat
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Topline:
Two months after a pipeline rupture sent more than 25,000 gallons of crude oil onto East Los Angeles streets and into storm drains, many businesses along the Cesar E. Chavez Avenue corridor are still waiting to be paid back for their losses.
Why now: Reimbursement from pipeline operator Pacific Pipeline System has been slow, said Kelly LoBianco, director of the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity. As of Tuesday, 19 businesses had filed claims and only one had been approved.
The backstory: The May spill forced weeklong street closures near East Cesar E. Chavez and Eastern avenues, prompting restaurants, barbershops and bike shops to cancel appointments, delay deliveries or close entirely. A survey of nearly 50 businesses found a 70% to 75% loss in revenue following the spill.
Two months after an oil spill shut down streets in East Los Angeles and disrupted businesses along the Cesar E. Chavez Avenue corridor, many owners are still waiting for reimbursement.
The May spill forced street closures after crews punctured an underground pipeline, sending more than 25,000 gallons of crude oil onto nearby streets and into storm drains. Along the commercial corridor, owners of restaurants, barbershops and bike shops had to cancel appointments, delay deliveries or close their doors for a week as cleanup crews worked in the area.
What the spill cost businesses
In the days following the spill, a survey of nearly 50 businesses near the intersection of East Cesar E. Chavez and Eastern avenues found a 70% to 75% loss in revenue, according to Kelly LoBianco, director of the LA County Department of Economic Opportunity.
“You know how the barbershop gets on a Friday. … We lost a lot of business that week,” said Barber Avila, owner of Brooklyn Lab Barbershop. Avila preferred not to share his first name for this story.
For the past month, Avila has been working with LA County and pipeline operator Pacific Pipeline System (PPS) to submit documents – including tax records, sales reports and expenses – to show how the spill affected his business and file a claim for reimbursement.
Avila said his claim was approved this week and he is now awaiting payment.
Reimbursement has been slow
Many other businesses are seeking reimbursement from PPS, but the process has been slow, LoBianco said.
As of Tuesday, 19 businesses had filed claims. Only one had been approved, while three others were close to approval, LoBianco said. She did not have details on the amount reimbursed.
Veronica Ramos, co-owner of Ramos Industries, a commercial and residential glass and aluminum contractor, said she was reimbursed by PPS a week after submitting a claim. The spill caused contracted jobs to be canceled and deliveries to be rescheduled for a fee because trucks could not access the shop.
Ramos said her business had a bookkeeper who was able to quickly gather the required documents but she worries her neighbors may struggle to provide the needed records for a claim.
A PPS spokesperson said claims are still being accepted and processed. A third-party claims administrator has been helping businesses with the filing process in English and Spanish, the company said.
“We understand how important a timely resolution is for those affected and remain committed to working through each claim as efficiently as possible,” PPS said.
Cleanup could stretch into 2027
What lies ahead are months of soil testing and excavation to remove contaminated soil from the site of the spill, which county officials say could continue into January 2027. Neither Avila nor Ramos knew about the remaining work and worried about how additional street closures could affect their business again.
“It’s good to keep it in mind,” Ramos said.
Was your business affected by the oil spill?
Anyone who believes they were impacted by the oil spill can still contact the PPS claims line at 1-877-817-5465 to be connected to a third-party administrator who can guide them through the process in English and Spanish, PPS said. There is currently no deadline to submit a claim.
The Department of Economic Opportunity’s Office of Small Business (OSB) is continuing to provide guidance on claim preparation, documentation requirements, and submission for affected businesses. To book a one-on-one appointment, businesses can:
Call OSB at (844) 432-4900,
Visit OSB’s East LA Entrepreneurship Center located at 4716 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave., or;
Email osb@opportunity.lacounty.gov.
All impacted businesses seeking assistance should indicate that their request is related to the East LA oil spill.
How to avoid scams:
Rafael Carbajal, director of the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) said bad actors may prey upon communities during environmental disasters like the oil spill including contractors and legal services providers.
Carbajal said the DCBA office is helping residents verify contractors, legal services providers and is providing information on their website on how to recognize scams.
Residents who have concerns or questions can call the DCBA hotline at (800) 593-8222.
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Updated August 8, 2026 7:03 PM
Published August 8, 2026 5:14 PM
The Walnut Fire burning in Burbank.
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Screengrab from AlertCalifornia video feed.
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Topline:
A brush fire burning in Wildwood Canyon above Burbank has prompted evacuation orders for DeBell Restaurant and Golf Course and Stough Canyon Nature Center, according to the city of Burbank.
What we know so far: The Walnut Fire broke out Saturday afternoon near the intersection East Harvard Road and Wildwood Canyon Road.
Read on ... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Evacuation orders for DeBell Restaurant and Golf Course and Stough Canyon Nature Center remain in place for a fire burning in Wildwood Canyon above Burbank.
Evacuation warnings for Churches Ct. and Country Club Drive were lifted at 6:20 p.m.
As of 5:55 p.m., the fire had burned 40 acres and 70% contained, according to Burbank.
The Walnut Fire broke out Saturday afternoon near the intersection East Harvard Road and Wildwood Canyon Road.
Hiking trails around the area are closed. The Starlight Bowl concert scheduled for tonight has been canceled.
Listen to our Big Burn podcast
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39:42
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Jacob Margolis, LAist's science reporter, examines the new normal of big fires in California.
The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, but only because more than 260,000 people dropped out of the workforce.
It was the second month in a row that the monthly jobs tally came in weaker than forecasters had expected.
"We are increasingly hearing from workers that they are anxious about their job security and they are frustrated by the fact that they are stuck in roles that are not necessarily good for them," said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at the job search website Glassdoor. "And that's on top of workers who are not in a job right now and feel frozen out of the job market."
Glassdoor's worker confidence index slumped in July to a record low.
The Fed's job gets harder
Restaurants and retailers cut thousands of jobs last month, and local government also saw large job losses. Healthcare continued to add workers, but at a more modest pace than earlier in the year.
The softening job market may complicate the Federal Reserve's job, since it's also battling stubborn inflation. The Fed may be more cautious about raising interest rates at a time when the labor market appears less stable.
For people who are working, average wages have risen 3.2% in the last 12 months. That's likely not enough to keep pace with inflation, however, so workers' paychecks don't stretch as far as they used to.
"Part of the reason that workers are feeling bad about today's job market," Zhao says, is that "a lot of those wage gains have been eaten up by rising energy prices."
