Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published October 11, 2024 5:00 AM
Chef Pyet Despain draws from both her Indigenous background — she is a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe — and her Mexican American upbringing.
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Courtesy Abernethy's
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Topline:
Chef Pyet Despain is the latest chef-in-residence program at Abernethy’s at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles. She draws inspiration from her mixed cultural background, growing up in Kansas City as a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe, while also having Mexican American ancestry. Now she's blended them to craft a unique menu combining ancient and modern flavors.
Why it matters: Chefs like Despain are reaching back into millennia of Indigenous culture to find elements, such as tepary beans and bison, that can be incorporated into modern American cooking to create unique flavors and textures.
Where do I know the chef from? Despain won Next Level Chef, the Gordon Ramsey cooking competition show, in 2022.
Smoked tepary bean dip, braised bison with dandelion greens and wojapi berry barbeque sauce.
It's not unusual for L.A. chefs to experiment with new menu items. But these dishes have an ancient history, with flavors and textures reimagined by chef Pyet Despain, a member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe who also has Mexican American ancestry.
Despain first earned a name for herself working as a private chef. Then in 2022, she won the top spot on Gordon Ramsay's television competition seriesNext Level Chef, bringing her even more attention.
Now her creations can be found at Abernethy’s, located inside the Music Center complex in downtown L.A., as part of its Emerging Chefs Program.
Fry bread and corn soup
Despain spent part of her childhood on the Osage Indian reservation and the rest in Kansas City. She celebrated both her cultures, regularly attending ceremonies and powwow celebrations, eating Native food along with Mexican dishes.
When she began training as a chef, she wanted to cook food that reflected her upbringing. But she realized she was at a loss.
“I would hear all these stories of other chefs talking about their experiences growing up with their traditional foods," she said. "I looked at my life and what we ate growing up. And the only thing that would come to my mind was fry bread and corn soup from my Native side.”
It was frustrating to her, as she could see the lasting influence of Native American cooking on American culture. Like the traditional Thanksgiving table, with its turkey, cranberries, sweet potatoes, and cornbread — all foods first grown by the Indigenous population.
The smoked tepary bean dip has a consistency similar to hummus and is topped with spiced corn nuts, pickled onion, and maple chili oil.
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Courtesy Abernethy's
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But when she set out to find Native recipes, she found very little evidence of any records being kept.
So she began creating her own dishes, using Indigenous and commonly used ingredients and mixing them with her Mexican American heritage.
“I just want to represent myself. I'm both Mexican and Native, so I introduced these foods in a way that people can easily be receptive to them,” she said.
Fusing the various narratives from one's background might sound familiar to those of us from multicultural upbringings. It’s how many construct a reality to understand the rest of the world.
Despain does it through her cooking: “I .... highlight the food of the Americas, and both of my cultures, cook food that I love eating, and intertwine the two.”
Creating her path
For her current menu at Abernethy’s, Despain has created something unique and all her own. When I sampled her food, I noted the way she honors the past while also managing to look forward.
Take the smoked tepary bean dip. It is made from a drought-tolerant white heirloom bean varietal that’s thousands of years old. Initially grown in the Southwest by the Pima Indian Tribe in Arizona, it now comes from Ramona Farms, a Native American business.
The beans are smoked, cooked down, whipped smooth with sunflower butter, topped with maple chile oil, spicy corn nuts, red pickled onions, and served with three small tostadas. Despain says the smoke element is another way she honors her background. The name of her tribe, Potawatomi, translates to "keepers of the fire".
“The fire represents our people, and our responsibility as members is to keep the spirit of our people alive,” said Despain.
Three Sisters, a dish made of corn, black beans, and squash
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Courtesy Abernethy's
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Meanwhile, the Three Sisters dish blends her Indigenous and Mexican backgrounds by combining a corn tostada with a mixture of black beans and squash and a salsa crudo made with avocado and hoja santa (a Mexican pepper leaf often found in Oaxacan cuisine). The dish's name refers to the agricultural technique of growing corn, beans, and squash together, mutually beneficial to each other’s growth cycles.
“The Indigenous people, way back when, they figured this out, because they're very smart agricultural people. They knew the land, and they had to survive, and they figured out how to do that with these three crops,” Despain said.
Her signature dish is Braised Bison with dandelion greens, which helped her win Next Level Chef.
Braised bison with wojapi berry barbecue sauce, braised dandelion greens, and blue corn cake.
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Courtesy Abernethy's
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Bison is a symbol for many Indigenous cultures, including her own.
“It's the first protein I thought of that should be presented so we can tell those specific stories," Despain said. “Beef is one of the biggest reasons we have many global issues. [Bison] are sustainably harvested, and some laws protect the [bison], from how it's treated to when it's harvested and fed and cared for. This is a more sustainable approach to our food system, so why not support that?”
The bison is slowly cooked, making the lean wild game meat moist and tender. It's then smothered with Wojapi berry barbecue sauce. Wojapi is an Indigenous berry sauce made of simmered blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries; Despain took it further by making it a barbecue sauce, honoring her Kansas City roots. The sauce's sweetness with the meat and the dandelion greens' bitterness provided a rich, satisfying bite.
What the future looks like
Chef Despain's residency at Abernethy’s began in September and will end early next year. She plans to continue working as a private chef as part of her business, Pyet’s Plate, which she has done for the past 10 years. That said, she hasn’t ruled out running a restaurant.
“I would definitely love to have a brick-and-mortar, a place of my own where I can implement these cooking techniques, but also teach people,” Despain said.
Her ideal space would be somewhere she could regularly host dinners, cooking classes, and chef’s tables where people from all over can learn about Native cooking and foodways.
“I don't know what's going to be next," she said. "But I hope that someone out there takes a chance on me and allows me to have that full creativity and helps invest into something like this.”
Eighth grader Leah created a sign with lyrics from Bad Bunny’s “LA MuDANZA,” a song that pays homage to the Puerto Rican artist's parents and his heritage. "He is... showing how immigrants make America great, showing how immigrants are good for our communities," she said. "And that's really deep in my heart, being proud of where I'm from Mexico— Sonora, Obregón."
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Julia Barajas
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LAist
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Thousands more students joined walkouts Friday to protest the Trump administration’s militarized crackdown on immigrants, detainment of children and violence against U.S. citizens protesting the raids.
By early afternoon, nearly 12,500 students from more than 85 schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District had walked out, according to a district spokesperson. Hundreds of students in other districts — from Pasadena and the greater San Gabriel Valley to Orange County — also marched in their communities.
At Olive Vista Middle School in Sylmar, about 100 students—some as young as 11—walked out of their science, English, and math classes, then walked to a nearby park.
For many students, Friday’s walkout marks the first time they’ve ever participated in a protest. And after months of watching federal immigration agents violently detain people on social media, the students told LAist that protesting — on behalf of their communities and in honor of Renee Good and Alex Pretti — filled them with a sense of freedom and power.
Isaac, a seventh grader, walked out of science class.
“This felt like I was breaking out of some sort of chamber,” he told LAist. “I felt like I was being free for once.”
Many of the 12-year-old’s family members are from Mexico and he’s been worried about what could happen if they’re detained.
“I'm standing up for my family and my friends, our community, really,” he said. “The most we [can] do is what we're doing right now.”
After months of being scared every time his parents go to work, Isaac said the protest was a type of salve.
“It makes us feel better,” he said. “It makes us stronger.”
M, right, is a sixth grader at Olive Vista and organized the school's walkout.
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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How to organize a middle school
A few weeks ago, M, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Olive Vista Middle School, asked her mom, Maritza Ocegueda, why students in Minnesota and elsewhere were walking out of school. LAist has agreed to refer to her solely by her first initial, after her mom raised concerns for her safety.
She made several lunchtime announcements about a walkout on Friday, Feb. 6 at 10:24 a.m.
“If you'd like to join, please come over here and if you have any questions, just ask me.”
Those announcements did not come easily to M, who is soft spoken and admittedly shy. “ I try to be the bravest I can,” she said. “ I want [my classmates] to understand how serious this [is] … [The federal government is not] letting people be themselves, like, they can't go to Home Depot without feeling unsafe.”
M, and several other students said some teachers and administrators discouraged their organizing. M said at one point she was pulled out of class for more than an hour to talk about the walkout.
“ One of the things I told the school [is] you dropped the ball because this is a learning moment,” Ocegueda said. However, she said she’s open to more conversations with school and district leaders on how to support students.
Maritza Ocegueda's daughter M organized Olive Vista Middle School's walkout. She said she's active in the community passing out food and clothes to unhoused neighbors and helping other people connect with resources.
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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A Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson provided a statement that said students were informed that walkouts are not school-sponsored, there are spaces on campus for students to exercise their freedom of speech and that they would be marked absent for missed class periods. A similar message was posted to the school’s Facebook page Thursday afternoon.
“Administrators routinely meet with students to share safety information and clarify options for on-campus expression—not to threaten or discipline,” the statement read. “Leaving campus during instructional time without permission is discouraged; that message is about safety and supervision, not suppressing speech.”
Middle and high school absences may be excused for engaging in a “civic or political event” with prior notice.
M said that other teachers were more supportive and helped her spread the word about the walkout to other students.
“ What I've learned is students should not have to come protest 'cause that's what the adults should be doing,” M said. “Adults should know better to help out the community and students should not have to come out.”
Honks of support
By mid-morning, students began to trickle out of Olive Vista.
As students joined the group of young activists, those already outside cheered and passing cars honked their horns in support. One SUV had a Mexican flag poking out of the sunroof.
Out by the curb, some of their parents, including M’s mom, were waiting. The adults encouraged the students to stick together and made sure the group waited for the light to turn before crossing the street to Sylmar Park.
" What's in my heart is that my parents are Mexican and I wanna support," said Jayden, an Olive Vista 6th grader.
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Julia Barajas
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LAist
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Once they gathered, the middle schoolers marched to a nearby park, carrying homemade signs and flags of Latin America.
One student turned to a friend and nervously quipped: “I just really hope we don’t get shot or tear gassed.”
‘They don't understand how much we love our parents.’
In conversation with LAist, multiple students said they live in fear of being separated from their families. They also worry that their parents could be mistreated if they are detained by federal agents.
Eleven-year-old Alejandro, for instance, usually goes to Sylmar Park to play baseball. Today, he said, he went to the protest to honor his mom and dad, Mexican immigrants from the states of Michoacán and Jalisco.
To critics who think he should have stayed in class, he said: “They don't understand how much we love our parents.”
“I just don't like how Donald Trump is calling us ‘animals,’ when we're the ones working our asses off to live paycheck to paycheck, while he's up there sitting in his chair throwing out orders at Kristi Noem,” said eighth-grader Jesús, referring to the Secretary of Homeland Security.
“The little boy who was captured with his little bunny hat, he was captured and he was sent to prison,” Jesús noted. “And that's just crazy, because how are you going to let a little kid inside a prison?”
The federal immigration activity in the San Fernando Valley has also left him feeling nervous, even when he is on campus. “I'm trying to study and then I just get reminded: maybe there's somebody waiting outside to take us.”
Sixth grader Sophia’ said she walked out for her grandmother who’s from Mexico. "I wanna represent our people and show that we aren't bad," Sophia said. "We are actually, like, a great community."
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Mariana Dale
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LAist
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As the students chanted and waved their signs, adults passed out snacks, water and pizza purchased with money donated from the community.
“They're here with clear intentions and they're here for a purpose,” said Michelle, the parent of another young protestor who requested LAist only use her first name. “I’m just proud of them.”
Families who need assistance regarding immigration, health, wellness, or housing can call LAUSD's Family Hotline: (213) 443-1300
M, the organizer, said she wouldn’t have used that term to describe herself before the protest.
“Now that I'm looking at myself, I do see myself as a helper,” M said. She plans to continue helping her community, for example by distributing food and clothes to unhoused neighbors.
And she has some advice for any aspiring student organizers.
“ I was a shy kid, so I want them to be brave and speak up,” M said.
She said she planned to finish up the day at school after she ate.
Gab Chabrán
covers what's happening in food and culture for LAist.
Published February 6, 2026 3:43 PM
The iconic King Taco sign at the original Cypress Park location, which opened in 1974 and is now being considered for historic-cultural monument designation.
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Suzanne Levy
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LAist
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Topline:
Topline: The original King Taco location in Cypress Park is being considered for historic-cultural monument status by the Cultural Heritage Commission, which would recognize its role in transforming Los Angeles' taco landscape and supporting Latino immigrant entrepreneurship.
Why it matters: King Taco helped establish the template for the modern L.A. taqueria — shifting the city's understanding of tacos from the hard-shell, Americanized version to soft tortillas filled with carne asada, carnitas and tacos al pastor. As the late food critic Jonathan Gold noted, King Taco "solidified what we all think of as the modern Los Angeles taco sensibility."
The backstory: Founder Raul Martinez launched King Taco from a converted ice cream truck in 1974, eventually opening the Cypress Park brick-and-mortar location that became the chain's flagship. The business grew to 24 locations across Southern California, becoming a model for immigrant entrepreneurship and establishing key Mexican dishes like tacos al pastor and carnitas as L.A. staples.
What's next: The Cultural Heritage Commission will determine whether King Taco's original location retains sufficient historic integrity and continues to convey its cultural significance. If approved, King Taco would become one of the few designated restaurant landmarks recognizing Latino culinary contributions.
Topline:
Topline: The original King Taco location in Cypress Park is being considered for historic-cultural monument status by the Cultural Heritage Commission, which would recognize its role in transforming Los Angeles' taco landscape and supporting Latino immigrant entrepreneurship.
Why it matters: King Taco helped establish the template for the modern L.A. taqueria — shifting the city's understanding of tacos from the hard-shell, Americanized version to soft tortillas filled with carne asada, carnitas and tacos al pastor. As the late food critic Jonathan Gold noted, King Taco "solidified what we all think of as the modern Los Angeles taco sensibility."
Why now: The nomination comes as part of the city's ongoing effort to recognize Latino cultural landmarks.
The backstory: Founder Raul Martinez launched King Taco from a converted ice cream truck in 1974, eventually opening the Cypress Park brick-and-mortar location that became the chain's flagship. The business grew to 24 locations across Southern California, becoming a model for immigrant entrepreneurship and establishing key Mexican dishes like tacos al pastor and carnitas as L.A. staples.
What's next: The Cultural Heritage Commission will determine whether King Taco's original location retains sufficient historic integrity and continues to convey its cultural significance. If approved, King Taco would become one of the few designated restaurant landmarks recognizing Latino culinary contributions.
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Matt Dangelantonio
directs production of LAist's daily newscasts, shaping the radio stories that connect you to SoCal.
Published February 6, 2026 3:36 PM
Yasiel Puig looks on from the dugout during the 2018 World Series. He was found guilty Friday of lying to federal prosecutors about bets he placed on sporting events through an illegal bookmaking operation.
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Harry How
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Getty Images
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Topline:
Former Dodger Yasiel Puig was found guilty today of lying to federal investigators about betting on sports through an illegal bookmaking operation.
The backstory: Puig was convicted on one count of obstruction of justice and one count of making false statements. The charges stem from a January 2022 interview he did with federal investigators who were looking into an illegal gambling operation. Federal prosecutors say during the interview, Puig lied about knowing a bookie named Donny Kadokawa, whom Puig texted sports bets to place with the illegal operation. When showed a copy of a cashier's check he used to pay off some of his gambling debt, prosecutors say Puig doubled down and said he didn't know the person who told him to send the money.
How it started: Federal prosecutors said that in May 2019, Puig began placing bets through Kadokawa, who worked for an illegal gambling operation out of Newport Coast. By June, they say he'd racked up nearly $283,000 in gambling debts. That same month, Puig withdrew $200,000 and bought another $200,000 in cashiers checks to pay off his debt so he could get access to gambling websites run by the illegal operation and place his bets himself. Prosecutors say Puig placed 899 bets between July and September of 2019, some of them at MLB ballparks before and after games in which he played. In the process, Puig ran up more debt, this time to the tune of $1 million dollars. He never paid it off.
What's next: Puig faces up to 20 years in prison if given the maximum sentence.
President Donald Trump's harsh immigration tactics are taking a political hit as new polls show a majority of Americans feel federal agents have "gone too far" in enforcing immigration laws. And it's not just Democrats who are concerned, but also independent voters who are expected to play a major role in the upcoming midterm elections.
Why it matters: After months of aggressive enforcement, Trump's signature issue that twice got him elected is now turning into a liability ahead of this year's midterm elections.
The context: The outcry over what many saw as militant tactics hit a fever pitch after the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by immigration officers in Minnesota.
What the numbers say: A new NPR/Marist poll shows that six in 10 Americans disapprove of the job federal immigration agents are doing. Even typically loyal Republican supporters have called on the Trump administration to make changes and rebuild trust with law enforcement.
It's not just Democrats who are concerned, but also independent voters who are expected to play a major role in the upcoming midterm elections.
"The base loves it, but it's an issue for the independent voters who decide elections in this country," said Alex Conant, a veteran Republican strategist. "Independents want a strong border and they want to deport criminals, but they're really uneasy with having masked federal agents going around in neighborhoods, deporting anyone that they see — as the Democrats are portraying it."
After months of aggressive enforcement, Trump's signature issue that twice got him elected is now turning into a liability ahead of this year's midterm elections.
The outcry over what many saw as militant tactics hit a fever pitch after the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by immigration officers in Minnesota.
A new NPR/Marist poll shows that six in 10 Americans disapprove of the job federal immigration agents are doing.
Even typically loyal Republican supporters have called on the Trump administration to make changes and rebuild trust with law enforcement.
"They, being the White House, need to recalibrate on what needs to be done to make sure that that respect is going to be re-instilled," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told conservative radio host Mark Davis.
Trump shook up the leadership of the Minneapolis operation, and directed his team to withdraw 700 federal officers.
"I learned that, maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch," Trump said in an interview with NBC's Tom Llamas. "But you still have to be tough. We're dealing with really hard criminals."
It's a bit unclear what a "softer touch" actually means.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt largely defended the administration's enforcement efforts Thursday and pointed to different polling — from a Harvard/Harris survey — that she said showed support for their "deportation agenda."
"Nearly eight in 10 Americans say criminal illegal aliens should be deported," she said. "A solid majority also support deporting all illegal aliens, regardless of additional crimes."
She also said the administration is now prioritizing criminals who are in the country illegally.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, who worked on immigration policy under two presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said there may be an "operational pause" as the administration retools its efforts, both from a policy standpoint and a public relations standpoint.
"Operationally, you're not really thinking about politics as you're putting together an operation, said Brown, now a member of the Council on National Security and Immigration. "But politics comes into everything, right?"
She points to the announcement that body cameras would be deployed to federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, noting that while video can uncover when officers are doing something wrong, body cameras can also vindicate officers when they have done the right thing.
"I do think that probably the administration is thinking, 'Well, if we had body cam footage of our own, we could put our own perspective on it,' " she said.
Trump has a big incentive to get a handle on this crisis — and to do so quickly.
Conant, who previously worked on Marco Rubio's 2016 presidential campaign, said Trump has left an opening for Democrats to sound more reasonable on immigration ahead of the midterms.
"If he loses the immigration issue as a political winner, it's a real political problem," Conant said, "not just for Trump, but Republicans more broadly."
