The Brief

When the 2023 Hollywood strikes finally came to an end, many in the industry figured work would quickly restart. Some even organized their schedules around it.

“We took a trip to Japan for my birthday, expecting Hollywood to be back in full swing by the time we returned," said production designer and art director Federico Laboreau, who's married to fellow production designer Maximilian Pizzi.

But in the weeks after they came home, they realized things were not going back to normal.

“Before the strikes, I was juggling up to seven projects a week and earning great money,” Laboreau said. “But after the strikes, my income dropped to just 10% of what it used to be.”

The couple had started out in Buenos Aires and Mexico City, where they'd 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 established careers in TV and commercials, working for clients like Disney and T-Mobile.

But as work post-strikes became scarce, Laboreau and Pizzi realized something had to change. They asked themselves: "What do we do to get our economy going again?"

The answer they came up with was the much-loved dish of their home country of Argentina: empanadas.

A mixed selection of Fuego's empanadas

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Courtesy Fuegos

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Inside Fuegos

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Carlin Stiehl

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LAist

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The couple, who both grew up in Buenos Aires, had strong childhood memories of making food with their families.

“Like many Argentines, our families are originally from Italy and France, so we grew up cooking and kneading pasta with our grandmothers. We would try everything they would make and make different dishes ourselves,” Laboreau said.

So, using the time they now had from the Hollywood slow down, they started making empanadas at home in L.A. And from there, all their Argentine friends started buying from them.

They soon realized that making excellent Argentinian food had the potential to be a business, which morphed into a restaurant concept, Fuegos. It's now open in South L.A.

“I don’t like to dwell in the crisis I’m experiencing and ask, ‘Why me?’" said Laboreau. “I like to see it as an opportunity, and that’s how Fuegos came together. In less than two and a half months we found this location and we were up and running.”

The eatery offers eight different kinds of oven-baked empanadas, as well as other Argentinian dishes, like choripan — a chorizo sausage served in a baguette with chimichurri and salsa criolla — and a lomito sandwich, a thin, grilled steak served on a soft piece of bread with arugula, roasted peppers, provolone cheese, caramelized onions, egg, mustard and mayonnaise.

They also offer milanesa sandwiches (with a vegan option), another staple of Argentine cooking: thin slices of chicken or beef that are breaded and fried until they’re crispy, similar to a schnitzel.

Laboreau believes that what differentiates them from other Argentinian restaurants in L.A. is their attention to detail, the quality of their ingredients and their service.

The beef milanesa sandwich at Fuegos.

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Carlin Stiehl

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LAist

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The coffee menu at Fuegos

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Carlin Stiehl

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LAist

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“We’re making milanesas with high-quality beef and we make sure to really pound out any tendons the meat might have. Our bread is ciabatta, and we make sure it isn’t spongey. They’re all very simple ingredients, but we make sure they’re high quality,” he said.

I was eager to visit, as an Argentine myself, who frequently travels back to Buenos Aires. I have to say that their flavors really reminded me of home.

The rich, savory filling of the empanadas had a smoky warmth, and the Argentine style burger was simple and delicious, topped with just the right amount of chimichurri, provolone cheese, salsa criolla and salsa golf, a mixture of mayonnaise and ketchup.

What also stood out to me was the nostalgic ambiance of the place. It reminded me of a traditional bodegón, an Argentinian restaurant known for its homestyle cooking and generous portions.

“The European immigrants who arrived in Buenos Aires would gather around and eat at bodegones, so we really wanted to capture that essence,” Laboreau said. “That deconstructed, rustic, industrial look. We didn’t want that really perfect look some restaurants have where you’re worried about dropping and breaking something.

“We’re also not kicking you out after 40 minutes so that we can have the table available. We want you to linger around, hacer sobremesa, engage in conversation, and relax.”

The Argentinian style burger at Fuegos.

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Carlin Stiehl

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LAist

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Wine bottles line the back of the bar

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Carlin Stiehl

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LAist

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While they still remain active as production designers — recent work includes the Hallmark Channel and a Toyota commercial — they also have plans for their eatery.

“We want to expand the Fuegos concept in this strip mall to include Peruvian and Colombian food, so we want to put an offer in to buy the entire strip mall,” Laboreau said.

“We’re also working on developing our desserts," he added. "We’re working on dulce de leche and banana with brownie ice cream recipes with our moms. We also are talking to folks to see how we can get our frozen empanadas in supermarkets."

The beef empanada at Fuegos.

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Carlin Stiehl

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LAist

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Fuegos, located inside of a strip mall in South L.A.

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Carlin Stiehl

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LAist

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Ultimately, Laboreau adds that he believes it’s important for anyone in Hollywood and beyond going through a transition like his to trust their instincts.

“My advice is perhaps very spiritual because I am a very spiritual person, but I think it’s fundamental to believe in yourself, trust in yourself, and be aligned with yourself to be able to make that transition in the most beautiful way and with the most love possible,” he said. “Every crisis always brings a lot of emotional imbalance and stress, but if we stay connected to ourselves, we'll be true to what we feel and do what we believe in.”

Learn more

Co-owner Laboureau recently joined LAist 89.3's public affairs show AirTalk to discuss the transition from film production to food production.

Take accountability and move forward.

Those were the two points Los Angeles Fire Chief Jaime Moore hit repeatedly when speaking with LAist’s Larry Mantle this week.

On taking accountability, Moore said hazardous conditions and decisions made before the Palisades Fire erupted a year ago meant “our firefighters never had a chance” to arrest the fire that killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of structures.

On moving forward, he emphasized that reform is already in the works.

“Things have changed since the Palisades Fire, and we're going to continue making big changes in the Los Angeles Fire Department,” said Moore, who was selected for the LAFD top job by Mayor Karen Bass in November.

Here are three takeaways from the interview, which aired on AirTalk on Tuesday.

1. Staffing decisions hampered fire response

The LAFD uses a so-called pre-deployment matrix to set firefighter staffing levels ahead of high-risk weather.

According to the department’s after-action report, however, staffing levels on the day the Palisades Fire began fell short of the LAFD standard for extreme weather conditions. The National Weather Service had warned of low humidity, high winds and dry vegetation, what it calls a “particularly dangerous situation.” It’s the highest level of alert the agency can give.

Despite the high risk, the LAFD report said the decision not to deploy more firefighters in advance was in part made to save money.

Moore said Monday that the department has updated its policies to increase staffing for especially hazardous conditions, but he said he doesn’t believe additional resources would have stopped a fire of the magnitude that leveled the Palisades.

To suppress that kind of fire, he said, the department would need to pre-deploy resources across the city’s vast geography — to places like Baldwin Hills, Franklin Canyon, the Hollywood Hills, the Palisades, Porter Ranch and Sunland-Tujunga.

Moore said the department has already made new policies to call for more resources when the Weather Service issues a “particularly dangerous situation” alert.

2. LAFD is mostly an urban firefighting department

Moore referenced a key finding of the after-action report regarding a lack of training in wildland firefighting, which contributed to confusion and struggles to effectively utilize resources during the fire.

Wildland fires pose a number of challenges that are different from what firefighters face in urban environments. Those include the need to coordinate a large number of resources over vast areas, all while dealing with fast-moving flames that can rapidly tear through dry plants and structures.

The department found in its report that fewer firefighters were trained in fighting these wildland fires in recent years and that “leaders struggled to comprehend their roles.”

Some leaders in the department had “limited or no experience in managing an incident of such complexity,” the report said. And some reverted to doing the work of lower positions, leaving high-level decision-making positions unfilled.

“What we're doing now is really furthering that training and reinforcing that education with our firefighters so that they could be better prepared,” Moore said on AirTalk.

3. Changes to the after-action report

Early versions of the after-action report differed from the version released to the public in October, a fact that was first reported by the Los Angeles Times. The Times also reported that Battalion Chief Kenneth Cook, who wrote the report, wouldn’t endorse the final version because of the changes.

Moore acknowledged to the L.A. Board of Fire Commissioners at a Jan. 6 meeting that the report had been watered down.

“It is now clear that multiple drafts were edited to soften language and reduce explicit criticism of department leadership in that final report,” Moore told the commissioners. “This editing occurred prior to my appointment as fire chief, and I can assure you that nothing of this sort will ever again happen while I am fire chief."

Some changes were small but telling. A section titled “Failures” later became “Primary Challenges.”

Moore told LAist that changes between versions “ made it easier for the public to understand,” but an LAist review found the edits weren’t all surface-level.

In the first version of the report, the department said the decision not to fully pre-deploy all available resources for the particularly dangerous wind event “did not align” with their guidelines for such extreme weather cases. The final version said that the initial response “lacked the appropriate resources,” removing the reference to department standards.

The department also removed some findings that had to do with communications.

One sentence from the initial version of the report said: “Most companies lacked a basic briefing, leader’s intent, communications plan, or updated fire information for more than 36 hours.” That language was removed from the final report.

LAist has asked the Fire Department for clarification about why these assertions were removed but did not receive a response before time of publication.

Olympic organizers announced Tuesday that registration to buy tickets will run through March 18, with sales beginning in April. LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said that locals will get the first bite at the apple.

The registration period opens 7 a.m. Wednesday.

" Our host city communities here in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City will have the opportunity to be a part of a local presale," Hoover said outside the Coliseum while surrounded by Olympic athletes from Games past. "With our thanks and as part of our commitment to making sure that those who live and work around the games, where the games will take place, can be in the stands and cheer in 2028."

Olympic organizers also provided more details on ticket prices for the first time. One million tickets will sell for $28 a pop and around a third of tickets will be under $100, according to LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman.

That means the majority of tickets to the Olympic Games will run into triple digits. If the World Cup is any indication, some tickets could get astronomically pricey.

Interested fans can go to LA28.org to register. Those who are selected will get an email with a time slot to purchase tickets.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors took a step toward banning ICE from unlawfully operating on county-owned property and to post signage designating those spaces as “ICE Free Zones.”

The board unanimously approved the motion at Tuesday’s meeting, directing staff to draft the policy.

The draft could include requirements for county employees to report to their supervisor if they see unauthorized immigration activity on county property.

The city of Los Angeles passed a similar order last July, which strengthened protocols that prohibit ICE from operating on city-owned property. The agenda staff report points to an “ICE Free Zone” ordinance passed by the city of Chicago in October.

Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Hilda Solis co-authored the motion.

Horvath said the county will not allow its property to be used as “a staging ground for violence caused by the Trump administration."

Solis added that their action as a board could have a ripple effect on other city councils and local governments.

“Even though it's taken us this long to get here …I think it's really important for our communities to understand what we're saying is you don't have the right to come in and harass people without a federal warrant,” Solis said. “And if you use our property to stage, then you need to show us documentation as to why.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in an X post that the county cannot exclude federal agents from public spaces.

"Anyone who attempts to impede our agents will be arrested and charged, including county employees," Essayli said in the post. "We have already charged more than 100 individuals for similar conduct."

Since June, ICE raids have ramped up across the nation, heavily targeting certain immigrant communities like those in Los Angeles.

The motion directs the draft to include language that prohibits all types of ICE operations on county land, including staging and mobilizing without a warrant.

The motion cites an incident on Oct. 8, when county officials say federal agents raided the Deane Dana Friendship Park and Nature Center in San Pedro, arresting three people and threatening to arrest staff.

The motion also requires that the county post 'Ice Free Zone' signage on all of its properties.

Sergio Perez, executive director of the Center of Human Rights and Constitutional Law, told LAist the policy is enforceable under Fourth Amendment case law.

“You have to make sure that when you post that signage … that means that you routinely, or semi-routinely, assess who's coming in to the property, so that you can control access,” Perez said. “But if ICE shows up with a warrant, with a subpoena, then all bets are off, and they can enter into the property and do what they need to do.”

Perez said the county has moved “incredibly” slow on this issue.

“It's embarrassing that the county is moving six months later, given how we've been facing violent, aggressive, invasive and illegal raids now for so long here in Southern California,” Perez said, adding that local governments have not been fast or creative enough in protecting immigrant and refugee communities.

The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, one of the region’s largest immigrant advocacy groups, supports the motion.

"We do not want our county resources being used for federal immigration enforcement activities, which disrupt, uproot, and terrorize our communities,” Jeannette Zanipatin, policy director for CHIRLA, said in a statement. “It is important for all public spaces to be really safe for all residents.”

County staff have 30 days to draft a plan to implement the new policy.