The Brief

The experience starts outside, with diners queued up behind the velvet rope as if they're headed into an exclusive movie premiere or a buzzy nightclub.

Instead, people like Justin Bernal are waiting to enter Netflix Bites, the streaming service's pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles' Mid-City neighborhood.

Bernal booked a table two months in advance for a date night with his wife, to see some of their favorite Netflix shows come to life. "We watch Iron Chef, a lot of these other shows, Nailed It — great shows," he said.

That's the idea behind Netflix Bites, to give fans a "screen-to-table" experience where they can try dishes and drinks crafted by chefs and mixologists featured on unscripted Netflix culinary shows.

But sometimes, it's reality that bites.

The splashy marketing expenditure behind Netflix Bites coincides with Hollywood's biggest labor fight in decades, and the timing and opulence of the promotional campaign couldn't be more surreal.

This month, after contract negotiations between the actors' union and major studios including Netflix collapsed, actors joined writers on strike, forcing a pause on production of most scripted films and TV series. That reality provides a jarring contrast to the escapism of the Netflix Bites experience.

It's not the company's first marketing event adapted from its streaming content. There's an annual Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival in Los Angeles and, previously, Stranger Things-themed pop-up stores in a handful of major U.S. cities.

The interior of the Netflix Bites pop-up restaurant, at Short Stories hotel in Los Angeles, is a riot of color and Netflix branding.

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But the thought of dining at a Netflix event while many of the company's own employees are fighting for better pay and protections has left fans like Bernal conflicted.

"I support the actors, I have a lot of friends that are in the unions, especially in SAG-AFTRA, and seeing what they're going through sucks," he said.

At the same time, he had already paid a $50 deposit for the reservation that he didn't think he could get back. That was before SAG-AFTRA, a union representing about 160,000 TV and film actors, joined the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike since May.

"I feel terrible," he said. "It's just having money invested in something, when money is tight for me already — it's hard to make those choices."

Inside the flashy Netflix Bites bubble

Once inside, the immersiveness of the experience might make the contentious backdrop easy to forget for some. The temporary restaurant exists in its own bubble — outside of protests, password crackdowns and negative publicity.

The event space, which occupies the bar and courtyard of a hotel, looks like a theatrical set: Floor lamps flank dining booths; there's a barbeque pit and pizza oven; Netflix-branded pillows, walls and plates make for instant photo-ops.

The dinner menu includes dishes from a who's who of the celebrity chef firmament: Andrew Zimmern's grandmother's meatloaf, Ming Tsai's truffle and mushroom-stuffed "MingBings," and Rodney Scott's pulled whole hog.

American chef Andrew Zimmern's grandmother's meatloaf sits atop mashed potatoes and gravy.

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On a recent visit, the restaurant's wait staff exuded the poise of actors (and in some cases, actually are — don't be surprised if you recognize a face or two); they were hired through Australian celebrity chef Curtis Stone's events company, which is running the operation.

As a diner, it's easy to feel like you are the star of this quasi-reality production, like food judges on a competitive cooking show.

That excitement ended for some once the food arrived. Ivan Kim had been looking forward to trying dishes from Michelin-starred French chef Dominique Crenn after seeing her on Chef's Table.

"Atmosphere is good, pretty fast service," he said. "But the quality is not good because the chef is not there."

Lady Zaza pizza from Minneapolis-based pizza maker Ann Kim features kimchi, pork and scallions.

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Of the dishes he tried, Kim gave his highest rating to the kimchi-topped Lady Zaza pizza from Ann Kim. For dessert, Nadiya Hussain's light and layered honey cake was a hit, according to online reviewers on Yelp.

Since the restaurant launched at the end of June, many of the chefs featured on the menu have stopped in to tweak their recipes and greet fans. But Ann Klein, a general manager with Curtis Stone Events, says, "We're not trying to be a three-star Michelin restaurant."

"That's not what this is," she said. "You're doing a pop-up. It's a casual summer residence."

Netflix Bites may be casual, but it isn't cheap. With appetizers priced as high as $65 (Curtis Stone's crab legs in curry), there's a distinct feeling of exclusivity. As you dig into the almost-too-rich "Millionaire's Shortbread," you might wonder whether Netflix executives will see any profits from this culinary production.

Dungeness crab legs in curry, a dish crafted by Michelin-starred Australian chef Curtis Stone, was featured on <em>Iron Chef.</em>

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Let them eat cake, while actors and writers seek better pay

The extravagant salaries paid to streaming service CEOs have been a central point of contention in the strikes, in which actors and writers are demanding better wages, increased residual payments and protections from the use of artificial intelligence.

A Netflix spokesperson told NPR that this pop-up, as with the others, is a marketing initiative that's not intended to turn a profit.

Netflix spent about 8% of its roughly $32 billion revenue on marketing events in 2022, a slight decrease in its marketing expenses from the previous year, according to data from Statista. That's a relatively small sum compared to traditional major studios.

British chef Nadiya Hussain's honey cake with salted hazelnuts rates highly with diners.

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Striking writers have been able to pierce the restaurant's bubble, if only temporarily. On Netflix Bites' opening night, striking WGA members picketed in front with a pop-up of their own, within feet of diners lined up to go in.

"Instead of negotiating with us, Netflix decided to open an overpriced restaurant," wrote Adam Conover, a comedy writer and TV host who helped organize the picket line at Netflix Bites, which is just a block away from the WGA building.

Actor Adam Lustick played a fictitious BBQ chef of "CEO Fridays," serving "exclusively billionaires and media CEOs," he quipped during the improvised parody. Picketers returned again in July to pass out leaflets.

The bill arrives in a red-and-white envelope — soon to be a relic of the days when Netflix customers rented movies delivered by mail. The streaming giant is ending its once-revolutionary DVD-by-mail service in September.

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Netflix and its temporary restaurant, meanwhile, aren't ruffled. Asked about the criticism it's received about the timing of the pop-up during the strikes, Netflix declined to comment. Klein, the restaurant manager, says the strike has not affected staff turnover.

After months of weathering inflation and a subscriber slump, Netflix reported steady growth in its most recent quarterly earnings. The pop-up, which runs into fall with no official end date, currently shows only a handful of open tables for the next 30 days. More reservations will open up on a rolling basis.

"We've been sold out, and have a waitlist anywhere from 300 to 500 every day," Klein said.

The city of Long Beach has proposed cutting library hours and laying off librarians to help balance its budget. In response, educators, the local library foundation and union leaders are pushing back, saying the city can’t afford to lose a vital service for kids and families.

Under the budget proposal, five of the city’s 12 libraries — Bay Shore, Burnett, El Dorado, Harte and Michelle Obama — would drop from six days of service back to five, losing their Monday hours just a few years after those hours were added. (The city’s other libraries were already closed on Mondays, and all are closed Sundays.)

On an average Monday, those branches see a total of more than 1,000 visitors, according to city data.

“In a city the size of Long Beach, and with our population, we could be seeing a 2027 where there are no libraries open on Monday. I think that’s pretty crazy,” said Kristen Hernandez with the Long Beach Public Library Foundation. The nonprofit, which raises money for the local library system, is gathering signatures on a petition protesting the cuts. As of Friday, it had more than 1,800 signatures.

Changes to the city library system are a sliver of the cuts unveiled last week by Long Beach City Manager Tom Modica as part of a citywide winnowing in programs and services to close next year’s expected $58 million deficit.

Beyond cuts to programs and facility hours, Modica proposed laying off more than 260 city workers and cutting more than 200 additional vacant positions — about 4% of the city’s roughly 6,000-person workforce.

The proposed library cuts

Local libraries would lose 14 positions, 11 of them currently filled, including five library clerks, four library assistants, a vacant general librarian position at the Billie Jean King Main Library, and a mental health associate who serves as the library’s teen specialist. The plan also cuts funding for library pages who stock books and funding for security services, as well as nearly all print and digital newspaper subscriptions.

The combined cuts would save the department a little more than $1.4 million.

Elizabeth Cespuglio, a librarian at Billie Jean King Library, said that the library assistants at risk of being cut are responsible for planning and running workshops and programs at the branches, pulling materials, tracking which books and genres are most in demand and staffing the information desk. Clerks handle check-outs, check-ins and library cards, while pages keep the shelves organized.

Perhaps most at risk, Cespuglio said, is the library’s mental health associate, Jasmin Flores, who spends her days building rapport with teens in need. Losing that specialist, she said, leaves her “quite fearful” for the patrons and staff alike, since the library’s other social worker focuses on unhoused adults and doesn’t have the time and energy to build the same relationships with youth.

Each day, Flores is the calming face for more than a dozen kids. Many of them are in and out of homelessness; some have been in juvenile detention. Others are LGBTQIA and struggle to find friends; others struggle to find food. She’s already told some that she may not be showing up anymore. It’s a difficult conversation, she said, having to console others for the loss of her job.

“It honestly breaks my heart that I probably will not be in that position anymore,” she said.

Flores’ main worry is that some of them will stop showing up. “We’ve built that rapport, and it hasn’t been easy to build,” she said. “It’s taken a while to get there, and I just hate to see all that go to waste.”

Librarians say they’re already stretched thin

The real problem, Cespuglio said, is that libraries are losing funding even as they’re increasingly in demand — more than 2,800 patrons visit daily across Long Beach’s 12 branches, an 8% rise since last year. The number of programs offered has increased by 50% in the past year, with more than 1,000 adult participants.

Annually, city libraries have continually climbed in foot traffic since the onset of the pandemic, though averages are still lower than in 2018 and 2019.

Branches have been understaffed for more than a decade, Cespuglio said, at least since the last time the city announced library layoffs in 2012.

“There’s still an expectation on the system for us to be doing all of these things and continue the same level of service as we’ve done,” she said. “Cutting those hours, or those Mondays, not only does it impact the public’s access to the library all over the city, but it has these other ramifications in the rest of the five days that the rest of us are working.”

The looming cuts have created an “undercurrent of anxiety” among staff who still don’t know which of them may lose their jobs, according to Cespuglio. Her own position is not at risk, but her partner’s is, and she said the possibility of losing half her household income is real. She said that rent in Long Beach has outpaced her pay raises for the 12 years she’s lived and worked in the city.

The bigger budget picture

The library cuts are part of a far larger fiscal reckoning for Long Beach.

The proposed layoffs stretch across more than a dozen departments and offices, hitting fire, police, homeless services, parks and libraries alike, as the city grapples with rising personnel costs, mounting legal payouts, the loss of federal grants and a local economic slowdown that has weighed on tax revenue.

City officials have said the strategy of previous years — pulling from cash reserves to delay layoffs — is no longer sustainable; the city drained tens of millions of dollars from its reserves, including its emergency fund, just to close out the current fiscal year.

Sashi Muralidharan, a labor representative with the city’s largest union, IAM Local 1930, said they will “fight for every job,” even as labor negotiations — which coincide with the budget talks — are looking grim.

Eighty percent of the positions proposed to be cut are represented by IAM, including 209 filled positions.

“Anything that does result in a layoff, we will be bargaining over those impacts to make sure that we lessen the negative impacts,” Muralidharan said.

At a Long Beach City Council meeting this week, nurses, union shop stewards, library staff and other city workers turned out to protest the cuts, arguing they would bring greater ramifications to the public’s quality of life and further enervate its remaining staff, pushing them to look for work elsewhere.

Nate Kim, a city nurse and negotiator with IAM Local 1930, told the council that while his own position had been renewed, many of his colleagues had not been so fortunate. “Many have been laid off already,” he added. Emily Quest, a resident who uses the library’s free craftspace, begged council members through tears not to cut the hours or the staff who run it.

Mayor Rex Richardson has proposed restoring 70 of the positions slated for elimination and said the city remains on track for its first structural budget surplus by 2028, even as another deficit, projected at $27.3 million, looms for the following year.

The City Council is expected to hold public hearings on the budget through the summer before a final vote in late September. You can find a schedule of hearings to attend here or fill out an online survey to share your priorities with the City Council, which must debate and pass the budget by Oct. 1.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

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.

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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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.

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.”

This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:

• CalFire incident page
• City of Burbank
  

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.

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Fire resources and tips

Check out LAist's wildfire recovery guide

If you have to evacuate:

• Why fire officials don't want you to stay and defend your home
• How to get packed up
• How to leave your house
• What evacuation terms mean and how to sign up for alerts

Navigating fire conditions:

• How to drive in high winds and fire danger
• How to prep for power outages
• How to navigate poor air quality

How to help yourself and others:

• Resources for fire victims, evacuees and first responders
• If you want to help fire victims, resist the urge to volunteer
• How to help find lost pets

How to start the recovery process:

• What to do — and not do — when you get home after a wildfire
• How to make an insurance claim
• How to safely clean up wildfire ash

What to do for your kids:

• How to talk to children about wildfires and losing a home
• What parents should know about wildfire air quality

Prepare for the next disaster:

• Fire season is here. Make sure you're signed up for these alerts
• Every day is now fire season. Let's get you ready for the next wildfire
• Yes, wildfires are getting worse. The history that got us to this moment