Topline:
How a colorful family-run vegan joint in the San Fernando Valley has built a community of loyal fans and delivered delectable plant-based Vietnamese flavors for the past 21 years.
Why it matters: Going vegan is in vogue. It’s worth exploring the innovators of plant-based dining ubiquitous in our city.
What's next: What is co-founder Kevin Tran going to pick for you next time?
As the first wave of storms from a major atmospheric river rolled into sunny Southern California in early February, Kevin Tran knew he'd be staying late the following evening after heavy winds and rainfall were expected to hit his Reseda restaurant.
The Sherman Way strip-mall location was likely to be safe from flooding — it's just that Kevin knows he has to stay about 90 minutes later than usual when it rains because for his customers, it's gonna be a soup day.
His wife and business partner Lynne tells me it takes 18 hours for the spices to come together to make their pho and lemongrass broths.
Rainy days means that they almost nearly sell out. So they have to start the overnight process again to up their reserves for the following days.
Kevin is keenly aware of his customers’ needs and ordering habits.
“Nobody wants salad on a rainy day, and nobody is eating soup on a very hot day — except for one customer." Kevin pauses for a moment.
"Victor. He's been coming to Vinh Loi for 18 years, only eats soup, even in the scorching 110-degree weather."
Vinh Loi is a star of the vegan scene in L.A. When Kevin and Lynne opened their business in 2002, they exclusively made tofu in the space, but since have branched out to offer everything from banh mi sandwiches to duck noodle salads and a curry udon stir fry. Kevin calls his cuisine "strictly Vietnamese food, but my style.”
Vinh Loi is a casual cafe. No reservations necessary. The orange and green walls display large photos of the menu items. News clippings, accolades, and recognitions from the City of Los Angeles and the California State Senate are hanging on the walls. You sit down wherever you choose, but your order is at the discretion of the chef.
The night that I come in, Kevin is wearing a t-shirt that says "I pick, you eat."
He asks me: "Brother have you eaten? — are you hungry?"
“Sure.”
“How spicy?"
“Medium.”
“How hungry?”
“Medium.”
He looks me up and down and says, "OK, I'll pick the food."
There are more than 300 items on the menu. But the food changes — every two weeks there’s something new and different.
Kevin walks into the kitchen and brings out the meal he has picked for me — mock crispy duck on top of rice and noodles with vegetables. The duck is made from wheat gluten, seitan. It’s delicious.
Kevin and Lynne’s tofu-making journey began after Kevin's grandma passed away. Their family observed a traditional 49-day Vietnamese Buddhist grieving process, which includes abstaining from meat.
During this time they were driving all over L.A. and Orange County, trying tofu from many different places. "We were tasting tofu everywhere." Lynne says. Some hits and misses, but they realized their best tofu was made in the traditional way.
Kevin said to his wife, “I love tofu, honey, — maybe we should open a factory?”
At the time Kevin had been selling high-end furniture in the South Bay and Lynne was working in the film industry. Kevin says he sold furniture “to pay student loans, but food is my passion.”
Lynne says it wasn't easy. “We make tofu in the traditional old-school way. The tofu making process is very tedious and time consuming.”
It starts with soaking the soy beans overnight, then coming back the following morning at 5 a.m. and brining it. Once ready, it has to be cooked, and then water is added back to it. “Then add whatever seasonings like their tofu block — with lemon grass. We sold it with different flavors like: plain tofu, tofu lemongrass, tofu with mushroom."
Reseda is home to a vibrant Vietnamese community, with markets, restaurants, bakeries, restaurants, doctors, accountant, notary publics, and a Buddhist temple. So it made sense to Kevin and Lynne to open Vinh Loi Tofu there.
They had been making tofu for a year and a half when one day a customer came in and asked Kevin what he was eating.
It looked good. It was his vegan version of Bun Bo Hue, a traditional Vietnamese spicy beef soup.
After that people began to ask to taste other things on the menu. "What do you mean menu? I serve tofu,” says Kevin. “Slowly one thing after another and the menu becomes massive. I love to create. I love to cook. I love to eat. I wanted to do something for my customers.”
Kevin points to a 2009 L.A. Times article and photo gallery, which used to be on the wall but it's now ostensibly out of sight on top of a fridge.
“People started coming here since the article.” A year later, the Discovery Channel came through and “basically gave me a year of free advertising.” Since then Kevin says “it's been up and up.”
"We've been very fortunate,” Lynne says, “for the majority of our customers it's their lifestyle. It's not a trend or a fad.”
Lynne describes a multigenerational clientele. “There's beauty in a restaurant. We get to know families by name. Lot of them come in once as a date, and then later as a couple, and then later with their children.
“There are a lot of people in the vegan community, but nowadays even meat-eaters want to taste,” says Kevin. “In people's minds a block of tofu has no taste. But the minute they taste this food, they realize they can be vegan every day.”
Lynne says “we’re a strong believer in morals and values. I'm always sourcing the freshest produce. Putting our name on a product, and making sure you deliver. Focus on quality over quantity."
Kevin says "my job is to make sure that the food tastes real and healthy. You have to put your heart and soul, 110% into a restaurant."
Though Lynne says that Kevin can also be the “vegan version of Gordon Ramsay — a real pain in the ass.”
Kevin admits it. “Trust me I own my restaurant, I'm picky. I love food so much. It can't be a 9, it needs to be a 10.” If the cook’s palette is off, it’ll be wrong for the customer.
His zeal for perfection has led Kevin to other activities like triathlons. He says “cooking is my hobby — running is for when I need a change.”
He competes as the Tofu Robot, a name given to him by a customer because he does things that “only robots can do. Humans can't do it."
Kevin says he got into these massive multi-day 100-mile races because "I hung out with too many vegans, all badasses, looking good. I kinda wanted to understand my customers.”
He says he runs because "I need to know what is in people's minds. They're crazy. I have to learn from what they did. See how vegan food works on the body in those conditions."
At the end of the day Kevin says he never wants to do business with meat.
“I feel like whatever I do. I am happy. Animal is happy. People are happy because they had healthy food to eat. And making people happy makes me happy at the same time. You have nothing to lose. Everybody win/win.”
Topline:
A federal grand jury Tuesday returned a six-count indictment against four members of a group described as “far-left, anti-capitalist and anti-government” that allegedly plotted to set off bombs in Southern California on New Year’s Eve.
The details: According to the indictment, the defendants are part of the Turtle Island Liberation Front, or TILF.
In November, one of the members allegedly drafted an eight-page, handwritten document titled “Operation Midnight Sun” that described a bombing plot targeting technology and logistics companies across Southern California on New Year’s Eve, according to prosecutors.
Another group member is accused of sending two others a message that read: “death to israel death to the usa death to colonizers death to settler-coloniasm [sic].”
Other targets: The defendants also planned to target U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and vehicles with firearms and pipe bombs to “take some of them out and scare the rest of them,” according to the indictment.
The defendants:
All are being held in federal custody without bond. Each is charged with one count of providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists and one count of possession of unregistered firearms.
If convicted, Carroll and Page could be sentenced to life in federal prison. Gaffield and Lai would face at least 25 years in federal prison.
Reached for comment, an attorney for Lai said only that she would plead not guilty to the charges early next month. Attorneys for Carroll and Gaffield did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
LAist was not immediately able to identify an attorney for Page.
What’s next: Arraignment is set for Jan. 5 in U.S. District Court.
Topline:
The Orange County Grand Jury released a scathing report Monday that accused the county supervisors of undermining the public’s trust when they granted themselves a 25% pay increase.
Background: The Orange County Board of Supervisors approved a 25% pay hike in June 2025, raising their salaries to a level higher than that of the California governor. Previously, supervisors were set to earn 80% of a Superior Court judge’s salary, but the board voted to change that to 100% match a judge’s salary. With the pay hike, they now make at least $244,000.
Why it matters: The pay hike came just after former Supervisor Andrew Do was sentenced to five years in federal prison. Do pleaded guilty to a felony bribery charge in October 2024 for accepting more than $550,000 in bribes. The county itself is also financially in hot water following the Airport Fire, which has racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in damage claims against the county.
Read on … for more on the Grand Jury’s findings.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors “undermined” the public’s trust when they granted themselves a 25% pay increase, according to the latest OC Grand Jury report released on Monday.
Since 2005, supervisors were set to make 80% of a Superior Court judge’s salary. That changed in June, when the board approved a 25% pay hike, increasing their salaries by about $49,000 to at least $244,000.
The pay increase raised eyebrows over the summer, sparking the Grand Jury investigation. A Grand Jury is a panel of citizens who investigate local government and public agencies. Members serve one year and look into several issues during that time.
It came just weeks after former Supervisor Andrew Do was sentenced to five years in federal prison for accepting more than $550,000 in bribes. The county itself is also financially in hot water following the Airport Fire, which has racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in damage claims against the county.
“The timing was especially troubling as the County of Orange (County) has been facing hiring freezes and budget constraints,” the Grand Jury reported. “This decision was not only tone-deaf — it reflected a deeper disconnect from the Board’s duty to serve the public with transparency and fiscal responsibility.”
The Grand Jury questioned how the item was presented to the public and whether it was purposefully buried within the county budget agenda item.
“The Board added their salary increase into the $10.8 billion 2025-2026 Orange County Annual Budget adoption process. This resulted in a minimal description in the agenda and minimal opportunity for citizen input,” the Grand Jury reported. “Therefore, the Grand Jury investigated: why did they want to conceal their salary increase, was it warranted at this time and who initiated it?”
The board’s vote, the Grand Jury stated, signifies that the board prioritizes personal gain over accountability and public trust.
“Elected officials are entrusted to serve, not to enrich themselves. When this happens, the foundation of representative democracy is undermined,” the Grand Jury said. “The people of Orange County deserve better, and the people must demand it.”
OC Supervisor Katrina Foley — the lone dissenting vote on the raises — said she was not surprised by the Grand Jury’s findings.
“I think most people felt that it was poor form for that to happen at that time, and given our current economic instability due to what's happening at the federal and the state level,” Foley told LAist.
Following the criticism, Supervisors Vicente Sarmiento and Doug Chaffee said they would donate their increased pay to charity.
“I am open to considering the recommendations in the report for changes to the pay ordinance and how future increases are approved, and I have been open to reconsidering the pay increase,” Sarmiento said in a statement.
A county spokesperson and Supervisor Don Wagner declined to comment. Supervisor Doug Chaffee and Janet Nguyen did not respond to LAist’s request for comment.
The report made a handful of recommendations, including that the board rescind the pay raise and salary changes by next March “to restore institutional trust and demonstrate a genuine commitment to transparency and accountability.”
It also recommends that the board adopt procedures for proposing, reviewing and approving future supervisor salary changes that include public hearings.
The county has 90 days from the release of the report to respond to the Grand Jury, according to a county spokesperson.
Topline:
To protect street vendors from ICE, L.A. non profit Inclusive Action for the City ramped up caterer training in 2025 to help vendors move their businesses off the streets. The group says it led to nearly 400 catering jobs — and it now wants to double the program in 2026.
Why it matters: The increase of immigration sweeps has led many Southern California families to lose income. The training moves street vendors away from public settings to private events where there is little risk of being swept up in an ICE raid.
Why now: Inclusive Action of the City trained 34 street vendors in catering practices and wants to expand that in 2026 by adding another full-time worker to the program.
The backstory: The group’s effort is part of a number of actions taken by individuals and groups across the region to help people targeted for detention keep sources of income.
What's next: Federal immigration sweeps continue in Southern California, leading to uncertainty among many families with a member who does not have the authorization to be in the U.S.
Go deeper: LA group gives street vendors $500 grants to help during immigration sweeps.
The increase of federal immigration sweeps in Southern California this year made one thing clear to street vendors without authorization to be in the U.S. — running a business outside was risky.
In response, L.A. nonprofit Inclusive Action for the City ramped up an existing program that trains street vendors to work in private catering.
“One of the big successes of the year was the growth of our Hire a Vendor program, where our business coaches essentially became brokers for our street vendors and other entrepreneurs so they can get catering jobs,” said Rudy Espinoza, the group’s CEO.
The program was created in 2024 but the group expanded it this year after the increase of immigration sweeps. The group said in its annual report that 34 small businesses were trained for catering this year and more than 350 catering jobs came to those trainees this year.
“Everywhere from the mayor's house to a small backyard party,” Espinoza said.
The group’s effort is part of actions taken by individuals and groups across the region to help people targeted for detention keep sources of income.
That help has included buyouts of daily inventory of fruit and flowers, as well as the awarding of grants to street vendors who lost income because they stayed home.
The program is just an example of how some entrepreneurs really dedicated themselves to build out a different line of business.
Advocates said the loss of income through detentions — many carried out through violent means — often affected family members who were U.S. citizens and has created a humanitarian crisis as families have lost the means to pay bills and buy food.
The vendor training program sought to alleviate that.
“Sometimes, challenges force us to think, be creative and think about how to adapt,” Espinoza said. “The Hire a Vendor program is just an example of how some entrepreneurs really dedicated themselves to build out a different line of business for themselves.”
The Hire a Vendor program is free to people who seek and receive micro-loans from Inclusive Action for the City.
Four of the program’s nine sessions are "office hours" in which a business coach works one-on-one with the business owner.
The trainings cover:
The trained vendors are free to pursue their own catering jobs but also get catering work through a portal created by Inclusive Action for the City.
Espinoza said one full-time employee oversaw the program this year, and he’d like to add another full-time worker to expand the trainings in 2026.
Topline:
The Trump administration will resume garnishing wages from student loan borrowers in default in early 2026, the U.S. Education Department confirmed to NPR.
The context: "We expect the first notices to be sent to approximately 1,000 defaulted borrowers the week of Jan. 7," a department spokesperson told NPR. The spokesperson said wage-garnishment notices are expected to increase on a monthly basis throughout the year.
The background: The move comes after a years-long pause in wage garnishment due to the pandemic.
Who is affected? A borrower is in default when they have not made loan payments in more than 270 days. Once that happens, the federal government can try to collect on the debt by seizing tax refunds and Social Security benefits and also by ordering an employer to withhold up to 15% of a borrower's pay. Borrowers should receive a 30-day notice from the Education Department before this wage garnishment begins.
Read on ... for more on the coming changes.
The Trump administration will resume garnishing wages from student loan borrowers in default in early 2026, the U.S. Education Department confirmed to NPR.
The move comes after a years-long pause in wage garnishment due to the pandemic.
"We expect the first notices to be sent to approximately 1,000 defaulted borrowers the week of Jan. 7," a department spokesperson told NPR. The spokesperson said wage-garnishment notices are expected to increase on a monthly basis throughout the year.
A borrower is in default when they have not made loan payments in more than 270 days. Once that happens, the federal government can try to collect on the debt by seizing tax refunds and Social Security benefits and also by ordering an employer to withhold up to 15% of a borrower's pay. Borrowers should receive a 30-day notice from the Education Department before this wage garnishment begins.
Betsy Mayotte, the president and founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, says even though borrowers have expected this, the timing is unfortunate.
"It will coincide with the increase in health care costs for many of these defaulted borrowers," she said, referring to the premium increases for Affordable Care Act health insurance that kick in in 2026. "The two will almost certainly put significant economic strain on low- and middle-income borrowers."
About 5.5 million borrowers currently are in default, according to a recent analysis of the latest federal student loan data published by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a public policy think tank.
Another 3.7 million are more than 270 days late on their payments and 2.7 million are in the early stages of delinquency.
"We've got about 12 million borrowers right now who are either delinquent on their loans or in default," Preston Cooper, who studies student loan policy at AEI, told NPR.
That's more than 1 in 4 federal student loan borrowers.
Cory Turner contributed to this story.
Copyright 2025 NPR
