Hollywood career pivot: production design to designing empanadas

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.