HTLA: Cheap Fast Eats #2 - Long Beach

Episode 21

Gab Chabrán  00:00

[street ambi] [music in] We're not all going to Chipotle and Sweet Greens every day, you know? You gotta meet your local mom and pop businesses, your independent entrepreneurs. That's where you're really gonna find the fun, exciting cutting edge stuff.

Brian De Los Santos  00:14

From LAist Studios, this is How to LA. I'm Brian De Los Santos.

Gab Chabrán  00:18

And from Gab and Brian studios, this is Cheap, Fast Eats: Long Beach.

Brian De Los Santos  00:23

This is our monthly segment where we're highlighting some of Gab's favorite spots across LA to get a quick meal. Last month we went to Pasadena, so make sure to check that one out too.

Gab Chabrán  00:32

This time we're in my neck of the woods, Long Beach. [laughs] [music out] [street ambi] Alright, we're here. We're at A & J Seafood Shack. Coca Cola umbrellas, a blue neon that says, "I love seafood." I used to actually live down the street from here, and I remember when this place opened.

Brian De Los Santos  00:51

It gives me like al fresco vibes. [Gab: Yeah.] I love al fresco dining, by the way.

Gab Chabrán  00:54

Definitely. This is a window that you walk up and there's stools and high top tables, uh- [Brian: Clearly a food shack.] Exactly. A little bit about Long Beach is high population of Cambodians. I believe it's one of the highest in the country. A & J Seafood Shack offers Cambodian dishes. They offer sort of Pan-Asian dishes. Today we're gonna try the beef stick sandwich.

Brian De Los Santos  01:15

Is it kind of like banh mi sort of?

Gab Chabrán  01:17

In a way, yeah. It is kind of like a banh mi. Think about like a kebab on a sandwich. [to A & J employee Sara] Can I get a uh, beef stick sandwich?

Sara  01:24

Uh huh.

Gab Chabrán  01:27

And that's it.

Sara  01:28

Ok.

Gab Chabrán  01:28

Yeah.

Sara  01:28

Can I have a name for the order?

Gab Chabrán  01:29

Gab, G, A, B. I know it's called A & J Seafood Shack but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's an amazing beef stick sandwich. So many great flavors, textures. I just love it so much. For me it's the sauce. [car honks] The sauce is fire. So good, right?

Sara  01:46

These are secret sauces the owner makes himself.

Gab Chabrán  01:48

Oh? Snap.

Brian De Los Santos  01:49

All right. So I'm a have to become best friends with you. You can tell me later on maybe?

Gab Chabrán  01:53

That's Sara behind the counter, but she doesn't know what's in the sauce either.

Sara  01:56

I try to look but, he be like secretive. He makes 'em at home. Or sometime he come over here, and he sneaks around us.

Gab Chabrán  02:03

[car starting] Okay, next up is Appu's Cafe.

Brian De Los Santos  02:08

Wha? Gab, where did you bring me? It's- I had to park in the back of this building. And there doesn't look like there's a restaurant in sight. What- [laughing] what's up with this?

Gab Chabrán  02:16

So, this is technically a medical office building. So people come here to go to the doctor. Down the hallway is this amazing restaurant that I can't wait for you to try.

Brian De Los Santos  02:26

I'm only here because you're the homie. But otherwise, it looks a little sus to come here for lunch to be honest.

Gab Chabrán  02:31

Fair, fair, but [Brian laughs] I promise it'll be good. [restaurant ambi] I think he refers to it as Indio-Mexican, sort of Indian ingredients applied to tacos and burritos and all of that good stuff. But today, we're going for something a little more traditional. It's called the vegan samosa chat, uh, baked dumpling-esque type of construction filled with vegetables with a little bit of soup on the outside.

Chef VR  02:58

Hey, guys! How are ya? [Gab: Hi...] Long time...

Gab Chabrán  03:01

I think we're gonna order a vegan samosa chat if that's [Chef VR: Ok.] okay. [Chef VR: I'll get those ready for you.] Okay. [Chef VR continues to talk in background]

Brian De Los Santos  03:06

This is Chef VR.

Chef VR  03:08

VR Venkataraman. I go by Chef VR, and the name of the restaurant is Appu's Turmeric Cafe.

Brian De Los Santos  03:15

Chef VR brings us backstage to his kitchen to just show us how he prepares all this food.

Chef VR  03:21

You know what guys? You need to get my chef over here. Her name is Nelly. [Nelly says: Nelly Lerma. Mm hmm.] In this kitchen, it's not about me. It's about us.

Brian De Los Santos  03:31

Nelly is over here just blending up some mangoes.

Nelly Lerma  03:34

Uh. Vegan mango lassi. Yes. [jar closing] Like with mango, coconut milk, cardamom.

Brian De Los Santos  03:40

[sound of blender] When I had COVID a few days ago, obviously I was ordering a bunch of Door Dash or whatever it was, right? And all these meals that I f- felt like were the on the healthier side were like 15, 17 bucks. You know, and the tip you have to- the, the car, eh uh, whatever. And I'm like, uh man.

Gab Chabrán  04:00

Yeah, the stigma that healthy food is expensive. The smoothies at Erewhon and what have you. That's fine if you got the dough and you can spend it but I think it's important to look for more sort of economical ways to keep it healthy.

Chef VR  04:15

This is vegan mushroom masala.

Brian De Los Santos  04:17

Chef VR disappears and comes back out with more samples and it's like an uncle trying to feed their like nephews and nieces. Just like, here's my food.

Chef VR  04:27

Mushroom masala traditionally is made with cream. We make ours vegan. No dairy, no cream. Nada. [claps]

Gab Chabrán  04:33

The next sample was the mango lassi that we heard Nelly making earlier. [Brian: Yeah, no dairy.] No dairy, [Brian: Mm hmm.] right. So just think of something kind of sweet, creamy, tropical fruits, that kind of thing.

Brian De Los Santos  04:45

I have not tried those like $15 smoothies from Erewhon, but I can tell that this is way better for my pocket. [laughs] So after trying all these delicious samples, Chef VR brings us the main dish that we wanted to try.

Gab Chabrán  05:00

And here it is- the samosa chat.

Brian De Los Santos  05:03

If I look at it first glance, it looks like a caldo that my mom could make me, you know, when I'm feeling sick, or I just want some caldo. And then empanada in the middle, which I feel like, this is something that the New York Times would want to like, give a recipe for you to do at home, but like, ain't nobody got time for that. You just come over here, you know?

Gab Chabrán  05:20

Exactly. Support a small local businessman with an interesting story in a nondescript medical plaza in suburban Long Beach.

Gab Chabrán  05:28

Okay, one last spot, Brian. Are you ready? [street ambi] It's here, right?

Brian De Los Santos  05:34

Gab just walked in. Thanks for waiting Gab. Oh! [music in background] Even before I get there, Gab's already ordering stuff that I don't know what it is, and I have to ask the dude behind the counter. What is he doing? What is he ordering?

Derrick Montiel  05:49

So Gab trusted the chef and uh, Jaíro's gonna go ahead and fix y'all up a plate, so I'm not sure yet.

Brian De Los Santos  05:55

I'm actually gonna order a coffee.

Brian De Los Santos  05:58

Oh yeah, and this place is also a cute little coffee shop.

Gab Chabrán  06:00

Yeah, Sala Coffee and Wine. And Derrick's the owner.

Derrick Montiel  06:03

The lavender latte is really good. I'd probably say the [ ] awesome. It's uh, kinda like a Spanish latte. Uh, sweet, condensed milk, comes with cinnamon.

Brian De Los Santos  06:11

I mean, I do love me some Spanish lattes, here and there. I love how it's like an open space. There's a side for the wines. You can browse and have a little cute moment outside. But the one thing I really gravitate towards, it's like, it's owned by Latino owners. Right? And I don't find that always happening in places like these, like bougie third wave type of places.

Gab Chabrán  06:34

Yeah, wine and coffee can be pretty intimidating topics. There's so much to know, certain varietals and what have you. [Brian: Mm hmm.] But Derrick and Brandee do a really great job at making it approachable so that everybody can kinda try and figure out what it is they like. But as cool as all of that is, that's not why we're here.

Brian De Los Santos  06:54

Aww! Look at these burgers! They’re so cute!

Jaíro Bogarín  06:57

Yeah, dude. This is my, this my child. It's a beef sausage blend, fried egg, grilled onions, and then raspberry jam. And it's like spicy, savory, sweet.

Brian De Los Santos  07:06

Wait, hold up. Where does this jam idea come from?

Jaíro Bogarín  07:09

In 10th grade my friend CJ's mom- She was kind of a Chola. She bought us McDonald's and she dressed my sausage McMuffin with the jam on it already. And at first I was like, What the heck are you doing? Then I bit it, and it was over. I was like, Oh, I get it. So 15, 20 years later, I'm spreading the love and sharing it with others. My name is Jaíro Bogarín. This is Hamburgers Nice, every Tuesday at Sala Coffee and Wine in Long Beach.

Gab Chabrán  07:32

The breakfast burgers go for about $10 and then the lunch burgers go for about 11. And then he also does uh, vegetarian burgers. He does a really great chorizo burger, which I highly, highly recommend.

Brian De Los Santos  07:44

When I was in middle school, they used to give us these like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crust cut off. It reminds me like of an adult version of that. How do you find these foods, dude? They're so [laughing] good! I'm a keep saying the same thing on tape: Oh my god, it's delicious. It is though.

Brian De Los Santos  08:03

After the burgers, we went outside to talk a little bit more with the chef.

Brian De Los Santos  08:06

[street ambi] I'll be honest right off the bat. We're at a kind of a bougie coffee shop, right? Awesome that it's owned by Latinos, and you're a Latino chef. And I love the coffee. I had a coffee today. But you know when you go back to your hood, to la raza where they're maybe not used to, you know, a $10 burger. What are your thoughts on that? Like, how do you figure things out when you're doing the pop-ups elsewhere?

Jaíro Bogarín  08:30

[street ambi] That's funny you ask that. I'm often in my head about that, including like this morning, I was thinking about it. It's something that I'm trying to figure out as I try to appeal to just a broader audience. I charge what I charged today because that's what makes sense business wise. A lot of these items cost a lot of money, so I have to charge 10 bucks to make a living. But yeah, I mean, does it make sense to charge this at the local park where I grew up where people have never been to a third wave coffee shop? It might catch people off guard because they're used to a $4 burger, a $5 burger. I think that's the energy behind the thought of, Cool, let me pop up in Wilmington. Let me pop up in North Long Beach, in Compton. And let me just forget about my profit price point. Let's just be there for the community. And honestly just let them experience one of the best burgers they're gonna have. [music in] Maybe I'm not gonna have a big profiting day, but I'm gonna serve this community.

Gab Chabrán  09:28

The food culture in Long Beach is diverse. It's reflective of the people that live here. And I think that's part of the reason what makes it so great.

Brian De Los Santos  09:37

Exploring LA through communities and food.

Gab Chabrán  09:39

That's right.

Brian De Los Santos  09:40

All right, y'all. That's all we have time for today.

Gab Chabrán  09:43

Thank you so much for joining me on another great food journey.

Brian De Los Santos  09:46

Anytime for you, Gab. Speaking of anytime, when is the next time?

Gab Chabrán  09:51

Next time we're headed to the gateway of the valley. Glendale.

Brian De Los Santos  09:55

Wait, is it really the valley? Cuz I have strong opinions and I've heard all the opinions throughout my life.

Gab Chabrán  10:01

I guess we'll have to find out next month, Brian.

Brian De Los Santos  10:03

Special thanks to A & J Seafood, Appu's Cafe and Hamburgers Nice. And special thanks to you, Gab. From LAist Studios, this is How to LA. I'm your host, Brian De Los Santos. Catch us Tuesdays through Thursdays wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter at LAist.com/HowToLA. Aaricka Washington writes our newsletter. Our producers are Evan Jacoby, Meg Botel, and Kyle Chang. Chris Farias handles our social media. Check us out on Instagram @LAistpics and on Tik Tok @LAistvids. Our intern is Olive Bieni. Hasmik Poghosyan engineers the show. Our theme music this week is by Austin Cross, Donald Paz, and ero<3. Megan Larson is our executive producer. Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes LA a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. [music out]