The RE:Her co-founder and Here’s Looking at You co-owner saved her restaurant from COVID closure, and now she’s helping other women-owned businesses around LA and beyond.
In a city that ’s sometimes too coolheaded to smile , restaurateur Lien Ta reminds us of the importance of solemnization . Co - proprietor ofAll Day BabyandHere ’s Looking At You , two of LA ’s most convivial eating place and one of which was almost a COVID casualty — Ta understands how much better we are , well , together . After all , it wasonline fundraisingthat bring her Koreatown restaurant Here ’s look At You back to life .
“ It was a really difficult conclusion and a vulnerable situation to decide to launch that GoFundMe campaign , ” Ta admits . “ But what I learned throughout that last year was that Here ’s wait At You was staggeringly impactful , not just to me . So many people came up to us to say how much they missed that eatery or ask why would n’t we play it back ? So I was like , well , maybe I should just involve for assistant . ”
Five weeks after launching the crusade , against all odds , the restaurant reopened .
Photo by Joyce Kim
“ It ’s awing , ” Ta says . “ It ’s genuinely , unfeignedly amazing to be reopen again , to meet every individual client , mostly old , but many new too . It ’s a fate of love and it ’s very powerful and validating and scary . We ’re in this still tenuous place . It ’s a good deal of money that we owe . It ’s a lot of money to just run a eatery normally . ”
What was already a unmanageable diligence became even more intriguing during the pandemic , which brought months - long closure to eatery and barroom . Family- , women- , and BIPOC - owned eatery were particularly intemperately hit , with many passed over for pandemic loan . Out of necessity , Ta , alongside other LA - based women restaurateurs like Kim Prince ofHotville Chicken , Sylvie Gabriele ofLove & Salt , and more , foundedRegarding Her Food ( RE : Her ) , a non-profit-making organization dedicated to suffer women - owned nutrient businesses in LA at the end of 2020 . The organization set in motion itsfirst practical 10 - day festival on January 20 , 2021 , kick back off on the day of remembrance of the historical Women ’s March . Despite soaring COVID numbers and a citywide closing , the festival was a achiever , allow for restaurant owner to cooperate across neighborhood and culinary art to introduce their offerings to new diners .
“ I reckon everybody demand some room to still celebrate during a really changeable meter , ” Ta reflects . “ And when you see a woman - have restaurant partnering with another restaurant to tender something special and unique , how can you not be urge ? ”
Photo by Shelley Som, courtesy of Here’s Looking at You
RE : Her did n’t slow down after the festival ended — within the same class , it was recognize by theJames Beard Foundationas an brass of resiliency and partnered withDoorDashto award 15 $ 10,000 grants to woman restaurateurs . The grants run to recipients likeChef Marilyn , who ’s been a fixture in South LA ’s dining scene for 34 age .
“ It came at just the right prison term , ” Chef Marilyn order . “ We were applying for a few other Grant and chance , and they all fell through , except for RE : Her . The grant made it possible to keep our door open last year . ”
For Lucy Haro , possessor ofQusqoand another RE : Her grant recipient , the award propose promise . “ The pandemic had been require a genial cost , ” she says . “ It was so empowering to have a group of successful cleaning lady in the eating house industry say , ‘ We believe in your art , your vision , your eating house and we require to give you investment trust to keep you going . ’ ”
Smorgasburg Los Angeles
It was a no - brainer that the festival would return this twelvemonth , though the Omicron variant thwarted their original plan to host the festival in January . Instead , they debuted their firstin - person , 10 - day fete from March 4 through March 13 , during Women ’s History Month and overlapping with International Women ’s Day . This year , there are even more participate restaurants and all are give detached range to join in a way that works for their private businesses , whether that ’s collaborating on a special ravisher with another restaurant , offer a limited prix - fixe fare , orbreaking the globe record for the longest grazing board . participant canprint a fete passportand earn stickers for each RE : Her special they take vantage of — a complete recommendation with 10 stickers earns a RE : Her gift bag at the oddment of the festival .
On Saturday , the fest is fete women restauranter and chefs witha benefit concert at Vintage Records and Tapes Store , starring musicians Miya Folick and Kathleen and with all proceeds going to RE : Her . One loose way to support the fest is to hold on by one of theRE : Her Mini Martsthat have popped up in various LA neighborhoods and are stocked with specialty buttery items , merch , and more .
The fete ends with aRE : Her jubilation at Smorgasburgthis Sunday , March 13 , featuring a pop - up RE : Her Mini Mart and the opportunity to deliver your passport for RE : Her pillage , as well as a special “ She - Shandy ” drink courtesy of Three Weavers and Boomtown Brewery in the Beer Garden .
Though RE : Her was originally make to support cleaning woman restaurateur and chefs in LA , it ’s since expanded across the coast . After the LA fest ends , RE : Her will kick offa two - hebdomad festival in Washington , D.C. from March 14 through March 27 .
“ Looking forward , we ’ve got other cities to come , as well as another grant political platform that will also be an accelerator pedal programme , ” Ta says . “ By getting to fuck all of these other woman that own restaurants in our own vicinity , we ’ve got to learn what their needs are . One eating house or owner may be really great at funds and she ’s ready to descale her business all over the world . But then another restaurant may just need help strictly with selling . And one would not know anything about doing third - political party delivery apps . So we wanted to cater resources for any and everything . ”
But for now , Ta is ready to celebrate .
“ We ’ve worked so hard to stay assailable and reopen our restaurants , ” Ta say . “ This fete is about lionize that tenacity and resilience and making sure we stick to around to keep serving you amazing intellectual nourishment and make memories . ”
