November 2, 2024 • 28 mins
Christina Vega of Casa Vega joins the Fork Reporter to discuss Casa Vega’s Día de los Muertos fiesta! It's all on KFIAM-640!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Neil Savedra.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You're listening to kfi EM six forty the four Report
on demand on the iHeartRadio app. I am your Well
Fed host, Neil Savadra.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
How do you do? Happy to be with you. I
can't believe it is.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
November, Bomb, Bomb Bomb. We have a big show plan
for you today. In addition to that, a week from today,
we are going to be out in Orange County. Listen up,
my Orange County forkers. We are going to be out
at Wild Fork in Laguna Negal. Wild Fork in Laguna Nogal.
(00:34):
We will be at one of their store locations. It
is fabulous. We'll be broadcasting live. Bill Handle will be
co hosting with me the entire show. We'll have chefs
out there grilling up some wonderful samples for you to
try of all the great food that they have there
at Wild Fork. Just amazing stuff. Too much to get
(00:56):
into to mention here. So we'll be out there having
a good time for our first ever fork and Thanksgrilling
and Big Green Egg is helping us out. They'll have
grills out there and grill Master Craig the Egg is
going to be out there and my buddy Wing Lamb
from Wahoo's Fish Taco is going to be out there
(01:17):
grilling up some wonderful tacos made with the proteins and
all the great stuff that they have at Wild Fork.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Big Green Egg is going to be giving.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Away an amazing Mini Max Big Green Egg. It's their
smallest unit and their only portable one, so it's super cool,
very kind of them to do that. Sealman's is going
to be out there all kinds of cool things, So
put it on your calendar. A week from today, we
will be out there in Laguna Negal at the Wild Fork.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It's going to be good, good times.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Habi al So technique of the week Planning Thanksgiving dinner.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I know, right what, Neil, it's the second bro Ham,
I know. But you must be ready now.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
If you are hosting, there's a couple of things you
need to do a month out. The first thing is
you're going to want to prepare your menu. What goes
along with that is the fact that you need to
know who's coming, put together your guest list, because you're
going to want to ask people what their allergies are
or any dietary restrictions they have.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
It is okay to say of course we're going to accommodate.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
You can you bring a side dish that you enjoy
as well, that type of thing. So while you're planning
your Thanksgiving dinner and building your menu, you also want
to delegate. Delegate what you can. You want to make
sure that you are, you know, checking in with people
that are going to be there. Maybe you have somebody
(02:54):
who likes to do table scapes or decorate the table.
Give it to them a superhero. Don't try and put
everything you know on your shoulders. That's just too much
for one person. And you can start building it now.
People are gonna expect the basics, the standards, and you
want to keep them happy with those. Don't decide, you know,
(03:18):
I'm doing an all squash entree or things like that,
because it's about tradition as well. You can try new things,
but try new things in addition to the tradition, because
people are gonna want ham and turkey probably that's just
the way it goes, and mashed potatoes and those types
(03:39):
of things.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
You can add to it.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
But you know, usually people want their their their same things,
and you don't want to take that away from their
tradition as well. When you're passing out responsibilities, understanding who's
going to help with what. No, if you're going to
need to rent any tape, if you're gonna rent any chairs,
(04:03):
keep an eye on whether if you're planning on having
it outside, it can We don't know what's gonna happen.
You know, we're at the beginning of the month, so
keep in mind, maybe do a little bit of homework
on tents if necessary, or if you can fit everybody
inside somehow, and that means they may be in separate rooms.
(04:26):
You may have people in the dining room and in
the living room and in the family room. However big
your family is. Keep all those things in mind as
you're building up your needs. If you can buy things
that can be frozen or that are frozen, fine, go
ahead and buy them. If you have the freezer space.
(04:46):
Now's the time take and divvy up your list into
a couple different areas.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
You're listening to the Fork Report with Nils of Adra
on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
We are in no November.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
That means Thanksgiving is going to come up faster than
you think. I know, it just became November. But for
technique of the Week, we are talking about the Thanksgiving meal,
because you can never be too prepared. Prepare so you
won't have to deal with certain things afterwards.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
All right.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
First on the list is prepare your menu. The only
way you can do that properly is to have your
guest list. Because your guest list is going to tell
you how much food you're going to need. It's also
going to tell you about any dietary restrictions. It is
not wrong to ask somebody with dietary restrictions maybe to
(05:40):
bring a side dish or something like that that they
know that they can eat and that they will enjoy.
And then you accompany that with other things that you're
going to prepare as well. Distribute Distribute responsibilities is going
to be very important. Napkins, flatwear. Make sure you have
(06:00):
all these Take all these things out now at the
beginning of the month, count them.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Make sure that.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
You have a proper amount of flatware, of stoneware if
you're going to be using that, if you're going cat
more casual, make sure you have the paper plates or
the disposable plates or disposable flatwear, whatever it is, make
sure you have it now. One of the tips that
I've told you in the past, and I'm a big
(06:28):
fan of is white plates. I have a lot of
white plates at home and they all look almost exactly
the same. Why because I get them at restaurant supply stores.
Whether you're going to a chain that has many locations,
like Chef's Toys is fantastic, they have multiple locations you
(06:48):
can go through there. You also have our friends at
bargain Fair in Los Angeles. Shaida has been on the
program before. She's amazing, and it's family owned and operated.
You can check them out. And the cool thing is
you can get plates that all kind of look the same.
So if you break one one year, or you break
(07:09):
the gravy boat or coffee mugs or wherever it is,
you just go back and get more. They're meant to
look like each other because they don't have designs on them.
They're white, and they look really lovely and your food
pops on them. So doing those types of things, getting
the linens, getting those things pressed if you need to
get them pressed, cleaned if they need to be cleaned.
(07:30):
Getting all that stuff out of the way is going
to have you prepped and in the mindset to where
when the food hits and it's go time, you're going
to be focused on that. The table's going to be
done because you designated somebody to do it. You've worked
on all these things and you're prepped and ready to go.
As a matter of fact, I'm a big fan if
you can control this, if you're going to have it
(07:53):
in a dining area or if you're going to be
setting it up somewhere else, there's no reason you can't
pre prep setting it up even a week ahead of
time or something like that. You can keep the glasses
turned over so they're not collecting dust, and maybe put
another tablecloth over everything if you wish. But ultimately you can.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Cross that off.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
All those things is all those things crossed off your
lifts list is going to make things much more simple
for you and make the day of much better. Another
thing that's easy to forget for Thanksgiving is if you're
having guests that are bringing their own dishes. They might
bring them in in the bowl they made them in,
(08:39):
but it's not a serving bowl, or they might not
bring serving utensils or those types of things, or they
might need to reheat it. Know, every single piece of
cooking real estate or warming real estate you.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Have get that out. Say I've got this bread warmer.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Okay, I've got a slow cooker, Okay, I've got a microwave.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
I've got an oven, I've got a stovetop.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Whatever it is that you have, whether it's a toaster, oven,
extra toaster is something. If you know people are going
to need to reheat things, you have to put that
in your chronology of the day. So you have to
go not only are you going to be cooking the
turkey and these sides, but you're going to need space
(09:27):
for Aunt Helen or whatever to come in and bring
her dish because that's going to need to be warmed
up as well.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
You're listening to the Fork Report with Nil Sevedra on
demand from KFI am six forty.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Happy Saturday to you. Today is November second. This is
the Day of the Dead, and I thought what better
way to celebrate than introduce you to somebody who you
should know by now if you're a foodie in the Southland.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And this is Christina Vegas. She is from Casa.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Vega uh and they're doing a big Day of the
Dead cell lebration today. You can find out more at
Casavega dot com. Christina I can't believe this is the
first time I have had you on the Fork Report,
but welcome.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be
talking with you.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
So next time we're going to get you in person,
we'll sit down, we'll eat hell. I should do a
show from there sometime. It is one of my things,
one of my goals to get through some of the
oldest restaurants here in the legacy restaurants in the Southland,
of which you most certainly are with your family.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Start at the.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Beginning real quick, and you've been in the family business
for some time now, even though you're still a wee one,
and tell us how it was.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Growing up in this family and the importance.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Of Casa Vega to the food scene here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Yeah. So I've been at Casa Vega. I've been working here,
gosh for twenty four years now. As soon as I
got out of college, I came to the restaurant and
kind of set up the infrastructure to support it. My
dad had moved the family to Las Vegas, and we
had you know, his aunt and my great aunt were
(11:14):
kind of like running the door at the restaurant. But
the other business in Las Vegas supported, you know, the
main kind of nuts and bolts of the business operation.
So when I got to the restaurant, I immediately fell
in love with it. It's a place that I grew up going,
obviously as a tiny little girl to my first steps
memories or taking steps in that kitchen, and it was
(11:35):
a place where we would come and spend all of
our summers, and I would see my dad change a
month'sly his business in Las Vegas, which was the casino
services business. It was very stressful. He had like three
hundred employees and trucks. And when we would come for
our summers in Los Angeles and he would be on
on the restaurant, I would see different version of my father.
(11:58):
Everybody at the restaurant was Mexican, and a lot of
them were our family. And he was immediately super relaxed,
but also very hyper protective of the first business that
he started at the age of twenty two, and he
started Cosa Vega to basically give his parents a job.
(12:18):
My grandparents when they immigrated from Sijuana in the nineteen thirties,
they actually left my father in Mexico for a while
with my great grandmother while they opened the first Mexican
restaurant on Alvera Street, which was called Cafe Caliente, and
it thrived for eighteen years, was wild success, and then
(12:39):
they were going to make Alvera Street to State Park
and so there was talk of banning alcohol. So my
family moved the restaurant to Hollywood and Vine and got
hit was quite a bit of racism and told the
brown people were not allowed to basically own establishments outside
of La they are outside of downtown. They thought it
was okay because El Coyote opened, but they were by
(13:00):
a white family, so they were more accepted. So it
went under and then that's a couple of years later.
My dad and grandmother were working catering and serving people
in their homes and somebody recognized the family and said,
oh my god, you got to reopen, and so we
had gotten a few months free rent in Sherman Oaks
and that's been our home ever since, and the community
(13:22):
has embraced us. And some of our very first customers
were Marlon Brando and Carrie Grant, and Marlon Brando had
a huge love of the indigenous culture and he really
made Cosa Vega the Hollywood haunt that it was certainly
in the fifties and you know, to today it has
sort of that kind of magneticism with the industry, and
(13:43):
it's something that is so important to my family and
certainly our jewel. So to carry on this legacy now
means the world to me to see it go through
everything from pandemics and recessions and still pop up and thrive.
And you know, family business are so rare, but they're
I think they're more prominent in the Latino culture because
(14:06):
we definitely, you know, it's very important to us to
have something a small business, to pass on to our
generations and to employ our families, and so to be
able to kind of carry on this tradition is something
that I'm super passionate about. I'm passionate about the restaurant
industry in general, certainly my family's legacy and all the
(14:27):
other family businesses that are out there with possibly not
such a big platform. So it's something that I use.
And then we've been doing our day dail Smartos celebration
for a few years now since my father passed. It's
a really wonderful way for me and our customers to
reconnect with him every year, and we do this big
event of from six to ten pm and people can
(14:51):
purchase tickets on open table through experiences, and we have
Mariachi's and we decorate the patio with marigolds, and we
have have experiences for people. So we have face painting.
If people want to do a little touch up and
join the spirit, we'll have a communal a frienda So
we invite people to please bring pictures of your loved
ones so that they're there with us tonight. And if
(15:13):
a picture isn't possible, we have butterflies so you can
write their name on and we serve a special meal
and we have you know, different pop ups that are
coming from different tequila companies and it's really a fun
night that we try and kind of help heal. And
so that's my biggest pitch that I have to everybody.
(15:34):
Is it sometimes in America that we want to repress
feelings and that the wonderful this most important thing about
this is about the tradition of this holiday, is that
you can actually revisit your loved ones and death and
in a very positive, happy, uplifting way where we celebrate,
we tell stories, we we you know, we cheers to
(15:58):
them and it's a really night and in a way
to kind of take the burn out of the loss
of death.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
You know, there's power in that as you talk about
the old friendes. For those that don't know, these are
altars and the tradition is of connection with those that
have passed on, and it's such a beautiful way to
remember people in your family, even you know, I've seen
a friend as that have all kinds of famous people
(16:25):
on them or people that are missed and things like that.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And although it's the day.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Of the dead is celebrated throughout Mexico, not all every region.
You know, my family comes from Juanaato, and that was
It wasn't something I grew up with. It wasn't something
that was in the household, although we had books on
it and stuff. But man as I learned as I
got older, I was kind of introduced to it through
(16:51):
the punk rock movement, strangely enough, and then I saw
how beautiful it was. And it's something that I find
to be amazing in the thought that Casavega is going
to be celebrating not only withoud that four course dinner
on the patio there, but Maniyachi's and the face painting
and so on, sounds wonderful. Okay, Now we're gonna get
some news here in a second, but I want to
(17:14):
talk to you for one more segment, So hang on
because you mentioned about your passion for the food industry,
and I know that there's some fights that you're still
fighting to this day, and I would be remiss if
I didn't mention them and get your insight.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
So hang tight.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
We're gonna come back and we're gonna talk more, not
only about Casa Vega and the event going on today
and enjoying what they have there at Casa Vega and
the restaurant itself, but also hearing more about the culture
and the history of this beautiful restaurant. If you've never
gone before, you have to. It's a really special place.
(17:52):
Christina Vega is my guest from Casavega. Their Day of
the Dead event is going on today. You can find
out more at Casavega dot com.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
You're listening to the Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Happy Day of the Dead to you today.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
I know that sounds strange if that is outside of
your cultural wheelhouse, but in the Mexican culture, the view
is to connect with the dead not to be afraid
of it, so some of the imagery when you see
it sometimes might take some people back. One of the
most beautiful movies and one that will get me crying
(18:28):
instantly is Coco if you haven't seen it, it's a
beautiful movie about culture and connection there that ties into
this beautiful day. It's the fork portum Neil Savedra. We
are talking with Christina Vega today from Casa Vega, who's
doing a Day of the Dead celebration today. You can
find out more at casavega dot com. Christina, when you
(18:51):
had mentioned we were talking, you had mentioned about your
your love for restaurant culture, the importance of food in
the community. I think it's important to not only the
culture locally. Food is very important.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
The word.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Companion pan bread is right in the center of it
actually literally means someone you break bread with. But a
lot of people forget that it's not only a business
and it's important to the economy locally, but also that
it needs to be protected and that they're you know,
not everybody is a Food Network star chef or something
(19:32):
with all this glamor. It's incredibly hard work and the
city needs to protect it and be there for them
as well, and that's been one of your battle cries.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Yeah, it's something that I'm really passionate about. You know,
when I did go to college, I studied business and economics,
and I really understand how these things work. And then
now a couple of decades into their industry, I it's
and especially after COVID, it's devastating. And I don't think
(20:04):
it's intentional, but what is happening to our industry by
our local governments, by the city, by the county, by
the state. It is a bit problematic when the people
up at the top and these legislators don't really have
any business documen, and I think that they make decisions
that sound good but really have huge ramifications. And someone's
(20:26):
ramifications are extreme over regulation of the industry, which present
huge economic barriers to actually enter the industry. And the
most wonderful thing I've always thought about the restaurant industry
is certainly like my family, it's a pathway to the
American dream. So you know, if you come from India,
and even if you're a doctor there, you can't always
(20:47):
practice here. But what you can do is you can
open up a little restaurant and you can serve the
food that you know, or you're my family and you
come and you bring over, you know, your cuisine from Mexico,
and you're able to open a taco stand, which then
becomes a restaurant. And these are the pathways and the
more over regulation that we have on restaurants, it only
(21:09):
benefits the big, huge corporations, and it really drives out
the smallest operators who can't get through the red tape,
who don't understand the permitting, who don't understand the immense
amount of regulations and hoops they make us constantly jump through.
And unfortunately there's been a little bit of criminalizing businesses
(21:31):
and kind of making us the bad guys.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
I find that what does that look like? And how that.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Yeah, that definitely looks like. Everything kind of becomes our responsibility.
So when we start, when we pop up and say, hey,
you know, if there's a problem, and say, you know,
climate change all of a sudden, now, the first things
that they'll do is and we do have this problem.
And I am a lifelong democrat, I believe in all
of these. But the answer to us and the pow
(22:00):
year has been to compost all of our trash. Well,
that also increases our bills by thousands of dollars per month.
And so when you do these things and it also
prevents it also presents a huge problem for the leakage
and how we store it, which then gets into other regulations.
And so this is just one thing. And the other
(22:21):
thing is they'll make us all of the food to
go containers have to be compostable. Those are now an
up an extra eighty percent in costs. We cannot pass
those on to the customers. The customers have seen enough
of the cost rising. And what it does is then
then into a lot of sauce. It doesn't hold in it.
The customer gets mad, it gets angry, we get yelled at,
(22:42):
and it's kind of one thing after the next. Another
thing is not supporting anything big, Like all insurance companies
have left California. So because of how the state is
run now, were all our business policies are getting dropped.
So there's only three carriers in the state. Nobody can
get insurance. So if you're experiencing any crime which is
(23:02):
rampant in the city, then you get dropped. You get
dropped as well. So if you're a victim of a burglary,
an arson like myself, property crime. I've had a bus
boy stabbed coming off the metro right in front of
Corosso Vega. All these things equal into the small businesses
losing their insurance. And when you re get insurance, it's
(23:23):
at a premium, like myself of an extra thirty thousand
dollars a year. So as that continues, it's impossible for
the small little person, say in Van Eyes who's just opening,
to be able to deal with this when their window
gets smashed out five times in two months. The insurance
companies don't want to pay for it. When the city
isn't going to prosecute that crime, they the insurance isn't
(23:44):
going to pay for it. And so what it does
is it drives those small businesses out. Last year alone,
we had two hundred restaurants closed in LA and so whenever, yeah,
when restaurants when small, When politicians will say that they
support or a small business, it's like you actually don't.
If you did, then that that wouldn't happen, This wouldn't
(24:05):
be the state of where things are from. And the
increasing of the minimum wage, which again people kind of
don't it sounds great we all want low income workers
to make more money, but what's happening is it really
doesn't because it goes across the whole state, and so
the whole supply chain raises. So now that little family
(24:26):
afore that goes to McDonald's to feed their family, it
used to cost them sixty dollars. Maybe they make a
few bucks hour extra minimum wage, but that meal now
costs eighty dollars. They don't have that in their pocket.
And so what I'm trying to promote is deregulation of
the industry, make it easier for people to get in,
so that little family can possibly maybe they can get
(24:46):
a little taco shop, maybe they can open up panduria
that they can then leave to generations, and that that
will actually put more money in their pockets and help
the lower class and it helps bring them up, and
certainly was the story of my family. So I am
all for helping everybody, but I do believe that you
do that by promoting economic growth and not kind of
(25:08):
curbing it, which is what's been happening to the restaurant industry.
So you'll see, like I said, it's the smallest operators
that go first, and the people that can scoop up
these rents, and that can deal with the government, and
that can pay fancy expediters to get the permits they need.
They're just big chains, and so we're losing the kind
of the heart and soul of what the restaurant industry is.
(25:30):
And certainly it affects the Latino community because food is
so important to us. It is how we show love.
It is it's you know, you can you see it everywhere.
So it's something I'm very passionate about and trying to
get both sides to understand these problems of that's happening
in the industry. Keep our doors open, and that supporting
(25:51):
small businesses. I hope people from the city, in state
and county are listening is just as noble as supporting
the unhoused on the which has a ton of funding.
And we've all been patient and we've all given tax
dollars and we support the billions that are being spent.
But there's other places that need money as well that
(26:11):
can really benefit Angelino's throughout the city.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah, I think too. I share.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
I can give a hearty amen to everything you said,
and I share many of your views on these things.
I think we often go towards the emotional rather than
the intellectual, and it's easier to go, oh, well, helping
these people or this instead of looking at saying where
can that money do the best for everyone? And it's
hard to it's hard to have a warm heart when
(26:39):
there's people that are mentally ill on the streets, that
are lighting fires in the front of your business and
causing havoc when you're not getting the protections you need.
This is something that we're going to have to have
you in sometime and sit down and talk about at length,
because everything I've heard you talk about on these notes
(27:01):
and issues, you've been not only passionate, but well read
and focused. I think from a balance between the heart
and head, which we don't always get from politicians and
the like. So let's save that for another time, because
I would really really love to have me put together
a panel of people that we can talk to politicians
and like and have them bring them on the air
(27:21):
where they have to kind of stand up to what
they say and it's on the record.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
But I appreciate you taking the time.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
That is the voice of Christina Vega from Casa Vega
here in the Valley on Ventura Boulevard, Casavega dot Comcosavega
dot com. If you want to go there tonight and celebrate,
if there's still tickets and room left enjoy, you can
find out out there.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Thanks so much for your time. I appreciate you.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Thank you is such a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Well talk. I'm surprised you at any time. I've seen
your feed and I get exhausted looking at your day
and it's clips of it, let alone the whole thing.
So thanks for coming on and we'll talk again soon,
my friend.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
Okay, thank you, bye bye.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Now you've been listening to the Fork Report, you can
always hear us live on KFI AM six forty two
to five pm on Saturday and anytime on demand on
the iHeartRadio app
Hey, it's Neil Savedra.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You're listening to kfi EM six forty the four Report
on demand on the iHeartRadio app. I am your Well
Fed host, Neil Savadra.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
How do you do? Happy to be with you. I
can't believe it is.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
November, Bomb, Bomb Bomb. We have a big show plan
for you today. In addition to that, a week from today,
we are going to be out in Orange County. Listen up,
my Orange County forkers. We are going to be out
at Wild Fork in Laguna Negal. Wild Fork in Laguna Nogal.
(00:34):
We will be at one of their store locations. It
is fabulous. We'll be broadcasting live. Bill Handle will be
co hosting with me the entire show. We'll have chefs
out there grilling up some wonderful samples for you to
try of all the great food that they have there
at Wild Fork. Just amazing stuff. Too much to get
(00:56):
into to mention here. So we'll be out there having
a good time for our first ever fork and Thanksgrilling
and Big Green Egg is helping us out. They'll have
grills out there and grill Master Craig the Egg is
going to be out there and my buddy Wing Lamb
from Wahoo's Fish Taco is going to be out there
(01:17):
grilling up some wonderful tacos made with the proteins and
all the great stuff that they have at Wild Fork.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Big Green Egg is going to be giving.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Away an amazing Mini Max Big Green Egg. It's their
smallest unit and their only portable one, so it's super cool,
very kind of them to do that. Sealman's is going
to be out there all kinds of cool things, So
put it on your calendar. A week from today, we
will be out there in Laguna Negal at the Wild Fork.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
It's going to be good, good times.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Habi al So technique of the week Planning Thanksgiving dinner.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
I know, right what, Neil, it's the second bro Ham,
I know. But you must be ready now.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
If you are hosting, there's a couple of things you
need to do a month out. The first thing is
you're going to want to prepare your menu. What goes
along with that is the fact that you need to
know who's coming, put together your guest list, because you're
going to want to ask people what their allergies are
or any dietary restrictions they have.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
It is okay to say of course we're going to accommodate.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
You can you bring a side dish that you enjoy
as well, that type of thing. So while you're planning
your Thanksgiving dinner and building your menu, you also want
to delegate. Delegate what you can. You want to make
sure that you are, you know, checking in with people
that are going to be there. Maybe you have somebody
(02:54):
who likes to do table scapes or decorate the table.
Give it to them a superhero. Don't try and put
everything you know on your shoulders. That's just too much
for one person. And you can start building it now.
People are gonna expect the basics, the standards, and you
want to keep them happy with those. Don't decide, you know,
(03:18):
I'm doing an all squash entree or things like that,
because it's about tradition as well. You can try new things,
but try new things in addition to the tradition, because
people are gonna want ham and turkey probably that's just
the way it goes, and mashed potatoes and those types
(03:39):
of things.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
You can add to it.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
But you know, usually people want their their their same things,
and you don't want to take that away from their
tradition as well. When you're passing out responsibilities, understanding who's
going to help with what. No, if you're going to
need to rent any tape, if you're gonna rent any chairs,
(04:03):
keep an eye on whether if you're planning on having
it outside, it can We don't know what's gonna happen.
You know, we're at the beginning of the month, so
keep in mind, maybe do a little bit of homework
on tents if necessary, or if you can fit everybody
inside somehow, and that means they may be in separate rooms.
(04:26):
You may have people in the dining room and in
the living room and in the family room. However big
your family is. Keep all those things in mind as
you're building up your needs. If you can buy things
that can be frozen or that are frozen, fine, go
ahead and buy them. If you have the freezer space.
(04:46):
Now's the time take and divvy up your list into
a couple different areas.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
You're listening to the Fork Report with Nils of Adra
on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
We are in no November.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
That means Thanksgiving is going to come up faster than
you think. I know, it just became November. But for
technique of the Week, we are talking about the Thanksgiving meal,
because you can never be too prepared. Prepare so you
won't have to deal with certain things afterwards.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
All right.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
First on the list is prepare your menu. The only
way you can do that properly is to have your
guest list. Because your guest list is going to tell
you how much food you're going to need. It's also
going to tell you about any dietary restrictions. It is
not wrong to ask somebody with dietary restrictions maybe to
(05:40):
bring a side dish or something like that that they
know that they can eat and that they will enjoy.
And then you accompany that with other things that you're
going to prepare as well. Distribute Distribute responsibilities is going
to be very important. Napkins, flatwear. Make sure you have
(06:00):
all these Take all these things out now at the
beginning of the month, count them.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Make sure that.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
You have a proper amount of flatware, of stoneware if
you're going to be using that, if you're going cat
more casual, make sure you have the paper plates or
the disposable plates or disposable flatwear, whatever it is, make
sure you have it now. One of the tips that
I've told you in the past, and I'm a big
(06:28):
fan of is white plates. I have a lot of
white plates at home and they all look almost exactly
the same. Why because I get them at restaurant supply stores.
Whether you're going to a chain that has many locations,
like Chef's Toys is fantastic, they have multiple locations you
(06:48):
can go through there. You also have our friends at
bargain Fair in Los Angeles. Shaida has been on the
program before. She's amazing, and it's family owned and operated.
You can check them out. And the cool thing is
you can get plates that all kind of look the same.
So if you break one one year, or you break
(07:09):
the gravy boat or coffee mugs or wherever it is,
you just go back and get more. They're meant to
look like each other because they don't have designs on them.
They're white, and they look really lovely and your food
pops on them. So doing those types of things, getting
the linens, getting those things pressed if you need to
get them pressed, cleaned if they need to be cleaned.
(07:30):
Getting all that stuff out of the way is going
to have you prepped and in the mindset to where
when the food hits and it's go time, you're going
to be focused on that. The table's going to be
done because you designated somebody to do it. You've worked
on all these things and you're prepped and ready to go.
As a matter of fact, I'm a big fan if
you can control this, if you're going to have it
(07:53):
in a dining area or if you're going to be
setting it up somewhere else, there's no reason you can't
pre prep setting it up even a week ahead of
time or something like that. You can keep the glasses
turned over so they're not collecting dust, and maybe put
another tablecloth over everything if you wish. But ultimately you can.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Cross that off.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
All those things is all those things crossed off your
lifts list is going to make things much more simple
for you and make the day of much better. Another
thing that's easy to forget for Thanksgiving is if you're
having guests that are bringing their own dishes. They might
bring them in in the bowl they made them in,
(08:39):
but it's not a serving bowl, or they might not
bring serving utensils or those types of things, or they
might need to reheat it. Know, every single piece of
cooking real estate or warming real estate you.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Have get that out. Say I've got this bread warmer.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Okay, I've got a slow cooker, Okay, I've got a microwave.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
I've got an oven, I've got a stovetop.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Whatever it is that you have, whether it's a toaster, oven,
extra toaster is something. If you know people are going
to need to reheat things, you have to put that
in your chronology of the day. So you have to
go not only are you going to be cooking the
turkey and these sides, but you're going to need space
(09:27):
for Aunt Helen or whatever to come in and bring
her dish because that's going to need to be warmed
up as well.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
You're listening to the Fork Report with Nil Sevedra on
demand from KFI am six forty.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Happy Saturday to you. Today is November second. This is
the Day of the Dead, and I thought what better
way to celebrate than introduce you to somebody who you
should know by now if you're a foodie in the Southland.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And this is Christina Vegas. She is from Casa.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Vega uh and they're doing a big Day of the
Dead cell lebration today. You can find out more at
Casavega dot com. Christina I can't believe this is the
first time I have had you on the Fork Report,
but welcome.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be
talking with you.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
So next time we're going to get you in person,
we'll sit down, we'll eat hell. I should do a
show from there sometime. It is one of my things,
one of my goals to get through some of the
oldest restaurants here in the legacy restaurants in the Southland,
of which you most certainly are with your family.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Start at the.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Beginning real quick, and you've been in the family business
for some time now, even though you're still a wee one,
and tell us how it was.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Growing up in this family and the importance.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Of Casa Vega to the food scene here in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Yeah. So I've been at Casa Vega. I've been working here,
gosh for twenty four years now. As soon as I
got out of college, I came to the restaurant and
kind of set up the infrastructure to support it. My
dad had moved the family to Las Vegas, and we
had you know, his aunt and my great aunt were
(11:14):
kind of like running the door at the restaurant. But
the other business in Las Vegas supported, you know, the
main kind of nuts and bolts of the business operation.
So when I got to the restaurant, I immediately fell
in love with it. It's a place that I grew up going,
obviously as a tiny little girl to my first steps
memories or taking steps in that kitchen, and it was
(11:35):
a place where we would come and spend all of
our summers, and I would see my dad change a
month'sly his business in Las Vegas, which was the casino
services business. It was very stressful. He had like three
hundred employees and trucks. And when we would come for
our summers in Los Angeles and he would be on
on the restaurant, I would see different version of my father.
(11:58):
Everybody at the restaurant was Mexican, and a lot of
them were our family. And he was immediately super relaxed,
but also very hyper protective of the first business that
he started at the age of twenty two, and he
started Cosa Vega to basically give his parents a job.
(12:18):
My grandparents when they immigrated from Sijuana in the nineteen thirties,
they actually left my father in Mexico for a while
with my great grandmother while they opened the first Mexican
restaurant on Alvera Street, which was called Cafe Caliente, and
it thrived for eighteen years, was wild success, and then
(12:39):
they were going to make Alvera Street to State Park
and so there was talk of banning alcohol. So my
family moved the restaurant to Hollywood and Vine and got
hit was quite a bit of racism and told the
brown people were not allowed to basically own establishments outside
of La they are outside of downtown. They thought it
was okay because El Coyote opened, but they were by
(13:00):
a white family, so they were more accepted. So it
went under and then that's a couple of years later.
My dad and grandmother were working catering and serving people
in their homes and somebody recognized the family and said,
oh my god, you got to reopen, and so we
had gotten a few months free rent in Sherman Oaks
and that's been our home ever since, and the community
(13:22):
has embraced us. And some of our very first customers
were Marlon Brando and Carrie Grant, and Marlon Brando had
a huge love of the indigenous culture and he really
made Cosa Vega the Hollywood haunt that it was certainly
in the fifties and you know, to today it has
sort of that kind of magneticism with the industry, and
(13:43):
it's something that is so important to my family and
certainly our jewel. So to carry on this legacy now
means the world to me to see it go through
everything from pandemics and recessions and still pop up and thrive.
And you know, family business are so rare, but they're
I think they're more prominent in the Latino culture because
(14:06):
we definitely, you know, it's very important to us to
have something a small business, to pass on to our
generations and to employ our families, and so to be
able to kind of carry on this tradition is something
that I'm super passionate about. I'm passionate about the restaurant
industry in general, certainly my family's legacy and all the
(14:27):
other family businesses that are out there with possibly not
such a big platform. So it's something that I use.
And then we've been doing our day dail Smartos celebration
for a few years now since my father passed. It's
a really wonderful way for me and our customers to
reconnect with him every year, and we do this big
event of from six to ten pm and people can
(14:51):
purchase tickets on open table through experiences, and we have
Mariachi's and we decorate the patio with marigolds, and we
have have experiences for people. So we have face painting.
If people want to do a little touch up and
join the spirit, we'll have a communal a frienda So
we invite people to please bring pictures of your loved
ones so that they're there with us tonight. And if
(15:13):
a picture isn't possible, we have butterflies so you can
write their name on and we serve a special meal
and we have you know, different pop ups that are
coming from different tequila companies and it's really a fun
night that we try and kind of help heal. And
so that's my biggest pitch that I have to everybody.
(15:34):
Is it sometimes in America that we want to repress
feelings and that the wonderful this most important thing about
this is about the tradition of this holiday, is that
you can actually revisit your loved ones and death and
in a very positive, happy, uplifting way where we celebrate,
we tell stories, we we you know, we cheers to
(15:58):
them and it's a really night and in a way
to kind of take the burn out of the loss
of death.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
You know, there's power in that as you talk about
the old friendes. For those that don't know, these are
altars and the tradition is of connection with those that
have passed on, and it's such a beautiful way to
remember people in your family, even you know, I've seen
a friend as that have all kinds of famous people
(16:25):
on them or people that are missed and things like that.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
And although it's the day.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Of the dead is celebrated throughout Mexico, not all every region.
You know, my family comes from Juanaato, and that was
It wasn't something I grew up with. It wasn't something
that was in the household, although we had books on
it and stuff. But man as I learned as I
got older, I was kind of introduced to it through
(16:51):
the punk rock movement, strangely enough, and then I saw
how beautiful it was. And it's something that I find
to be amazing in the thought that Casavega is going
to be celebrating not only withoud that four course dinner
on the patio there, but Maniyachi's and the face painting
and so on, sounds wonderful. Okay, Now we're gonna get
some news here in a second, but I want to
(17:14):
talk to you for one more segment, So hang on
because you mentioned about your passion for the food industry,
and I know that there's some fights that you're still
fighting to this day, and I would be remiss if
I didn't mention them and get your insight.
Speaker 1 (17:27):
So hang tight.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
We're gonna come back and we're gonna talk more, not
only about Casa Vega and the event going on today
and enjoying what they have there at Casa Vega and
the restaurant itself, but also hearing more about the culture
and the history of this beautiful restaurant. If you've never
gone before, you have to. It's a really special place.
(17:52):
Christina Vega is my guest from Casavega. Their Day of
the Dead event is going on today. You can find
out more at Casavega dot com.
Speaker 3 (18:00):
You're listening to the Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Happy Day of the Dead to you today.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
I know that sounds strange if that is outside of
your cultural wheelhouse, but in the Mexican culture, the view
is to connect with the dead not to be afraid
of it, so some of the imagery when you see
it sometimes might take some people back. One of the
most beautiful movies and one that will get me crying
(18:28):
instantly is Coco if you haven't seen it, it's a
beautiful movie about culture and connection there that ties into
this beautiful day. It's the fork portum Neil Savedra. We
are talking with Christina Vega today from Casa Vega, who's
doing a Day of the Dead celebration today. You can
find out more at casavega dot com. Christina, when you
(18:51):
had mentioned we were talking, you had mentioned about your
your love for restaurant culture, the importance of food in
the community. I think it's important to not only the
culture locally. Food is very important.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
The word.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Companion pan bread is right in the center of it
actually literally means someone you break bread with. But a
lot of people forget that it's not only a business
and it's important to the economy locally, but also that
it needs to be protected and that they're you know,
not everybody is a Food Network star chef or something
(19:32):
with all this glamor. It's incredibly hard work and the
city needs to protect it and be there for them
as well, and that's been one of your battle cries.
Speaker 1 (19:42):
Tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Yeah, it's something that I'm really passionate about. You know,
when I did go to college, I studied business and economics,
and I really understand how these things work. And then
now a couple of decades into their industry, I it's
and especially after COVID, it's devastating. And I don't think
(20:04):
it's intentional, but what is happening to our industry by
our local governments, by the city, by the county, by
the state. It is a bit problematic when the people
up at the top and these legislators don't really have
any business documen, and I think that they make decisions
that sound good but really have huge ramifications. And someone's
(20:26):
ramifications are extreme over regulation of the industry, which present
huge economic barriers to actually enter the industry. And the
most wonderful thing I've always thought about the restaurant industry
is certainly like my family, it's a pathway to the
American dream. So you know, if you come from India,
and even if you're a doctor there, you can't always
(20:47):
practice here. But what you can do is you can
open up a little restaurant and you can serve the
food that you know, or you're my family and you
come and you bring over, you know, your cuisine from Mexico,
and you're able to open a taco stand, which then
becomes a restaurant. And these are the pathways and the
more over regulation that we have on restaurants, it only
(21:09):
benefits the big, huge corporations, and it really drives out
the smallest operators who can't get through the red tape,
who don't understand the permitting, who don't understand the immense
amount of regulations and hoops they make us constantly jump through.
And unfortunately there's been a little bit of criminalizing businesses
(21:31):
and kind of making us the bad guys.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
I find that what does that look like? And how that.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
Yeah, that definitely looks like. Everything kind of becomes our responsibility.
So when we start, when we pop up and say, hey,
you know, if there's a problem, and say, you know,
climate change all of a sudden, now, the first things
that they'll do is and we do have this problem.
And I am a lifelong democrat, I believe in all
of these. But the answer to us and the pow
(22:00):
year has been to compost all of our trash. Well,
that also increases our bills by thousands of dollars per month.
And so when you do these things and it also
prevents it also presents a huge problem for the leakage
and how we store it, which then gets into other regulations.
And so this is just one thing. And the other
(22:21):
thing is they'll make us all of the food to
go containers have to be compostable. Those are now an
up an extra eighty percent in costs. We cannot pass
those on to the customers. The customers have seen enough
of the cost rising. And what it does is then
then into a lot of sauce. It doesn't hold in it.
The customer gets mad, it gets angry, we get yelled at,
(22:42):
and it's kind of one thing after the next. Another
thing is not supporting anything big, Like all insurance companies
have left California. So because of how the state is
run now, were all our business policies are getting dropped.
So there's only three carriers in the state. Nobody can
get insurance. So if you're experiencing any crime which is
(23:02):
rampant in the city, then you get dropped. You get
dropped as well. So if you're a victim of a burglary,
an arson like myself, property crime. I've had a bus
boy stabbed coming off the metro right in front of
Corosso Vega. All these things equal into the small businesses
losing their insurance. And when you re get insurance, it's
(23:23):
at a premium, like myself of an extra thirty thousand
dollars a year. So as that continues, it's impossible for
the small little person, say in Van Eyes who's just opening,
to be able to deal with this when their window
gets smashed out five times in two months. The insurance
companies don't want to pay for it. When the city
isn't going to prosecute that crime, they the insurance isn't
(23:44):
going to pay for it. And so what it does
is it drives those small businesses out. Last year alone,
we had two hundred restaurants closed in LA and so whenever, yeah,
when restaurants when small, When politicians will say that they
support or a small business, it's like you actually don't.
If you did, then that that wouldn't happen, This wouldn't
(24:05):
be the state of where things are from. And the
increasing of the minimum wage, which again people kind of
don't it sounds great we all want low income workers
to make more money, but what's happening is it really
doesn't because it goes across the whole state, and so
the whole supply chain raises. So now that little family
(24:26):
afore that goes to McDonald's to feed their family, it
used to cost them sixty dollars. Maybe they make a
few bucks hour extra minimum wage, but that meal now
costs eighty dollars. They don't have that in their pocket.
And so what I'm trying to promote is deregulation of
the industry, make it easier for people to get in,
so that little family can possibly maybe they can get
(24:46):
a little taco shop, maybe they can open up panduria
that they can then leave to generations, and that that
will actually put more money in their pockets and help
the lower class and it helps bring them up, and
certainly was the story of my family. So I am
all for helping everybody, but I do believe that you
do that by promoting economic growth and not kind of
(25:08):
curbing it, which is what's been happening to the restaurant industry.
So you'll see, like I said, it's the smallest operators
that go first, and the people that can scoop up
these rents, and that can deal with the government, and
that can pay fancy expediters to get the permits they need.
They're just big chains, and so we're losing the kind
of the heart and soul of what the restaurant industry is.
(25:30):
And certainly it affects the Latino community because food is
so important to us. It is how we show love.
It is it's you know, you can you see it everywhere.
So it's something I'm very passionate about and trying to
get both sides to understand these problems of that's happening
in the industry. Keep our doors open, and that supporting
(25:51):
small businesses. I hope people from the city, in state
and county are listening is just as noble as supporting
the unhoused on the which has a ton of funding.
And we've all been patient and we've all given tax
dollars and we support the billions that are being spent.
But there's other places that need money as well that
(26:11):
can really benefit Angelino's throughout the city.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah, I think too. I share.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
I can give a hearty amen to everything you said,
and I share many of your views on these things.
I think we often go towards the emotional rather than
the intellectual, and it's easier to go, oh, well, helping
these people or this instead of looking at saying where
can that money do the best for everyone? And it's
hard to it's hard to have a warm heart when
(26:39):
there's people that are mentally ill on the streets, that
are lighting fires in the front of your business and
causing havoc when you're not getting the protections you need.
This is something that we're going to have to have
you in sometime and sit down and talk about at length,
because everything I've heard you talk about on these notes
(27:01):
and issues, you've been not only passionate, but well read
and focused. I think from a balance between the heart
and head, which we don't always get from politicians and
the like. So let's save that for another time, because
I would really really love to have me put together
a panel of people that we can talk to politicians
and like and have them bring them on the air
(27:21):
where they have to kind of stand up to what
they say and it's on the record.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
But I appreciate you taking the time.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
That is the voice of Christina Vega from Casa Vega
here in the Valley on Ventura Boulevard, Casavega dot Comcosavega
dot com. If you want to go there tonight and celebrate,
if there's still tickets and room left enjoy, you can
find out out there.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Thanks so much for your time. I appreciate you.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Thank you is such a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
Well talk. I'm surprised you at any time. I've seen
your feed and I get exhausted looking at your day
and it's clips of it, let alone the whole thing.
So thanks for coming on and we'll talk again soon,
my friend.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
Okay, thank you, bye bye.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
Now you've been listening to the Fork Report, you can
always hear us live on KFI AM six forty two
to five pm on Saturday and anytime on demand on
the iHeartRadio app
The Fork Report w Neil Saavedra News
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