The city-wide second annual Long Beach Black Restaurant Week takes place from Sunday, Jan. 22 through Sunday, Jan. 29. Organized by the nonprofit Long Beach Food & Beverage, the event is an eight-day festival devoted to celebrating African, African American, and Caribbean fare, in and around Long Beach. The event highlights  Black-owned food businesses, as well as Black chefs and bartenders, to showcase the city’s diverse Black food scene.

Sweet brick and mortar and cottage business participants include Fluffy SnoBalls, SnoCorner, Extraordinary Banana Pudding, Filthy Rich Banana Pudding, Devi’s Donuts, KATs Gourmet Cookies, Smakkd Refreshers and StrongBeach Lemonade.

Husband-and-wife teams include Miller Butler pop-up, Georgia’s Restaurant, Axiom BBQ pop-up, Devi’s Donuts and Popcorn World. 

There’s also barbecue from Twins Smokehouse BBQ, as well as Sumptuous African Restaurant, Sal’s Gumbo Shack, Cheri’s Caribbean, Smokin’ Crackers, Cheri’s Caribbean Kitchen and The Boujie Crab.

Long Beach Black Restaurant Week

Courtesy Bougie Crab

In honor of Dolly Parton’s birthday, Hollywood hotspot Desert 5 Spot will host its second tribute night to the country legend on Thursday, Jan. 19. There will be live performances by the house band, as well as special guests. Attendees are encouraged to dress like the icon, and as part of Desert 5 Spot’s initiative to give back, the bar will be donating 10% of  sales from select specialty cocktails to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Slow Burn is a roaming restaurant practiced as an experiment in closed-loop cooking. Led by chef team Andy Doubrava and Tiffani Ortiz, Slow Burn combines their talents ranging from biodynamic farming, food preservation and fine dining. Offering broad experiences from casual concepts to 10- to 18-course tasting menus, the nomadic restaurateurs can be found making use of their long term misos, vinegars and  charcuterie from California to New Zealand in various venues.

After years working in Michelin-starred restaurants, Doubrava and Ortiz offer sustainable dining alternatives on the outskirts of the hospitality industry. They’ll bring their experience to Death & Co in LA’s Arts District for two nights only – Monday, Jan.  16 and Tuesday,  Jan. 17 – with a seven-course meal paired with a special menu of cocktails. Reservations can be made via Tock for parties of 1 to 8, prepaid at $200 per person.

Long Beach Black Restaurant Week

ISLA pops up at Lunetta (Jakob Layman)

Beginning on Sunday, Jan. 22, the folks at Crudo e Nudo will preview their new ISLA restaurant menu with two Santa Monica residencies. They will pop up at Lunetta on Sunday evenings and Tallula’s on Monday evenings for four consecutive weeks through Monday, Feb. 13. 

BOOK YOUR LUNETTA POP-UP RESY HERE

January 22 + 29 and February 5 + 12

BOOK YOUR TALLULA’S POP-UP RESY HERE

January 23 + 30 and February 6 + 13

What’s Popping Up is a weekly column in the L.A. Weekly that explores all that’s new in food and drink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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