Palisades Garden Cafe owner James Kwon welcomed people to the ad hoc street party.
One of the first indicators that Pacific Palisades was healing was after the fire when the Garden Café reopened on La Cruz on March 7.
But that was nothing compared to the event that happened on April 5. Almost 200 people joined owner James Kwon for a last-minute party.
Kwon sent some emails on April 2 “I wanted to invite you to a gathering that some of the locals are throwing at PGC (Palisades Garden Café). It’ll be this Saturday at 5 p.m. There will be free food and drinks. I hope you can make it.”
People did, as word of mouth spread the invitation. Residents thronged the streets, some danced, others chatted, firefighters from Station 23 and 69 were there. There were seniors, teens and parents with small children all gathered at the intersection of Alma Real and La Cruz.
Residents milled around and reconnected on Saturday night.
One firefighter told a resident, “I’m sorry, there was just no water.” Members of the Army Corp of Engineers were present, people selling Pali Strong items, dogs and just a gathering of people coming together to reclaim the community.
There was free food: sliders, chicken nuggets, coleslaw, potato salad and ice cream and cookies.
There was a wide selection of food – and the kitchen kept refilling the dishes.
Kwon wandered among the crowd thanking people for coming and everywhere people told him “Thank you for coming back. Thank you for opening.”
When this editor tried to express how much this meant that he had the guts to open so people had a place to go, he said, “you have to talk to Eliot.”
Elliot Zorensky is his landlord. Zorensky explained that like most residents and businesspeople after the January 7 fire, James was feeling the “fire fog.”
“My wife and I discussed how to get the Palisades back. Which business would struggle, and which would thrive – the one tenant we identified as a service badly needed was the Garden Café,” Zorensky said and spoke to Kwon and told him residents needed him to get Pacific Palisades back to the pre-fire community.
“All he needed was the nudge,” Zorensky said, “and he got the vision.”
Not only did Kwon get the vision, but was activated and brought his business back, even as other standing businesses are still trying to decide when they should reopen.
Kwon’s love of the community is obvious as he went person to person on Saturday evening, thanking everyone.
Prior to the Palisades Fire, Kwon was always the first to donate food and drinks for community celebrations such as HO!HO!HO! or silent auctions.
Zorensky said, “He loves his customers and employees.”
The feeling is mutual. Thanks to Kwon for opening and trying to bring normalcy back to Pacific Palisades.
The zoom link in your article about the mayor’s Tuesday meetings did not work
It was so fun!
I second Cindy Simon’s suggestion. Let’s recognize James as our next Honorary Mayor.
He is so deserving of this honor !!!