Kahja interviews Mona Holmes
Food writers play a critical role in shaping the culture of a place, and in a big city like Los Angeles, big voices like Mona Holmes of Eater LA have become trusted sources for food reporting that not only share the places you should be eating, but the stories of the people and communities that make restaurants a vital economic resource in the region.
This week, Mona talks with Kahja about working in restaurants as a way to understand the business of food, the ongoing question of which California region has the best Mexican cuisine, how LA's culinary culture has been informed by Black migration and growing immigrant populations, the economic impact of regulatory processes on food businesses and cities, the state of the restaurant industry in LA post-wildfires and Kahja's discovery of Altadena, food writing and the presence of Black voices, the joy of solo dining, and the excitement of the evolving face of the restaurant industry in the area.
Recorded on location in Los Angeles, CA.
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Intro music by Diff Works