The Angel Turns 1
Anniversary reflections, and what’s up next
The Angel turns one this week. A year ago, I published my first profile on Substack. It was about how El Prado’s Nicky Fisher, at the time a budding ice cream maker, had opened the scoop shop of his dreams on Sunset Boulevard and called it Fluffy McCloud’s. The story remains the epitome of the kind of storytelling I was excited to pursue by starting The Angel: in-depth portraits of the most compelling characters working in the contemporary Los Angeles food scene.
Since then, I’ve gone on to profile the promising new faces of Cafe Tropical, the Ethiopian restaurateur who has persevered amidst political strife, and the mission-driver baker giving Bub and Grandma’s a run for their money. I’ve done quite a bit of reporting, too. I went fishing for big fat SoCal bluefin tunas, took stock of the hot dog-dominant Eastside bar scene, and built up an appetite for answering important questions about our food culture, like why so few restaurants have a license to serve liquor.
A year ago, I was a freelance food writer and New York expat falling deeper in love with Los Angeles. I was inspired by the places I was eating at, new and old, and by the ambitious people I was coming across in the local food and restaurant scene. But I was frustrated because there weren’t enough opportunities within L.A.’s existing, yet dwindling, food media landscape to cover what was captivating me, at least not in the way in the ways that I wanted to.
When I told David Gurzhiev about the idea for The Angel, he told me I had to do it. Then he asked me if he could take the pictures. I honestly hadn’t even thought about the fact that I’d need photography, but as we got started, I quickly realized how essential his honest and, at times, stirring portraits of our subjects and their environments would become to The Angel. The Angel’s point of view is more collaborative than I initially envisioned, and I’m grateful for that. I’m looking forward to bringing more voices and perspectives into the fold as The Angel grows.
If the journalistic work I’ve been able to self-publish has been the most rewarding part of this project thus far, the most fun I’ve had has been curating Plugs. (Psst: for paid subscribers, a Plugs map is coming soon). It’s also been a pleasure to share my favorite restaurants right now, dish on my love for coconut water and chicken soup, and reveal the places I like to eat in New York, London, and Paris. And it’s been an honor to theorize on how to live and dine in L.A., do an hour on shrimp cocktail, chronicle the meals of an art world visitor, and publish a wonderful wine story by The Angel’s first contributor, David Rosoff.
More is coming. More profiles and features and lists, but also new series, new formats, perhaps events… maybe merch?
Without The Angel’s readers, none of this would be possible. Thank you so much for reading and for supporting. Thank you, too, for letting me get sappy in this anniversary post. I’ll wrap it up, but first, an ask: send tips, point me down a rabbit hole, tell me whose work I should know about, and what you want to see more of. You can always reply to any of my newsletters (or message me in Substack), and I’ll get back. The Angel is a newsletter, yes, but it’s also a community, and one with legs to include every last person who cares about food and restaurants in Los Angeles. (At least, I hope!)
If you love The Angel, please share it with your friends and family, colleagues and lovers, acquaintances and strangers alike. Gift them a subscription, even! Let’s lift a halo over this whole town. :)
Up next, next week: a profile on the coolest new bar—or is it a restaurant?—that you don’t know about yet, for a very good reason.
Congrats Emily! Love a good map.
Congratulations on one heck of a year! 🥳🍾