ONE HOT TAMALE

As a successful restaurateur in the Los Angeles area for over 35 years, out chef Susan Feniger thought she’d seen it all — earthquakes, social unrest, recessions — that is, until the spring of 2020, when the global pandemic reared its ugly head.

“This is, by far, way more intense,” Feniger says of how the crisis has affected the restaurant and hospitality business. “I mean, when you’re shut down for four or five days, it’s one thing, [due to] riots and curfews…but this is very hard to navigate, I think, for everybody. It really threatens the business in a way that nothing else ever has.”