Q&A: LA Pizza, MAGA Food Influencers & Softball Interview Backlash. Plus, Mona Holmes on How 2020 Reshaped Food Media

About this episode

The episode features a Q&A on LA dining and an interview with Mona Holmes discussing the impact of 2020 on food media.

This week on The LA Food Podcast , Luca and Father Sal kick things off with a listener Q&A covering some of the most pressing issues in Los Angeles dining: where to find a trendy but affordable sit-down meal, whether LA has its own pizza style, how much power food influencers really have, what makes a restaurant creator trustworthy, and why Brazilian pizza at Sampa’s in Marina del Rey might be one of LA’s most underrated World Cup-adjacent food experiences. They also discuss Holy Basil , Cafe Telegram , Roshna Bilash , KurryPinch , Asadero Los Angeles , Naughty Pie Nature , Dudley Market discourse, chef behavior, and the eternal question of whether Reese’s peanut butter cups have always been this chalky. Then, James Beard Award-nominated journalist Mona Holmes of Eater LA joins the show for a deep conversation about how 2020 changed food media forever . Mona and Luca revisit the collision of COVID, the George Floyd protests, the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen reckoning, Adam Rapoport’s resignation, Alison Roman, Peter Meehan and the LA Times Food section, the James Beard Awards overhaul, and the shrinking of food newsrooms across the country. They also dig into what has been lost…

People in this episode

Hosts: Luca, Father Sal

Guest: Mona Holmes

Topics covered

• Los Angeles dining
• food influencers
• food media
• COVID-19 impact
• restaurant culture
• food journalism

Keywords

• LA pizza
• food influencers
• MAGA food
• food media changes
• restaurant trust
• COVID-19
• James Beard Awards
• food journalism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Eater LA, Bon Appétit, LA Times, James Beard Awards, LA Taco, LAist, independent newsletters

Products: Reese’s peanut butter cups

Places: Los Angeles, Marina del Rey, LA

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