Angels must be watching over Triangle Park, located at the corner of Lake and Altadena Drive. Before 2010, the restaurant space there was a revolving door of changing eateries. One week, it was a fast-food joint; a few months later, it was a short-lived Mediterranean place that wasn’t so bad. Then a wretched “Wings and Elbows,” or some absurd combination. “I think it’s a money-laundering front,” I said to Ken. “Except they don’t launder money; they deep fry it.” Altadenans stayed away in droves. The previous owners apparently didn’t care about profits or the community.
However, on May 15, 2010, a new restaurant opened: El Patron. Ken and I were excited to support it because we wanted a place to eat within walking distance of our house, which was only three blocks away. We were the first to walk through El Patron’s doors, beginning our tradition of dining there every Monday.
The owners, Alex and Maggie Cortez, became friends and eventually family. They called us Mami and Papi. The Cortez family is generous, some might say too generous. To me, Maggie Cortez is an angel. Now a single parent and the sole owner of El Patron, I wish I could wave a magic wand and change the sign to “La Matrona.”
When I received a press release from the California Restaurant Foundation asking if I could highlight some of their recent $10,000 grant recipients, I replied, “I will if El Patron is on your list.” I even forwarded the grant application notice to Maggie. The good news: Maggie and El Patron were among the recipients! $2.4 million in relief was distributed to support Los Angeles’ restaurant community. The funding was made possible with support from American Express, Resy, FireAid and Postmates. I hope the CRF will consider another round of grants, as it’s clear that help is still needed.
We still go to El Patron on Monday afternoons, but business is way, way down: They’ve had to cut back their hours after the fire. We make an effort to go out of our way to eat there as often as we can. (The tamales and enchiladas suizas are excellent!)
We also go because Maggie represents someone who stands for her Altadena community. Before the fire, El Patron was known for donating food to nonprofits and never turning away an unhoused person. I saw this myself many times. Then, after the fire, Maggie — the angel of Altadena — was surprised to find that El Patron still stood, an island of survival amid the widespread devastation…a true miracle.
I asked Maggie where she got her community spirit and generosity. “My faith, my mother and the angels,” she said. Maggie’s late mother was also a woman of faith, and Maggie believes her mother is her guiding angel.
Maggie is an earthbound angel. When she found that El Patron survived, she was alone with no power or water. Always resourceful, she used a generator to keep their food cold and started preparing free meals for people who were holding down their looter and fire-threatened “forts.” Friends and neighbors worked together to prevent Maggie’s house from being engulfed, and they succeeded, although the house behind hers burned down. Maggie isn’t just heroic; she’s surrounded by people who love her and saved her home.
And now, more than ever, we need to be angels for Maggie and the other struggling businesses that are open in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Whether you’re reading this in the San Gabriel Valley, Downtown LA or the Westside, it would be a true mitzvah if you were to schlep out here to support Altadena goods and services.
Now that the Army Corps has cleared most Altadena lots, business has declined significantly. For example, I heard through the grapevine that the Arco at the corner of New York and Altadena Drive experienced a 50% drop in sales. I make sure to fill up there during my frequent trips to our property.
With over 6,000 residences destroyed and residents displaced, Altadena becomes a ghost town at night. That’s why Brooke Iva started the Altadena Dining Club (ADC), a much-needed brainchild of hers. (Find the ADC on Facebook.)
Brooke chooses a different restaurant each week, and the ADC not only attracts customers to the business but also provides a way to connect with other survivors. It has been incredibly healing. We’ve made new friends and reunited with people we haven’t seen since before the fire. When we see each other, we often hug and cry. It’s essential to share our grief with others who are experiencing the same thing. Brooke is now starting another project called the Altadena Passport, where you get your passport stamped by the businesses you visit and then are entered into a raffle.
We are again working out with Sarah, our trainer, at Altadena’s “The Wellrock,” and we shop at the Grocery Outlet on Lake as often as possible. As soon as it reopens, we’ll be back at Vanderhoof Veterinary. I have selfish reasons: We want all our services to be available and thriving when our home is rebuilt. All of us who are rebuilding want our cherished businesses to be there when we return.
It’s not a stretch to say that Altadena is full of angels, whether you believe in them or not.
If you’re interested in my online creative writing class, email me at ellen@beautybitesbeast.com. Many of you have asked if there is a GoFundMe campaign to help us recover from the devastating loss of our home and possessions. The answer is yes! You can donate at bit.ly/Ellen-Ken.
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