Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

ARLINGTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Frustration and concern are growing in Arlington over the new interchange being built at Interstate 30 and State Highway 360.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2023, but this week, a TXDOT spokesman issued a statement that said the project's timeline would be revised. "Construction schedule revisions for the $264 million dollar project are currently underway with all the project partners, and we expect an updated timeline soon."

A different spokesman said Friday afternoon that he couldn't provide any more details.

At nearby Boston's Pizza Restaurant and Sports Bar, Manager Manuel Gutierrez said, "I wish it was done two years ago. I wish it would have been done already."

But the reality is there's a lot more work to be done before the new interchange will be completed.

While some of the elevated ramps have been opened to traffic, others are still in the process of going up.

Gutierrez said the lunch crowd shrank after construction began in March of 2016.

All of the resulting congestion has led to financial indigestion. "We struggle to get sales in and to be able to pay the rent on time."

Arlington Mayor Jim Ross isn't happy about the pace of the project either. "It certainly feels like that project has been going on forever."

Ross said he worries the project could take another two to three years to wrap up.

He said he's heard the COVID-19 pandemic has caused problems with staffing and materials. "The bottom line is it's taken too long. We need to get this thing wrapped up. The businesses around there deserve it. The community deserves it. People are tired of driving through all of the construction."

As crews replace the old clover-leaf turnpike configuration with a new direct connect interchange, Travis Church, a driver who often visits North Texas, said he's seen enough. "It's a nightmare. If it's like this next year, I'm going to choose a different section."

When asked what his message is to TXDOT, Gutierrez said, "I hope they can get it done and they can start working faster so they can help the businesses around this area to get more traffic into the restaurants, into our doors so we can stay alive, so we can stay open."

Jack covers politics for KTVT-TV CBS 11 and has been with the station since September 2003.

Originally posted here:
Frustration grows over I-30/SH 360 construction in Arlington - CBS News

What is a tax increment financing district?

Cities like to use tax increment financing districts to give developers incentives to build new projects. However, TIF districts can have advantages and drawbacks.

Dwight Adams, dwight.adams@indystar.com

Four parking garage projects under construction in Carmel will bring more than 1,300 new parking spaces to the city when the structures are complete.

The garages will represent multi-million dollar investments in new parking structures in Carmel, according to information provided by the city.

Those numbers do not include new projects recently proposed to the city council, projects going through the permitting process or the existing public garages throughout the city, such as those at the Tarkington, Veterans Way and in Midtown.

'Something spectacular':Construction of luxury hotel in Fishers to begin

Three of the four garagesunder construction are tied to mixed-use developments, which also will be home to offices, commercial businesses and residential spaces, such as apartments and condos.

Carmel: $53.5M in bonds for future developments are before Carmel Council. Here are the projects.

Those projects are a reflection of Mayor Jim Brainards vision of partnering with developers on economic development projects that provide public amenities in the city, Carmel Redevelopment Director Henry Mestetsky said in an email.

In contrast to the suburban strip malls and lack of mixed-use that covers so much of our country, public parking garages paid for and maintained by developers will continue to keep Carmels urban neighborhoods unique, walkable and accessible to all, Mestetsky said.

According to the city, the parking structures under construction in Carmel are:

First on Main:

The mixed-use First on Main development under construction at Main Street and Range Line Road will include space for a restaurant, office, apartments and condos.

The parking garage will have 311 spaces.

The Signature:

The Signature, another mixed-use development, is under construction at Main and Old Meridian Streets. The development will include retail space, apartments and condos.

The parking garage will have 374 spaces.

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Carmel Arts & Design District: How a new development will impact Main Street

The Corner:

The Corner, a mixed-use project under construction, will include apartments and retail space. It is located at 116th Street and Range Line Road.

The parking garage will have 364 spaces.

Civic Square Garage:

Construction of the Civic Square garage, located at Monon Green Boulevard and Veterans Way, is led by the Carmel Redevelopment Commission.

The parking garage will have 303 spaces.

Through tax increment financing and public-private partnerships, the city can carefully plan its growth in areas designated for redevelopment, Mestetsky said.

Tax increment financing, also known as TIF, provides Carmel the opportunity to use increased tax revenue from rising property values on a site to pay for redevelopment work, including parking garages.

In this case, the city has previously issued bonds to help finance these projects, but the developers of the mixed-use sites are responsible for making the payments.

Indiana: Carmel and Indy have relied on TIF districts. Now the state wants to use a similar tool.

Additionally, the developer-led garage projects are also maintained by the private sector, Mestetsky said.

The fourth project, the Civic Square parking garage, is led by the Carmel Redevelopment Commission and is under construction just north of Carmels City Hall. Construction on the garage is expected to be finished in mid-July, Mestetsky said.

It is expected to be the citys most tech-advanced garage, with parking space counters, EV charging stations and solar panels on the roof, Mestetsky said.

Contact IndyStar's Carmel and Westfield reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter @CarloniBrittany.

Read more:
4 parking garages under construction in Carmel will add 1300 new spaces in the city - IndyStar

Interior alteration

REC CENTER: 1500 S. Orange St., description, renovation to existing bathrooms at the Heymann Rec Center, applicant, BBA; contractor, Sartin Builders; $120,000.

HOSPITAL: 4540 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, description, parking lot for Acadiana Ambulance; applicant, Brian Roy; contractor, MC Concrete; $10,000.

RETAIL: 5725 Johnston St., description, photo studio; applicant and contractor, Selfie Image; $6,000.

APARTMENTS: 600 E. University Ave., Unit 3, description, repairs due to small fire; applicant and contractor, Kishbaugh Construction; $15,500.

OFFICE: 400 E. Kaliste Saloom Road, description, none listed; applicant and contractor, CM Miciotto & Son; $91,100.

OTHER: 2845 Verot School Road, applicant, Vermilion Architects; contractor, CM Miciotto & Son; $1,157,305.

RESTAURANT: 6718 Johnston St., applicant, Chris Neal; contractor, CM Miciotto & Son; $959,175.

SHOPPING CENTER: 601 Kaliste Saloom Road, description, demo suites D and E; applicant and contractor, NCM Contractors; $4,000.

1002 Albertsons Parkway, Broussard: Gleason Ledet Construction, $176,851.

122 Cherrywood Drive: Shivers Brothers Construction, $291,870.

In an ever-evolving business landscape, you need trusted information from a reliable source to help you make decisions. We provide that daily data, analysis and insights from local experts.

101 Riverway Drive, Youngsville: Krewe Construction Development Group, $456,840.

218 Printemps Road, Carencro: Manuel Builders, $314,820.

306 Oats Drive: homeowner, $352,980.

114 Anza Drive: Manuel Builders, $167,040.

211 Harvest Creek Lane: Acadiana Dream Home, $274,050.

115 Alpine Meadows Lane: DSLD Gulf Coast, $182,160.

117 Alpine Meadows Lane: DSLD Gulf Coast, $228,870.

229 Wild Cherry Lane: DSLD Gulf Coast, $283,770.

227 Wild Cherry Lane: DSLD, $199,080.

225 Wild Cherry Lane: DSLD, $213,300.

223 Wild Cherry Lane: DSLD, $216,450.

222 Wild Cherry Lane; DSLD, $279,360.

208 Rose of Sharon Lane: DSLD, $283,770.

More here:
Who's building where in Acadiana? Here are the building permits issued May 4-9 - The Advocate

by: Ivy Tan

Posted: May 11, 2022 / 02:42 PM EDT

Updated: May 11, 2022 / 02:46 PM EDT

MANASSAS, Va. (WRIC) Bold flavors are coming to the City of Manassas on Thursday, May 12, by way of a brand new Checkers drive-through restaurant.

The Floridabased fast-food chain Checkers & Rally announced in a release Wednesday that a truck carrying parts of the eaterys pop-up building will travel through the streets of the city, where residents can then watch crews assemble the pieces on a lot located at 9540 Liberia Avenue. Construction will begin Thursday at 7 a.m. and continue throughout the rest of the day.

The drive-through pop-up will service customers while a permanent Checkers restaurant, which is set to open in the summer, is being built.

Although Checkers is best known for its hamburgers and seasoned fries, the restaurant also offers hot dogs, sandwiches and milkshakes.

A video of a Checkers drive-through being assembled is available for those who cant make it to Manassas to watch the construction happen in person. Additional information about Checkers is available on the restaurants website.

Go here to see the original:
New Checkers drive-through restaurant being dropped off by crane in Manassas - WRIC ABC 8News

Parachute has always punched above its class. Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark have earned Michelin stars and James Beard Awards by creating one of the countrys definitive Korean American restaurants in a rickety 100-year-old house on Chicagos North Side that lacks the pristine multimillion-dollar kitchens deployed at some of the worlds top dining destinations.

When the state suspended indoor dining in March 2020 due to COVID, Parachute started to offer takeout, back then a novelty for a Michelin-caliber restaurant. Kim and Clark continued to experiment with new ways to stay afloat. Theyve tried to sell frozen Parachute items, including their popular bing bread, nationwide via Goldbelly, filling the back room of their second restaurant, Wherewithall, with boxes and other materials.

But then, just as restaurants began to reopen in June 2021, Parachute closed completely. The dining room is small, not social distance-friendly, and it seemed like the right time to take a break for a complete renovation. The couple kept themselves busy with Wherewithall down the street and caring for their three children, which inspired Kim to start the Abundance Setting, an organization dedicated to providing practical support for working mothers who dont have traditional nine-to-five jobs.

Now, nearly a year later, Kim and Clark say theyre ready to emerge from their cocoon, perhaps to reclaim the star Michelin inspectors took away from the restaurant while they were closed. Kim hopes the opening will take place within the next two weeks, barring technical difficulties.

Its time to take risks, says Kim with a slightly raised voice. I think as a Korean American Im more confident in myself to be more authentic to myself.

Before Parachutes debut almost exactly eight years ago, Kim says felt she needed to convince Chicagoans that she and her husband could elevate Korean cuisine. Back then, Parachutes tagline was Korean food with French technique. Aside from Japanese cuisine, Asian food especially Asian food away from LA, San Francisco, and New York was looked down upon by the fine dining community. Kim and Clark, both with Midwestern-sized chips on their shoulders, were determined to make Parachute into something special. Adding French was a bit of a crutch to attract the general American public, food media, and award panels, parties that Kim says werent ready to give Korean food its due.

Now, eight years later, Americans are, in general, more knowledgeable about Korean food and they have a stronger appreciation beyond Korean barbecue hits like galbi. This familiarity, in addition to the excellence of Kim and Clarks food, helped buoy Parachutes success and Kims confidence. The awards have also helped.

Other BIPOC chefs in Chicago have shared a similar experience. Carlos Gaytn, the first Mexican chef to preside over a Michelin-starred restaurant, centered his West Town restaurant Mexique around Mexican cuisine prepared with French technique. But his latest restaurant, Tzuco, serves similar dishes without that narrative. Bo Fowler, born in Korea and raised in Minnesota, opened a British pub, Owen & Engine, before honing in on Chinese and Korean fare at her Logan Square brewpub, Bixi Beer.

The new Parachute menu will lean more into Korean cuisine. The two chefs are still determining exactly what will be on it, but the selection will be tighter. Thats a financial consideration, Kim says, based on the realities of running a restaurant during a pandemic when costs are rising everywhere. Focusing on fewer items while staffing shortages affect the industry seems like a smart business move.

Another reason for the change? Theres an increased availability of higher-quality Korean ingredients. The reach of vendors of what Clark calls artisan ingredients has increased; now they no longer have have to hunt down items like sesame seeds from Queens Bucket, a specialist from Seoul. Though a sesame seed is tiny, Clark says the sweet and nutty flavor is night and day compared to store-bought seeds.

Unfortunately, one of the casualties is Parachutes beloved and labor-intensive bing bread. But its exit will free up staff for other endeavors: We hope to create new favorites, says Clark.

The wine list also will also get a face-lift. A big, oaky red from Europe probably doesnt pair the best with Korean food. Instead, the alcohol list will be centered around Korean purveyors. The umbrella term is sool, which covers soju, chungju, and plum wine.

While Parachute is not the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Chicago to undergo a renovation in recent years three-starred Alinea gutted its Lincoln Park home in 2016 and Oriole, the two-starred restaurant in Fulton Market, unveiled a new look in 2021 its in a smaller space, so the changes wont be so drastic. Clark says the idea was to rebuild Parachute properly, the way they would have if theyd had a larger budget in 2014; back then, he says, they spent about $50,000 on construction, a comparatively small amount for a new restaurant.

The building had its charms, but as the restaurant racked up accolades, Clark and Kim say maintenance and tending to its quirks became consuming and distracted them from doing what they love. Kim recalls a large mixer crashing to the ground because the floor wasnt level, leaving a permanent dent. The space wasnt ADA compliant; the mandate didnt apply due to the buildings age. Without ramps, customers who used wheelchairs or walkers sometimes struggled to navigate the restaurants high threshold, and Clark says it bothered him that Parachute couldnt provide the same experience for them that it did for customers without disabilities.

We put a Band-Aid on everything, Clark says. Though customers couldnt see the cracks from the dining room, they continued to nag at Kim and Clark, and they were sometimes embarrassing. Kim recalls a prospective employee with experience at Michelin-starred restaurants coming in for an interview. He quickly exited after seeing the space, saying, This isnt for me.

The pandemic seemed like an ideal time to fix everything up. The staff was gone and the restaurant was empty. And Kim and Clark finally owned the building: They had dipped into their savings and used a Small Business Administration loan to buy it in early 2020, right before the pandemic forced indoor dining to close.

There was also the issue of gentrification: As developers eye Avondale, the couple had to take action, or they feared they would eventually find themselves priced out of the neighborhood.

Clark and Kim wont say how much they spent on the current renovations, only that they emptied out their savings and used money that was once reserved for opening another project. They still want Parachute to feel familiar to customers, right down to the neon sign that hung in the window, although the original was somehow thrown away during initial work. A replacement has been ordered.

Owning the building, Kim says, gives her peace of mind about her familys future. She recalls conversations with bitter old chefs who resented spending so much time in the restaurant industry without much material success to show for it. Restaurants dont have retirement plans, she says.

Now Clark and Kim have something they can potentially pass down to their children.

Parachute, 3500 N. Elston Avenue, planned for a mid-May reopening.

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Parachute, One of Chicago's Most Acclaimed Restaurants, to Reopen This Month After Two Years - Eater Chicago

Chad Dillon is the 31-year-old founder and CEO of The Boiler Seafood Atlanta. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Dillon has a special talent for identifying businesses that a community may be in need of. He was inspired to start his restaurant realizing that Atlanta was lacking food businesses within the seafood boil niche.

After being denied as a franchisee of The Juicy Crab, Dillon decided to take a risk in opening his own concept with the goal of providing an upscale seafood boil experience within Atlantas city limits.

I found that as Atlantas outskirts were growing in the seafood boil industry, the actual city of Atlanta hadnt been tapped into, he said. So I created and launched a seafood boil restaurant, The Boiler Seafood, in Atlantas most prominent neighborhood, Buckhead.

Dillon created The Boiler Seafood concept in January 2019, signed the building lease in August 2019, and opened December 4, 2020. Though it was not easy building and launching in the midst of a globalpandemic, he remained persistent, determined to bring his vision to life.

Despite opening at such a challenging time, and despite having no culinary background, he has managed to build The Boiler into an ATL hotspot. Now known as Buckheads #1 seafood and crab boil restaurant, the restaurant took the Atlanta hospitality scene by storm, bringing in over $8 Million in its first year of business.

Celebrities who have dined at The Boiler include Allen Iverson, Offset, Queen Najia, Ja Rule, and others. Dillon says dedication and consistency have played a key role in the restaurants success.

I am a thinker and innovator, so even without a culinary background, I enjoy finding voids in the business market and creating solutions; creating restaurantconcepts from ideation to execution, coming up with new menu items, and creating amazing customer experiences.Im also very hands-on. I spend about 10+ hours a day being in the restaurant, running errands, and handling needed logistics for therestaurant.

The menu of The Boiler offers a wide range of seafood items, from snow crab legs and blue crabs to mussels and crawfish. The seafood is placed in a bag along with potatoes, corn, and the restaurants special sauce, and shaken.

But thats not all. Customers interested in options outside of their famous seafood boil bags can enjoy seafood egg rolls and fried options such as shrimp, cracked crab, fried salmon, and more.The most popular item on the menu, however, is the Fried King Crab, which sells for $200.

Our Seafood Egg Rolls are coming in at a close second, a must-try appetizerstuffed with a house seafood mix including shrimp, crab meat, crawfish,and lobster meat. Customers also love our specialty drinks and flight cocktails such as our MargaritaFlight and Candy Martini Flight, which includes five drink variations per order.

The Boiler Seafood currently has offers for franchises in 48 out of 50 states, so you may soon see one popping up near you. In addition, Dillon is currently in the construction phase of a three-floor Asian fusion restaurant in Midtown Atlanta and an experiential ice cream parlor in Buckhead.

Were definitely growing, and Im excited to expand my portfolio as a restauranteur.

For more information on The Boiler, visit http://www.theboileratlanta.com and follow the restaurant at @theboileratlanta.

Related: Mychel Snoop Dillard Is Behind Some Of Your Favorite Black-Owned Atlanta Restaurants

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Meet The 31-Year-Old Behind Buckhead's 1st Black-Owned Seafood Boil Restaurant - Travel Noire

After eating her shrimp salad at the new Tacocraft Taqueria and Tequila Bar at Plantation Walk in April, Ashley Munson scanned her tables $61 lunch check. There it was, right at the bottom: a 61-cent fee called the Plantation Walk Surcharge.

Munson and her three girlfriends flagged a server. I just asked the waitress what it was, and she was like, Its for the entertainment in the center, I think? Munson recalls. So I joked to the table, Uh, thats kind of stupid. Tacocraft is the only place here. And the waitress laughed and said, Yes, lots of people have been saying the same thing. "

Lately customers at Tacocraft, the first and so far, only restaurant to open inside the $350 million food-shopping playground, have been up in arms over Plantation Walks newest upcharge. Taking their grievances to Facebook last week, eaters expressed their irritation about the fee, a 1 percent tax that every tenant in the center, including retailers, adds to each shoppers bill of sale.

A Tacocraft receipt on May 12 shows Plantation Walk's 1 percent surcharge, which is designed to help fund future entertainment programming at the shopping-and-dining complex. Plantation Walk has yet to stage a single event. (Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

The extra charge may seem negligible: a $135 tab has a $1.35 fee, for example. But diners, the city of Plantation and even Plantation Walk tenants all agree on one thing: The fee is causing too much confusion.

In the almost 79,000-member Lets Eat, South Florida Facebook group run by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Tacocraft diners expressed feeling ambushed by the surcharge, which they say appears, without warning, at the bottom of the check.

The server said it was just recently added and couldnt explain if its a percentage of your bill or a flat fee!! wrote a Tacocraft customer, adding, Wont go to this location again.

Others wondered why it shouldnt be the restaurants responsibility, instead of the customers, to foot the fee.

Its all part of overhead and should be considered in the restaurants overall pricing, another user wrote. And others preached blissful ignorance. Honestly, one commenter wrote, I prefer you just charge me a little extra without telling me its a fee for this or a fee for that.

Plantation Walks developer, Encore Capital Management, says its so-called Marketing and Entertainment Fee will fund free concerts, car shows and other future entertainment at the center. (Plantation Walk has yet to stage an event.) Encore builds this fee into the lease agreement that all Plantation Walk tenants sign, from restaurants to nail salons to gyms.

Construction continues at the $350 million food-and-shopping playground known as Plantation Walk. (Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

The 1% fee will be used to bring amazing concerts, live shows, events, holiday entertainment and more, a Plantation Walk spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to the Sun Sentinel. The details of the MEF are clearly outlined in every tenant lease, and our tenants have all been on board as they understand increased on-site entertainment options mean increased business for them.

Still, its how Plantation Walk is explaining the fee to the public not why theyre charging it thats the bigger issue, says Plantation council member Nick Sortal. City Hall had no idea that Plantation Walk would charge the tax when the council approved the developers contract, he says.

I dont have a problem with the fee. I have a problem with the way the restaurants are communicating it, Sortal says. If they put little flyers up listing upcoming events, and a line underneath saying the surcharge supports these endeavors, people would get it. Instead, residents feel ambushed, and that part isnt right.

Tacocraft founder Marc Falsetto, for his part, says the 1 percent tax is clearly marked on cards in the restaurant talking about the fee.

I feel and hear where the customers are coming from, but we have no control over it, he says. And Ive been trying to explain it [in the Lets Eat group]. All our managers are well-versed, despite what people are saying, and we encourage them to ask a manager if they have questions, not the servers.

Lately, customers have been up in arms over the newest surcharge from the developer of the new Plantation Walk, a $350 million food-and-shopping complex. (Susan Stocker / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Customers like Munson say they spotted no such cards at Tacocraft.

I didnt see any signs, says Munson, a Plantation resident and freelance event producer. When Plantation Walk is fully built and entertaining, it wont be an issue. But look out the window, theres nothing there now. It just left a sour taste.

Because Tacocraft is the first major tenant to land at the under-construction Plantation Walk, its become a target of scorn from upset customers.

[RELATED: Welcome to Florida: Expect the unexpected on your restaurant bills.]

In Plantation Walks statement, the spokesperson conceded that customers arent getting the message. At Tacocraft, some of those details were not clearly communicated to the customer, the statement reads. Customers should be clearly notified ahead of time of the 1% entertainment fee. Moving forward, there will be plenty of signage throughout the property and inside the various establishments notifying customers and explaining the reason for the fee.

But heres the rub: Unexpected restaurant fees and the indigestion that comes with it are nothing new in South Florida, as anyone whos dined on the beach or during the pandemic can attest. When it opened, The Village at Gulfstream Park, another shopping-and-dining destination in Hallandale Beach, began charging a half-percent District Improvement Fee on customer checks.

A similar Marketing and Entertainment Fee is in play at the Promenade at Sunset Walk in Kissimmee, another mega-shopping complex built by Plantation Walks developers.

Marc Brown, president of 23 Restaurant Services group, says his burgers-and-cars-themed Fords Garage will open at Plantation Walk this fall. But at the Fords Garage in Sunset Walk, customers dont appear to mind the fee. With it, theyve been able to bring in marquee music acts such as The Wailers, he says.

The fees drive a tremendous amount of traffic for us compared to if we didnt have free entertainment in the plaza, Brown says. People see all these great options, and they return. Its not a one-time benefit to us.

Any customers who balk at the fee have options, Brown adds. If someone came up to me and said they had a problem with it, we would probably eat the fee.

To expect every server to explain the fees to customers is asking too much, he says. From a consumer standpoint, I dont feel like its a hidden fee.

Excerpt from:
Going to Plantation Walk, the hot new food-and-shopping paradise? Be prepared for surcharges - South Florida Sun Sentinel

King Taps construction is well underway in Kelowna.

Media were invited to tour the site Thursday and get a sneak peak at what the finished restaurant will look like.

Turning thorns to crowns, King Taps refurbishing the iconic Roses Pub on Water Street.

Regional Manager Thomas Beetlestone said they dont yet have an opening day.

Demolition actually started back in 2019, but obviously with the pandemic everything got put on pause for a while there. So, we started back up probably late last year and working through the early part of this year, fingers crossed were going to be able to open in the near future.

The Kelowna restaurant has the same owners as Cactus Club and is the second of the King Taps locations, the first being in Toronto.

Regional Chef James Bunting said this location is much larger. They are looking to hire about 80 kitchen staff and approximately another 150 for front of house.

As for the menu, it will feature many local wines and beers, and a top menu item will be pizza.

Weve got two pizza masters, Bunting said. They come from Italy and whats really great about these is that theyre built for speed. So, they have the ability to retain the heat in it and rebound up to proper temperatures very quickly which gives us the opportunity to be able to cook great tasting pizzas very quickly and be able to serve as many guests as possible.

We are just really excited for this opportunity to show King Taps here in B.C., said Beetlestone. Kelowna is our first location here in the province. Its pretty special. Were really excited to become a national brand.

Beetlestone noted they are still hiring and anyone interested should go to their website to apply.

WATCH: Live like the Jetsons: Eat with BellaBot at Smittys Kelowna

READ MORE: 2 arrested in Penticton after Toyota dealership fire deemed arson

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Excerpt from:
King Taps still waiting to be crowned as construction continues in Kelowna Kelowna Capital News - Kelowna Capital News

May 11, 2022, 2:51amUpdated 4d ago

By: News 12 Staff

Food trucks that have parked near the Long Beach boardwalk for nearly a decade will not be in their normal location this year.

The Super Block construction project is preventing the trucks from setting up on Riverside Boulevard and city officials say there is no space for them anywhere else.

Long Beach Parks and Recreation Commissioner Joe Brand says the city tried to find a new place for the vendors, but couldn't.

"We've looked at every other area in the city," Brand says. "Each truck is unique in that most of them require power, most of them require a water source and that's not something, believe it or not, that we have at our disposal at each of the ends of the block."

Michael Wachs operates Amanda Bananas, a truck that sells frozen banana treats.

He says the food truck operators counted on the money and it's their livelihoods.

"It hurt to know the community we served our food to didn't really have our backs in relocating us," Wachs says.

Wachs says this summer he will park his truck at Dox, a restaurant in Island Park.

However, he says the food trucks helped Long Beach recover from Superstorm Sandy and the city should find them a new location for summer 2023.

For this summer, beachgoers like Cindy Gutierrez, of Freeport, are disappointed that the "Shoregasbord" won't be happening.

"We enjoyed the food trucks around here," Gutierrez says.

Wachs says he learned that his truck wouldn't be at Long Beach this summer through the grapevine.

City officials say they knew as early as summer 2021.

The city of Long Beach also says they pushed for construction on the project to be delayed to ensure the vendors had a full season in 2021.

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Construction forces Long Beach food trucks to find somewhere else to park - News 12 Bronx

On September 7, 2020, chef Henry Pineda and his wife Amanda were taking a much-needed beach-day break with family. The pair had been working tirelessly at their Anaheim restaurant Modern Filipino Kitchen (MFK) by Aysee, and the long holiday weekend meant waves and relaxation. At one point, between sips and sunshine, a family member told Pineda that theyd had a premonition about MFK by Aysee. In the dream, the person recalled, it was suggested that someone should smudge the space by burning some sage, allowing the smoke to cleanse the restaurant anew. Once done, the sage would keep it safe.

That night at 11 p.m., Pineda received a call from a neighboring business from the strip mall off La Palma Avenue. Through a frantic scramble of words, one phrase stood out: Your restaurant exploded.

Henry Pineda first thought about becoming a chef while visiting family back in the Philippines. Large groups would gather for evening celebrations, often taking over the top floor of a nearby three-story restaurant. Henry liked the idea of a dedicated place like that, where everyone could see each other, reconnect, and hang out for a while.

It helps that restaurants are in his blood. Henrys grandmother Pacita founded a restaurant named Aysee (pronounced I see) with his aunt back in 1986, pulling letters from the names of family members to craft a unique moniker. Its where the young Pineda cooked some of his first restaurant meals, and is still considered to have some of the best sisig on the planet. The restaurant was founded in the countryside, but earned success (and multiple locations) after relocating to the metropolitan city of Manila. The first outlet was in a then-up-and-coming neighborhood, anchored by a pro sports arena within walking distance to the shop. Athletes would stop in to fuel up while training, and word of Aysees legendary sisig got out.

When he became an adult, Pineda decided he wanted to open his own branch of Aysee. I did not want to work for somebody, he says. Besides, the family restaurant was already well-established at that point, though it lacked a foothold outside of Manila. To gain experience in some U.S. kitchens, Pineda found work at Anaheims Mama Cozzas, a trattoria owned by his high school football coach that has been featured on Food Networks Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Henrys coach cross-trained him in both the culinary and administrative sides of restaurant ownership.

From there, he spent time in a variety of kitchens including Anaheims Adya, Starfish Laguna Beach, and the Penthouse inside the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica. Each place presented a new challenge and a new way of looking at the industry. He got offers to cook in New York and Hawaii, but stayed on the West Coast to be close to family and friends.

Eight months before opening his first standalone restaurant in 2016, Pineda traveled to the Philippines to convince his relatives to let him add the Aysee moniker to the sign out front, which was already going to contain the words Modern Filipino Kitchen. Pacita was against the idea initially, and it took some prodding from Henry to convince her that an outpost in California home to more than 1.5 million Filipinos could bring extra attention to the company in Manila. With her eventual blessing, Henry opened MFK by Aysee in late 2016, serving rice bowls with various proteins and dinner kamayan service, a traditional Filipino feast served on banana leaves. Diners sit close together, corralling meats, sides, and rice from the elaborate full-table display with their hands.

Pineda asked his then-girlfriend to help him open MFK by Aysee, considering the work that would be needed to build his dream project. If we could work together in a volatile restaurant, he figured, we could get married. They did just that, tying the knot on August 18, 2018.

Ultimately, it wasnt a gas leak or an electrical issue that caused MFK by Aysee to burn. After isolating various options, the Orange County fire marshal said that the likely culprit was spontaneous combustion, an ephemeral boom created by cooking oils trapped between towel fibers. A sudden burst, then flames, then smoke, and that was it. The marshal suggested maybe keeping towels in a metal bin next time.

The charred remains of Pinedas restaurant.

Except what would next time even look like? While waiting for the restaurants insurance company to work through its own investigation, the Pinedas found themselves with the kind of free time together that they hadnt had since getting married. They planned to take a year off after the incident to think through various scenarios, including but not limited to reopening MFK by Aysee somewhere else. They considered moving to the Philippines or maybe to Samoa, both places that would offer an escape from Orange County. Plus, they had family there. Henry even tugged at the idea of building a farm in Hawaii. The explosion had scarred the couple, but it hadnt made them scared. Instead, they saw possibility. Not a lot of people get the option to choose their path, says Pineda.

In early 2021, the Pinedas got a call from SteelCraft, the growing development brand known for erecting indoor-outdoor retail and restaurant spaces in smaller cities across Southern California. The group backbones its projects with actual shipping containers, configuring them to create restaurant and dining spaces with smaller, more communal footprints. SteelCraft had wanted the Pinedas to open a location of MFK by Aysee at their under-construction Bellflower location back in 2019, but with the Anaheim storefront still just a few years old, the timing didnt feel right. When the new call came in, offering a recently vacated restaurant for a fraction of the original amount, the Pinedas decided to at least go walk the space.

We pray a lot, and we felt that it was a sign in the direction we should go, says Henry Pineda. By March 2021, MFK by Aysee was reborn, at least in name and motivation. The menu was largely different, playing to the fast-casual ambiance with a more grill-focused menu that includes plated versions of mainstream dishes like barbecued pork belly, bangus milk fish, and garlicky chicken adobo alongside pancit noodles and lumpia.

Within months the family found its footing in Southeast Los Angeles, and with it a renewed energy to cook Filipino food for an audience. The couple began researching possible new restaurant locations, to see if anything felt right. One day while meditating, Amanda says that she had her own vision of standing inside the former Calivino Wine Pub in Anaheim. Henry, for his part, had been tumbling around the idea of a new restaurant that would further honor the matriarchs of his family, named for the Tagalog word for grandmother.

Following the vision, the Pinedas found a willing seller in the Calivino space and opened Lolas by MFK there in March 2022, serving comforting Filipino family breakfasts. As in the Philippines, a pro sports arena this time Angel Stadium is within walking distance. At first I wanted it to be more of a fine dining approach, says Henry, but now I just want it to feel like home. I love the life its taking. Unlike MFK by Aysee in Bellflower, the new Lolas is a full-service operation, but it isnt static or predictable.

Lolas menu features a mix of classic silog meals, variable breakfast options traditionally served with garlic fried rice and a yolky egg. There are ube-infused pancakes and French toast, omelets with chicken adobo, and purely California fare like avocado toast. To honor his fathers Guatemalan roots Henry has also added a huevos rancheros plate with charred chirmol salsa, an unexpected twist for the daytime Spam-and-beef-tapa crowd.

Theres a mural inside of Lolas, depicting a young Henry offering a blessing (a sign of respect in Filipino culture) to his grandmother Pacita. The image has been passed around by all of Pinedas family members stateside and in the Philippines, including Pacita herself. Henry has been told that she returns to it often, smiling just enough to remark: Wow. You made me so beautiful.

Dinner is coming soon, Pineda promises, though it will hew to a more traditional Filipino approach. Braised oxtail kare-kare is a must; a tomato-based lamb caldereta stew and butterflied whole bangus fish have also made the tentative menu. Evening kamayan feasts will also be offered as a way to gather friends and family. Its a lesson found in the fires of that night back in September 2020. Thank God no one was hurt, the Pinedas said in a social media post to the restaurants Facebook page a few months later. Gods plan is not always easy to see but our faith is strong, and we are viewing this as a blessing in disguise.

The fire led to Lolas, but it wasnt really the start of the restaurant. For years, Henry only dreamed of having one restaurant that he could call his own, something to make his grandmother proud. Now he has two. A lot of people sacrificed a lot of things for us to be in this country, he says. Its a big gamble. So far its paying off.

MFK by Aysee keeps daily lunch through dinner hours at 16500 Bellflower Blvd. in Bellflower. Lolas is open for breakfast and lunch at 410 E. Katella Ave. in Anaheim.

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2410 E Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA 92806

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This Orange County Filipino Restaurant Fought Flames to Save the Family Empire - Eater LA