On a recent Wednesday morning, a steady stream of customers ordered matcha lattes, fruit cups, pastries, and a host of delectable specialties from the newly reopened Palisades Garden Cafe, which is located in the epicenter of wildfire recovery efforts in the Pacific Palisades on 15321 La Cruz Drive. Inside the cafe, the vibe was pleasant—flat screen TVs displayed the latest sports news as workers restocked the shelves with snacks. Patrons sat at tables, langorously perusing their phones.
The Cafe is a clean, friendly place to reconnect with community, and the community is coming back: after reopening in early March, the cafe has begun to expand its operating hours, closing now at 5 p.m. instead of at 3 p.m. due to increased customer demand.
“We’re gonna see,” David Montiel, who has worked at the cafe for a decade, said in regard to continuing to expand their hours. He’s saddened by what’s happened to the Palisades, but “we have to rebuild, you know?”
The patrons included a 74-year-old displaced resident who wished to remain anonymous, noting only that before the fire, “you could walk to everyting” in the Pacific Palisades. She remarked on how “normal-seeming” it felt in the Cafe. Also present was realtor Christina Wagner, whose former office across the street from the cafe burned to the ground. She’s been actively working to help people find new homes: many older residents are choosing not to rebuild, and families with children want to be near operating schools.
“I’ve been a realtor here for 30 years,” she explained. “People in the Riviera neighborhood and the Rustic Canyon neighborhood are impacted by trucks and the recovery effort and the rebuild. If you can stomach the traffic for the next five years, you can also stay on the Santa Monica Canyon side.” Although public transit has been temporarily suspended to the area, approximately every ten minutes, a large dump truck full of debris would drive past the storefront window, fielding the numerous traffic cones, police officers, and volunteers who are providing aid to those in need. Near the post office down the street was a signpost for the World Central Kitchen.
“Every neighborhood has its own chat group, and it’s complicated—they’re not all consistent,” Wagner continued, alluding to the fact that some buildings don’t appear to have a single mark on them, while other tracts are vacant save for blackened chimneys and twisted metal framing. However, Wagner is positive about the future, even if the present is still somewhat muddled. “I have no idea what this will be like in five to ten years. But it will be back.”
A former Berkshire Hathway sign down the street from the Cafe stands next to a structure charred beyond recognition. Credit: Author
What’s certain now is that the Palisades Garden Cafe is a beacon of comfort amid the humbling extent and randomness of the wildfire damage. The structure immediately to the left of the seemingly untouched Cafe is destroyed, as are innumerable homes, schools, and commercial properties surrounding it. Most of the Pacific Coast Highway has been reduced to a single lane, and certain major thoroughfares, such as Temescal Canyon Boulevard, are currently not open to regular traffic from the PCH.
However, although the mood was subdued, it was also purposeful. Truckload by truckload, Pacific Palisades is regaining its spirit—and the lattes are once again flowing.
