I'm sitting here, AC blasting, with two 8oz containers in front of me....one full of olives the other full of cornichons. I have a small bag of Jose Andres salt and olive oil chips and a small block of cheese that I'm pinching pieces off of as I go - this is dinner this Thursday night. Ollie is watching closely, hoping that I would drop something he could snag up, but no chance, bud. Sorry.

Thank you so much for all the love on last week's newsletter. I appreciate it! I'm working on another “Treat” and can’t wait to share it with you.

Since moving to LA this past January - I couldn’t help but notice the abundance of donut shops all around. I’m not a huge donut fan (until the craving hits once in a blue moon around midnight - French cruller and plain old fashioned for me!) so I never cared to learn why there were so many places in LA but that all changed as I alternated between cornichons, chip, olive, cheese back to cornichon tonight and randomly chose to watch the documentary “Donut King” which is currently streaming on Netflix. (trailer)

There are many factors that played into LA having so many donut shops, but a huge one, was the influx of Cambodian refugees into the country after they fled their country due to war.

It all started with Ted Ngoy and his wife Christy - who not only started building a small donut shop empire for themselves but also sponsored over 100 families from Cambodia and gave them the opportunity to learn the business, acclimate into a new country, and eventually showed them how to open their own donut shops and businesses - many of which are still being operated in LA today! (Donut tour soon, I guess)

Ted even introduced the iconic pink box to the donut business when he needed to save some $$$ and pink boxes were cheaper than the traditional white ones used. I mean, iconic!

I highly recommend the documentary as it highlights the tenacity and hunger of immigrants and what happens when the American dream spirals out of control.

No big solid plans for this weekend - I need to reorganize my “pantry” and clean out the fridge. I’m hoping to visit the Hollywood Farmer’s Market on Sunday to pick up some stone fruit, tomatoes, and greens. Oh! I pulled the trigger and purchased a Zojirushi rice machine - I’m so excited!

That’s all from me my friend! Until next week!

✌🏽 💜

“dinner” and a documentary

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