Olympian Mirai Nagasu’s Parents Own a Quiet Japanese Restaurant in the SGV

The local connection

Much of the talk around the skating side of this year’s Olympics has focused on Mirai Nagasu, the local skater from the San Gabriel Valley. This year she became the first-ever American to successfully land a triple axel during Olympics competition, though her parents were not with her in Korea to cheer on her success: They were busy running their restaurant instead.

USA Today was on hand for the night of service that went down simultaneous to Nagasu’s stunning run, with both parents busy seating customers and keeping the kitchen moving along at their Arcadia restaurant Kiyosuzu. The Baldwin Avenue restaurant has been a staple in the SGV for years, but now is getting even more attention thanks to Nagasu and her teammates, who took home bronze in the team skating event this year.

More Gourmandise

The Gourmandise School on the Westside is expanding, more than doubling its square footage at Santa Monica Place. The cooking school is geared mostly to home enthusiasts, but with a jump to three new kitchens plus loads of new equipment, the hope is to grow into the vacuum of Westside culinary schools with an expanded slate of classes down the line.

Food Bowl cometh

The full slate of chefs, events, and timing details for LA Food Bowl won’t be available until March 31, but in the meantime the LA Times is cutting promos and getting everyone excited for the 31-day, cross-city culinary affair.

More for The Essentials

LA Weekly announced more names for its lineup at the upcoming Essentials food event, and it includes plenty of popular restaurants. Guerrilla Tacos, Here’s Looking at You, Philippe’s, Baroo, and Tsujita are all scheduled to attend the March 25 event.

The Rigo connection

LA Magazine has a great feature out on Rigo Alvarado, the young Guatemalan from South L.A. who is running the oyster show at Connie & Ted’s every night. Alvarado is only 27, but is already making quite a name for himself with is seafood prowess.

Isa Fabro rules

LA Times puts together a nice look at Isa Fabro, the star pastry chef who is turning her attention to pies and other desserts with a small Chinatown After Dark stand at Far East Plaza. Expect Filipino-inspired flavors and lots of smiles when ordering and picking up.

Fried chicken forever

There’s a new Korean fried chicken option in Koreatown these days, with the opening of Chicken Warriors at 3012 W. 7th Street. The colorful place held its grand opening earlier this month, and is already pushing out lots of chicken, craft beer, and sides like waffle fries.