With the recent rise of the Vice President’s star following Joe Biden’s decision to not run again in the upcoming 2024 election, now might be an opportune moment to remind ourselves that the VP and her husband Douglas do enjoy frequenting our fair town.
She has been known to shop at Santa Monica Seafood Market & Café (1000 Wilshire Blvd), Brentwood Country Mart (225 26th St) and dine at El Cholo (1025 Wilshire Blvd). Other local businesses such as Alfalfa (2309 Main St) have had recent visits from her in an official capacity.
Evelyn Perez, Co-Manager at Santa Monica Seafood Market & Café told the Daily Press about how the Secret Service thoroughly checked the store and surrounding area before Kamala and her husband began shopping. "Once they felt it was clear, Doug bought some salmon … and he was a really nice guy, he was very friendly," Perez said.
According to Perez, the Secret Service didn’t disrupt any other shoppers, what few there were at that time of the morning. "There were about three or four cars, but they didn’t close off the street or anything." She says that the Seafood Market was warned that the couple might make a pit stop and pop in again about six months ago following an appointment in La Jolla, San Diego.
"They came in and did all the surveillance and everything, but she didn’t end up coming in that time," Perez said, adding that they are both very welcome to stop by at any time.
Just last year, Kamala paid a visit to the popular Alfalfa salad restaurant on Main Street as part of a mission to highlight how small businesses have fared under the so-called "Bidenomics" program.
Luke Leonard, Manager at Alfalfa said, "She was super-pleasant, very generous and thoughtful with our time. She made it a point to hop in the back, say hello to all of our employees and thank everybody."
"We were blown away that she [Harris] knew all of our names, she knew everything about our story and even everything that’s on the menu," said Andrew Arrospide co-founder of Alfalfa, adding, "We were all just really stunned by her overall presence and demeanor … I was planning on explaining everything to her, but I didn’t need to."
Leonard did say though that the whole block was shut down, but thankfully it didn’t interfere with business to any great extent. "She ordered a box of doughnuts … a bone broth and a Peruvian chicken salad," he said, adding, "She also bought drinks for all the Secret Service guys."
"The moment when she actually walked into our back patio space was pretty special and the people having lunch there had no idea she was coming," Arrospide said. "Honestly, it was just really funny watching people’s reactions, their jaws were literally on the floor. And, she said ‘hi’ to everyone and was just so charming and gracious."
"They did as much as they could to not interfere with our regular service," Leonard said, adding, "I think it was a special treat not just for our team here and for the company, but for our community and our guests in general."
According to Agador, a member of staff at El Cholo who asked that the Daily Press not use his real name, Kamala ordered a Chile relleno and Carnitas when she was last there.
"The first time she was here, she came in with her husband and it was just those two. The second time she was here, she was with a bunch of heads of state," said Agador, adding, "They had the whole of upstairs. And it was pretty intense with all the Secret Service … but we were able to work around it."
Agador said there was "a buzz" in the restaurant while she dined on both occasions. "She’s really well liked around here," he said. "The first time she was here, she was on a date night with her husband, so as a server or a bartender, you read the table and we left them in peace. They didn’t want to chit-chat very much."
According to the staff at El Cholo, another guest tried to buy their meal for them, but they’re not allowed to do that. "The Secret Service won’t let anyone buy them food," Agador said, "She’s great, she’s gorgeous, I’d love to be able to tell her that, but this wasn’t the right place."
According to the Los Angeles Times, Harris raised $81 million for her White House bid in the first 24 hours after President Biden announced he would not seek reelection, the largest campaign haul over such a period in history. And as of Tuesday, she has now secured enough delegates to become the Democratic presidential nominee.
"Santa Monica Democrats are thrilled that Vice President Harris will now be our nominee because we all realize the stakes could not be higher. She is the only candidate who is able to unify so many elements of our Democratic Party around defeating the existential threat to our nation embodied by a second Trump presidency," Jon Katz, President of the Santa Monica Democratic Club told the Daily Press.
"This year, Santa Monicans have an opportunity to elect a new City Council that is aligned with the Vice President's own liberal values and has similarly unified Democrats in our own community around a common message of decency and competence. If we choose to elect a government aligned with VP Harris's values, we can surely expect to see her return to Santa Monica many times during her presidency."
