One year after the Palisades Fire destroyed homes, restaurants, landmarks, and neighborhoods, many businesses from the area have settled into new communities. However, some have already returned, while still others are in the process of rebuilding.
Over the course of the past year, we spoke to business owners affected by the fire, all of whom had overlapping yet varied experiences. From residents who lost homes to commuters who felt like it was home, they all discussed the overwhelming feeling of community, the close-knit, small-town feel of the Palisades.
A Sense of Community
In the midst of enormous loss, business owners found strength in their communities. Displaced people and non-locals alike offered their support, which they sustained even after donation drives and volunteer efforts began to die down.
Cinque Terre West, an Italian restaurant that relocated to Rose Ave., was welcomed into Venice with open arms. “Since day one, even while we were getting things together, people would stop and say, ‘Welcome to the neighborhood,’” says co-owner Marlo Vinzoni. “Our Palisades community will come and see us, and now we’re a part of the Venice community as well.”
Beloved neighborhood staple Flour Pizzeria is also frequented by former residents at its new Brentwood location. “We still have a constant stream of Palisadians on a regular basis,” says co-founder Robert Flutie. “In the aftermath of the summer, as people were resettling in, a lot of them were having parties and would ask us to cater events.” He hopes that providing pizza also creates a sense of normalcy and is passionate about continuing to support Palisades businesses despite not currently living there.
For This Girl Walks Into a Bar co-founder Jordan Catapano, support from the L.A. Strong Comms Coalition has been “phenomenal. They said at the very beginning that their goal was to stick with these L.A. businesses indefinitely and they have lived up to their word,” she comments.
Navigating Challenges
When Catapano lost her house to the fire, she also lost the equipment for her bartending business, forcing her to shut it down completely and focus solely on her organic mixers. Although still dealing with the repercussions of the loss, mixer sales are doing well and the business is continuing to grow.
Personally, however, “the Palisades and Altadena are carrying an emotional and mental load that will probably stay with us for a while,” says Catapano. She has seen Palisades children go through the pandemic and now the fire, but “one silver lining is the children are going to be very resilient. There’s a lot of opportunity to celebrate what children are going to be able to handle, how strong they are.”
Kim Swim Studios founder Kim Vandenberg shares that sentiment. “Whenever things are really challenging in life, there are always lessons to learn. Sometimes it’s hard to see when you’re in the thick of it, but what I’m seeing now, even though I’m still processing, is that there is this beauty in resiliency and in understanding what’s important: community, our health, our family, our loved ones, and being grateful for what we do have,” she says.
She is still searching for a 25-meter pool to teach her advanced students and adults, but is grateful for the families who have opened up their own pools for her lessons.
Rosalyn Phipps, Root & Petal founder, stepped into the role of business owner for the first time after Palisades Flowers was destroyed. “It was really scary in the first couple months after the Palisades Fire,” she recalls, but “I’ve built something that feels like it’s going somewhere amazing. I didn’t know I had that in me.”
Although Phipps doesn’t plan to work in the Palisades again, some former clients have reached out to her for floral arrangements. “I’m building a new community, but it’s been really nice to see that the years and hard work I put into the Palisades – people haven’t forgotten that either.”
Marlo Vinzoni, however, has returned to her Palisades home. As a resident for over 20 years – and being involved in the community – she feels that loss acutely. “I open up the door, look out the window, and those places that used to be there are no longer there. I have friends and their kids and their pets that I would see regularly. I’m not happy because you walk out and all you see is devastation.”
A Hopeful Future
“What came out of the fires was a strong sense of understanding each other in a more human way,” says Vandenberg. “My intention is to move forward with grace, honoring the grief that everyone experienced, but also appreciating the beauty and the pain.”
Parts of Malibu were also affected by the fire, which resulted in a slow reopening of Mastro’s Ocean Club Malibu. Now, “there’s a real sense of renewal,” says Divisional Vice President of Mastro’s Restaurants Patrick Barrett. “Locals and visitors alike are coming back, and there is a sense of appreciation not just for the gorgeous coastline, but for each other.”
The Malibu community showed support for businesses, displaced people, and first responders. “The fires reminded all of us how precious this community and its natural beauty are. Our hope is that Malibu continues to rebuild stronger than ever,” comments Barrett.
V Room w a View
Catapano also hopes that “people come back, support one another, support businesses and public schools, and help the community recover for decades to come.” The decision to return is personal, but “my biggest hope is that the Palisades can return to the thriving, connected, close-knit community it was.”
Flutie has seen the Palisades change before and is confident that it will “remain a beautiful place,” he says. “The post-fire Palisades is going to evolve and be different in some respects than the pre-fire Palisades. The community is going to do what they can to preserve as much of the Palisades charm as possible and it may look a little different, but emotionally and intrinsically and spiritually, it is still the Palisades and the people are what make it so special.”
By Lila Victor, Special to the Daily Press.
Published in partnership with the Westside Current.