A Year After the Eaton and Palisades Fires, Los Angeles’s Restaurant Community Is Still Rebuilding | Eater LA

"Run by Perry and Melanie Bennett, this sandwich shop with locations including Sierra Madre and Pasadena sits at the base of the mountains and is woven into a community that was hit hard by the Eaton Fire. On the night of the fire’s outbreak, the Sierra Madre shop saw a parade of fire trucks roll past, a sight that at first did not convey how catastrophic things would become as flames swept off the mountain into urban neighborhoods. From his surviving house in Altadena, Perry watched homes burn and heard explosions while the area transformed into what felt like a war zone, an experience that left him and his neighbors deeply scarred and dealing with real PTSD. In the aftermath, he has become vocal about the need for historic levels of relief for what he views as a historic urban disaster and about the importance of Black residents in Altadena making a conscious effort to maintain and grow their presence by keeping their homes, buying commercial property, opening businesses, and supporting others who want to stay. The ethos around Perry’s Joint is tied to this vision of resilience and collective responsibility, framing the shop not just as a place to get sandwiches but as part of a broader push to sustain and build opportunity for the community and its children going forward." - Rebecca Roland