Event to promote restaurants, businesses, and conversation hosted by restaurateur Bob Morris
A community devastated by the worst disaster in Los Angeles County history gathered Saturday to grieve, connect, eat, and get the word out that Malibu is open for business.
Bob Morris, owner of Paradise Cove Beach Café, hosted the free lunch to bring the community together to encourage conversation and for a respite for those impacted by the fire and first responders.
Morris, one of the most successful restaurateurs in the country has been involved in area restaurants for decades. The founder of Gladstone’s grew the business into the highest-grossing restaurant in Los Angeles for years. In his years owning Paradise Cove Beach Café it remained one of the most successful restaurants in Malibu, drawing guests from around the world to its serene, scenic beachfront setting. But today, Morris admits attendance is down 60%, and sadly he’s been forced to cut back hours to his beloved 160 employees, “guys who have families and kids in school.” The inventor of the ecologically friendly pasta straw also grieves the losses to the community and two family members whose homes were destroyed by the Palisades Fire.
Morris has seen plenty of disasters in his time at the beach since 1954 but said, “I’ve never seen anything like this andI’ve never seen so many federal, state, and city organizations all not working together.” Although he praised first responders he commented that the fire’s aftermath has been “utter confusion” for those navigating insurance and the rebuild process. “We’ve got people out there suffering. So, I said, ‘let’s do something a little different,’” he said. The café’s Day of Hope was intended to gather the community in an effort to collaborate on solutions.
Malibu Pacific Church’s online pastor, Joel Dunn, was on hand selling hats and sweatshirts promoting Malibu restaurants that are struggling in the fire’s aftermath. The church’s grassroots restaurant bingo campaign has been an effective tool to bring customers back to restaurants. “A couple thousand people are doing it,” Dunn explained of the game luring players back to local eateries. “We’ve been seeing people bringing out their bingo cards and we’ve been handing out merchandise left and right for people who are doing the blackout bingo. We’re buying gift cards from all the restaurants and giving out grants, giving out money because we know that the lifeblood of Malibu is the local restaurants and the local shops.” Dunn said the church is also trying to plan a music festival to raise money for fire relief.
Marie Therese Retourne, whose husband works at the café, came to distribute 500 pairs of Butterfly Twists shoes. “I just want to give back to the community,” she commented.
Business consultant Glen Becerra was there to get the word out “that Malibu is open for business.” He reminded people it would be “a second tragedy that hits this community” if businesses close, ruining livelihoods. “Restaurants are ready to welcome you back.”
“We are here for the victims,” said Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin. Malibu’s state representative in Sacramento confirmed her office’s bulk of calls are from constituents seeking help with insurance, “especially with the Fair Plan, making sure that people can get what they are entitled to,” Irwin said. “We also have a lot of questions on debris removal.”
Devasted by the immense tragedy of the Palisades Fire, Morris reminded of the personal toll on the communities ripped apart in the Palisades and Eaton fires: “We lost 29 people! We lost literally thousands and thousands of homes. We’velost hundreds, if not thousands of businesses. We’ve lost tens of thousands of jobs. If we can bring people here, share a few tears, let them talk to each other … People want to talk. And then let’s see if we can see some type of light through the clouds, and that’s what the talk is about here. I want to see a hopeful cloud because we need Malibu. Malibu is going to exist. It’s not going away.”
Morris concluded, “This isn’t about Paradise Cove (the restaurant), this is about Malibu. This is about the place I love.”
