The World Vegan Travel Podcast
The World Vegan Travel Podcast
Vegan Los Angeles | Italian Dining at Pura Vita | Tara Punzone
In today’s episode, we’ll be talking to Tara Punzone, chef and owner of Pura Vita, the first 100% plant-based Italian restaurant and wine bar in the United States, based in West Hollywood, Los Angeles. Tara will be sharing her journey of growing up in a big Italian family in New York, how she transitioned to a vegan lifestyle as a child, and how she has carried those traditions into her celebrated restaurant and new cookbook, Vegana Italiana. She’ll also talk about the challenges and triumphs of running a vegan restaurant in LA and share some of her favorite local vegan spots.
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[00:00:00] Hello Tara, and welcome to The World Vegan Travel Podcast.
Hello. Thank you for having me.
Tara, thank you so much for being on the podcast. I'm really pleased to have you on and talk about all of the work that you do in the vegan space and how that also connects with the vegan travel as well. But before we go into all of the details, would you mind sharing just a little bit of an elevator pitch, just to get our listeners oriented on what it is that you do?
Sure. I'm from New York. Born and raised into a large Italian American family. My family immigrated from the south of Italy,naturally where all the best food comes from. And so everybody in my family, really everybody were excellent cooks. So I grew up in that environment where everything was wrapped around food, everything. I became vegetarian when I was 10 years old, and then it took me a few [00:01:00] years to figure out the vegan thing. I'm sure we could get into that later. But, really what had to happen was, I'm a very old fashioned person, so I really wanted to hold onto my heritage, and so I needed to learn how to cook the things that my family was preparing and feeding me and the family without using animals. Just for fun and just for my own taste buds, I started that journey at a very young age, and it just became my passion. Once I felt like I was onto something, I thought I really had an obligation to share it with my community. Here we are in West Hollywood, at Pura Vita, and, vegans, and even more so, non-vegans, are really appreciating the clean, old fashioned, traditional, and comforting quality of the cuisine. And I'm thrilled. And so are the animals.
Of course, of course. If they could talk, they would definitely say thank you. I'm very confident of that. So [00:02:00] you actually have just released a new book as well, all about Italian food. Can you talk to that a little bit?
Of course. Being open for seven years now in the restaurant, I've never been asked the same question as many times as, 'Do you have a book? Are you going to write a book? Is there a book? Can we get these in a book?' And I thought, I'm never going to have time to write a book. This is crazy. But, yeah, I felt I needed to make it happen. It took about three years to do. It's called Vegana Italiana. I'm extremely proud that I got it done. It's not easy to write a book and run a restaurant at the same time, but it's something that I'm super passionate about, and mostly passionate about sharing the things that I've learned and experienced with other people. And the book really is, of course, it's going to be for all the guests who come to the restaurant all the time, but it's also really aimed at people who are not in LA and don't have the opportunity to come to the restaurant,and experience the food. And maybe, this gives them the opportunity [00:03:00] to try it out for themselves, and fall in love with it in their own kitchens. So the book is basically a collection of some of the favorites at the restaurant. Of course, there's some things that we don't serve in the restaurant, very traditional things that I grew up eating. Everything in the book is about what I grew up eating. Some of it is very simple and you'd be surprised to learn how easy it is to make some of the dishes. Of course, some are a little bit more complicated, but nothing that requires the type of skill that you cannot accomplish. So I'm really looking forward to hearing what everybody thinks, and I hope people can share their opinions and photos, and if they create things in their kitchen, I want to see it. I'm excited. I'm really excited.
I love it. That's amazing. So you were just 12 years old when you went vegan. How did your Italian family react to that?
Well, it started when I was 10, actually. I was in the fifth grade. Prior to that,I love animals more [00:04:00] than anything else on this earth. I just love them so much. I sometimes feel we don't deserve them. I was very finicky with the things that I ate, even as a young girl, but of course, I had no idea what it was, and how we were getting it and cooking it. In the fifth grade, I had a teacher who showed a video of a slaughterhouse to the class.
Wow.
I don't know that it impacted anybody else in the class. I don't particularly recall anybody being upset by it other than me. But I was devastated, really. I was beside myself. And I threw my lunch away that day, that my mom always cooked for me, by the way. I went home, and I very nervously sat my mom and dad down at the table and told them that I saw this video and it made me really upset, and I didn't want to be a part of that. And they were perplexed. They were really just confused and unsure what to say, I think. But they were very supportive. Thankfully, I have the most amazing [00:05:00] mom and dad, and they really just didn't know what to make of it. They weren't mad at me. They didn't shame me. They didn't give me a hard time, but they were a little confused and concerned, probably more than anything. What was I going to eat? You know, this type of thing. After a while, I think, they also thought I was just going to forget about it because I was 10, but I didn't. So after a while, they both said to me, look, we don't know really what to do, so we need you to be in the kitchen with us. We make sure that we're doing something, and not something that you don't want us to do, and not something that you know that you're going to be upset by. So I started spending all my time in the kitchen with them, and that's how I learned how to cook. And it was the most fun to be in the kitchen with everybody all the time. And it's loud, and it's a whole thing. It's the best, especially as a kid. It's so cool to be a part of that. And that's it. Things started to change in my house. Nobody else gave up meat or anything, but there was a whole lot less of it in general, which my brother hated me for. And I think that it's probably [00:06:00] one of the reasons why my parents are still alive today. I'm very proud of that fact.
I don't blame you. That's a such an amazing story. I know a lot of kids who wouldn't have had the same support from their parents. I was also very lucky. I went vegetarian when I was really young too, and my parents were just very cool about it. I'm so grateful for them as well. So, which were the family recipes that were most challenging to adapt to a vegan version. And how did you overcome that challenge?
Well, I would probably say, my mother's beloved meatballs, and I'm not a big fake meat person by any means. I really prefer to just eat vegetable and pastas, and stuff like that, but her meatballs were iconic, and I needed to figure out how to have something similar to what she was making, and also you know, a protein to go with your meal. And that was probably one of the more challenging ones to figure out, just [00:07:00] because it was really, it was quite a long time ago, first of all. I watched her make them a thousand times, and I basically tried to take what she was doing in the whole recipe, and just replace the meat. And I landed on mushrooms and lentils because they have enough of that umami, savory and texture, without leaning into some of the other like less clean ingredients. And yeah, I feel like, of course, they're not exactly my mom's meatballs. They're not meat, but I'm pretty proud of that recipe, and I think that was one of the bigger challenges, mainly because of the scrutiny that I was under. Oh, I love that you were doing this, as at just 12 years old.
That's amazing. And why did you choose Los Angeles as the destination for the restaurant despite coming from New York?
Well, I got dragged to Los Angeles kicking and screaming.
Oh.
By a very handsome man. If you would've told [00:08:00] me that I would live in Los Angeles before, years before, I would've told you, you're out of your mind. Any place other than LA. I was such a New Yorker, and LA is like the antithesis, and I really thought I would hate it here. But, for the sake of love, I thought I should give it a try, and not be opposed to things that might seem scary, and the unknown. And it turns out, LA's been very good to me, and it's a beautiful city. There's a lot of really beautiful people here, despite what all of us New Yorkers might think. This is where I decided to open the restaurant. I wasn't ready to open a restaurant when I was in New York. I needed to learn about business more than anything else. I needed a few more years of experience under my belt before I would consider actually opening. And that didn't happen until a few years into being here.
They say that the restaurant business is one of the hardest businesses to go get into. So hats off to you for taking that plunge. What have been [00:09:00] some of the big challenges that it's been to have the restaurant? Of course, I'm sure during the pandemic, that was a very difficult time. But,I'd love if you could share some of the challenges that you've had with the restaurant. Maybe specific to being a vegan restaurant?
Sure. Of course, COVID was an enormous challenge. It was a challenge for everybody. It was particularly a challenge in a city like LA because they really, without being controversial, really went over the top with the restrictions, and the way that things were handled. And so it was, honestly, a miracle that we even were able to stay alive. But we did. And then there was just challenge after challenge after challenge. After that, once COVID calmed down, then there were writer strikes and all the strikes in the entertainment industry; killed us. Absolutely killed us.
Really?
Because if this whole city is built on the entertainment industry, this is all Hollywood. This has all Hollywood money. So if Hollywood people aren't [00:10:00] making money, they're not going out to spend any. So that affects everybody in the whole city, right down to a dog walker. It's just, you don't think about, you know, how much the city is dependent on that industry. So that killed us, and then the whole city went on fire. So there's that.
Okay. Lots of challenges.
And it's not funny, I'm not making light of it, but it's almost like literally and figuratively, the city is always on fire one way or another, and I feel very grateful to have survived all of these challenges, which were big challenges and a lot of other vegan restaurants did not survive. A lot of other restaurants in general didn't survive, and it's really a shame.
Really is. I've noticed that quite a few restaurants have closed down in cities, even near Vancouver. And while it doesn't have the same challenges that you've described, perhaps just rising costs, rising rents. Everything is making it difficult. So well done to you for managing to keep going. I'm sure there was some luck involved, and a lot of [00:11:00] judgment as well. So well done. A lot of pivots. Yeah. So can you explain Pura Vita's atmosphere and menu and vibe that makes it unique in the vegan restaurant space in the US?
I would love to, because that's my favorite part. So as a New Yorker in LA, although I did end up falling in love with the city, of course, I miss New York, and so the restaurant is really stylized to look and feel like an old Italian restaurant that I would go to when I was a kid with my family. A lot of brick, a lot of dark colors, good old fashioned, sort of New York music doo-wop, you know, Motown, this kind of stuff that I grew up listening to with my dad. It's not normal for LA to be dark.
LA is very white, and green, and bright. I might be a positive person, but that's not my [00:12:00] aesthetic. I like the darker side of things. I love the comfort and the nostalgia that comes with it, and the idea of, with the bar, we have this big, beautiful wine bar, and the idea was, in New York, everybody sits down at a bar and they talk to each other, and they share with each other. There's a whole thing happening. There's an energy that I was desperate to recreate in LA, and I had no idea whether or not it would work. It was just a huge risk. I just prayed, basically, and it totally worked. Everybody talks to each other. People share food. Sometimes it gets loud. It's so much fun. It's like the best place to 'people watch.' It's a great place for a date. It's just a different environment, and I'm very grateful that it worked.
And which neighborhood is it located in?
We're in West Hollywood.
West Hollywood. Okay. Okay.
Which is a beautiful neighborhood. It is my favorite neighborhood in Los Angeles. It's very diverse. Very queer-friendly. Liberal. People look at each other. [00:13:00] People make eye contact. There's a supportive community. It's just, it feels good.
Oh, it sounds lovely. And what would you say, the type of food, obviously it'sItalians and Sicilian in root, but is it family style or sharing or like a set menu or à la carte?
So we have a pretty large menu,sort of just set up in the traditional way, of an Italian menu. We have a vegetable section, we have a salad section, we have pasta, we have pizza. The portions are quite large, and I always encourage, and the servers encourage, if you're with a few people to pick a few things that you're interested in, And to share everything so that you can get a little taste of a few different items. That said, if you're on a date and you don't know the person, and you don't want to share, you'll be perfectly fine just picking one thing. But it's so much more fun when you do it family style.
And what's your favorite savory item on the menu, and what's your favorite dessert item?
Oh my goodness. [00:14:00] That's like Sophie's Choice. How can I pick my, how can I do that?
Okay. A favorite. Not the favorite. A favorite.
I guess my favorite would be the Calabrese pasta. My grandmother was from Calabria, so it's something that's very nostalgic and extremely comforting to me. It's my go-to pasta dish. And hands down, my favorite dessert is the tiramisu. It's just the best.
Wow. tiramisu is on the menu, and it's vegan, I will always order it. That sounds amazing.
Both
of those recipes are also in Vegana Italiana for all the world to try to recreate and hopefully enjoy as much as I do.
Would you say they're also your favorite recipes from the book too?
Yeah, those two things are really some of my favorite foods to eat in general. They're up there on the favorites list. If I'm being honest, I probably, depending on my mood, I'll pick something different tomorrow. But today, that's what [00:15:00] I feel like eating.
I love it. I love it. Fabulous. Alright, so let's talk more about Los Angeles. I'd love to know, apart from Pura Vita, of course, what are your top visit spots for some really fabulous vegan food experiences?
Yeah, so we have some pretty phenomenal restaurants here, that have survived. There's a lot of amazing Thai food. If you like Thai food, this is the place to be because there's just, it's almost hard to narrow it down. But I will tell you two of my favorites, one of which is called Love in WeHo, and it's literally two blocks down from Pura Vita. So that's, if I'm not at Pura Vita, you can find me at Love. And the other one is located in Santa Monica and it's called Satdha. And it's a different style of Thai food. I spent about three and a half months in Thailand, and I really love, very much love Thai food. Satdha is like very traditional, [00:16:00] less Americanized than some of the other places. Clean, she makes everything from scratch. By the way, both places, female owned, female chefs.
Ah.
Makes me very proud to be in the same community with them. They're just amazing. And then the other thing that you cannot skip when you come to LA, is Mexican food.
Tell me more?
You can't be in LA and not enjoy some Mexican food, but the best place, which is so far out of the outside of the center of the city, it's in a place called Van Nuys, which is in the valley. And it's called El Cocinero, which means 'the cook', and it's a family run spot. They're the nicest people ever, and it's just the best Mexican food I've ever had, hands down in my life. Just so good. Every year we have a party for the employees. Pura Vita has a big party celebration and El Cocinero always caters our parties because there's just no one better.
Oh [00:17:00] goodness, I've never even heard of any of those places. Thank you.
Yeah. And by the way, none of these places are fancy or expensive. They're just like comfortable, family run spots, that are just really worth going to because the food will be memorable. I always think about that, like when I go to a restaurant, maybe it's fancy, maybe it's beautiful, and the service is amazing, and you get wooed, and that's great because it's an experience. But then a month goes by, and somebody goes, 'Oh, you went to that restaurant. What did you eat?' And you go, 'What did I eat? I don't remember.'
Yeah. Not memorable.
I can tell you about every single dish on all three of those restaurants menus. So very memorable.
That's amazing. So apart from food experiences in LA, like as somebody who's lived in LA for many years now, are there any activities or sites that you feel that maybe, maybe travelers should definitely do when [00:18:00] they're visiting Los Angeles?
Absolutely. The beaches are really beautiful if you go towards Malibu, where you can see all the cliffs and all the rocks and stuff. It really feels like you're in Europe. You kind of forget that you're in LA. It's gorgeous up there. Parts of it are a little strange now because they're burnt, but even in a weird way, it's a reminder of how, because you're starting to see everything regrow. If you can see it from the positive angle, just that we prevail. It grows back. It's going to grow back, and it's going to be probably even more beautiful than it was before. And so there's something very special about that. And I think that LA has a lot of amazing hiking trails, a lot of beautiful, mountainous. It's a city, but it's really more of a really big town. It's very spread out. There's a lot of green, there's a lot of territory to discover and places to hike. My favorite part, if you can go someplace, slightly outside of the center [00:19:00] of the city, this is something that doesn't exist in New York. You go someplace slightly outside of the center of the city at night, especially in the summertime. The stars are just endless. And I think that's probably my favorite part.
Wow. I never would've thought that just outside of LA would be good for star gazing.
Yeah, just outside of LA is the desert. So, you know, with the less light pollution, if you just lay down and look up, it's one of the most beautiful things you'll ever see in your life if you're into that. We have a telescope. It's not a phenomenal one, but it does the job, and it's just dreamy. The things that you see here, it's just really cool, is we never really got to see that many stars in New York. You'd have to go like really far outside of New York to see stars.
Fabulous. I'm curious about whether there are any specific cultural experiences that you think visitors to LA might be able to participate in, whether it's like [00:20:00] really great nightlife or museums or just cultural experiences.
Yeah. I think the Mexican culture is the most well represented in the city, and it's an absolutely beautiful and very colorful culture with some of the most beautiful people you ever want to meet. They do have festivals, performances, dance performances, music performances, that are all centered around their culture. It's really fascinating. It's beautiful, and it makes you realize that country is just a few hours away in a car, and it's got a whole world, a whole life, of beautiful, a different way of living, and beauty and colors, and sounds, and foods, and I think the best thing about LA is the Mexican culture. That's what I think.
Really.
I think if you're visiting, and you Google any type of festival or art show or music show, there's a lot of music that revolves around the Mexican culture. It's [00:21:00] not to be missed because it's pretty spectacular.
Oh, and I'm guessing lots of dancing for those interested, but that's not me.
Yeah. And it's gorgeous. And I'm not a dancer or a singer. You don't want me to sing, but I love so much. I love music so much. And I just love that. I love to listen to that music and to watch them so proudly display their colors and their culture. It's really special here.
Would you say that LA is a safe place to visit, and do you have any suggestions on how people can stay safe?
That's a loaded question. I feel safe in LA. Although I'm from New York, so I don't know. I don't know. I don't know how somebody else might feel, but I feel safe in LA. I think, for sure, it's worth understanding neighborhoods. There are neighborhoods that you would not feel safe in, [00:22:00] and that's okay. You just can avoid those neighborhoods, especially if you're visiting. They don't have necessarily the theaters and the places that you would be experiencing. That said, there are really amazing things to see in some of the more uncomfortable neighborhoods. I mean, South Central has some community gardens where they're teaching their community, their children mostly, focused on how to grow their own vegetables. And I think that's one of the most beautiful things ever because it's so important. Because, urban kids, they don't know, they don't understand about food or vegetables. They're just, especially if you don't have a lot of money, like you're being almost cornered into eating fast food. It's not fair because it almost feels intentional. So to see the leaders in those communities that are doing the gardens and those types of things, I think those are worth going to if you're comfortable. Butlike any city, you have to be smart, and pay attention to your surroundings, you know, be nice. Don't be too [00:23:00] nice.
Have street smarts. Yeah. I asked this question because it was quite a funny situation. About seven, eight years ago or so, we, Seb and I, were in LA and I was there for the animal rights conference, and I decided to go and attenda vigil, and bear witness at one of the slaughter houses in LA somewhere. I can't remember the area that it was in. And Seb put into Google Maps, like where to pick me up afterwards. And the route took him through a neighborhood. Now to be clear, nothing happened. He didn't feel unsafe. There was nothing. But he did go through, and was like, 'Oh my goodness, where am I?' So yeah, it was just very interesting. But very rarely when I travel, do I ever feel unsafe. Just taking the precautions, making sure that you are not showing any visible signs of wealth is, or fancy electronics or anything like that is, I think is just [00:24:00] a good habit to get into, no matter where you are traveling.
No matter where you are, of course, and you have to be respectful. We're not all exactly the same. And sometimes I think people might go into a neighborhood and they see something that's just doesn't look like them. And that's intimidating to some people, and that's not really fair.So being respectful, I think, is a really important part of being safe, but also just being aware of your surroundings.
Absolutely.
I feel like most of the time when people come to LA, they're really not going for a week or two weeks. It might be like a weekend or just a short stop over or something. So if I were to arrive in LA late at night and wake up in the morning, ready to go, what would be a fabulous two day itinerary? And you can include food if you want to.
Oh wow. I would do one day on the West Side and one day more in the city. Spend a day at the beach, go to [00:25:00] Malibu, drive up the Pacific Coast Highway, have that super LA experience with the palm trees over your head. Rent a convertible if you can afford one because it's like really just iconic. I think that Venice Beach, although it's in and out of being a bit dodgy, is a really important place to see because I think it's a really big part of the culture of LA. The skate park and the gym, the outside gym, and just all the artists lined up on the street that are there, that have been there since the beginning of time, since the first time I ever came here. I think it's really fascinating to experience that. That would be day one, I would say. Then I would, say day two, if you're coming, if you can come into the city, a nice hike in Runyon Canyon, which is one of the easiest to get to places, like right in the center of the city. It's right here in West Hollywood. You don't have to be a professional hiker. Anybody can do it. And then once you get to the top, the views are really spectacular. You [00:26:00] can see how beautiful this city really is from high up, and then you'll be starving, so then, of course, you have to come to Pura Vita once you're done. That's a guarantee. And then depending on the night, because I know there are certain nights that accommodate this, but, head to Griffith Park Observatory, which is further on the East Side of LA. If you can, of course, take time, go up there. It's a 360 degree view. It's incredible. It's beautiful. It's very easy to get to. It's not stressful at all. And if that particular night you can make it to line up and just take a look through their telescope. It's spectacular. It's just like one of the biggest. I don't know the details, but it's one of the biggest telescopes, I think in the United States, and it's open to the public on certain nights, and it's really worth the effort. It's pretty incredible.
Wow. That does sound cool.
I guess, I love to look at the stars, see a theme here.
I'm a [00:27:00] dreamer.
When you haven't really seen good stars, when you do see them for the first time, it really is just incredible. So I'm not surprised. It's reminding me of when we are in Botswana, in the middle of nowhere, in the desert, and the stars at night are just amazing.
Oh, I'm sure.
I get it. I totally get it.
Probably LA cannot compare to that, but.
Oh, I'm sure LA is amazing.
I've been places in the world where it's hard to believe that you can even see that many stars. I didn't even know. It doesn't even look like it's real.
Yes, I love it. Alright, so I'm curious about what's next for you and Pura Vita and your vegan cooking adventures, any other new projects or locations on the horizon? And of course, you've just finished creating a book. I know that creating a book is a huge amount of work, so maybe your next plans is nothing other than continuing what you're doing. But if you have any plans that you care to share, I'd love to hear [00:28:00] them.
I don't have any specific plans. I do hope to one day open a location in Costa Rica.
Oh.
Or a restaurant and potentially, even a small hotel, very small like boutique hotel or Airbnb style thing, but of course, with a restaurant, somewhere in Costa Rica. That's been my dream since the beginning, which is why I named the restaurant Pura Vita. Because in Costa Rica, Pura Vita in Spanish is their expression for literally everything. That's how they say, hello, goodbye. How are you? How's life? Everything is Pura Vita. And I just thought it was so cute. That's the way they communicate with each other and it's such a positive message, really. And so when I opened the restaurant, I didn't know what to name it. I went through a whole bunch of different names and I thought, why not just remind myself that at the end of the day, I really want to end up in that country and living the Pura Vita lifestyle.
So [00:29:00] of course, I would love to live in Italy, but you can't make any money there. So maybe when I'm a little old lady, that'll be the absolute end.
Yes. Yeah, I have heard that wages and everything is really poor, especially in Sicily area, which is a little bit sad, but must be hard.
But it's the most beautiful place in the whole wide world. It really is. It's just incredibly beautiful and has the best food and the best wine, in my opinion, of any place in the world I've been. I'm pretty well traveled, but I always want to go back to Italy. That's it.
Yeah. Yeah, me too. Me too. And I'm very excited because next year I'm going to be spending more than a month there. I'm so pumped.
Oh, amazing. Amazing. What's your favorite area?
Seb and I, we really like mountains. So obviously, many areas in Italy are lovely, but we really love the Dolomites area, even though the food up in that [00:30:00] part of Italy isn't quite so exciting. But we love the hiking and yeah, and just being in the mountains is just absolutely beautiful. And even though the food isn't great, because it is in Italy, even though it's the German speaking part of Italy, you can still get some basic vegan things. A bruschetta for example, or tomato pasta, even when you are in the refuges in the mountains. Yeah. Yes.
Well, there's lots of mountains in Calabria. You should try all the way South on one of your adventures. Just try it because the food there is very easily vegan, if not naturally vegan. It's a poorer part of the country.
Naturally plant-based. If you can avoid the sausage, because that's also everywhere, but it's gorgeous down there.
I've not been, but I'll put it on my list, for sure. So where can listeners follow your journey and maybe get their hands on your book Vegana [00:31:00] Italiana?
Yeah, so the book is available everywhere books are sold. You can order it online. My home bookstore is called Book Soup. I like to support my local independent bookstores, and they're amazing. They're right up the street on Sunset. They've been there forever, and I would like for it to remain that way. So if you're in the area, please go there to buy the book, but if not, you could get anywhere at Barnes and Nobles, Amazon, all the places. And the holidays are coming. So please buy multiple copies. And use it as gifts. It's a beautiful book. I'm really proud. The photographer did an amazing, amazing job. I went to eight years of art school. I have a master's degree in fine art, so almost more important to me than the recipes, was how it looked. And I'm so proud of how it came out. It's just, it's really gorgeous and it's a beautiful gift too. Hopefully, yeah, hopefully it does really well and everybody wants a copy.
Fabulous. Yeah, I've seen it on Amazon, and it really does look absolutely beautiful. [00:32:00] Congratulations. Like I said, creating a book is no small feat. I've never done it. I don't think I ever would, but I have got lots of friends that have gone through that process and it is a grind. So congratulations on that, especially while you are running a restaurant, which I think, we all know, that is such a huge undertaking as well. So thank you so much for all of the amazing work you do, making vegan food more accessible and providing wonderful vegan experiences. And thank you so much for sharing your insights about Los Angeles today. We really appreciate it.
Thank you for having me. I'm honored to be here.