"Bernee debuted Dec. 7, 2024. In its one month of service before the fire, guests dined on steaks, cast-iron potatoes and rich, fluffy burnt cheesecakes in the glow of its wood-fired hearth. The oven, overseen by lead chef Paul Downer, burned through almond wood and red oak, required near-'round-the-clock staff, and functioned as a baking oven by day and a blazing grill and roasting oven for meat, fish, beans and charred vegetables by night."
""Fire's an incredible thing, and also will decimate an entire city and ruin people's lives," Wells said. "The allure of it for me is to not control it - and this is getting spiritual - but to find that harmony. Maybe we can do our tiniest little part to restore some of that balance.""
Tyler Wells' Altadena restaurant survived the January Eaton fire that destroyed roughly 10,000 homes and structures and reshaped the mountain town's community and landscape. Betsy, formerly called Bernee, will reopen offering rustic, seasonal, hearth-fired cuisine intended as a neighborhood gathering place. The restaurant sits near Lake Avenue and Mariposa Street and is flanked by fire remnants including a hollowed-out hardware store, a leveled lot that once housed a Spanish-language school, and damaged local businesses. Wells built interior fixtures himself and endured personal duress including the dissolution of a marriage and a partnership.
Read at Los Angeles Times
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