{"id":31033,"date":"2022-07-18T11:31:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T18:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000027448"},"modified":"2022-07-18T11:31:00","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T18:31:00","slug":"like-a-cosmic-pull-to-return-to-my-roots-son-of-papadakis-taverna-owner-to-open-new-east-village-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/like-a-cosmic-pull-to-return-to-my-roots-son-of-papadakis-taverna-owner-to-open-new-east-village-cafe","title":{"rendered":"‘Like a cosmic pull to return to my roots’: Son of Papadakis Taverna owner to open new East Village cafe"},"content":{"rendered":"

Evan Papadakis spent years as a social worker before a car accident in 2019 changed his life.<\/p>\n

He was in the intensive care unit at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center for 12 days, and when he was discharged, spent the rest of the year on his couch, unable to work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sunk into a deep depression and wasn\u2019t grateful for surviving the accident, or the life I was left with,\u201d Papadakis said.<\/p>\n

When he was able to go back to work, he realized he no longer had the bandwidth for full-time counseling with patients who were suffering from anxiety, depression and trauma.<\/p>\n

At the time, his office happened to be situated above The Cove Cafe, a popular spot<\/a> in Palos Verdes Estates, and he befriended the chef, Jessie Franco.<\/p>\n

He got to thinking about his family\u2019s extensive roots in the restaurant business: His uncle, John Papadakis, and his dad, Tom Papadakis, opened and ran the renowned Papadakis Taverna on Sixth Street in San Pedro for nearly 40 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only knew life with the restaurant until we closed in 2010 when I was in college,\u201d said Papadakis.<\/p>\n

In elementary school, he peeled carrots and potatoes. In middle school, he washed dishes. In high school, he cooked, bussed tables and served. In college, he helped manage the Greek restaurant, a hub of food and entertainment known throughout the region, when his dad and uncle were away.<\/p>\n

Now he and Franco plan to open their own restaurant concept in Long Beach, an East Village cafe called Zuzu\u2019s Petals, formerly occupied by Steamed, which closed in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The name of the restaurant comes from the 1946 classic \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life\u201d in which the main character, George Bailey (played by Jimmy Stewart), on the verge of suicide, is reminded of the meaning of his life after pulling from his pocket the petals from a flower his daughter had given him.<\/p>\n

Papadakis said when he connected with co-owner Franco, he began feeling as if a weight had lifted. His sense of gratitude began to shift and he started feeling like he\u2019d gotten his life back.<\/p>\n

\u201cJimmy Stewart needed to live out a nightmare to realize he was grateful for what he had, [and] Zuzu\u2019s Petals represent the life he\u2019s grateful for,\u201d Papadakis said, explaining that the decision felt right, \u201clike a cosmic pull to return to my roots.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Co-owners Evan Papadakis, left, and Jessie Franco stand in front of their new restaurant concept, Zuzu’s Petals, at 801 E. Third St. Monday, July 18, 2022. Photo by Brandon Richardson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Papadakis still does some work in the field, he has largely shifted his focus to opening the restaurant where he will be able to serve food and banter with customers, and Franco can focus on developing the menu.<\/p>\n

With plans to open around Labor Day, the duo at Zuzu\u2019s Petals will be offering a casual breakfast and lunch concept with walk-up counter service and patio garden seating, serving small-batch coffee, fresh pastries and a brunch menu full of organic, seasonal offerings from the local farmers market.<\/p>\n

Breakfast items will include Fried chicken ‘n’ waffles ($18) with candied bacon, cinnamon creme fraiche and blueberry compote; pancakes ($15), including a mouthwatering selection of Zoe’s banana pancakes, lemon ricotta pancakes, or blueberry pancakes, served either as a single order or a pancake flight. And it\u2019s always nice when there\u2019s a thoughtful vegan option, which at Zuzu\u2019s is an order of Carrot Lox ($14) with vegan cream cheese, pickled red onion, cucumber, dill, mint and capers.<\/p>\n

Lunch items will include a \u201csmashed\u201d burger on brioche ($17) topped with cheddar cheese, caramelized onions, applewood smoked bacon, \u201csecret sauce,\u201d seared tomato and house pickles. Chicken Milanese ($17) with lemon caper beurre blanc, arugula and Parmesan. And a seasonal peach salad ($15) with arugula, fris\u00e9e, candied pecans and Gorgonzola.<\/p>\n

Follow Zuzu\u2019s Petals on Instagram to watch for their opening: @zuzuspetalseatery<\/a> or on their website: zuzupetalseatery.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

Zuzu\u2019s Petals is at 801 E. Third St.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Evan Papadakis, who worked at his family’s famed Greek restaurant in San Pedro, plans to open a breakfast and lunch spot called Zuzu’s Petals this fall following a car accident that he says gave him a new sense of gratitude. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":72084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[871],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[31936],"class_list":["post-31033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hi-lo","tag-restaurants","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31033"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=31033"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=31033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}