{"id":82025,"date":"2024-03-07T16:37:19","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T00:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=82025"},"modified":"2024-03-07T16:41:37","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T00:41:37","slug":"east-village-cafe-revamps-collabs-with-masterchef-alum-chef-richie-jones-muhammad-for-brunch-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/east-village-cafe-revamps-collabs-with-masterchef-alum-chef-richie-jones-muhammad-for-brunch-event","title":{"rendered":"MasterChef alum Richie Jones-Muhammad to host brunch event celebrating East Village Cafe’s new concept"},"content":{"rendered":"

East Village Cafe, previously known as the Village Grind, has unveiled its new concept focusing on fresh bagels, a large coffee menu and collaborations with local chefs, artists and businesses.<\/p>\n

To celebrate the relaunch, which was announced just after Valentine’s Day, MasterChef alum and Long Beach local Chef Richie Jones-Muhammad will host a five-course intimate Sunday brunch on March 10. Tickets are priced at $50 before fees and can be purchased online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The East Village Cafe at 443 E. First St . in the East Village in Long Beach, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I saw a posting on Facebook about the relaunch and I reached out,” Jones-Muhammad said. “I love partnering with local businesses and I’ve never done brunch before.”<\/p>\n

Since his appearance on MasterChef, Jones-Muhammad has been collaborating with Long Beach businesses like Sake Secret, Pie Bar and others, to host tasting menu dinners around town. After moving to Long Beach to pursue a successful music career that landed him four Grammy nominations, Jones-Muhammad has pivoted to full-time private chef since leaving the popular cooking competition.<\/p>\n

“I thought about what I’d want in a brunch menu and I wanted to incorporate things from their new menu like the parm bagels,” Jones-Muhammad said.<\/p>\n

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Art lines the walls of the inside of the East Village Cafe at 443 E. First St . in the East Village in Long Beach, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The brunch will kick off with a pl\u00e1tano fritter with oolong caramel and a matcha latte. The second course will feature the cafe’s freshly baked parmesan bagels topped with chive oil, bacon jam, and honey butter. Fried chicken and biscuits, candied bacon and more will be featured.<\/p>\n

The cafe opened in 2008, but like many restaurants has struggled to retain business since the pandemic. Emelida Garcia, who now owns and manages the cafe, hopes the relaunch and collaborations like this can help draw in more customers.<\/p>\n

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Business banners hang outside of the East Village Cafe at 443 E. First St . in the East Village in Long Beach, Thursday, March 7, 2024. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“In 2022-23, it was apparent how small businesses were struggling,” Garcia said.<\/p>\n

One way she hopes to combat this decline is through these partnerships.<\/p>\n

“One thing I envisioned was having other people’s art here and showcasing local arts,” Garcia said. “I mean, it’s called the East Village Arts District.”<\/p>\n

Garcia runs the cafe with three others, Jennifer Geruso, Dominique Kiddle, and Demetry Hunter. The four of them are constantly brainstorming how to capture customers and get back to the neighborhood’s tight-knit community feel.<\/p>\n

“People love our bagels,” Geruso said. “Some people have missed our burritos and wraps, but the staples aren’t gone.”<\/p>\n

The popular chipotle chicken wrap can now be had on a pipping hot bagel.<\/p>\n

While the removal of block-party events like Second Saturdays and other from the area, business owners on the block are concerned that the neighborhood has been forgotten, Garcia said.<\/p>\n

“I love this community so much, times have changed, but people are still here,” Garcia said. “The community is more vibrant than ever.”<\/p>\n

East Village Cafe is at 443 E. First Street.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MasterChef alum and Long Beach local Chef Richie Jones-Muhammad will host a five-course intimate Sunday brunch at the cafe on March 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":314,"featured_media":82039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":[8,6],"tags":[32158,454,153],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32152],"class_list":["post-82025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food","category-hi-lo","tag-dining","tag-east-village-arts-district","tag-food","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82025","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\/314"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82025"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82043,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82025\/revisions\/82043"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82025"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=82025"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=82025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}