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I, like many of you, spend a lot of time on social media. My Instagram is flooded with short clips of mouth-watering dishes from all over Southern California and beyond. The algorithm pumps me with so much content it’s almost overwhelming. And when I look at who posts these videos, it’s usually someone with thousands of followers whose entire grid is just food content and exclusive behind-the-scenes videos of opening-night events. 

These people — food influencers — have, in some ways, replaced a lot of traditional restaurant marketing like taking out ads in newspapers, dropping coupons in nearby neighborhoods or depending on reviews to garner hype. It’s not necessarily the number of views these Instagram videos get that restaurants are after, but how many people send each video to a friend, something that generally translates to people actually going. 

At the Long Beach Post, we have a team of people working on Instagram videos of food happenings around town, but unlike our journalists, influencers are often paid for their services or given free food, and many are working alone.

It’s a phenomenon I’ve known in theory, but never really seen in action, so I went to Sura Korean BBQ and Tofu House to watch the process of James Tir, probably better known as @lbfoodcoma on Instagram, who was filming social media content with Sura co-owners Brandon and Claire Kim. James has been working on building his personal food Instagram account since 2014 and now has over 58,000 followers. I was interested to see what life is like for a food influencer and what their job actually entails so I asked him about 8 million questions while he did his thing. 

James not only runs his own account, but many social media accounts for restaurants in the city in addition to Sura. He plans content a month in advance, so he’ll go to a restaurant and receive multiple dishes, specifically items that look aesthetically pleasing or new dishes owners and chefs want to promote. James films each dish individually and posts throughout the month to spread out the content. Most days, he’s visiting three to four different locations in the city. The most he’s done in a day was seven.

Because James was filming several dishes for Instagram content, I was able to try a variety of offerings (Disclaimer: I did not pay for the food I sampled after James filmed it. During normal visits on my own or with Post staff, we do pay for our food).

In this case, the dishes were brought out one at a time. James spends less than a minute getting different shots of a dish (“It’s all in the editing,” he said) and then it’s on to the next. His goal is to make the food look beautiful.

The business part of the lunch takes only about 15 to 20 minutes and the rest is eating with the Kims who help James show his audience how best to eat the food by mixing, cutting and dipping various elements of the dish on camera. 

Among the items we tried were spicy rice cakes (tteokbokki), which have always been one of my favorite Korean dishes. Sura’s rose tteokbokki ($12.99) comes with rice cakes, sausage, bacon and cheese in a creamy, spicy gochujang (fermented chili paste) sauce. 

The rice cakes, which are usually made by combining salt, rice flour and water into cylinders that are then steamed and boiled, have a soft and chewy texture that’s slightly gummy. I would not call myself a heat extremist, so even though this dish did have spice, it was absolutely tolerable, and better yet, enjoyable. Tteokbooki sauce, especially creamy sauce like this, coats your mouth akin to an Indian curry. It has a touch of sweetness to balance the earthy funk of the fermented chili paste.  

Something else I knew I would like was the garlic pork ($23.99), which is currently on special. Crispy, thin slices of the pork belly are marinated and served over softened green onion and topped with fried garlic slices. If you’re worried about pork belly being too fatty, eating it like this won’t saturate your mouth or stomach with grease, especially if you cut it with something tangy and spicy like the kimchi they give as part of the banchan, or side dishes, at each table. 

They also brought out bulgogi bibimbap ($20.99), a rice dish served in a piping hot stone bowl that crisps the bottommost layer of rice as it cooks. The dish is topped with all sorts of veggies, meat of your choice, a fried egg and sesame oil. 

The last few dishes were the spam and cheese tofu soup ($16.99), crispy seafood pancake ($16.99) and crispy squid with masago creamy aioli dip ($13.99). All were delicious, and with the weather getting chilly, the still-boiling-when-served tofu soup is something I’ll be ordering again soon. It has that same spicy gochujang paste (a staple in Korean cuisine as you’ll notice) that’s rich and smooth as it goes down your throat and warms you from the inside out. There’s something so comforting about tofu that’s absorbed all that great broth and just melts in your mouth.

Sura Korean BBQ & Tofu House is at 621 Atlantic Ave. Directions | Website

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Dishes on my to-try list

• Ellie’s constantly comes up in my conversations with people around town and I’ve been itching to check it out. I would need to find a big group so I could try lots of items, but one thing I’m sure I’ll get is the Chittara Pomodoro ($22) — roasted garlic, tomatoes, shallots, burrata, oregano (and I’d add the meatballs for an extra $7).
• With food costs continuing to rise, I’m on the hunt for some affordable meals. Flamin’ Curry has a chicken korma that feeds two to three people (or means leftovers for single-person households!) for $12.99. 

New eats around town

Cookie Plug opened this past weekend in the Lakewood Center next to Burger King in the Target wing. Franchise co-owners Julie and Lee Meng will also open another location at the Long Beach Towne Center soon although no date has been set yet for that location’s grand opening. 

If you hear something new is coming to your neighborhood, shoot me an email! I’ll find out more and report back.

Events and Specials

Tamale Fest is back — grab tickets early for a discounted price and spend Dec. 9 feasting on tamales and sipping tequila while enjoying music, art and cultural performances. More details here. 

Fuego will have live Latin Jazz music from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., performed by Francisco Reyes Trio. Latin guitarist Daveed Alvarado will perform from 5 to 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23. Reservations are required for Fuego’s Thanksgiving celebration between 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on OpenTable.

Until Dec. 31, Pieology is giving their rewards members (new and old) the choice of a free side salad, a fresh-baked cookie, or a non-alcoholic beverage with every Craft Your Own Pizza purchase. If a rewards member purchases a Craft Your Own Pizza before the end of the year, you can unlock some perks next year as well. More details can be found here. 

In addition to all that’s going on at 2ND & PCH, The Bungalow Long Beach is doing a Thanksgiving Eve on Nov. 22 with seasonal cocktails, a DJ, and dancing. Reservations can be made through [email protected] or by calling 526-719-9400.