March 11, 2025 • 28 mins
Ever wonder what it would be like to open a restaurant with your best friend? This week on Locales Only, we are riding around Inglewood with the owners of Two Hommés, Yaw Marcus Yaw Johnson (Chef Mando) and Abdoulaye Balde (Chef AB).
Two Hommés is a testament to what is possible in a restaurant and kitchen when you blend culture, experimentation, and passion, and we’re going to learn about their journey from cooking meals on a flattop grill for the neighborhood to opening their own brick-and-mortar establishment.
We’re also going to learn about their influences, their families, and how people can find the drive to create something they truly care about. So buckle up and enjoy the conversation!
Big thanks to Fletcher-Jones Motorcar of Newport Beach for sponsoring the show and building out the all-electric Mercedes-Benz EQE as our rolling podcast studio!
Two Hommés is a testament to what is possible in a restaurant and kitchen when you blend culture, experimentation, and passion, and we’re going to learn about their journey from cooking meals on a flattop grill for the neighborhood to opening their own brick-and-mortar establishment.
We’re also going to learn about their influences, their families, and how people can find the drive to create something they truly care about. So buckle up and enjoy the conversation!
Big thanks to Fletcher-Jones Motorcar of Newport Beach for sponsoring the show and building out the all-electric Mercedes-Benz EQE as our rolling podcast studio!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yo, Hey, how's it going. It's Eric with Locals Only.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
What's to do?
Speaker 3 (00:05):
Bro?
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey man, I'm right out front of your restaurant. If
you guys want to come outside, wee can go take
a drive. Yep, all right, Matt see you.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Hey.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Welcome to Locals Only.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
I'm Eric Hale, and if you don't know me, I'm
the guy that founded Local magazine fourteen years ago in
my garage.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
It's been my job for all.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Those years to tell you the coolest places to eat
and all of Sudthern, California fun things to do. So
you have date nights that aren't boring, and we've talked
to some really interesting people. Now we have a podcast,
and we're lucky enough to call this Mercedes Benz EQE
all electric sedan courtesy of Fletcher Jones Motor Cars in
Newport Beach, our mobile podcast stud So sit back, buckle up,
(00:49):
and enjoy the conversation.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Welcome to Local Zoning. Today we're in Inglewood and we're
going to be stopping by a really cool restaurant. It's
called Two Home Aids. We're picking up Chef ab and
Chef Mando. They started this restaurant only four years ago.
And since then have gotten tons of acclaim. It's made
(01:12):
La Times Best Restaurants twice and only its first two years.
These lifelong friends have something special and we can't wait
to tell you about it. Their blend of West African
and California cuisine has really got people talking. So sit back,
buckle up, and enjoy Locals Only. So welcome to the
(01:35):
Locals Only Podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Gentlemen, Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So much for joining us today. And we're going to
be driving around I guess around Inglewood, right, this is
the neighborhood that we're in, so we're going to try
to stick in the boundaries of this city. Tell me
about you guys a little bit. Where did you both
grow up? And maybe tell me how you got into
this restaurant business, because you've had a lot of success,
especially in a short amount of time. Who wants to
(02:00):
go first?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
I can start it off.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
I grew up not too far from here, about ten
minutes away in Lamart Park. That's another little city, right,
A couple of lots away, born and raised there. My
father's from Senegal, West Africa, so just kind of my household.
Our households are kind of similar. You get West, you
get some West African food, you get some American food,
and then we live in Los Angeles, so you get
(02:26):
a good variety of like Mexican, Latina and just different
culture of food.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
So, I mean we just kind of just so.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
You first generation was your your dad immigrated here from Senegal? Yes, sir,
Oh that's awesome. And Lahmert Park, Yeah, we did. During
the fires, we were over in Lahmert Park. It's bigger
than us. A guy named Tyrone that's over there. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
we actually went up there and interviewed him. He was
doing some really great things for people around the fires
around that time. So and what about you? Where were you?
(02:56):
Where are you from?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Man?
Speaker 6 (02:57):
I was to raise in the Crenshaw District, so five
minutes away from bro really like two minutes, you know,
right down Princeshaw. Born and raised there. Uh we Man,
we grew up together. It was just a blessing.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Man.
Speaker 6 (03:11):
We started cooking around the same time. Uh, just like
high school kickbacks, backyard boogies and everything, you know what
I mean. And uh, that transpired into you know, we
part of our separate ways. I went to the Navy.
That was cool for a little while, just six years
and that Uh.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Did you cook in the navy?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Nah?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
No, a lot of on a single It wasn't it, man.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Men, rats and all that, you know what I mean.
It wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
So I was.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I was in the army, so all right, all right,
all right.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
Yeah, yeah, so the Navy was cool. I did six years,
but uh that paid for you to go to culinary school.
So I went to ce I A but I didn't
finish that because of COVID. I was doing my extern
ship at TAMAC and then that kind of ended after
like three four months, and then being bro linked during
(04:04):
that time, and we just started whipping up. Started with
joe bows and tacos and uh.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Just pop ups every weekend. Yeah, so that's where it started.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Okay, let's go back a little bit though, because you
said something interesting that, uh you started cooking cooking together
before that, before the Navy. Were in high school?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Were you looking program or we grew up together?
Speaker 5 (04:27):
Just curiosity, like when we're getting together in high school,
you know, your friends get together. Everybody else trying to
worry about other stuff. We're like, man, what do we
eat it?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
What do we eat it? Like you guys trying to
go to McDonald's at the end.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
It's not doing that. I don't want that. So were like, man,
let's hit the grocery store.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Do you remember something that you guys would make together
way back then, because I mean it was.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
To show someone a grille.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
Okay, grill fired that grill, and then we could kind
of both do our own things but meet at the grill.
And then it just started, like we just started collapping
on menus. And then like you said during COVID, it
just got weird, like they like put a mask on,
don't breathe on, nobody, don't come outside. All the restaurants
were shutting down, and I'm like, I can't just sit
in the house.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I'm gonna go crazy.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
And we just like just a perfect time to just
try to try something and work on our craft. So
we put together a menu and put it out and
went out there and it turned out great, and we
went out there more and more. The next you know,
we was out there every Saturday Sunday. Then we start
getting catering and we were like, okay, this is this
something crazy, Like we didn't even have a name for it.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Now did you take the direction of culinary too? I
know he went to the Navy, and you guys weren't together.
What were you doing in that time?
Speaker 5 (05:37):
So before around that time too, I went to culinary school.
I was at Lee Court on Blue right after high school,
but I actually didn't finish there either, ended up just
going separates from there and then little community college culinary programs.
And they're really just self taught, like I said, a
lot of just curiosity and wanted to try something new
and not willing to take no or answer.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
So he said, you didn't have a name. You could
have called yourself collinary school dropouts because dropped.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
Out, man, that would have been That would have been dope.
Also because they already loved the name. It just can't
We're just like, man, this is going too crazy and
we don't got a name like this is, so what's
the day? Tell me the name of your restaurant right now?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Too homemade?
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Too homemade right, it's a little double.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
Entendre to homies. It's a lot of it because even
even homemade. My father from Synegague, so they speak French,
so that's kind of in the pocket.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
They bring the French in a little bit to the man.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
We're also two homies.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
It's like quadruple.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
It made sense. It was scary at first. You call ourselves.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
People might like like, what what are you all calling yourself?
Speaker 3 (06:46):
It's stuck like glue.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
People love it.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
They love it, and you know, since they love it,
I love it.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah that's good. So so you guys get together, you
link up, and you start making this food. You were
just gonna go to these pop up So tell me
we're going to like a pop up like the farmers
market of a Merick Park. We just do anything.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, we started a seekers.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Because we saw I talked to Olympia from Supermarket and
she started her little, uh little grocery store out there
at Lamark Park in that same one. You guys might
have been in that same.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, outside and just ready to kill today.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
What was that menu?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Like?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
That was tacos, Taco heavy.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
That tacos and gel off bowls.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
So that was and then the tacos we're doing weren't
necessarily regular tacos.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Like you like salmon belly.
Speaker 5 (07:37):
Oh really, we're doing limon, garlic salmon. We had a
root beer brace shorter, We had a lobster. We had catfish,
catfish barbecue jair, cauliflower.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Catfish taco sounds all right.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
We did a plantain one time because we ran out
of Cauliflyer and it's a lot of vegans out there,
and they're just like, man like, put put the plantain
in the taco thing. And I'm like, that's not on
the menu. But I'm like, it don't sound bad, and
if the man wants to, we're here for the community.
So I made it for him, and he came back
for like six seven of them and start telling people,
(08:11):
and people start coming back as for this secret item
on the menu.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
But where did you get Okay? So what I'm hearing
a lot is experimentation, right, even with foods that a
lot of people might not experiment with your experimenting with
a taco and making you just named i think eight
different types of taco that other.
Speaker 6 (08:31):
People might different sauces that we were all making. Yeah,
he's making have an arrow, a sauce of Verde barbecue,
jerk Slatsch, the lime cram I.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Citchr's butter sauce.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Yeah, it sounds like you guys were having fun. Primarily though,
it is because a lot of people that get into
whatever that career is and they're like they get stressed
out and they're like, man, if we got to make
this work, I gotta be serious. But it sounds like
you guys weren't being that seriously. I'm not saying that
is like a put down. It's like you guys were
just out there like, let's do whatever we want to
do and see how people take to it.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, the world is ours. You know, we're serious about
the craft.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
But you can't be serious trying to deal with customers
and convince them or trying to convince them that this
is something that they need and want.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Right, this is a good.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Question with your parents being from Senegal and gone on
right also okay, and from La so a mixture. Right.
But but when people are eating your food, I know,
like my mom's a good cook, and when I cook something,
I'm like, man, I my mom says it's good.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
It's probably really good for sure?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
How much how judgmental or are the are the relatives
and the family and stuff like that when they try
this food? What's that like when they take a bite
of it? Do you get that reaction you're looking for?
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Usually? Usually almost every time, I can't. I can't say no.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
You know, it's some serious factors like my mom's side
of the family's from Texas, so it's like I was.
I grew up on the pitch smoking and white oak brisket,
all that green to mac so I know that whole
side too. And it's certain things like I'll make some
greens in my and I give it to my uncle.
And my uncle which also was one of the ones
(10:11):
that showed me how to cook. He was he had
a catering company, so that's where I started. And he'll
be like, you didn't make these greens, and I'm like,
why you say that, and he's like someing some something
and I'm like, yeah, I make those in mine and
he's like, you could have did this or something. But
he's enjoying them, he's eating them. But he just like
(10:31):
he just always wants to do his thing because he
taught me.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
But also that's out of love.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
It's like it's like talking to another chef. You know.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
He's like, I would have did this, and I would
have did this, and it's like you also got a
pot too, you could do it, boss.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
So so you're making this food and people are so
excited about it. They're standing in line for your secret talkers.
Everything is going great. So you're like, let's try something, right,
So tell me what that's like, because that's it's a
big enough jumped and say let's go have a ten
by ten right now. We got to go deal with
a health apartment. We got to come up with menus.
(11:06):
We gotta do marketing, We gotta compete with what I
was always right like.
Speaker 6 (11:13):
It was always be Yeah, there was there was opportunities
for food trucks and bars and other things like that.
But the food that we serve, that that we want
to give to our community. We wanted to like sit down,
enjoy this, really have like a real community aspect behind it,
you know what I mean, like and really like pull
up like five minutes ten minutes from where you live
(11:34):
and like eat some food, like you know that's like
top nots.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
How important was it for you guys to keep the
restaurant in your backyard? Essentially?
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Uh, really important communities everything. You know, you don't want
to start something.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Who supported us? Sure, that's who got it for us.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
And then take it all like make it not accessible
for people to get to you. So for sure, we
want to be somewhere close in a good pocket that
had good traffic, a decent neighborhood, and we actually fell
into it. We actually ended up where we're at. But
also we did make a piss.
Speaker 6 (12:11):
Stop in the U in the ghost kitchen for the city.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Culver City, and that didn't work.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
Not just that not being able to see you're in
just no kitchen and you're just passing food and send
it to the front, like you can't see your usual customers.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Like you don't really exist.
Speaker 5 (12:28):
You just see a name on there, and it kind
of takes the interaction out with the food and the
full experience about it.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
And then La Merk people was pulling up to you know,
we talking to them over the grill behind it and
what I was to deal with passing them with taco
It tasted, you know what I mean. So it's a
personal interaction that they you know exactly, that they had
with us. So being in that ghost kitchen we just
didn't really didn't.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
Really suit our We're just selling food at that point,
and I'm not like, of course, we want to sell
food and make as much money as possible, but that's
not the only thing we're trying to do.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
There's a there's a restaurant. I think it's one of
my favorite restaurants I ever been to. It's in Florence, Italy.
It's just this little bitty restaurant. It's I don't mean
a little bitty, but let's say it's like the size
of yours. Okay, But there's this guy in there. He
owns it, and his pictures on the wall from thirty
years ago standing there in the newspaper, same guy at
the same count. He's just been staying and every time
(13:21):
people come in he talks to him. He'll give you
a little extra wine, he'll bring it, he'll cut up
a watermelon or a candle up and just bring it
to your table. And he's just there like conversing with you.
And I love the food and the ambiance is great,
but man, it's so nice that this this person has
just been standing there and just coming there and conversing
and being part of that community for so long. It
feels special for you to be a part of that.
(13:43):
So you want to be fixers in the community. That's
another thing. It's not just put the food. You want
to do good guarantee.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
You know. Do you see this.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Thing being like that kid being twenty or thirty and
still coming into the restaurant and there.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Right for sure, we don't plan on leaving.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, so this is this is this the beginning of
like an empire or do you see yourself like this
is what you've always wanted and this is You've achieved
what you want to achieve and now you just want
to keep doing it. Here already see yourself like maybe
doing other things in the world.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
No, we're not done here. Okay, the job's never done.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
And then even if we do do other stuff, this
is this is where we started. This is where we're
going in if it branches out to a bigger web
and network other stuff, but the food is always the
center of it.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
The food, the people, the interaction.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Community, you know what I mean.
Speaker 6 (14:30):
It definitely needs to be like a hub, you know
what I mean for up and coming young chefs in
our community to like really you know, get their reps up,
because I remember growing up like there wasn't really too
many restaurants around that we could really like really work
on our knife skills and like learn how to build
these sauces and learn how to really turn and burn,
(14:50):
you know what I mean.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
So I remember one of my old bosses. It always
comes to me She's like, how did you open a restaurant?
I said, I sold food. I sold food on the
weekends and it finally got us here. Yeah, and then
everything we do, we just remodeled recently.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
You know, we just got tired of the old s face.
Speaker 5 (15:10):
You know, we had to rock with it the way
it was for financial but eventually it was just like
the insiders don't even feel like us. So it's like,
we want to make it where it's open and for
people to come sit down.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And I feel like.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
You have one of those crazy restaurants and you feel
like you're out of place or you can't feel comfortable
in that, right, Yeah, I need you to come in
and enjoy yourself and not leave.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
When we pulled up, there's a sign on the door
that SOS you guys were voted one of the best
one hundred and one restaurants in all of Los Angeles. Right, yeah, true,
that just happened.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah, what did that?
Speaker 1 (15:50):
What did that? What did that feel like?
Speaker 3 (15:52):
What?
Speaker 1 (15:52):
What does that feel like when that happens?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
What is the first year was crazy?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
And by the way, just to let's keep people, I
guess see where we're at right now, We're just about
to right by the forum right there, so kind of
see where we're at right bend.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
You got the so far stadium, so.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Far stated, maybe we can after we talk about this award,
maybe we'll talk about what's changing over here around this
neighborhood because of all that. That might be interesting. But yeah,
tell me about what it felt like. Who either one
of you go like they call you up the email
or what are you just like your friend calls you?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
How do you find out? So they sent us an email.
Speaker 6 (16:23):
No, first, they like sent us an email like, hey,
do you want to participate in this event? I'm like sure,
it's that times like why not? But like it's just
like the hunt. We don't know like that we're getting,
like the award.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
They'll tell you. They're not telling this. I'm like, well,
so it's like are we on it?
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Are we not?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
It would be kind of it was kind of like
that this should be fucked up. We over here all
this ship. We don't get that ship.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
At the same time, we're not even people like that.
We're not looking for we don't call.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Nobody interview like reached out the kitchen and the craft.
Speaker 6 (16:57):
So yeah, so they snuck up in there a few
times in our first year were like open like, so
that was like twenty two to twenty three when we
first opened.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
That was within six months of us opening the very
first one. We were still trying to figure out, so.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Just slow this down. So La Times within six months.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
Of you over, well, let me see September, No, September, October, November,
decep No, it was a year. It was a year
and some change because that was the twenty twenty three
one because that was twenty twenty three, so a.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Year and some change. Yeah, after two culinary school dropouts
go from La Merit Park to open up a brick
and mortar. La Times says that you're one of the
best one hundred and one restaurants in the whole city
out of ten thousands of restaurants. Yes, Saturday, that had
to be like you guys are you're smiling, but it
had to be and you're not looking for accolades, but
(17:45):
it had to be something like it where we got something,
we got something here.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
Yeah, it was unreal, right, and it really just made
us strap our boots up.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
That's when you dig in.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
First thing man, though, text me is it just started.
He's like, we didn't even and I'm like, man, we
really haven't just give you what we can.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
We had the wood benches up in there.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
We bought some like some okay looking plates, and we
was just getting it going, you know what I mean.
We was we were serving out of plastic cups and
like you know.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Phys it should be it's not about the.
Speaker 6 (18:21):
Yeah, as long as listen, as long as the fool
was smacking, they was gonna come back. The chicken bikes,
the July of the ruber braids, short rib, the zat
tar zucchini, the passion fruits of vich like everything was
like like.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
I know, we're sitting on these wood benches, but we
gotta go back.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
You know.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
But you know, we just like just kind of hell strong.
Speaker 6 (18:43):
It was like, you know, we never like wanted to
bite off more that we can chew, you know what
I mean. So we always just you know, steps at
a time. We building like we're never in a rush
some marathon, so.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
So so littlett So do you have let's talk about goals?
Then do you have gold? Could you see yourself maybe
being in the Michelin God, maybe having a Michelin star.
Does that even matter to you? Or you just want
to keep doing the thing and and be successful. Success
come more.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
Than longevity over anything, longevity over everything.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
For sure, because you get a Michelin start next year
and then the restaurant not open in two years, like
a lot what is that mission to start if nobody
could come enjoyed, if it's like something that got ready
but no longer exists, you know, so it's like we're just.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Gonna keep running. We would love to be on all
of those awards.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Well, probably not having investors getting into your business, yourself
being there, dedicating your time and energy into it, all
of those things are going to give you the longevity
that you're looking for over most places, because a lot
of places don't have those things, that foundation that you have.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And it's a different energy too.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
Yeah, you know, it's our money, it's our food, it's
our time, so everything matters, not like you just come
in and it's like, oh, the delivery didn't come today,
So half the menu items we don't have today, that
can't that that don't exist, Like we in the back
trying to scramble and figure it out, like if we
got to run to a farmer's market or multiple and
(20:05):
try to figure it out so the job never done.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Switch the fish.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yeah, yeah, let's talk Let's talk about what we talked about. Second,
let's talk about this change in ingle with this outside
money that's come in the NFL, you know, the the NBA,
all these things that are coming here. How have you
seen that. Has that affected your business? Had it? Has
it brought more people? For shine a light on? Brought
more business to you? Because I would imagine if people
(20:34):
are looking, hey, I'm gonna go to the game and
this restaurant was just listed and it's a five minute drive.
Is that Are you seeing people come in?
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:43):
For sure, we're packed game day and stuff like.
Speaker 6 (20:45):
That, concerts before the game. Uh, rams games, you.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
It starts have one.
Speaker 6 (20:54):
You don't come in, grab some bruise, eat some brunch,
and then you know, take the leover right there.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Yeah, it's right, you know.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
Uh So to be in the proximity is uh you know, yeah,
we see the influx for sure, but uh you know,
you got you got the Olympics coming. Yeah, it's gonna
be a lot on the community. So uh yeah, I
mean it's you know, it's it's pros and cons.
Speaker 5 (21:23):
You know, you can't feed everybody. You know, days like that,
we're turning people away. It's like I can't even yeah
for sure.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
What what what is the Let me just ask you this,
what is the impact that you felt like you've had
on the community so far? And what impact do you
see yourself making on.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
The community For the community, Like I said, just really
showing them that it could be done. You know a
lot of stuff growing up like people, I'm gonna do it,
Like I wish I could do this. I wish I
could do this without ever really kind of looking into
it or taking steps towards it.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Kind of it seemed like in the stars and unreachable.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
So you know, just bringing something around for them to
see and watchings grow because we're growing at the same time,
Like every day we learn it like I learned from Mandal.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Every day, like it's different stuff.
Speaker 5 (22:15):
We reading doing all types of stuff just for the
craft and for everybody, because I would hate I would
hate for it to be gone, just from not being
able to stay on your p's and q's and be
able to serve people what they need. And you know,
we try to stay more on the healthier side, even
though it's like still kind of comfort food but we
pay a lot of attention on a balance well and
(22:38):
for what goes into the food, what we're serving you,
and how we're serving you. So hopefully hopefully yeah, that
just make an impact and make people do it. And
then also two people doing it. You know, everybody always say,
don't do business, you know, with your friend or you
know or family. You know, you need to do it
by yourself. And so people always amaze that, like both
(23:00):
of us and we don't have no problems. I'm like,
because we problem less, Like there's no egos in this.
At the end of the day, we're trying to serve
the community. So if we are set on something, how
does that translate? And it will translate through the food.
People feel energy through the food. You can tell when
somebody just wasn't feeling it and they prepared your food and.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Served it to you.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
So it's just trying to stay all around and just
because people watching, kids are watching, the elderly are watching.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Let's finish on this. I think that's been a great conversation.
What I would love to know is kind of peeling
off what we just talked about. If you had instead
of me and my wife in this car, if you
had two young people right that were friends, maybe went
to your same high school, in your same neighborhood. Right now,
when you both had a chance just to like share
(23:54):
that little bit of nugget, like the way an uncle
would share with you, that little bit of nugget. Maybe
way that your uncle told you about some things. Each
one of you, what would you share with that that
young person. Uh, that's that's that's that's trying to make
these decisions and maybe following the past.
Speaker 6 (24:09):
They focused. That's it, stay focused, disciplined.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
You know that it's a lot of long, consistently mornings,
but that consistent you being like, nah, I'm not gonna.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Go to this a little party, I'm not.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
You just gotta lock in so crazy. It's gotta be
a mental switch, like for real, it's gotta be like
like that Kobe like Mamba mentality, that marathon. Like you
gotta be in a mode and really just be like.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Like this is what it is, and you know what
I mean.
Speaker 6 (24:41):
And when two people really is on that way, we're like, bro,
this is what it is.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Like we committed. We up at four am.
Speaker 6 (24:47):
We're gonna go to sleep at at twelve, back up
at at five we're gonna prep this.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I'm gonna go here, You're gonna go there, like and
you don't really lock in.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
Putting all the food in his car. Man, we might
rid and go with my set up and run back
and go get it. But you gotta be willing to
do that. Yeah, you can't be like like, man, I
just went last time.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
You know that's not a thing is every day it's
time to go.
Speaker 6 (25:13):
You gotta do it for years, like you know what
I mean, Just like you kids, just like wait, that
was a crazy buf, Like you gotta.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
Get that again and again and again, and I guarantee
it will read benefits absolutely.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Whatever you're doing, keep at it, keep going.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
Head down, don't mind the accolades, like you know what
I mean, blessed like they gonna come, you know what
I mean, But just keep going.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
I love your guys energy, And it's it's a different
type of energy that you guys protrude because it's the
it's it's exactly low key. But as soon as you're
asking something you're excited and passionate about, you can see
that energy level spike. So your superpower is it's probably
just conserving that energy using it in the right sections.
And then you guys put both your energy together, and
(25:57):
then on top of that you have a community lifting
you up right, and then if like sky, Sky's the
limit for sure. Here's what I want to say. I
go on a lot of these very inspired by you guys. Right,
two young men doing your thing, concerned about the community.
You did it just on your own hustle, which is
(26:17):
I think really really impressive. And it was an absolute
pleasure just to get to ride around and talk with
you guys and learn more about two home As. If
you're in Inglewood, if you're in the if you're in
Los Angeles, let's say, right, you're in the area, even
if you're going to a Rams game, a Chargers game,
a Clippers game, going to a concert, definitely try if
(26:37):
you can get a reservation to Two home As, go
in there, try this food out, lift them up and
share that energy that they're going to be sharing with
you through their food.
Speaker 6 (26:47):
Right, Yeah, sir, nine oh two North Lebrea, Englewood, California.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
All Right, thank you so much for being on the
podcast today on Locales only. Thanks to Fletcher Jones Mercedes
for giving us this wonderful rolling.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Hey shout out.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
To tweet, comes out energy right, we got them excited.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Anything is excited about that and he just comes up
to homies needs Benz is Fletcher Jones.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Let you know that.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Thank you for everybody for riding around on Locals Only
today and we'll see you next time.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I want to thank everyone on the straw Hut Media team,
including executive producer Ryan Tillotson and our editor and producer
Parker Jay Hicks. And as always a big thank you
to Fletcher Jones Motor Cars in Newport Beach for providing
this beautiful Mercedes Benz e q E to be a
rolling podcast studio. Join us next time on Locals Only
(27:57):
where you can buckle up and go for a ride
in our mobile podcast studio with some of the coolest
people in Southern California. M
Yo, Hey, how's it going. It's Eric with Locals Only.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
What's to do?
Speaker 3 (00:05):
Bro?
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey man, I'm right out front of your restaurant. If
you guys want to come outside, wee can go take
a drive. Yep, all right, Matt see you.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Hey.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
Welcome to Locals Only.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
I'm Eric Hale, and if you don't know me, I'm
the guy that founded Local magazine fourteen years ago in
my garage.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
It's been my job for all.
Speaker 4 (00:27):
Those years to tell you the coolest places to eat
and all of Sudthern, California fun things to do. So
you have date nights that aren't boring, and we've talked
to some really interesting people. Now we have a podcast,
and we're lucky enough to call this Mercedes Benz EQE
all electric sedan courtesy of Fletcher Jones Motor Cars in
Newport Beach, our mobile podcast stud So sit back, buckle up,
(00:49):
and enjoy the conversation.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Welcome to Local Zoning. Today we're in Inglewood and we're
going to be stopping by a really cool restaurant. It's
called Two Home Aids. We're picking up Chef ab and
Chef Mando. They started this restaurant only four years ago.
And since then have gotten tons of acclaim. It's made
(01:12):
La Times Best Restaurants twice and only its first two years.
These lifelong friends have something special and we can't wait
to tell you about it. Their blend of West African
and California cuisine has really got people talking. So sit back,
buckle up, and enjoy Locals Only. So welcome to the
(01:35):
Locals Only Podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Gentlemen, Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
So much for joining us today. And we're going to
be driving around I guess around Inglewood, right, this is
the neighborhood that we're in, so we're going to try
to stick in the boundaries of this city. Tell me
about you guys a little bit. Where did you both
grow up? And maybe tell me how you got into
this restaurant business, because you've had a lot of success,
especially in a short amount of time. Who wants to
(02:00):
go first?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
I can start it off.
Speaker 5 (02:04):
I grew up not too far from here, about ten
minutes away in Lamart Park. That's another little city, right,
A couple of lots away, born and raised there. My
father's from Senegal, West Africa, so just kind of my household.
Our households are kind of similar. You get West, you
get some West African food, you get some American food,
and then we live in Los Angeles, so you get
(02:26):
a good variety of like Mexican, Latina and just different
culture of food.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
So, I mean we just kind of just so.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
You first generation was your your dad immigrated here from Senegal? Yes, sir,
Oh that's awesome. And Lahmert Park, Yeah, we did. During
the fires, we were over in Lahmert Park. It's bigger
than us. A guy named Tyrone that's over there. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
we actually went up there and interviewed him. He was
doing some really great things for people around the fires
around that time. So and what about you? Where were you?
(02:56):
Where are you from?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Man?
Speaker 6 (02:57):
I was to raise in the Crenshaw District, so five
minutes away from bro really like two minutes, you know,
right down Princeshaw. Born and raised there. Uh we Man,
we grew up together. It was just a blessing.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Man.
Speaker 6 (03:11):
We started cooking around the same time. Uh, just like
high school kickbacks, backyard boogies and everything, you know what
I mean. And uh, that transpired into you know, we
part of our separate ways. I went to the Navy.
That was cool for a little while, just six years
and that Uh.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Did you cook in the navy?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Nah?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
No, a lot of on a single It wasn't it, man.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Men, rats and all that, you know what I mean.
It wasn't it.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
So I was.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I was in the army, so all right, all right,
all right.
Speaker 6 (03:44):
Yeah, yeah, so the Navy was cool. I did six years,
but uh that paid for you to go to culinary school.
So I went to ce I A but I didn't
finish that because of COVID. I was doing my extern
ship at TAMAC and then that kind of ended after
like three four months, and then being bro linked during
(04:04):
that time, and we just started whipping up. Started with
joe bows and tacos and uh.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Just pop ups every weekend. Yeah, so that's where it started.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Okay, let's go back a little bit though, because you
said something interesting that, uh you started cooking cooking together
before that, before the Navy. Were in high school?
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Were you looking program or we grew up together?
Speaker 5 (04:27):
Just curiosity, like when we're getting together in high school,
you know, your friends get together. Everybody else trying to
worry about other stuff. We're like, man, what do we
eat it?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
What do we eat it? Like you guys trying to
go to McDonald's at the end.
Speaker 5 (04:39):
It's not doing that. I don't want that. So were like, man,
let's hit the grocery store.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Do you remember something that you guys would make together
way back then, because I mean it was.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
To show someone a grille.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
Okay, grill fired that grill, and then we could kind
of both do our own things but meet at the grill.
And then it just started, like we just started collapping
on menus. And then like you said during COVID, it
just got weird, like they like put a mask on,
don't breathe on, nobody, don't come outside. All the restaurants
were shutting down, and I'm like, I can't just sit
in the house.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I'm gonna go crazy.
Speaker 5 (05:10):
And we just like just a perfect time to just
try to try something and work on our craft. So
we put together a menu and put it out and
went out there and it turned out great, and we
went out there more and more. The next you know,
we was out there every Saturday Sunday. Then we start
getting catering and we were like, okay, this is this
something crazy, Like we didn't even have a name for it.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Now did you take the direction of culinary too? I
know he went to the Navy, and you guys weren't together.
What were you doing in that time?
Speaker 5 (05:37):
So before around that time too, I went to culinary school.
I was at Lee Court on Blue right after high school,
but I actually didn't finish there either, ended up just
going separates from there and then little community college culinary programs.
And they're really just self taught, like I said, a
lot of just curiosity and wanted to try something new
and not willing to take no or answer.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
So he said, you didn't have a name. You could
have called yourself collinary school dropouts because dropped.
Speaker 5 (06:05):
Out, man, that would have been That would have been dope.
Also because they already loved the name. It just can't
We're just like, man, this is going too crazy and
we don't got a name like this is, so what's
the day? Tell me the name of your restaurant right now?
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Too homemade?
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Too homemade right, it's a little double.
Speaker 5 (06:22):
Entendre to homies. It's a lot of it because even
even homemade. My father from Synegague, so they speak French,
so that's kind of in the pocket.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
They bring the French in a little bit to the man.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
We're also two homies.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
It's like quadruple.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
It made sense. It was scary at first. You call ourselves.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
People might like like, what what are you all calling yourself?
Speaker 3 (06:46):
It's stuck like glue.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
People love it.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
They love it, and you know, since they love it,
I love it.
Speaker 1 (06:51):
Yeah that's good. So so you guys get together, you
link up, and you start making this food. You were
just gonna go to these pop up So tell me
we're going to like a pop up like the farmers
market of a Merick Park. We just do anything.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, we started a seekers.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Because we saw I talked to Olympia from Supermarket and
she started her little, uh little grocery store out there
at Lamark Park in that same one. You guys might
have been in that same.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, outside and just ready to kill today.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
What was that menu?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Like?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
That was tacos, Taco heavy.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
That tacos and gel off bowls.
Speaker 5 (07:31):
So that was and then the tacos we're doing weren't
necessarily regular tacos.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
Like you like salmon belly.
Speaker 5 (07:37):
Oh really, we're doing limon, garlic salmon. We had a
root beer brace shorter, We had a lobster. We had catfish,
catfish barbecue jair, cauliflower.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Catfish taco sounds all right.
Speaker 5 (07:49):
We did a plantain one time because we ran out
of Cauliflyer and it's a lot of vegans out there,
and they're just like, man like, put put the plantain
in the taco thing. And I'm like, that's not on
the menu. But I'm like, it don't sound bad, and
if the man wants to, we're here for the community.
So I made it for him, and he came back
for like six seven of them and start telling people,
(08:11):
and people start coming back as for this secret item
on the menu.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
But where did you get Okay? So what I'm hearing
a lot is experimentation, right, even with foods that a
lot of people might not experiment with your experimenting with
a taco and making you just named i think eight
different types of taco that other.
Speaker 6 (08:31):
People might different sauces that we were all making. Yeah,
he's making have an arrow, a sauce of Verde barbecue,
jerk Slatsch, the lime cram I.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Citchr's butter sauce.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
Yeah, it sounds like you guys were having fun. Primarily though,
it is because a lot of people that get into
whatever that career is and they're like they get stressed
out and they're like, man, if we got to make
this work, I gotta be serious. But it sounds like
you guys weren't being that seriously. I'm not saying that
is like a put down. It's like you guys were
just out there like, let's do whatever we want to
do and see how people take to it.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Yeah, the world is ours. You know, we're serious about
the craft.
Speaker 5 (09:09):
But you can't be serious trying to deal with customers
and convince them or trying to convince them that this
is something that they need and want.
Speaker 3 (09:17):
Right, this is a good.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Question with your parents being from Senegal and gone on
right also okay, and from La so a mixture. Right.
But but when people are eating your food, I know,
like my mom's a good cook, and when I cook something,
I'm like, man, I my mom says it's good.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
It's probably really good for sure?
Speaker 1 (09:35):
How much how judgmental or are the are the relatives
and the family and stuff like that when they try
this food? What's that like when they take a bite
of it? Do you get that reaction you're looking for?
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Usually? Usually almost every time, I can't. I can't say no.
Speaker 5 (09:51):
You know, it's some serious factors like my mom's side
of the family's from Texas, so it's like I was.
I grew up on the pitch smoking and white oak brisket,
all that green to mac so I know that whole
side too. And it's certain things like I'll make some
greens in my and I give it to my uncle.
And my uncle which also was one of the ones
(10:11):
that showed me how to cook. He was he had
a catering company, so that's where I started. And he'll
be like, you didn't make these greens, and I'm like,
why you say that, and he's like someing some something
and I'm like, yeah, I make those in mine and
he's like, you could have did this or something. But
he's enjoying them, he's eating them. But he just like
(10:31):
he just always wants to do his thing because he
taught me.
Speaker 1 (10:35):
But also that's out of love.
Speaker 3 (10:36):
It's like it's like talking to another chef. You know.
Speaker 5 (10:39):
He's like, I would have did this, and I would
have did this, and it's like you also got a
pot too, you could do it, boss.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
So so you're making this food and people are so
excited about it. They're standing in line for your secret talkers.
Everything is going great. So you're like, let's try something, right,
So tell me what that's like, because that's it's a
big enough jumped and say let's go have a ten
by ten right now. We got to go deal with
a health apartment. We got to come up with menus.
(11:06):
We gotta do marketing, We gotta compete with what I
was always right like.
Speaker 6 (11:13):
It was always be Yeah, there was there was opportunities
for food trucks and bars and other things like that.
But the food that we serve, that that we want
to give to our community. We wanted to like sit down,
enjoy this, really have like a real community aspect behind it,
you know what I mean, like and really like pull
up like five minutes ten minutes from where you live
(11:34):
and like eat some food, like you know that's like
top nots.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
How important was it for you guys to keep the
restaurant in your backyard? Essentially?
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Uh, really important communities everything. You know, you don't want
to start something.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Who supported us? Sure, that's who got it for us.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
And then take it all like make it not accessible
for people to get to you. So for sure, we
want to be somewhere close in a good pocket that
had good traffic, a decent neighborhood, and we actually fell
into it. We actually ended up where we're at. But
also we did make a piss.
Speaker 6 (12:11):
Stop in the U in the ghost kitchen for the city.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Culver City, and that didn't work.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
Not just that not being able to see you're in
just no kitchen and you're just passing food and send
it to the front, like you can't see your usual customers.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
Like you don't really exist.
Speaker 5 (12:28):
You just see a name on there, and it kind
of takes the interaction out with the food and the
full experience about it.
Speaker 6 (12:35):
And then La Merk people was pulling up to you know,
we talking to them over the grill behind it and
what I was to deal with passing them with taco
It tasted, you know what I mean. So it's a
personal interaction that they you know exactly, that they had
with us. So being in that ghost kitchen we just
didn't really didn't.
Speaker 5 (12:50):
Really suit our We're just selling food at that point,
and I'm not like, of course, we want to sell
food and make as much money as possible, but that's
not the only thing we're trying to do.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
There's a there's a restaurant. I think it's one of
my favorite restaurants I ever been to. It's in Florence, Italy.
It's just this little bitty restaurant. It's I don't mean
a little bitty, but let's say it's like the size
of yours. Okay, But there's this guy in there. He
owns it, and his pictures on the wall from thirty
years ago standing there in the newspaper, same guy at
the same count. He's just been staying and every time
(13:21):
people come in he talks to him. He'll give you
a little extra wine, he'll bring it, he'll cut up
a watermelon or a candle up and just bring it
to your table. And he's just there like conversing with you.
And I love the food and the ambiance is great,
but man, it's so nice that this this person has
just been standing there and just coming there and conversing
and being part of that community for so long. It
feels special for you to be a part of that.
(13:43):
So you want to be fixers in the community. That's
another thing. It's not just put the food. You want
to do good guarantee.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
You know. Do you see this.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Thing being like that kid being twenty or thirty and
still coming into the restaurant and there.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
Right for sure, we don't plan on leaving.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah, so this is this is this the beginning of
like an empire or do you see yourself like this
is what you've always wanted and this is You've achieved
what you want to achieve and now you just want
to keep doing it. Here already see yourself like maybe
doing other things in the world.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
No, we're not done here. Okay, the job's never done.
Speaker 5 (14:16):
And then even if we do do other stuff, this
is this is where we started. This is where we're
going in if it branches out to a bigger web
and network other stuff, but the food is always the
center of it.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
The food, the people, the interaction.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
Community, you know what I mean.
Speaker 6 (14:30):
It definitely needs to be like a hub, you know
what I mean for up and coming young chefs in
our community to like really you know, get their reps up,
because I remember growing up like there wasn't really too
many restaurants around that we could really like really work
on our knife skills and like learn how to build
these sauces and learn how to really turn and burn,
(14:50):
you know what I mean.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
So I remember one of my old bosses. It always
comes to me She's like, how did you open a restaurant?
I said, I sold food. I sold food on the
weekends and it finally got us here. Yeah, and then
everything we do, we just remodeled recently.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
You know, we just got tired of the old s face.
Speaker 5 (15:10):
You know, we had to rock with it the way
it was for financial but eventually it was just like
the insiders don't even feel like us. So it's like,
we want to make it where it's open and for
people to come sit down.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And I feel like.
Speaker 5 (15:24):
You have one of those crazy restaurants and you feel
like you're out of place or you can't feel comfortable
in that, right, Yeah, I need you to come in
and enjoy yourself and not leave.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
When we pulled up, there's a sign on the door
that SOS you guys were voted one of the best
one hundred and one restaurants in all of Los Angeles. Right, yeah, true,
that just happened.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah, what did that?
Speaker 1 (15:50):
What did that? What did that feel like?
Speaker 3 (15:52):
What?
Speaker 1 (15:52):
What does that feel like when that happens?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
What is the first year was crazy?
Speaker 1 (15:55):
And by the way, just to let's keep people, I
guess see where we're at right now, We're just about
to right by the forum right there, so kind of
see where we're at right bend.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
You got the so far stadium, so.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Far stated, maybe we can after we talk about this award,
maybe we'll talk about what's changing over here around this
neighborhood because of all that. That might be interesting. But yeah,
tell me about what it felt like. Who either one
of you go like they call you up the email
or what are you just like your friend calls you?
Speaker 2 (16:21):
How do you find out? So they sent us an email.
Speaker 6 (16:23):
No, first, they like sent us an email like, hey,
do you want to participate in this event? I'm like sure,
it's that times like why not? But like it's just
like the hunt. We don't know like that we're getting,
like the award.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
They'll tell you. They're not telling this. I'm like, well,
so it's like are we on it?
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Are we not?
Speaker 2 (16:42):
It would be kind of it was kind of like
that this should be fucked up. We over here all
this ship. We don't get that ship.
Speaker 5 (16:49):
At the same time, we're not even people like that.
We're not looking for we don't call.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
Nobody interview like reached out the kitchen and the craft.
Speaker 6 (16:57):
So yeah, so they snuck up in there a few
times in our first year were like open like, so
that was like twenty two to twenty three when we
first opened.
Speaker 5 (17:05):
That was within six months of us opening the very
first one. We were still trying to figure out, so.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Just slow this down. So La Times within six months.
Speaker 6 (17:13):
Of you over, well, let me see September, No, September, October, November,
decep No, it was a year. It was a year
and some change because that was the twenty twenty three
one because that was twenty twenty three, so a.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
Year and some change. Yeah, after two culinary school dropouts
go from La Merit Park to open up a brick
and mortar. La Times says that you're one of the
best one hundred and one restaurants in the whole city
out of ten thousands of restaurants. Yes, Saturday, that had
to be like you guys are you're smiling, but it
had to be and you're not looking for accolades, but
(17:45):
it had to be something like it where we got something,
we got something here.
Speaker 5 (17:49):
Yeah, it was unreal, right, and it really just made
us strap our boots up.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
That's when you dig in.
Speaker 5 (17:54):
First thing man, though, text me is it just started.
He's like, we didn't even and I'm like, man, we
really haven't just give you what we can.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
We had the wood benches up in there.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
We bought some like some okay looking plates, and we
was just getting it going, you know what I mean.
We was we were serving out of plastic cups and
like you know.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Phys it should be it's not about the.
Speaker 6 (18:21):
Yeah, as long as listen, as long as the fool
was smacking, they was gonna come back. The chicken bikes,
the July of the ruber braids, short rib, the zat
tar zucchini, the passion fruits of vich like everything was
like like.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
I know, we're sitting on these wood benches, but we
gotta go back.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
You know.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
But you know, we just like just kind of hell strong.
Speaker 6 (18:43):
It was like, you know, we never like wanted to
bite off more that we can chew, you know what
I mean. So we always just you know, steps at
a time. We building like we're never in a rush
some marathon, so.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
So so littlett So do you have let's talk about goals?
Then do you have gold? Could you see yourself maybe
being in the Michelin God, maybe having a Michelin star.
Does that even matter to you? Or you just want
to keep doing the thing and and be successful. Success
come more.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
Than longevity over anything, longevity over everything.
Speaker 5 (19:12):
For sure, because you get a Michelin start next year
and then the restaurant not open in two years, like
a lot what is that mission to start if nobody
could come enjoyed, if it's like something that got ready
but no longer exists, you know, so it's like we're just.
Speaker 3 (19:25):
Gonna keep running. We would love to be on all
of those awards.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Well, probably not having investors getting into your business, yourself
being there, dedicating your time and energy into it, all
of those things are going to give you the longevity
that you're looking for over most places, because a lot
of places don't have those things, that foundation that you have.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And it's a different energy too.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
Yeah, you know, it's our money, it's our food, it's
our time, so everything matters, not like you just come
in and it's like, oh, the delivery didn't come today,
So half the menu items we don't have today, that
can't that that don't exist, Like we in the back
trying to scramble and figure it out, like if we
got to run to a farmer's market or multiple and
(20:05):
try to figure it out so the job never done.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Switch the fish.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Yeah, yeah, let's talk Let's talk about what we talked about. Second,
let's talk about this change in ingle with this outside
money that's come in the NFL, you know, the the NBA,
all these things that are coming here. How have you
seen that. Has that affected your business? Had it? Has
it brought more people? For shine a light on? Brought
more business to you? Because I would imagine if people
(20:34):
are looking, hey, I'm gonna go to the game and
this restaurant was just listed and it's a five minute drive.
Is that Are you seeing people come in?
Speaker 3 (20:43):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (20:43):
For sure, we're packed game day and stuff like.
Speaker 6 (20:45):
That, concerts before the game. Uh, rams games, you.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
Know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
It starts have one.
Speaker 6 (20:54):
You don't come in, grab some bruise, eat some brunch,
and then you know, take the leover right there.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Yeah, it's right, you know.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
Uh So to be in the proximity is uh you know, yeah,
we see the influx for sure, but uh you know,
you got you got the Olympics coming. Yeah, it's gonna
be a lot on the community. So uh yeah, I
mean it's you know, it's it's pros and cons.
Speaker 5 (21:23):
You know, you can't feed everybody. You know, days like that,
we're turning people away. It's like I can't even yeah
for sure.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
What what what is the Let me just ask you this,
what is the impact that you felt like you've had
on the community so far? And what impact do you
see yourself making on.
Speaker 5 (21:43):
The community For the community, Like I said, just really
showing them that it could be done. You know a
lot of stuff growing up like people, I'm gonna do it,
Like I wish I could do this. I wish I
could do this without ever really kind of looking into
it or taking steps towards it.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
Kind of it seemed like in the stars and unreachable.
Speaker 5 (22:02):
So you know, just bringing something around for them to
see and watchings grow because we're growing at the same time,
Like every day we learn it like I learned from Mandal.
Speaker 3 (22:13):
Every day, like it's different stuff.
Speaker 5 (22:15):
We reading doing all types of stuff just for the
craft and for everybody, because I would hate I would
hate for it to be gone, just from not being
able to stay on your p's and q's and be
able to serve people what they need. And you know,
we try to stay more on the healthier side, even
though it's like still kind of comfort food but we
pay a lot of attention on a balance well and
(22:38):
for what goes into the food, what we're serving you,
and how we're serving you. So hopefully hopefully yeah, that
just make an impact and make people do it. And
then also two people doing it. You know, everybody always say,
don't do business, you know, with your friend or you
know or family. You know, you need to do it
by yourself. And so people always amaze that, like both
(23:00):
of us and we don't have no problems. I'm like,
because we problem less, Like there's no egos in this.
At the end of the day, we're trying to serve
the community. So if we are set on something, how
does that translate? And it will translate through the food.
People feel energy through the food. You can tell when
somebody just wasn't feeling it and they prepared your food and.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
Served it to you.
Speaker 5 (23:24):
So it's just trying to stay all around and just
because people watching, kids are watching, the elderly are watching.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Let's finish on this. I think that's been a great conversation.
What I would love to know is kind of peeling
off what we just talked about. If you had instead
of me and my wife in this car, if you
had two young people right that were friends, maybe went
to your same high school, in your same neighborhood. Right now,
when you both had a chance just to like share
(23:54):
that little bit of nugget, like the way an uncle
would share with you, that little bit of nugget. Maybe
way that your uncle told you about some things. Each
one of you, what would you share with that that
young person. Uh, that's that's that's that's trying to make
these decisions and maybe following the past.
Speaker 6 (24:09):
They focused. That's it, stay focused, disciplined.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
You know that it's a lot of long, consistently mornings,
but that consistent you being like, nah, I'm not gonna.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
Go to this a little party, I'm not.
Speaker 6 (24:25):
You just gotta lock in so crazy. It's gotta be
a mental switch, like for real, it's gotta be like
like that Kobe like Mamba mentality, that marathon. Like you
gotta be in a mode and really just be like.
Speaker 2 (24:39):
Like this is what it is, and you know what
I mean.
Speaker 6 (24:41):
And when two people really is on that way, we're like, bro,
this is what it is.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
Like we committed. We up at four am.
Speaker 6 (24:47):
We're gonna go to sleep at at twelve, back up
at at five we're gonna prep this.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
I'm gonna go here, You're gonna go there, like and
you don't really lock in.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
Putting all the food in his car. Man, we might
rid and go with my set up and run back
and go get it. But you gotta be willing to
do that. Yeah, you can't be like like, man, I
just went last time.
Speaker 2 (25:09):
You know that's not a thing is every day it's
time to go.
Speaker 6 (25:13):
You gotta do it for years, like you know what
I mean, Just like you kids, just like wait, that
was a crazy buf, Like you gotta.
Speaker 5 (25:18):
Get that again and again and again, and I guarantee
it will read benefits absolutely.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
Whatever you're doing, keep at it, keep going.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
Head down, don't mind the accolades, like you know what
I mean, blessed like they gonna come, you know what
I mean, But just keep going.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
I love your guys energy, And it's it's a different
type of energy that you guys protrude because it's the
it's it's exactly low key. But as soon as you're
asking something you're excited and passionate about, you can see
that energy level spike. So your superpower is it's probably
just conserving that energy using it in the right sections.
And then you guys put both your energy together, and
(25:57):
then on top of that you have a community lifting
you up right, and then if like sky, Sky's the
limit for sure. Here's what I want to say. I
go on a lot of these very inspired by you guys. Right,
two young men doing your thing, concerned about the community.
You did it just on your own hustle, which is
(26:17):
I think really really impressive. And it was an absolute
pleasure just to get to ride around and talk with
you guys and learn more about two home As. If
you're in Inglewood, if you're in the if you're in
Los Angeles, let's say, right, you're in the area, even
if you're going to a Rams game, a Chargers game,
a Clippers game, going to a concert, definitely try if
(26:37):
you can get a reservation to Two home As, go
in there, try this food out, lift them up and
share that energy that they're going to be sharing with
you through their food.
Speaker 6 (26:47):
Right, Yeah, sir, nine oh two North Lebrea, Englewood, California.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
All Right, thank you so much for being on the
podcast today on Locales only. Thanks to Fletcher Jones Mercedes
for giving us this wonderful rolling.
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Hey shout out.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
To tweet, comes out energy right, we got them excited.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
Anything is excited about that and he just comes up
to homies needs Benz is Fletcher Jones.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
Let you know that.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
Thank you for everybody for riding around on Locals Only
today and we'll see you next time.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:34):
I want to thank everyone on the straw Hut Media team,
including executive producer Ryan Tillotson and our editor and producer
Parker Jay Hicks. And as always a big thank you
to Fletcher Jones Motor Cars in Newport Beach for providing
this beautiful Mercedes Benz e q E to be a
rolling podcast studio. Join us next time on Locals Only
(27:57):
where you can buckle up and go for a ride
in our mobile podcast studio with some of the coolest
people in Southern California. M
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