Some New Yorkers don’t go above 14th Street in Manhattan. Not Todd Snyder.
Mr. Snyder, 58, the American luxury menswear designer, spends his days within a five-block radius immediately north of Madison Square Park.
When he moved to New York City from Iowa in 1992, Mr. Snyder honed his craft by working for Ralph Lauren, Gap, Old Navy and eventually J. Crew, where he helped update the men’s line and designed the popular Ludlow suit.
In 2011, he launched his own line with modernized American classics, crafted from premium Italian and Japanese fabrics.
“For a lot of men, fashion is a four-letter word,” Mr. Snyder said. “My whole goal has been trying to figure out how to simplify fashion for men.”
He recently spent a Sunday with The New York Times as he and his team assembled styles for a lookbook, “American Form,” set to be released during New York Fashion Week.
A new drive-thru pizza restaurant is slated to open later this year in North Fort Worth, according to a permit filed with the city.
Za Zoom Pizza will be a fast-food pizzeria, selling pizza by the slice.
Founders Sean Brown and Tyler DiGiovanni both bring their previous business background to the table. DiGiovanni, a UT alum, has quite the background in pizza. The company’s website says he started and sold his own pizza oven company, sold frozen pizza dough balls and spent years baking pies for “high-profile events.”
The Star-Telegram has reached out to Brown and DiGiovanni for more information about the future restaurant.
Some may confuse the Za Zoom Pizza restaurant to have a connection with the ZaZoom Pizza game app for MyPad. Though the restaurant and game share the same name, they are not related — it’s just a coincidence.
Here’s what we know so far about the new drive-thru pizza joint.
Cici’s Pizza is less than a mile down Tarrant Parkway; however they offer dine-in, pick-up and delivery options — whereas Za Zoom Pizza would offer a drive-thru dining experience.
Ella Gonzales is a service journalism reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions and write about life in North Texas. Ella mainly writes about local restaurants and where to find good deals around town.
Darden Restaurants—owners of the Caribbean-inspired casual dining chain, Bahama Breeze—has confirmed in a press announcement on February 3, that, following a strategic review, it will be closing all 28 Bahama Breeze restaurant locations.
Darden confirmed that 14 locations will permanently close by April 5, 2026, while the remaining 14 restaurants will be converted into other, higher-performing brands in its portfolio—which include Olive Garden, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Yard House—-over the next 12 to 18 months. The press release states that Darden expects to “continue to operate until any temporary closures are needed for the conversion.”
Bahama Breeze Locations Permanently Closing in 2026
Darden Restaurants says it will permanently shutter 14 Bahama Breeze locations across nine states by April 2026, according to the company’s press release.
The closures include:
Newark, in Delaware
Duluth in Georgia
Miami, Jacksonville, Kissimmee (the restaurant located on West Osceola Parkway), Pembroke Pines, and Sanford in Florida
Livonia, Michigan
Cherry Hill, in New Jersey
Raleigh, in North Carolina
King of Prussia and Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania
Woodbridge, in Virginia
Tukwila, in Washington
Darden said that it plans to help all Bahama Breeze staff members who will be affected by these closures, confirming in its press release that, “going forward, the primary focus will continue to be on supporting team members, including placing as many as possible in roles within the Darden portfolio,” which—alongside Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, and Yard House—include Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, The Capital Grille, Chuy’s, Seasons 52, and Eddie V’s.
Bahama Breeze Locations To Be Converted by 2027
Darden plans to convert 14 Bahama Breeze locations into other Darden brands—though it has not yet disclosed which brands will replace each site—with the conversions expected to be completed within 18 months, extending into 2027.
The locations slated for conversion include:
Altamonte Springs, Brandon, Fort Myers, Kissimmee (the location on Bronson Memorial Highway), Lutz, all four locations in Orlando, and Tampa, in Florida
Kennesaw, in Georgia
Fayetteville, in North Carolina
Charleston, in South Carolina
Virginia Beach, in Virginia
Why Is Darden Closing Bahama Breeze Locations
Darden’s decision to wind down its 28-unit Caribbean-themed casual-dining brand—known for its tropical flavors, cocktails, and island‑themed atmosphere—comes after it previously announced that “the Bahama Breeze brand, and its 28 locations, were no longer a strategic priority and that it would consider strategic alternatives.”
According to reporting from Restaurant Business, Bahama Breeze had seen a 7.7 percent decline in sales in 2024. Darden had shuttered 15 locations in May 2025.
Have you ever had such a bad experience with a server that you wonder if you did something wrong?
That’s what recently happened to TikTok user Livee DeVita (@liveedevita). In a video with over 10,000 views, DeVita recounts “the strangest experience” she says she recently had in a New York City sushi restaurant.
According to DeVita, she planned to meet friends at the restaurant. When she arrived, she says the hostess looked at her “like I have no business being in this restaurant.”
“She’s like, ‘Can I help you?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I have a reservation with my friends. I’m the first one here. It’s under this name,’” DeVita explains. “She obviously sees the name in the computer, looks over at a girl at the bar, and goes, ‘Is that her?’”
“I’m like, ‘No. Like I just said, I’m the first one here,’—but what the [expletive]?” DeVita continues.
Things Get Confusing
After DeVita was seated, she spotted two people at the bar sharing a glass of wine. Knowing that her friends were running late, she asked for a drink menu. The server returned with a drink menu, telling DeVita that the restaurant “just [has] cocktails.”
“Whatever. Maybe they’re out of wine. But I literally see two people drinking wine,” she says.
After looking over the menu, DeVita says she was unable to locate any cocktails, as the menu only had mocktails.
“So I go, ‘Sorry, where are the cocktails?’” DeVita says. “She grabs the menu from me, like I’m stupid, and points and goes, ‘They’re right here.’”
“And I go, ‘Those all say mocktails,’” she continues. “And I kid you not, she looks at me and she goes, ‘Oh, yeah, we don’t sell alcohol here.’”
This whole experience put DeVita off from eating at the restaurant.
“I text my friends. I’m like, ‘Dude, this restaurant is, like, wacko. We’re either in a money laundering front or something weird is going on here. So, I never ended up eating there,” she explains. She later adds, “Genuinely one of the strangest experiences of my life. I felt like it was either that girl’s first day on earth or she thought it was my first day on earth.”
What’s Going On Here?
The Mary Sue was unable to find any sushi restaurants in New York that match this description. All sushi restaurants on Google Maps in the Lower East Side of Manhattan appear to offer alcohol, and the ones that offer mocktails seem to do so on the same menu in which the cocktails are offered.
Given this, it’s difficult to verify DeVita’s story and figure out the restaurant’s exact policy on alcohol. That said, there are some reasons why this could have happened.
First, the server could have been correct that the restaurant genuinely does not serve alcohol. While DeVita says she saw people drinking a glass of wine, she could have simply misidentified the drink.
Second, it could be that the server was simply unaware of the restaurant’s alcohol offerings. Although unlikely, it’s possible that the server was new to the job and was unaware of a separate menu containing alcoholic drinks.
What Else Could It Be?
Finally, this could be a quirk of the restaurant’s liquor licensing. Liquor licensing can get fairly complex, and it’s possible that the server simply didn’t understand what the restaurant’s licensing allowed. For example, some restaurants with street dining may not have permission to serve alcohol in their outdoor area.
While some commenters suggested that the restaurant was simply BYOB, New York does not allow unlicensed BYOB restaurants. This means that, if a restaurant is BYOB, it also has a license to serve alcohol (and likely does so).
In the comments section, users were equally stunned by DeVita’s story.
“Power trip final boss is a hostess in a nyc restaurant,” wrote a user.
“Idk why but like what if she’s just new and doesn’t know the menu (granted these are the vibes of a ton of people in this role like giving bouncer energy),” suggested another.
“She out here just bored and causing havoc,” stated a third.
WASHINGTON — Do licensed gun owners have a right to carry a loaded weapon into stores, restaurants and other private places that are open to the public?
California and Hawaii are among five states with new laws that forbid carrying firearms onto private property without the consent of an owner or manager. But the Trump administration joined gun-rights advocates on Tuesday in urging the Supreme Court to strike down these laws as unconstitutional under the 2nd Amendment.
Such a law “effectively nullifies licenses to carry arms in public,” Trump’s lawyers said.
If you “stop at a gasoline station, you are committing a crime,” Deputy Solicitor Gen. Sarah Harris told the court.
An attorney representing Hawaii said the issue is one of property rights, not gun rights.
“An invitation to shop is not an invitation to bring your Glock,” Washington attorney Neal Katyal told the court. “There is no constitutional right to enter property that includes a right to bring firearms.”
The justices sounded split along the usual ideological lines, with the court’s conservatives signaling they are likely to strike down the new laws in five Democratic-led states.
“You are relegating the 2nd Amendment to second-class status,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. told Katyal.
He said the court had ruled law-abiding persons have a right to carry a firearm for self-defense when they leave home. That would include going to stores or businesses that are open to the public.
“If the owners don’t like guns, why don’t they just put up a sign?” Alito said.
Both sides agreed that business owners are generally free to allow or prohibit guns on their property. However, state officials said, the laws are important because business owners rarely post signs that either welcome or forbid the carrying of guns.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the 2nd Amendment should have the same standing as the 1st Amendment.
He said it was understood based on the 1st Amendment that a political candidate may walk up to a house and knock on the door or drop off a pamphlet. He questioned why the court should uphold a law that limits gun owners from entering places that are open to the public.
Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh said they too believed the “right to keep and bear arms” included the right to carry weapons, including into stores.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said property rights should prevail over gun rights.
“Is there a right to go on private property with a gun?” Sotomayor asked repeatedly. She said the court had never upheld such a broad right.
But with the possible exception of Justice Amy Coney Barrett, none of the conservatives agreed.
Four years ago, the court ruled law-abiding gun owners had a right to carry a concealed weapon for self-defense when they left home. They also said then that guns may be prohibited in “sensitive places” but they did not decide what that meant.
In the wake of that decision, California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey and Maryland adopted new laws that restricted carrying guns in public places, including parks and beaches.
The laws also said gun owners may not take a gun into a privately owned business without the “express authorization” of an owner or manager. California’s law went a step further and said the owner must post a clear sign allowing guns.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the laws from Hawaii and California, except for the required posting of a sign in California.
Three Hawaii residents with concealed carry permits appealed to the Supreme Court and won the backing of the Trump administration.
A well-known shopping center in Torrance, anchored by a grocery store, has sold for a record price in the South Bay as real estate investors look for retail properties that don’t have to compete directly with online shopping.
Village Del Amo sold for $108.5 million last month, the highest price paid in 2025 for a retail property in the South Bay, according to real estate data provider CoStar.
It last changed hands in 2004 for $36.3 million.
The buyers were Emmanuel “Manny” and Ofelia David, Redondo Beach investors and nursing home operators. The seller was Costa Mesa real estate developer DJM Capital Group.
The buyers “have been coming to this neighborhood serving retail center for decades and jumped at the opportunity to own it,” said David Jordon of SSV Properties, which will manage the property. “They view this as a generational investment and are looking forward in the coming years to improving upon the tremendous success that the center has enjoyed for decades.”
The leap in its value was attributed in part to investors’ desire to acquire unglamorous yet financially well-performing shopping centers.
In greater Los Angeles, apartments and industrial buildings that are in short supply for tenants “have been the darlings” for big investors over the last few years, said real estate broker Stefan Neumann of NAI Capital Commercial, who helped represent the buyer in the transaction.
Now, institutional investors such as pension funds and investment banks are zeroing in on retail centers that serve everyday needs and leisure activities, Neumann said.
Neighborhood shopping centers that are typically anchored by grocery stores are “e-commerce proof,” Neumann said, especially if they include other services that people use in person such as fitness centers, restaurants and medical-related services.
Village Del Amo is anchored by Korean grocer Hannam Chain and warehouse spirit seller BevMo, the state’s biggest liquor chain.
It also has multiple restaurants including Benihana, bank branches and offices for rent.
“While retail has faced heightened scrutiny from investors in recent years, this transaction underscores the strength of well-located, grocery-anchored assets in affluent markets,” said real estate broker David Shaby of NAI Capital Commercial.
Investment sales of retail properties in the Los Angeles area totaled more than $1.6 billion in the third quarter of 2025, compared to less than $637 million in the previous quarter, real estate brokerage CBRE reported.
South Bay retail properties had a vacancy of 6.9%, compared with more than 9% on the Westside and nearly 8.4% in downtown Los Angeles.
“In the last 10 or 15 years, the demographics of the South Bay have become increasingly desirable for not only residents, but for businesses and retail tenants,” Neumann said. “Incomes, not just in the beach cities, but throughout the South Bay are very strong.”
Fort Worth restaurant veteran Adrian Burciaga has taken over South Main Village anchor Tinie’s and will reopen it about Jan. 13 with an ambitious new menu by a celebrity chef from TV’s “Top Chef Mexico.”
Tinie’s, 115 S. Main St., opened in 2020 as a Mexican cuisine restaurant and mezcal bar under Sarah Castillo, founder of La Pulga Spirits and the now-closed Taco Heads restaurants.
Burciaga, a co-founder of James Beard Award finalist Don Artemio, said he and wine expert Martin Quirarte have joined Castillo to upgrade the menu.
Tinie’s is a contemporary Mexico City-style restaurant in South Main Village. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com
Guest chef Ix-Chel Ornelas Hernández, known for her heritage mole sauces at El Patio Restaurant in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, wrote the new menu. It features dishes such as a pork chop with roasted pineapple, baked chicken with green pipian mole, steak in yellow mole, octopus and fish stew.
“I see this as an opportunity,” Burciaga said. He met Ornelas at the TV show finals, he said, and hosted her for wine dinners when he was the manager at Cafe Modern in the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
He left Don Artemio in October. It continues under chef and co-founder Juan Ramón Cárdenas and his son, Rodrigo, who also opened the adjacent Dos Mares seafood restaurant.
He and Castillo talked about her original plans for Taco Heads, which had evolved into more of a patio restaurant and margarita bar with a popular Sunday brunch.
Ix-Chel Ornelas from El Patio Restaurant in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, a past finalist on “Top Chef Mexico,” is the guest chef creating a new menu for Tinie’s Interior Mexican Cuisine. Courtesy of Tinie’s Interior Mexican Cuisine
The brunch will expand to both Saturdays and Sundays, Burciaga said.
The restaurant is named for Castillo’s mother, Cristina (the name ”Tinie” sounds like the last syllables in “martini”).
Burciaga said he remembers meeting Sarah Castillo in 2011 when she was working the window at Taco Heads, then a popular food truck in the West Seventh Street neighborhood.
“Tinie’s is a tribute to her mother, and I think that’s in the new menu,” he said.
Tinie’s is in an old manufacturing building in South Main Village. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com
Tinie’s bar menu is changing, too.
An upstairs balcony dining area will be converted to a lounge, and the patio will be enclosed for more dining and group events, he said.
Tinie’s will be open for dinner nightly except Sundays and for brunch Saturdays and Sundays; 682-255-5425, tiniesfw.com.
Adrian Burciaga, formerly of The Modern, opened Don Artemio before moving to Tinie’s. Bud Kennedy
Bud Kennedy is celebrating his 40th year writing about restaurants in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has written the “Eats Beat” dining column in print since 1985 and online since 1992 — that’s more than 3,000 columns about Texas cafes, barbecue, burgers and where to eat. Support my work with a digital subscription
That’s Bella Italia, a different restaurant on Camp Bowie Boulevard.
Ever since Bella Italia announced its move, Cafe Bella owner Eli Golemi has had to explain that they’re not related.
“People tell me, ‘I heard you’re selling’ — I tell them I’m not going anywhere!” said Golemi, a native of Ioannina, Greece.
She started as a server at Cafe Bella and now owns the cafe, 3548 South Hills Ave.
“Ladies are shaking my hand, saying, ‘I’m so happy for you getting divorced,’ “ she said — “I am not getting a divorce!
Cafe Bella owner Eli Golemi, a native of Greece, began working at the Fort Worth, Texas, restaurant as a server. She bought a share of the restaurant when founder Sali Kaba retired and now owns it outright. Seen Jan. 3, 2026. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com
“”I have never been to that other restaurant! This is my only restaurant!”
The confusion started in 1999. That’s when the prolific Kaba restaurant family opened a small restaurant on Blue Bonnet Circle named Bella Pizza and Pasta.
Across town, chef Carlo Croci had already opened Bella Italia West on Camp Bowie Boulevard.
The new decor at Cafe Bella in the Westcliff Shopping Center, Fort Worth, Texas, as seen Oct. 1, 2025. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com
That should have untangled in 2004, when the Kabas and Golemi moved their restaurant to the Westcliff Shopping Center as Cafe Bella.
Now that Bella Italia is moving to 6115 Camp Bowie Blvd., some customers and social media commenters are confused all over again.
Golemi just upgraded Cafe Bella. She redecorated and dialed the decor up a notch, adding softer lighting, tablecloths and nicer dinnerware, giving it the feel of a night-out restaurant at a BYOB price.
“I grew up with my customers, and I wanted to give them a nicer experience,” she said.
Cafe Bella in the Westcliff Shopping Center, Fort Worth, Texas, seen Oct. 1, 2025. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com
Cafe Bella has always been known for basic dishes such as chicken Marsala or baked ziti. Customers like the salmon piccata or Golemi’s salmon special from her mother’s kitchen, she said.
“We buy vegetables from the farmers’ market and we use organic chicken,” she said. “We grate the garlic fresh. Everything is a better quality,” she said.
“i just want the people to feel at home.”
Cafe Bella is open for dinner weeknights and Saturdays and for lunch Wednesdays through Fridays; 817-922-9500, cafebellaftw.com..
Eggplant parmigiana and a pizza with tomatoes, green onion, pesto, black olive, red peppers and Canadian bacon at Cafe Bella on November 16, 2011. Joyce Marshall Star-Telegram archives
Bud Kennedy is celebrating his 40th year writing about restaurants in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has written the “Eats Beat” dining column in print since 1985 and online since 1992 — that’s more than 3,000 columns about Texas cafes, barbecue, burgers and where to eat. Support my work with a digital subscription
Eating out is going to cost you a little more in Fairfax County as a new meals tax went into effect at the start of the new year.
Eating out is going to cost you a little more in Fairfax County, Virginia, as a new meals tax went into effect at the start of the new year.
According to a posting on the county’s website, “The new 4% tax applies to prepared meals and beverages sold at restaurants, cafes, bars, food trucks and other establishments that offer ready-to-eat food and drinks.”
The new tax also sits on top of Virginia’s 6% sales tax.
The tax does not apply to grocery items, snack foods, beverages or to-go alcoholic beverages sold in factory-sealed containers.
Some county leaders who voted for the new tax said it was needed in order to balance the budget, adding that it brings Fairfax County into line with neighboring counties that already have a meals tax.
Officials have also said it’s better than a real estate tax hike.
The meals tax is projected to generate approximately $65 million in fiscal year 2026, with about one-third of the revenue coming from visitors to the county.
Businesses that sell or deliver prepared food and beverages are responsible for collecting the tax and sending it to the county. Business owners can register for the county’s online reporting and payment portal beginning Friday.
The new tax does not apply in the independent towns of Clifton, Herndon, Vienna, Fairfax City or Falls Church.
A popular local kabob restaurant is offering to parlay your hankering for kabobs, hummus and fresh pita into a meal to help needy families this holiday season.
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Moby Dick House of Kabob offers ‘Catering for a Cause’ to help needy families during holidays
A popular local kabob restaurant is offering to parlay your hankering for kabobs, hummus and fresh pita into a meal to help needy families this holiday season.
“We’re doing ‘Catering for a Cause,’” said Alex Momeni, chief operating officer of Moby Dick House of Kabob, with 31 locations in the D.C. region. “For every catering order that customers place with us during the holidays, we are donating a full entree to a local shelter.”
The campaign, which runs through Jan. 1, aims to help neighbors enjoy the holiday on the basis of the company’s catering orders.
“We’re going to tally it up and we’re working with some local shelters to provide weekly deliveries,” Momeni said.
Catering for a Cause is not the first charitable initiative of Moby Dick. During the recent government shutdown, they offered Sandwiches for the Shutdown.
“Whoever was affected by the government shutdown, by just showing a government ID, they’d come in and get a free sandwich,” Momeni said. “Displaced employees were invited to swing by, grab some lunch, while trying to figure out how to get back on track with your career.”
Moby Dick also works with Too Good To Go, a service that redistributes surplus food to avoid food waste.
Moby Dick House of Kabob began with a single restaurant in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1989.
“It originated as a Persian brand, but over time it kind of morphed into more of a Persian-Mediterranean kind of concept,” Momeni said, during a visit to the brand’s Sterling, Virginia, location. “We wanted to make sure we covered a lot of flavors from back home but also brought in some influences from surrounding regions.”
“Our specialties are open-flamed grilled kabobs,” Momeni said, as employees turned large skewers of chicken breast, seasoned beef and lamb, and salmon on the charcoal grill.
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Babblejit “Bubbly” Kaur and her husband, Amarjit Singh, celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary in Long Beach in late November. The pair cradled a mint-frosted cake in their hands and beamed as their daughter, Joti, snapped pictures.
The couple endured a lot in those years, more than 30 of which have been spent in the U.S., after they fled religious persecution in India.
They arrived in 1994 with three young children and little money, facing a daunting asylum process. But the couple found their niche, operating a beloved Indian restaurant for decades, and saw their children through college.
This year had already been tough for the family. Singh was diagnosed with cancer and Kaur was laid off from her cashier job at Rite Aid, where she’d worked for decades, after the company closed in October. But the biggest hurdle for the family would come only days after the couple’s anniversary, on Dec. 1, when Kaur was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a routine fingerprinting appointment and eventually taken to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.
Joti Kaur, the couple’s youngest daughter, collapsed at work when she heard the news.
“I tell her, ‘Anytime you’re thinking of me, I was already thinking of you,” she said from the patio of her Long Beach apartment. “You’re literally the only thing I can think about, and getting you out of there.”
Amarjit Singh, left, and Babblejit Kaur celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary just days before she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Dec. 1, 2025.
(Joti Kaur)
Kaur had an approved green card, but the government had not yet released it, said Harman Singh, her eldest son. The family’s lawyer filed a habeas corpus complaint early last week requesting the court review the legality of Kaur’s detention.
Kaur and her husband operated a restaurant, Natraj Cuisine of India, for decades and became familiar and beloved faces in the coastal city. When she wasn’t working at Rite Aid, she’d be greeting customers at Natraj, alongside her husband, who also took charge in the kitchen as needed. Community members came out in droves to support the family, setting up a GoFundMe that has garnered over $26,000 and a Change.org petition with over 1,600 signatures.
Within days of her arrest, a popular Long Beach food group on Facebook had posted the news and caught the attention of Congressman Robert Garcia, who represents the state’s 42nd Congressional District, including Long Beach.
Garcia has filed a petition to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency that processes immigration applications, requesting the expedited release of Kaur’s green card given the urgency of her husband’s care. His office has also sent requests to ICE and the Adelanto ICE Processing Center for her release.
The congressman said Kaur’s detainment is one of many cases across the country where “we’re encouraging people to do things the right way and to show up to appointments, and then we’re detaining them at appointments that we invited them to.”
“The Long Beach community is outraged about this,” he said. “It’s absolutely crazy and inhumane. It’s no way to treat people.”
Kaur’s arrest was carried out by FBI agents, Laura Eimiller, the agency’s media coordinator confirmed to The Times, as “part of our ongoing assistance to ICE relative to immigration enforcement.”
One of the main tactics of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration in recent months has been detaining people at appointments during their asylum or visa proceedings and, in some cases, deporting them.
His mother’s absence has left an immeasurable gap in their family, Harman Singh said. They’ve had to pick up where she left off, handling bills and navigating their father’s cancer treatment. In a way, he said, it felt like mourning a loved one’s death, only “they’re physically still here in the world, you just can’t reach out to them.”
“This vacuum, this gap, it’s all over America,” Harman Singh said. “This is not just our story.”
Babblejit Kaur and two of her children eat dinner together.
(Courtesy of Joti Kaur)
Kaur and Singh had been joined at the hip since they wed in 1984, the same year violence against Sikhs, their religious community, erupted in India. India’s Punjab state was a Sikh kingdom before the British took over, and the community had long been fighting for a separate Sikh state in the region.
In 1984, tensions came to a head when a siege, ordered by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on the holiest site in Sikhism, turned deadly. In retaliation, two Sikh bodyguards assassinated her. Hindu mobs then went on a rampage, killing thousands of Sikhs, in what the California Legislature has labeled a genocide.
Large swaths of the Sikh community began to flee India. His parents watched as people around them — friends, cousins, neighbors — were disappeared and later found dead, Harman Singh said.
They left for the U.S. a decade later. Now, their son said, they’re facing persecution similar to that from which their parents fled all those years ago.
“This was supposed to be the place where you have freedom to live without fear … but it’s sort of turning into that nightmare again,” Harman Singh said. “We’re just repeating what our parents ran away from.”
Today, the Sikh diaspora, who have mostly settled in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom, are still targeted. Canadian-Indian relations were strained after the murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in 2023. The Canadian government alleges India’s government was behind the slaying, claims New Delhi has denied.
In August 2024, a truck transporting a Sikh political leader came under fire in Sacramento. In 2023, U.S. officials announced they had foiled an assassination attempt connected to the Indian government against a Sikh activist.
Natraj Cuisine of India on 2nd Street in Belmont Shore, Long Beach, was like a fourth child to Kaur and Singh.
Singh first worked as a waiter at the old Laguna Beach location before transferring to Long Beach. Eventually, they became the face of the restaurant, often working more than 12-hour days. The couple managed the restaurant’s daily operations until their departure in 2020.
The couple were the faces of Natraj Cuisine of India in Long Beach for decades.
(Courtesy of Joti Kaur)
“The best way to describe my mom, she will feed everybody in this room and the neighbors before she feeds herself,” Joti Kaur said. “That was their love language, feeding us, the community, and anyone they could.”
Kaur worked at Natraj whenever she wasn’t picking up a shift at Rite Aid and would head to the restaurant during her lunch breaks.
The couple left the restaurant just weeks before COVID-19 hit in 2020. They recently became involved in another restaurant, Royal Indian Curry House, which is still in development.
“They were looking forward to help doing that and getting back into serving meals, because that’s what they love to do,” Joti Kaur said.
Singh depends on his wife for nearly everything, their children said. She took the lead in getting the family settled in the U.S., learning English, getting a driver’s license and even figuring out how to hook up Harman Singh’s PlayStation.
When Singh was diagnosed with cancer, his wife once again took charge. The family looked to her whenever a crucial decision needed to be made.
The day of her appointment, she felt something was wrong.
“She called me that morning and she was anxious,” Joti Kaur said. “I wish I would’ve stayed on the phone with her a little bit longer. She already knew something wasn’t right.”
Harman Singh, who now lives in Sacramento, was also on edge, having seen the countless cases of immigrants detained at government-set appointments.
Fingerprinting appointments had become common practice for the family, who have been tangled in a web of asylum proceedings since they landed at a New York airport in 1994. The two oldest children, including Harman Singh, have since become naturalized citizens. Joti Kaur and her dad have green cards. The only one left waiting was Kaur.
The government already had Kaur’s fingerprints on file, which is why the family was puzzled when they received notice of this appointment.
“You have a hearing coming up and it’s like, if they don’t go, they’re in trouble. If they go, they’re in trouble,” Harman Singh said. “They set it up in such a way that they’re going to get the result they want.”
Now, for the first time in decades, Kaur and Singh have been forced to sleep in separate beds,their children said, and neither gets much sleep at all.
“That was hard enough, just knowing that he’s gonna be battling cancer, but Mom was by his side,” Harman Singh said. “Now there’s just a sense of loneliness that they both have. We are helpless, and we can’t do anything to fix that.”
The couple got married in India, and later immigrated with their three children to the United States in 1994.
(Courtesy of Joti Kaur)
The lights in the Adelanto ICE Processing Center never turn off, which is enough to keep most awake. It’s the noises, often cries from newly arrived detainees, however, that keep Kaur up, often well past 2 in the morning.
She’s lucky if she gets a couple of hours of sleep a night, her children said.
Joti Kaur with her mother.
(Courtesy of Joti Kaur)
The guilt creeps into both children at all hours of the day. Joti Kaur often feels it late at night, when she’s curled up under the covers of her bed and is suddenly reminded of how cold her mom must be. Her brother feels it every time he puts on a jacket or turns on the hot water in the shower.
Every family dinner Joti Kaur missed or phone calls she cut short when her mother was still home add to the guilt.
“I wish I could take it back and go to those dinners and have spent that time, because now, I don’t know when the next dinner is going to be with her,” she said.
A light amid the worry, however, is the community that her mother has built at the detention center. She’s met women of all ages and from all walks of life, one as old as 85.
When Harman Singh arrived at Adelanto to visit his mom for the first time in early December, he heard the women inside erupt in cheers. The noise felt jarring in such a cold facility.
But it’s what the women do for one another every time one of them gets bonded out, his mother told him.
“There’s just a sense of camaraderie. They’re like, ‘We’re in this together,’ which I’m very grateful for,” Harman Singh said. “She has girls to talk to. She goes, ‘If they weren’t there, I would just be in depression right now.’”
His mother has connected with two Indian women. The trio often pray together, and ration whatever milk they get that day to make tea. One is younger, and has started calling Kaur mama.
The Blackburn Room at Tonno, which expands the space of the downtown restaurant, was designed with the idea of preserving the historic nature of the building in which it is housed.
Drew Hale, founder of Gloucester-based Hale Design Build, said this project marked another chapter in a long partnership between the two local businesses.
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MEXICO CITY — A shop owner facing threats shutters the clothing store that had been in his family for generations.
A leader of a citrus growers association is kidnapped and killed after refusing mob demands for a cut of profits.
Enraged peasant farmers fed up with paying graft turn on cartel thugs in a bloody showdown.
In Mexico, these real-life incidents all arise from a signature offense: extortion.
Gang shakedowns are rampant in Mexico, victimizing untold numbers — street vendors and taxi drivers, restaurateurs and farmers, factory owners and mine operators. All are coerced into paying tithes to criminal bands, sometimes the same cartels that run drugs.
“It’s a very sensitive crime because of its social impact,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said last week. “It doesn’t only affect one person. It affects everyone.”
An agent of the attorney general’s office in Mexican state of Michoacán inspects the area where vehicles were burned by members of criminal gang near the city of Quiroga in November.
(Enrique Castro/AFP via Getty Images)
Sheinbaum launched a high-profile crackdown against extortion, but her efforts face steep odds. Extortion, experts say, is a multibillion-dollar racket, perhaps even more lucrative than drug-trafficking. It sometimes is called “the invisible crime,” since most victims fail to report threats, fearing retaliation.
Those targeted often confront a ghastly choice: accept ultimatums to hand over cash, property or other assets — or face death, a threat routinely aimed at family members as well.
“Sure, I can say, ‘I won’t pay: They can go ahead and kill me,’ ” said Antonio, a floriculturist outside Mexico City who hands over almost $600 in derecho de piso [protection] at each flower harvest, the amount doubling in holiday seasons, including this month’s Virgin of Guadalupe feast. “But I cannot allow them to kill my kids. Or take my wife.”
Like other victims who spoke to The Times, Antonio, 56, a father of four, asked that only his first name be used for security reasons.
“We live in terror,” he said. “We have to work for these delinquents. And no one in the government helps us.”
Farmer Jesús Cuaxospa works on his farm where he grows cempasúchil flowers in San Luis Tlaxialtemalco on the outskirts of Mexico City in October.
(Claudia Rosel / Associated Press)
Mexico and two other Latin American countries, Colombia and Honduras, are among the world’s five most extortion-scarred nations, according to the Global Organized Crime Index, an annual ranking from a Geneva-based research group. Filling in the top five are Somalia and Libya.
Apart from the devastating impact on individuals and families, extortion exacts extreme societal costs: displacement, a profound sense of insecurity and the distortion of local economies.
In Mexico, strong-armed extortion gangs have been accused of price-fixing, taking over industries, unions and transport routes, and running construction sites —and even setting prices for foodstuffs, building materials and other items.
Sheinbaum regularly boasts of her administration’s success in curbing violent crime, especially homicides, down by more than one-third since she took office last year, according to official figures. But she concedes that extortion is on the rise, though there are no accurate metrics for an offense so hugely under-reported.
Calling the eradication of extortion “one of the great challenges” facing Mexico, Sheinbaum pledged to bolster enforcement, stiffen penalties and increase safeguards for anyone receiving threats.
She is championing a constitutional amendment to make extortion a federal crime and put the onus on law enforcement, not individuals, to hunt down violators. Prosecutors could pursue cases without victims having to file complaints.
Since the inauguration of Mexico’s “National Strategy against Extortion” in July, authorities say police have arrested more than 600 suspects and fielded more than 100,000 calls to an expanded toll-free extortion hotline. Officials also moved to block cellphone access in Mexican prisons, where gangs specialize in “virtual kidnapping” — calling people on the outside and demanding ransoms for loved ones allegedly abducted.
“Don’t answer a telephone number that you don’t recognize,” Sheinbaum warned people last week.
In one notorious case, authorities say a prison gang targeted 14 nurses who were dispatched to Mexico City during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inmates using cellphones warned the nurses to stay in their hotel rooms and say nothing — they supposedly were under surveillance. Accomplices contacted relatives demanding cash. But police got wind of the scheme. No money was paid and no one was injured.
Security forces stand guard following an operation at a butcher shop allegedly linked to the La Familia Michoacana cartel in Sultepec, Mexico, in July.
(Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images)
Sheinbaum’s anti-extortion campaign faces a major barrier: Barring a massive culture shift, many victims will remain hesitant to approach the law, lacking trust in the system.
“Making a complaint is not an option, because you never know if authorities are in collusion with the criminals,” said César, co-owner of a restaurant in downtown Mexico City.
About two years ago, he said, one of his partners began to receive threats on his cellphone. The callers had the name of his wife and children. The partner was nervous but did nothing at first.
“Then one day two South Americans arrived at the restaurant,” César recalled.
Their message: Pay $2,500 a week to be “allowed to work in peace.”
His partner soon abandoned the restaurant, and the city.
Management hasn’t heard from the goons since.
Even so, César, like the owners of many businesses, tries to keep a low profile; his name and those of associates aren’t on display at the restaurant. Staff is instructed not to blab to anyone.
“Still, we live with uncertainty and worry all the time that these guys will come back,” César said. “We know that at any moment we could be victims.”
Recent victims whose cases shocked Mexico include a successful young butcher entrepreneur in Tabasco state and a woman taxi driver in Veracruz state. Both were found dead after rejecting extortion threats, according to reports. The driver, Irma Hernández, 62, a retired teacher, was kidnapped and forced to make a jihadi-style video in which — surrounded by armed men — she implored her fellow cabbies: “Pay your cuota [fee] … or you’ll end up like me.”
Avocado growers have received so many extortion demands from criminal gangs that some hired private security forces, like this one on patrol in Tancitaro, Michoacán, in 2019.
(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)
Sometimes, though, the fed-up marks fight back.
Two years ago the corn and bean growers of the impoverished hamlet of Texcapilla tired of paying annual protection fees of about $200 per planted acre and decided: No más. Armed with machetes and shotguns, the peasant farmers confronted enforcers of the dominant area cartel, La Familia Michoacana, on a soccer field outside a school. By the time the melee ended, authorities said, 14 were dead —10 gang members and 4 farmers.
Carlos Manzo, the former mayor of Uruapan in Michoacán state, also pushed back. He blamed Sheinbaum’s government for not doing enough in Michoacán, where gangsters have long fleeced the booming avocado sector and other industries.
“We are surrounded by criminal groups dedicated to extorting and killing,” Manzo told a crowd in May. “But we are going to confront them.”
Less than two weeks earlier, Bernado Bravo, a leader of regional lime growers in Michoacán, also was shot dead. Bravo repeatedly had denounced extortion demands.
With so much at risk, it’s not surprising that some potential victims bolt. . For more than 80 years, Vicente’s family ran a men’s clothing business in downtown Mexico City. He didn’t think much of it when, about four years ago, men began calling demanding money. Then one day three guys arrived at the shop.
“They said if I didn’t pay, I would lack security, and if I lacked security, something might happen to my workers — if not to me, to my family,” Vicente recalled.
Like many targets, Vicente hoped the threat would go away. But the menacing strangers kept barging in — and upping their demands, from $500 a month to $1,000 a month to $2,000 a month, all the way up to $10,000 a month.
His sons urged Vicente to walk away: The business, however beloved, wasn’t worth a bullet to the head. Reluctantly, Vicente finally agreed. The shutdown left 15 people out of work, many of them longtime employees. Some ended up hawking clothing from street stalls.
Vicente says he never reported the extortion attempt: Like César, he feared some crooked law enforcement insider would reveal his name and address to the mob. He has tried to put the experience behind him. But it hasn’t been easy. Three generations of family life revolved around that shop.
“Because I refused to pay extortion I was forced to shut down the business that my grandfather founded in 1936, and that my father and I continued,” said Vicente, 67. “It was painful. Very painful.”
McDonnell is a staff writer and Sánchez Vidal a special correspondent.
We choose this year’s winner of Houston’s Best Pizza.
Best Pizza: Pizaro’s Pizza Napoletana
Pizaro’s has been firing up some of Houston’s best pies since 2011, with two locations and three killer styles — authentic Napoletana blistered at 900 degrees, foldable New York, and cheesy, twice-baked Detroit. Each pie proves why this spot’s a certified Houston classic, but the team still keeps things fresh with inventive specials like the Mortadella & Stracciatella sandwich and the Oh My Goud pie, loaded with butternut squash and crispy prosciutto. Regulars swear by the Sweet Pea and the fiery Vesuvius, a ghost pepper-laced masterpiece tamed by housemade ricotta.
We choose this year’s winner of Houston’s Best Burger.
Best Burger: The Toasted Coconut
Burger fanatic? This Montrose tiki bar and kitchen is your next stop. An industry favorite, the totally messy, totally worth it flavor bomb features a duo of juice-dripping patties, melty American cheese, fiery chili aioli, housemade pickles and a buttery soft Hawaiian bun. Go wild with add-ons from avocado and yolky farm egg to salty-sweet bacon jam, and don’t skip the Sichuan-spiced tater tots or cheeky umbrella cocktails.
One woman was stabbed and one was detained following an argument at Fritanga Pinolandia, according to Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
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Panhandling outside a North Miami-Dade restaurant turned into a stabbing inside the restaurant, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said.
The woman stabbed in Fritanga Pinolandia, 1100 NW 119th St., is in stable condition, MDSO said.
Damaris Rodriguez, 22, was arrested on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon Wednesday afternoon. The arrest returned Rodriguez to Miami-Dade Corrections custody 13 days after she was released on her own recognizance following an October arrest for cocaine possession.
That October arrest occurred at 1085 NW 117th St., a house two blocks from Pinolandia, but Rodriguez’s address on that arrest form is “homeless.” Wednesday, MDSO said, she was in front of Pinolandia asking for money just before 2:30 p.m.
When a woman rejected her, MDSO said, Rodriguez followed her inside the restaurant and started a fight.
“She stabbed the victim in the upper extremities,” MDSO said.
Rodriguez was arrested while Miami-Dade Fire Rescue took the stabbed woman to a hospital.
Video from inside the restaurant shows the confrontation that led to the stabbing. Aerial footage captured the scene shortly after the attack around 2:30 p.m.
Restaurant manager Bernardo Ruiz told Herald news partner CBS News Miami the women had been arguing outside for days before the fight moved inside, frightening staff and customers.
“One of the lady … she came with scissors in her hands, and she start to hurt the other lady four times on the head inside of my business. So all the customers and our staff was scared to see that, you know?” Ruiz said.
“They running out. They was scared to see the lady with the scissors and blood coming out,” he added.
We choose this year’s winner of the Best Chicken Fried Steak.
Best Chicken Fried Steak: Killen’s
Bib Gourmand–awarded chef Ronnie Killen’s Southern comfort spot offers a chicken fried steak that’s as refined as it is nostalgic. Made with ribeye, it’s got that gorgeously golden, craggly crust, creamy mashed potatoes and a pour of velvety gravy that hits just right. With chef Ryan Hildebrand (FM Kitchen & Bar) recently joining as culinary director, this legacy only getting stronger.
Café Boulud at Maison BARNES retains its Michelin Star for a second consecutive year and is reaffirmed by La Liste among the 1,000 Best Restaurants in the World.
NEW YORK, November 25, 2025 (Newswire.com)
– Maison BARNES is honored to announce that Café Boulud at Maison BARNES has been awarded a prestigious Michelin Star by the Michelin Guide for the second consecutive year. This remarkable achievement not only celebrates culinary excellence but also cements Maison BARNES’s unwavering commitment to the global “Art de Vivre” philosophy.
This continued recognition by the Michelin Guide underscores the exceptional talent and dedication of our culinary and service teams. Maison BARNES extends its deepest gratitude to Chef Daniel Boulud for his visionary guidance, Executive Chef Romain Paumier, and every member of the kitchen and dining room staff whose combined expertise consistently shapes memorable experiences.
“Retaining our Michelin Star for the second consecutive year at Café Boulud within Maison BARNES is an immense honor” states Thibault de Saint Vincent, President of BARNES International. “It reflects not only the excellence of Chef Daniel Boulud and his team, but also the deeper ambition of Maison BARNES: to celebrate the Art de Vivre as a living, breathing experience. Here, we welcome our guests as we would in a family home – where gastronomy, culture, and hospitality meet to create moments that are both refined and profoundly human. This distinction confirms our belief that Maison BARNES is more than a destination: it is a place of beauty, generosity, and shared emotion”.
In addition to its Michelin distinction, Maison BARNES and Café Boulud are once again honored by La Liste, the global reference for gastronomy. After receiving La Liste’s “Best New Opening of the Year” last year, Café Boulud at Maison BARNES is reaffirmed among the “1,000 Best Restaurants in the World,” underscoring our dedication to culinary artistry and the Art de Vivre.
Maison BARNES stands as an embassy of the Art de Vivre-a venue devoted to excellence, craftsmanship, and creativity. Bringing together leading French and international brands, it extends beyond haute cuisine to embrace the Art de la Table, architecture, fashion, design, fine arts, and viticulture. Every detail, from interior design to curated events, is crafted to offer an immersive hospitality experience.
Opened in 2024 on Park Avenue in New York, Maison BARNES is a pioneering extension of the BARNES universe into high-end hospitality. It offers a refined space where clients enjoy impeccable service, discover new passions, and join an exclusive community of connoisseurs.
These dual accolades from the Michelin Guide and La Liste reinforce Maison BARNES’s promise to deliver the highest standards of gastronomy and hospitality, and its role as a global beacon for the celebration of the Art de Vivre.
About Maison BARNES: Maison BARNES, a distinctive extension of the BARNES brand, is an international ambassador of Art de Vivre, offering an exclusive “home away from home” for an international clientele. Bringing together hospitality, refined gastronomy, art, design, and cultural experiences, Maison BARNES curates an environment of excellence, craftsmanship, and creativity where every interaction elevates the art of living.
About BARNES: Founded in 1995, BARNES is a leading global luxury real estate company and a worldwide ambassador of the Art de Vivre. With over 1,700 collaborators across more than 100 destinations, BARNES offers services beyond real estate, including art consulting, private aviation, yachting, wine properties, and bespoke concierge services. Driven by a passion for excellence, BARNES delivers unique experiences and cultivates a community that cherishes the finest aspects of culture and lifestyle.
Since opening late last year, this stylish bar and kitchen has been drawing a mix of neighbors and in-the-know Houstonians to the fully reimagined La Grange off Lower Westheimer. James Beard-nominated and Michelin-starred chef Emmanuel Chavez crafted a menu of standout bar snacks to match its drinks program — kampachi tiradito with shiso and charred oranges, spicy tuna rice crisps, smoked pigs in a blanket, two-day brined chicken tenders, and a house burger made with 44 Farms beef.
Since opening two years back in Uptown’s Post Oak Place, Rumi’s Kitchen has brought Houston some of the city’s most exciting Persian flavors. Chef Ali Mesghali showcases dishes like charred saffron-orange shrimp kabob, grape-molasses glazed lamb ribs, roasted corn ribs with black seed dukkah and three-bone pomegranate short rib. Flawlessly spiced and artfully presented, the dishes pair gorgeously with inventive cocktails and a world-class wine list; while weekend brunch service brings delights from Iranish coffee to shakshuka.
.jpg "One woman was stabbed and one was detained following an argument at Fritanga Pinolandia, according to Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.")