When Elias Redlew was 14 years old and a freshman putting on football pads for the first time to try to impress his parents at home, he didn’t know what he was doing.
“I didn’t know how much range of movement I’d have or how it would affect my speed,” he said.
His father tried to help him.
“I walked outside and hit the door and he said, ‘You’re going to have to get used to the pads.’”
Redlew, 6 feet 2 and 185 pounds, has gotten as comfortable wearing pads as Superman wearing a red cape.
He has become a three-sport standout at San Pedro High with a 4.7 grade-point average. He was the City Section Open Division offensive player of the year as a junior receiver. This season, he has 60 catches for 1,150 yards and 13 touchdowns. He’s also a starting guard who dunks for the basketball team and is one of the favorites to win a City high jump championship after tying for second place last year.
He’ll be one of the players to watch when San Pedro plays host to Carson on Thursday night to decide the Marine League football championship.
“He never played football until high school,” coach Corey Walsh said. “His potential is super high. Each year, he’s continued to get better.”
Redlew’s intelligence combined with a personality that makes him unafraid to explore new experiences offers insights into an athlete not afraid to be uncomfortable at times.
“Experience brings you intellect,” he said. “If you step out of your comfort zone, it will build knowledge.”
San Pedro basketball coach John Bobich has known Redlew since he was 11. He was on a youth basketball team with his son.
“He is one the most humble and kindest athletes I’ve known,” Bobich said. “He definitely has the record for fist bumps as not a day goes by where Elias walks up with a fist bump and a smile saying, ‘Hello coach B!’”
Redlew has received one B in high school. He’s taking four advanced placement classes this semester.
“I’m down for the challenge,” he said. “In order to play sports, I had to hit the books. In middle school, I was always shy and thought I could do it on my own. I learned to ask for help. Teachers are never not going to help you.”
Redlew welcomes challenges on and off the field. He’s had several huge performances this season. He had six catches for 160 yards and two touchdowns against Wilmington Banning. He had 11 receptions for 217 yards and two touchdowns against unbeaten Laguna Beach. There were six catches for 212 yards and two touchdowns against Granada Hills Kennedy.
Receiver Elias Redlew of San Pedro has a 4.7 GPA.
(Jonathan Alcorn/For The Times)
Redlew said of playing receiver: “I really like how different it is. There’s so many unknown things you can do with the player guarding you . He doesn’t know your next move. You have the ability to affect the game as long as your team trusts you.”
San Pedro (5-4, 3-0) vs. Carson (6-3, 3-0) is always a big rivalry game. This one should be better than ever. Beside the league title being at stake, a Carson win might propel the Colts to the No. 1 seed in the City Section Open Division playoffs. Pairings will be revealed on Saturday. The atmosphere should be electric at San Pedro.
“I can’t wait for that game,” Redlew said. “Everybody will be there. Everybody knows that’s the biggest game of the year and is our senior night.”
If San Pedro wins, maybe he’ll do a dunk afterward in the gym or bring out the high-jump pit and try to clear his career-best 6-2.
Whatever happens, it’s OK to admire a teenager who gets A’s on his report card, plays three sports and has a desire to challenge his mind and body every day.
Nick Mangold’s long, blond hair and bushy beard made him instantly recognizable. His gritty, outstanding performance on the field for the New York Jets made him one of the franchise’s greatest players.
Mangold, a two-time All-Pro center who helped lead the Jets to the AFC championship game twice, has died, the team announced Sunday. He was 41.
The Jets said in a statement that Mangold died Saturday night from complications of kidney disease. His death came less than two weeks after the two-time All-Pro selection announced on social media that he had kidney disease and needed a transplant. He said he didn’t have relatives who were able to donate, so he went public with the request for a donor with type O blood.
“I always knew this day would come, but I thought I would have had more time,” he wrote in an Oct. 14 message directed to the Jets and Ohio State communities.
“While this has been a tough stretch, I’m staying positive and focused on the path ahead. I’m looking forward to better days and getting back to full strength soon. I’ll see you all at MetLife Stadium & The Shoe very soon.”
Mangold said he was diagnosed with a genetic defect in 2006 that led to chronic kidney disease. He was on dialysis while waiting for a transplant.
“Nick was more than a legendary center,” Jets owner Woody Johnson said in a statement. “He was the heartbeat of our offensive line for a decade and a beloved teammate whose leadership and toughness defined an era of Jets football. Off the field, Nick’s wit, warmth, and unwavering loyalty made him a cherished member of our extended Jets family.”
The Jets announced Mangold’s death about an hour before they beat the Cincinnati Bengals 39-38 for their first win of the season. A moment of silence was held in the press box before the game. Mangold grew up in Centerville, Ohio — about 45 miles north of Cincinnati — but remained in New Jersey, close to the Jets’ facility, after his playing career ended.
Jets coach Aaron Glenn was a scout for the franchise during Mangold’s playing career.
“A true Jet, through and through. … He was the heart and soul of this team,” Glenn said.
Mangold was a first-round draft pick of the Jets in 2006 out of Ohio State and was selected to the Pro Bowl seven times. He helped lead New York within one win of the Super Bowl during both the 2009 and 2010 seasons and was enshrined in the Jets’ ring of honor in 2022. Mangold was among 52 modern-era players who advanced earlier this week in the voting process for next year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame class.
Mangold was the anchor of New York’s offensive line his entire playing career, spending all 11 seasons with the Jets.
“I was fortunate to have the opportunity to lace them up with you every Sunday,” Pro Football Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis, Mangold’s teammate for eight years, wrote on X. “I will miss you and forever cherish our moments in the locker room. Love you buddy.”
Mangold started every game during his first five seasons and missed only four games in his first 10 years before an ankle injury limited him to eight games in 2016, his final season.
“It’s brutal,” former Jets coach and current ESPN analyst Rex Ryan said during “Sunday NFL Countdown” while fighting through tears. “Such a great young man. I had the pleasure of coaching him for all six years with the Jets (from 2009-14). I remember it was obvious I was getting fired, my last game, Mangold’s injured — like, injured — and he comes to me and says, ‘I’m playing this game.’ And he wanted to play for me.
“That’s what I remember about this kid. He was awesome. And it’s just way too young. I feel so bad for his wife and family. (This is) rough.”
Mangold was released by the team in 2017 and didn’t play that season. The following year, he signed a one-day contract with the Jets to officially retire as a member of the team.
“Rest in peace to my brother & teammate Nick Mangold,” tweeted former running back Thomas Jones, who played three years with Mangold. “I keep seeing your smiling face in the huddle bro. One of the kindest people I’ve ever met. One of the greatest interior linemen to ever play the game. This one hurts. Surreal.”
Several other former teammates mourned the loss of Mangold.
“Absolutely gutted,” former wide receiver David Nelson, who played with Mangold for two seasons, wrote on X. “One of the best guys I’ve ever met — true legend on and off the field.”
Former kicker Jay Feely, Mangold’s teammate for two seasons, tweeted: “Heartbreaking news this morning. Nick and I played together with the Jets and loved to banter about the Michigan/Ohio St rivalry. He was a natural leader, a great player, thoughtful, kind, & larger than life.”
Mangold’s No. 74 jersey remained a popular one for fans to wear at games, even nine years after playing his final NFL game. He was active with charitable events and often dressed as Santa Claus for the team’s holiday celebrations for children.
“Nick was the embodiment of consistency, strength, and leadership,” Jets vice chairman Christopher Johnson said in a statement. “For over a decade, he anchored our offensive line with unmatched skill and determination, earning the respect of teammates, opponents and fans alike. His contributions on the field were extraordinary — but it was his character, humility, and humor off the field that made him unforgettable.”
Mangold is survived by his wife, Jennifer, and their children Matthew, Eloise, Thomas and Charlotte. Nick Mangold’s sister, Holley, was a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team and competed in the super heavyweight division of the weightlifting competition.
Waszak writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Jay Cohen and freelance reporter Jeff Wallner contributed to this report.
With a sixth year of basketball eligibility at UC Irvine, former St. Francis High guard Andre Henry has become so familiar with coach Russell Turner that both consider each other family.
Henry, who was injured last season after nine games, is back healthy, and Turner thinks he’s ready to be a standout on offense and defense this season.
He calls Henry one of the finest recruits he ever signed out of St. Francis in 2020. In 2023-24, he was the Big West Conference defensive player of the year.
“Andre was probably the top-ranked recruit we ever got,” said Turner, in his 16th season. “I watched him elevate his team at St. Francis and he’s still that type of personality. I’m thrilled where is right now and he’s going to have a great season on both sides of the ball. There’s not a limit he can accomplish.”
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UC Irvine men’s basketball coach talks about how Andre Henry has become a standout on the court for the Anteaters.
Turner said he’s grateful for Henry’s loyalty and commitment to the UC Irvine basketball program.
“Andre has become family with me and my staff,” he said. “He’s made great sacrifices to remain in our program. I think he sees we’re committed to him and I certainly see how committed he and his family have been to us. Hopefully, we can write the end to a great story in his sixth year.”
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
It’s showdown time in City Section girls’ flag football. Unbeaten Eagle Rock (13-0) plays at unbeaten Panorama (19-0) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Eagle Rock is a little bit of a surprise. The Eagles lost to graduation perhaps the No. 1 player in the City Section, Haylee Weatherspoon, but they are showing they are not a one-person team.
Basketball players Nyla Moore and Kyla Siao have become standouts on the football field. Moore, only a junior, is the quarterback. Siao, a shooting guard, is a top receiver and safety.
Coach Julie Wilkins said, “We don’t have an all-star like Haylee, but everyone contributes.”
Eagle Rock relies on receivers who don’t drop passes. The 5-foot-11 Moore uses her height, mobility and arm to find her receivers.
This will be the first big test for Panorama, which is aiming to be an Open Division playoff team this season.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].
Sure, he has the NFL pedigree and the Heisman Trophy, and a staff of assistant coaches loaded with pro experience. But he’s the first-year coach at Santa Margarita Catholic High School, his alma mater, and stepping into an elite league of schools while studying not just game tape but reels of red tape.
“This is harder than I thought,” said Palmer, 45, sitting in his office above the practice field. “Year One is tough. The NFL is fast and responsive. Here, changing the playbook software takes an act of Congress. But I’m learning every day.”
Not that he’s complaining. He knew when he took the job eight months ago that his path would be littered with challenges and obstacles. Along with some satisfying successes.
The Heisman Trophy winner and former No. 1 overall pick has spent his adult life in that wafer-thin line at the top, the lofty latitude occupied by the best players in the game. Now, he’s getting back to basics.
“I enjoy seeing a kid make a mistake, then understand the why and fix it,” he said. “You don’t get that in the NFL. There, it’s just a job. Here, there’s joy in learning.”
The Eagles, ranked No. 7 in the Southland by The Times, open their season Friday against No. 6 Mission Viejo.
Said Palmer, engrossed in preparing the program for the last eight months: “It’s time.”
Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer watches over practice on Wednesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
He will have his hands full in the Trinity League, easily among the most competitive leagues in the country and featuring football powerhouses such as Mater Dei and St. John Bosco.
Are those opposing coaches looking for their Carson Palmer pelt on the wall?
“It’s not about the coach,” Palmer said. “Programs where the coach is the focal point don’t work. It’s about the players 100% of the time. I can help them because I was taught by great minds, but I’m just passing it on.”
Santa Margarita has standouts in brothers Trent and Grant Mosely, both wideouts and Trent committed to play at USC. At quarterback is Trace Johnson, who played high school football in Florida before transferring to spend his senior season with Palmer. His father, Doug Johnson, is Santa Margarita’s quarterbacks coach and played the position in the NFL.
Cornerback Jayden Crowder is heading to California, safety Logan Hirou to UCLA. Dash Fifita, a first-team All-Trinity League linebacker last season and nephew of Santa Margarita’s defensive coordinator, is committed to Arizona, and fellow linebacker Leki Holani is going to Sacramento State.
Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer instructs his players during practice.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“I’ve heard high school coaches say the hardest part isn’t the kids or the parents, it’s the adults and their egos. That’s why I was intentional about picking guys who get along. No one’s doing this for the money.”
— Carson Palmer, on the choices he made for his assistant coaches
Palmer has several assistant coaches with NFL and/or major college football experience, among them running backs coach Mike Karney, a bruising fixture at fullback for the New Orleans Saints; receivers coach T.J. Houshmandzadeh, one of Palmer’s standout targets with the Cincinnati Bengals; offensive line coach Lenny Vandermade, among Palmer’s blockers at USC; defensive coordinator Steve Fifita, a standout at the University of Utah who later played in the NFL; and linebackers coach Rob Thomas, who was Pac-10 defensive player of the year as a UCLA linebacker and played eight NFL seasons with four teams.
“It’s been awesome,” Karney said. “Carson’s been running the program the way it should be run but putting his own twist on it, making it his own. From how we run practice to what we’re doing schematically, there’s a lot of carryover from the NFL.”
Palmer said it isn’t necessary to have a staff with so much playing experience, but it’s helpful.
“These guys know the importance of staff chemistry,” he said. “I’ve heard high school coaches say the hardest part isn’t the kids or the parents, it’s the adults and their egos. That’s why I was intentional about picking guys who get along. No one’s doing this for the money.”
Before accepting the job, Carson frequently consulted with Pete Carroll, his legendary coach at USC who is now leading the Las Vegas Raiders.
Carroll believes Palmer will be successful in this endeavor, but that it will take time.
Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer instructs a player during practice.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
“He’s going to take his knocks, I’m sure,” Carroll said. “He’ll have first- and second-year issues like all the coaches do — just getting your act together and trying to figure yourself out.
“We went extensively into that when we got together — helping him understand some of the questions that will be raised: What am I standing for? How hard am I? How tough am I? How open am I? All of those kinds of things that come into coaching.
“He’s tough, he’s demanding, and he has high expectations for anybody that plays — just like he held himself to all those years. I think he’ll do a wonderful job. He has a great love for the school and the setting, and he was really excited about the opportunity to go back. He’ll put his best foot forward, but it’s a challenge now. He’s got good guys working with him, too, so that’ll all help out. He’s going to do just fine.”
Palmer said he frequently gets phone calls from Norm Chow, his offensive coordinator at USC, who delivers a simple and powerful message.
“He keeps calling me and saying, ‘Culture before Xs and O’s,’ then hanging up,” Palmer said. “That sticks with me. It doesn’t matter what you run. It’s, do they believe in it? Do they trust each other? Is there an environment for growth? We don’t haze. We respect each other.”
That meant showing some players the door.
“Some kids didn’t fit culturally with what I envisioned,” he said. “This is the Trinity League. It’s big-boy ball.”
Santa Margarita coach Carson Palmer speaks to his players during practice on Wednesday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
And that also means coaching some sophisticated concepts, which he said his players are grasping to a surprising degree.
“I’m just giving them what I was given,” he said. “I use Bruce Arians’ short passing game, Norm Chow’s trick plays, the play-action stuff of [Steve] Sarkisian and [Lane] Kiffin.”
He borrowed, too, from Greg Knapp, the longtime NFL offensive coordinator who died in 2021 after a bicycle accident.
“Greg was a master installer,” said Palmer, who played for him in Oakland in 2012. “He’d give surprise quizzes in the meeting room to keep you awake. ‘What’s the capital of Nevada?’ I do that now. Meetings aren’t sit and stare. We’re on the move.”
How will that translate in terms of wins and losses? We’ll see. One of his old and beloved coaches is optimistic.
“The respect for him is automatic, right?” Chow said. “Just because of who he is. … When you’re coaching, you need to be able to run the room. With Carson, young people say, ‘OK, I’m going to listen.’”
Then, perhaps the highest praise.
“I’d absolutely want my kid to be coached by him,” Chow said. “Because of the human being that he is.”
I’m recently returned from two weeks in Paris for vacation (planned for the window right before so many restaurants close for a break in August), and I didn’t even pretend I intended to give myself a break from the business of dining. It’s Paris. Of course I was going all in, particularly since I hadn’t been to France in over a decade.
The research — the brooding over all the possibilities — is always part of the fun. Beyond suggestions from Parisian friends, there was much triangulating of recommendations, especially among the Paris By Mouth newsletter, Lindsey Tramuta (who writes for many English language publications and wrote the “Eater Guide to Paris” book released in April) and David Lebovitz’s very popular newsletter.
Nothing about the following list is complete, but as inspirations for your own travels I pared two weeks down to a dozen Paris suggestions, plus thoughts on a few of the city’s geekiest coffee bars.
The one Paris meal I can’t stop thinking about
Over the year and a half I traveled through our state to write the 101 Best Restaurants in California guide, I kept wishing to experience a tasting-menu restaurant that thrillingly centers vegetables on the plate. Excellent places like Kismet and RVR include intricately composed dishes on their menus that roll with the seasons. I’m thinking, though, of a kitchen with a revolutionary streak, where the emphasis on plant-based cooking not only feels unapologetic but galvanizing, rattling diners awake to the delicious, sustainable-minded possibilities of decentering meat in one of the world’s great growing climates.
That restaurant doesn’t exist yet in California. But it does in Paris.
Manon Fleury opened Datil, a 33-seat railroad-style space in the 3rd arrondissement, in September 2023. Her restaurant’s website details commitments that will sound familiar to Californian restaurant obsessives: how the staff (predominantly women) foster close relationships to producers, how the menu strictly reflects what’s coming from the meals, the low-waste approach.
Zucchini mille-feuille with skate wing, buerre blanc and sorrel sauce at Datil restaurant in Paris.
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
So maybe, in my jadedness, I was caught off-guard by the lyricism of the five-course lunch. Beautiful in its garden colors and juxtaposing crunchy and yielding textures, but not showy or pushy. The kind of food where I found myself leaning toward what I was eating, like bending closer to catch what my smartest friend was saying at a party.
To describe the heart of the meal: After crackery nibbles, and a lovely flan whose flavors brought to mind white gazpacho, came porridge made using white rice from the coastal southern region of Camargue, where the grain (including a famous red strain) has been grown since the 13th century. It was crowned with an improvisational arrangement of tomatoes and other summery fruits and vegetables, and a gloss of herb oil. It was filling and comforting and also, given all the pointy vegetals flavors, enthralling.
Manon Fleury, center, the chef and owner of Datil in Paris.
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Then came a stunning savory play on a mille-feuille formed from sinewy, perfectly salted blanched zucchini. Its layers hid flaked morsels of skate wing — the kitchen is roughly 85 percent plant-based but seafood or meat might be used sparingly — with a brunoise of zucchini, parsley and shallots. Servers swooped in with two sauces poured from metal carafes: a warm beurre blanc tensed with juiced kumquat and cider vinaigrette, and a cool sorrel sauce that clung to the butter in swirls. Another sauce made from plums already lurked underneath. So many harmonies to discern.
Lastly, some straight-up indulgence: a boozy, plush savarin, about the size of a Krispy Kreme doughnut, domed with half of a poached and lightly charred apricot.
Apricot savarin at Datil in Paris.
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
All the reasons to travel — to know a place while better seeing ourselves, and who and what we might be — came to bear in this emotionally intelligent meal. Chefs in California could, and should, be cooking like this.
Where to eat in Paris
Two fantastic bistros: Friends urged that while Le Bistrot Paul Bert has become a de-facto option for visitors over the last decade (and I have, in the past, sopped up its île flottante until I indeed floated away), I should check out Bistrot des Tournelles in the 4th for a more intimate, relaxed but still bullseye bistro dinner. They were right. Surprise hit? The gushing, textbook chicken Cordon bleu.
Harder to book but worth the effort: Chez Georges at 1 Rue du Mail. (I mention the address specifically because there other similarly named restaurants, but this is the one you want.) Jean-Gabriel de Bueil leads a suave cast of characters in a rowdy, cramped, exhilarating room. Squint at the menu written in tiny handwritten cursive and pick out salade frisée, ris de veau, cote d’agneau grillé and the must-have tarte tatin.
My favorite Lebanese meal: If you read my work, you know I’m looking out for Lebanese restaurants wherever I go in the world. Part of my time in Paris was with my Lebanese crew, and among several meals we agreed hands-down the best was Kubri, the deservedly lauded draw in the 11th run by Ingrid and Mayfrid Chehlaoui and chef Rita Higgins Akar. So, so rarely does a Lebanese kitchen find balance between the traditional dishes (many of which have simple ingredients that demand technique) and innovation (which often produces aberrations that have no relation to the original). This one nails the midpoint, with wonders like a charred wedge of cabbage rubbed in Aleppo pepper butter and pummeled with diced pickled apricot, shanklish (crumbly aged cheese) and salty-sugary peanuts modeled after a snack in Lebanon called Cri-Cri. The only restaurant to which I circled back for a second meal.
Hispi cabbage with pickled apricots and many other garnishes at Lebanese restaurant Kubri in Paris.
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Seafood for a casual lunch: Septime, the modern bastion of bistronomy, rides on its fame and is so difficult to book. Show up for lunch at its next-door seafood restaurant, Clamato, which doesn’t take reservations. I’d been warned about long waits, but we managed to walk right in on a summer weekday at 1:15 p.m. Beautiful plates of fish and shellfish from the French coast, most seasoned with restraint and a nod to Japan here and there. Loved the take on the bountiful Provençal grand aioli with a slab of pollock and big hunks of blanched fennel, carrots and zucchini. (I was continually reminded that Parisians could teach us how to blanch vegetables to just-tender, properly seasoned deliciousness.)
Seafood for a fancier night out:Restaurant Le Duc, in the 14th and around since the late 1960s, personifies midcentury Parisian elegance: rich wood paneling, career servers with sly humor, simple and impeccable seafood. A lovely crab salad, cleaned entirely of shell, segued to a gorgeous, finely textured sole meunière presented in a copper pan before filleting. Among desserts displayed on a roving cart, home in on crunching, gorgeously proportioned mille-feuille.
The three-star blowout: Plan half a year ahead to score a reservation at Plénitude, the ne-plus-ultra splurge (as in €345 per person) in the Cheval Blanc hotel, with its almost comically scenic perch at the edge of the Seine overlooking the Pont-Neuf bridge. Arnaud Donckele is a chef of the moment; Plénitude has all the global accolades. For fine-dining devotees, I say it’s worth the investment. Much has already been written about Donckele’s mastery over sauces, and I love how servers present both a side of the sauce to taste on its own — which I sometimes prized even more than with other elements on the plate — and a booklet that details the dizzying number of ingredients they contain. (So many wild vinegars!) The staff move as one, with the synchronized precision of a Rolex. As is expected during the loftiest modern tasting-menu dinners, a little fun comes into play: Diners might move location for one course, and those who opt for a cheese course rise from their chairs to make selections from a walk-in cabinet that opens at the end of one room. The whole experiences feels at once very worldly and very Parisian.
Composing a plate in the “cheese cupboard” at Plénitude in the Cheval Blanc hotel in Paris.
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Speaking of cheese: Plenty of people visit Paris for the patisseries. I’m with y’all (the apricot tart at Du Pain et Des Idées forever), but I come even more for the fromageries. A group of us signed up for a cheese tasting experience, via Paris by Mouth, with Jennifer Greco, an American who has lived in France for decades and dedicated her curiosity to all things fromage. We begin at Laurent Dubois, her favorite cheese shop in Paris, and Greco is excellent about adapting a selection to the group’s interests and knowledge levels. I like bloomy rinds (like Brie de Meaux and the runnier, funkier specimens, and she obliged — while steering us towards the sublimely nutty Comtés the shop is known for carrying. We walked a few minutes to a space where we slowly tasted through our loot, with plenty of bread and appropriate wines. What an incredible afternoon, and believe me, it counts as a meal.
France meets Japan: Japan has been a major influence on aspects of French dining for over 50 years, and chefs in Paris, more than ever it feels like, graft the two cultures and cuisines. One newer great: Maison by Sota Atsumi in the 11th, also known as Maison and Maison Sota. Atsumi earned fan as the chef at Clown Bar, and his own tasting-menu restaurant is warm and communal: Most diners sit either along the counter or at a comfortable, room-length table. The air smells of woodsmoke, a fascinating counterpoint (in a way that particular fragrance usually engenders casual and rustic) to the meticulous compositions in large ceramics that define the aesthetic. But all the foams and saucy dots and tiny flowers trick the mind after all: The flavors are shockingly soulful.
Marinated tomato with paprika, sardine broth and chervil oil at Maison Sota in Paris.
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
A standout Moroccan restaurant: Marie-Jose Mimoun waves you to a table at Le Tagine in the 11th, and for a few hours you sort of absorb into the living entity of her dining room, flowing with the pace. I was sad that, pre-vacation, she had stopped making a special lamb and peach tagine advertised on a placard, but a variation with the meat flavored with raisins, onions, honey and almonds was still among the best tagines I’ve tasted outside Morocco. Ditto the couscous, served with plenty of broth and smoky harissa full of tightly knotted spices. Great natural-leaning wine list too.
The dependable crêpe destination:Breizh Cafe has 13 locations around Paris, a chain by any standard, but it was recommended in so many publications it felt like the right recommendation for a group outing one night. We gathered at the location in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, and we had the reliable experience we needed. The savory galette with ham, egg and Comté delivered lacy texture and deep buckwheat flavor (as is traditional in Brittany, where the company originates), and a sweet crêpes Suzette, flambéed with Grand Marnier, flickered with a taut dash of yuzu as well. To drink: dry pear cider.
Perfect end-of-the-trip pizza: So many friends mentioned Oobatz, a pizza restaurant by Maine native Dan Pearson in collaboration with the owners of Le Rigmarole (roundly lauded but not open during my trip). I thought that the last thing I wanted in Paris was pizza. And then, after two weeks of nonstop eating and drinking, my partner and I looked at each other the evening after a wine-soaked lunch and said, “Yeah, let’s go have pizza.” So good. Pearson uses a sourdough base for his bready crusts; they’d be well regarded anywhere in America. Bonus that the menu lists a “chef du surprise” pie; ours was a white pie dotted with meaty splotches of duck ragu.
Pizza with duck ragu at Oobatz in Paris
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
… and a few coffee notes
I recommend the list that Lindsey Trumata co-wrote for Conde Nast Traveler for a broader perspective on drinking coffee in Paris, but these three coffee bars stood out for me:
Emily Wilson of The Angel newsletter has a very trustworthy list of Paris recommendations. She directed me to Téléscope Cafe, presided over by Nicolas Clerc, regarded by many as the (still young) godfather of Paris’s fourth-wave coffee movement — by which I’ll define as bars dedicated to working with roasters (or roasting their own beans) with direct relationships to farmers and an emphasis on unusually expressive coffees. Wilson loves Clerc’s iced coffee; I admire his long list of pour over options listed by growing region and tasting notes in order of intensity. It was my first coffee stop on the trip, and the place to which I most returned. His banana bread with salted butter was, most days, the only breakfast I needed.
The most dedicated coffee nerds should plan ahead for Substance Café, a reservations-only bar run by barista Joachim Morceau and his wife Alexandrine. Joachim has showmanship, charming customers from behind the counter but he’s intensely serious about his craft. (The couple roasts their own beans.) He often encourages every person to start with one featured coffee to grasp individual tastes, and then he starts making excellent suggestions, equally compelling for pour overs or milky espresso drinks.
Joachim Morceau, who runs the reservations-only coffee bar Substance Café in Paris with his wife, Alexandrine.
(Bill Addison / Los Angeles Times)
Substance is one of those places where customers compare notes on where else they’re drinking coffee in Paris, and based on those conversations I ended up at Tiba, a tiny shop that gets intensely busy on the weekends. Kevin Cerqueira, as friendly as he is passionate, mans the place by himself. He wasn’t brewing a variety of Colombian beans roasted by local company Datura, but based on my very specific predlictions in coffee (notes dried fruits and booze) I bought them from his supply … and I already have an order in for four more boxes.
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Above I mentioned RVR, the reincarnation of Travis Lett’s California izakaya in Venice. This week I have a long-in-coming review of the restaurant. If you haven’t been to RVR since it opened last fall, two things: Summer is peak vegetables (which is where the kitchen truly excels), and it might be time to return for brunch (which launched in the last few months) on the rooftop patio.
Lauren Ng reports on Mid East Eats, a fast-casual destination for homestyle Palestinian cuisine that’s also the first legally permitted home kitchen in Watts.
Daniel Miller has a story on how local culinary students seem undeterred by the ongoing challenges of L.A.’s restaurant industry: Los Angeles Trade-Technical College’s saw enrollment in its culinary program grow by 13% last academic year, and it is up nearly 30% since 2019.
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That’s the best way to describe identical twins Liam and Luke Meeker, football players at Mira Costa High.
Liam is the quarterback and Luke the receiver. They’ve been teaming up their whole life.
“Twin telepathy,” they joke.
Their father, George, who was a member of Edison’s surf team during his high school days, taught them to surf when they were 9. Luke claims to be the best, but it’s football where they are making their presence felt.
Both are 6 feet 2 and 200 pounds. Liam can throw and run. Luke can be physical and protective of his brother. They’re loyal and best friends.
“He’s a great quarterback,” Luke said.
“I know where he is on the field,” Liam said.
With Mira Costa returning eight starters on defense and key skill position players such as the Meekers and standout running back AJ McBean, the Mustangs have a chance to be competitive in a tough Bay League that also has Palos Verdes, Inglewood, Leuzinger, Culver City and Lawndale.
Coach Don Morrow, in his 33rd season, likes the togetherness of his players. There’s good leaders, like linebacker/long snapper Jackson Reach, who’s been a standout since his sophomore season.
On Wednesday afternoon, it was a pleasant 77 degrees, with drums, flutes and cymbals being heard around the Manhattan Beach campus as band members practiced. Cheerleaders also worked on their routines. Then football players took the field to continue preparation for an Aug. 29 opener against St. Francis.
Afterward, anyone could take a walk to the beach and surf. The Meekers have been spending summers in Australia, where their mother was born and raised on a farm. They’ve gotten stronger with all the chores they do each summer.
When it comes to surfing, they know the lingo and the fun.
Part of a trio made up of Putellas and Aitana Bonmati, who both are two-time Ballon d’Or winners, Patri’s work at the base of Spain’s – and Barcelona’s – midfield often goes unnoticed.
But the 27-year-old “runs the show” according to Corsie, who added: “She’s the one… you see she starts everything, she controls the tempo, she chooses when they settle the game down.”
Spain boss Montse Tome said she believes Patri is the “best player in her position”.
“It’s not an easy position because it’s not well recognised from the outside and I believe her personality, she is humble, she is a hard worker and this means Aitana [Bonmati], Alexia [Putellas], Vicky [Lopez], Mariona [Caldentey] and [Claudia] Pina play more freely and Patri is key for that.”
Asked about Tome’s comments, Patri said: “I feel super happy and super proud knowing the coach said that about me.
“For the game model we have, midfielders have to participate because then everything flows and the team feels confident.”
As well as setting the pace and freeing up space for her team-mates, Patri proved she’s got an eye for goal, with a drilled finish giving Spain the lead against Italy.
Chandler “the Jet” Jones, a local football legend who set records as a wide receiver at Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance and San José State University, died at age 33 in a freeway accident in Los Angeles on Sunday, according to the L.A. County medical examiner.
Jones was hit by a Toyota RAV4 near the Centinela Avenue off-ramp of the 90 Freeway around 2 a.m. Sunday, the California Highway Patrol told MyNewsLA.
“It is with great sadness that we share the passing of alum, Chandler Jones ‘09,” Bishop Montgomery High School said in a Facebook post. “Jones was a standout player on Bishop’s football team and still holds the record for longest kick-off return (97 yards) and longest fumble recovery (98 yards).”
Jones was a star wide receiver as a San José Spartan and, after a brief stint in the pros, went on to hold coaching positions at his alma mater, as well as the College of Idaho and the Montreal Alouettes.
“Forever in our hearts, #89,” the San José State football program wrote on X. “In loving memory of Spartan wide receiver and coach, Chandler Jones.”
For the record:
9:44 a.m. June 24, 2025A previous version of this article listed the wrong university for coaches Brent Brennan and Greg Stewart. They coach at the University of Arizona, not Arizona State University.
His former San José State football coach Brent Brennan, who now coaches at the University of Arizona, said on X that his heart was broken by the news of Jones’ death.
“From his freshman year as a WR, to coaching on our staff, he made @SanJoseStateFB better everyday,” said Brennan. “The Jet was special. Love you brother.”
During his 2013 season at San José State, Jones ranked No. 1 in the Mountain West Conference in receiving yards per reception. During that season, he caught he caught 79 passes for 1,356 yards and 15 touchdowns from quarterback David Fales, who went on to play for the Chicago Bears, according to reporting from CBS Sports. Jones also ranks second on the Spartans’ career leaderboard in receiving yards with 3,087.
After finishing his Spartan career, Jones went on to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns practice squads in 2014. He joined the Montreal Alouettes practice squad in 2015 and played for the team in 2016, before returning to San José State as a coach in 2017.
“My heart is truly broken — My good friend and my fellow coach welcomed me with open arms when we met in Idaho,” wrote University of Arizona assistant football coach Greg Stewart on X. “Chandler “The Jet” Jones was the real deal, I will always cherish my time with you my brother.”
ST. LOUIS — Growing up on the western tip of Cuba, Andy Pages excelled at every sport he played.
He was good at soccer and volleyball, arguably better at basketball. But he loved baseball for reasons that weren’t necessarily limited to the game.
Pages’ father, Liban, a carpenter who had a job repairing wooden boats, helped make his son’s first bats by hand, using leftover lumber given to him by friends. Soon baseball became the boy’s favorite pastime.
“When I was starting to play baseball in Cuba, when things were really bad, there were no bats. There weren’t things like that,” Pages said in Spanish. “So he always tried to make me a bat so I could play.
“I became more motivated, and from that point on, we’ve been playing baseball.”
The sport eventually proved to be a way off the island for Pages, who has emerged as one of the Dodgers’ brightest stars in just his second season with the team.
He entered the start of a three-game series Monday in San Diego hitting .288 with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs, trailing only Shohei Ohtani in homers and matching Ohtani for third on the team in RBIs. He’s also tied for second in stolen bases with six and has yet to be thrown out.
If he can stay consistent, he has a chance to become the first Dodger center fielder to hit better than .250 with 25 homers since Matt Kemp in 2011.
Although Pages never played in Cuba’s elite Serie Nacional, the proving ground for stars such as Yuli Gurriel, Yunel Escobar and Orlando “El Duque” Hernández, he became one of the country’s top prospects after hitting .364/.484/.581 in a under-15 league.
Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages rifles the ball to second base to prevent Arizona’s Ketel Marte from advancing on a single at Dodger Stadium on May 20.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
That convinced Pages (pronounced PAH-hays) he had a chance to be a big leaguer some day. So at 16, the Athletic reported, he arranged to be spirited off the island alongside Jairo Pomares, another young Cuban star, traveling through Guyana, Curacao and Haiti before crossing in the Dominican Republic. He then waited eight months before the Dodgers signed him as an international free agent in March 2018, giving him a $300,000 bonus, more than 1,500 times the average annual wage in Cuba, according to CiberCuba.
Pomares signed with the San Francisco Giants at about the same time, but while he remains in the minors, Pages’ climb to the majors was steady. He reached triple A by the start the 2024 season. He didn’t stay at Oklahoma City long, however, hitting .371/.452/.694 with 15 RBIs in 15 games to earn a call-up to the Dodgers.
Before his rookie season was over, Pages was a World Series champion. He paid a heavy price for that though, going seven years without seeing his family in person.
“It was emotional since I hadn’t seen them for a long time,” said Pages, 24, who returned to Cuba for the first time the winter before his big-league debut.
His sister, Elaine, a child when he left “was already a full-grown woman.”
“So those memories came back to me, and they were quite — how should I say it? — quite strong for me,” said Pages, who brought his father a few of the machine-made bats he used in the minor leagues.
But if his father provided the spark that made his son a baseball player, teammate Teoscar Hernández provided the help, guidance and mentoring that made Pages an everyday major leaguer.
“He’s played in the major leagues for a long time now,” Pages said of Hernández, a 10-year veteran who signed with the Dodgers months before Pages made his big-league debut. “He’s been through a lot of bad times. I went through that at the beginning of the season, for example, and last year too. And he’s given me advice that’s helped me a lot to get through that time.”
With Pages’ family still in Cuba, Hernández has become a big brother as well as a teammate, taking him out for dinner on off days or just getting together to play video games.
Andy Pages runs the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Athletics at Dodger Stadium on May 14.
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“Getting through bad times is sometimes a little difficult when you’re alone, when you don’t have anyone to help you, to give you good advice, and to make you understand that sometimes things don’t happen when you want them to,” Pages said.
And that’s worked out well for Pages. Three games after Hernández returned from a rehab assignment last month, Pages started a streak that would see him hit in 13 of his next 14 starts, including 11 in a row, raising his average 24 points to .293. He’s batting .379 with a team-high 11 hits in seven games this month.
“We try to go out to my house. We go out to a restaurant with my wife, his wife. Just so we can get together, have time to enjoy and not think about baseball,” Hernández said.
Pages isn’t the first player to benefit from Hernández’s mentorship. During his six seasons in Toronto, Hernández took another talented rookie, fellow Dominican Vladimir Guerrero Jr., under his wing. Guerrero is now a four-time All-Star.
Hernández is still so respected in Toronto when the Dodgers played there last season, some Blue Jays players wore his old uniform number during batting practice. Earlier this year Guerrero offered to buy him a $300,000 Richard Mille watch; Hernández joked he’d rather have money instead.
As the quiet Pages has grown more confident and comfortable with the Dodgers, his play has improved. A speedy outfielder with a plus arm, he also can play all three positions.
And while he left Cuba, he never fully left it behind, having expressed interest in representing the country in next year’s World Baseball Classic. The decision to go to the Dominican Republic as a teenager, after all, was a business one, not a personal one.
Pages would also like to bring his family to U.S. some day, though that dream was dealt a setback last week when President Trump signed an executive order restricting access to Cubans hoping to come to the U.S.
“Hope is always there,” said Pages, who has beaten impossibly long odds once. “But you have to follow the rules, get the papers, do whatever it takes to make sure everything’s OK. And then get here and stay here.
