How does someone go from the Jordan Downs housing projects in Watts to becoming the co-owner of one of Los Angeles’ most celebrated restaurants?
In this episode of Making Los Angeles, chef and author Keith Corbin reflects on the long, unlikely road that led him from gang culture, prison, and the crack epidemic of 1980s South LA to Alta Adams, the acclaimed West Adams restaurant rooted in Black foodways and community.
Keith shares stories about losing his brother, surviving prison, discovering cooking later in life through Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson’s LocoL, and finding purpose through food after years of instability and survival.
The conversation explores Watts, masculinity, grief, fatherhood, redemption, and the complicated relationship between identity and place in Los Angeles.

Alex Cohen: Journalism, Japan, and the Derby Dolls

Even more than its sunny skies, rich history and Hollywood glamor, L.A. is defined by its people. In “Making Los Angeles,” from LA Times Studios, native Angeleno Glenn Gritzner sits down with the dreamers and big-thinkers shaping the city to explore how they got where they are. The result is a singularly intimate deep dive into the incredible lives of everyone from entrepreneurs, politicians and brand-builders to artists, activists and influencers. Glenn is a partner at a global public affairs firm and a registered lobbyist. He is well-connected within the business and political communities of Los Angeles. Behind every L.A. icon is a human story. Hear a new one every week on “Making Los Angeles.” The LA Times editorial staff was not involved in the production of this show.