Another Legendary LA Restaurant, Genghis Cohen, Set to Close
Landlords for the Genghis Cohen, a landmark Chinese eatery on Fairfax featured in "The Chinese Restaurant" episode of Seinfeld will shut the doors of its red-hued eatery at 740 N. Fairfax on May 31. "After over a three year long lease negotiation, the original location of the restaurant...will close," according to a statement released by the restaurant's owners Marc Rose and Med Abrous. They added that they were "unable to secure a long term lease solution at a reasonable rate as the property is being redeveloped by the landlords."The landlords N. Fairfax Holdings LLC filed an eviction order against Genghis Cohen in November, according to property records. It's unclear what the classic Chinese restaurant will be replaced with.
Genghis Cohen, long considered a New York Style Chinatown eatery for Angelenos, will be moved to a temporary space a few blocks south on Fairfax once occupied by Sweet Chick this June until they are able to find a more permanent home. But the last service will be held on May 31. The closing marks the loss of yet another iconic L.A. eatery. Original Pantry, a DTLA staple for a century, closed last month. A slew of Sunset Boulevard restaurants are also preparing to serve last suppers in the coming months, among them Hudson House and the Den. "With so many iconic restaurants closing (from the past year alone Original Pantry Cafe, Le Petit Four, Patrick's Roadhouse, The Rose...the list goes on) Marc and Med were hellbent on protecting this piece of LA restaurant history that they have stewarded over the last decade and tirelessly worked on finding a temporary location for the restaurant," the owners said in the statement. Genghis Cohen opened in 1983 by New York City native, music producer Allan Rinde who was working for Cherokee Studios at the time. He bought a pizza joint across the street and created Genghis Cohen, which served as a bit of home and a practice space for the bands he worked with. In 1997, Allan sold Genghis Cohen to long-time maitre d, Raymond Kiu, whose family ran the restaurant until they sold it a couple of regulars, the current owners.
Never Miss a Beat! Subscribe to Los Angeles Magazine's The Daily Brief for daily updates delivered straight to your inbox. Join below or by clicking here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
China grants rare earth export permits after US trade talks, offers relief but uncertainty persists
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The high-level negotiations over China's export controls of rare earths is giving U.S. businesses some relief, even though it may be only for now. China has approved 'a certain number' of export permits for rare earth elements and related items, its commerce ministry said on Thursday, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump declared that Beijing would supply to the U.S. companies those key elements and the magnets made from them following a two-day trade talk in London. 'I will be one of the happiest people out there if, if in fact, China starts to, to release some of those heavy rare earths and allows them to get into the world economy because the world economy is going to shut down without those heavy rare earths,' said Mark Smith, chief executive officer of NioCorp., which is developing a new mine in Nebraska to produce niobium, scandium, titanium and an assortment of rare earths. Export controls of the minerals apparently eclipsed tariffs in the latest round of trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington, after China imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements in April, threatening to halt production of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high-tech products in the U.S. and around the world. Negotiators from the two governments said they reached a framework to move forward, with details yet to be agreed to by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but businesses welcomed the developments, even though uncertainties persist. Important elements used in many products Rare earth elements are some of the most sought-after critical minerals. Despite the name, they aren't actually rare, but it is hard to find them in high enough concentrations to make mining them economical. They are also difficult to extract from the ore, and China over the past several decades has built dominance in the processing capacity, supplying nearly 90% of the world's rare earths. In the heat of the tariff war with Trump, Beijing on April 4 announced permitting requirements for seven heavy rare earths: samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, citing the need to 'better safeguard national security and interests and to fulfill global duties of non-proliferation.' The elements China has restricted, such as terbium and dysprosium, are key ingredients needed to make permanent rare earth magnets withstand high temperatures. That is crucial for a variety of uses in electric vehicles, wind turbines and military uses like jet engines and nuclear submarines. Some of the other rare earths needed for those magnets are produced at the only operating U.S. rare earths mine run by MP Materials in California, but China remains the only source of nearly all of what's known as the heavy rare earths. MP Materials previously sent the heavy rare earths that it mines to China for processing but it halted that in April amid the tariffs. The company is working to expand its own processing capability as soon as possible, and it is building a new magnet plant in Texas. Looming shortages start to hit manufacturing Neha Mukherjee, rare earths analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, had previously predicted that most companies wouldn't start to run short of rare earths until later this year, but it appears some companies already have problems. 'The overall market stockpile exists, but looks like a lot of OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), especially auto manufacturers, were not prepared, especially in Europe,' Mukherjee said. Some American companies have stockpiled, but they 'might start experiencing constraint if this continues.' 'Looks like most of the stockpile is still in China hence the bottleneck in supply,' Mukherjee said. On June 4, the European Association of Automotive Supplies said the industry was 'already experiencing significant disruption' due to China's export restrictions on rare earths and magnets. 'These restrictions have led to the shutdown of several production lines and plants across Europe, with further impacts expected in the coming weeks as inventories deplete,' the group said. Questions remain about latest trade deal Details are still scarce on any agreement on rare earths shipments from China. On Thursday, He Yadong, spokesman for the Chinese commerce ministry, said China will 'sufficiently consider the reasonable needs and concerns by all countries in the civilian field" in reviewing applications of export permits for rare earths and related items. He said that it is consistent with international practice to put export controls on rare earths because they can be used for both civilian and military purposes. China's limits on rare earths remain a threat In a note, Gabriel Wildau, managing director of the consultancy Teneo, wrote that even though there is an agreement for now, 'supply cutoffs will remain an ever-present threat.' That's because China's licensing regime for the export of the seven heavy rare earths and related magnets is permanent, despite perceptions at the time that it was an act of retaliation, he wrote. China "will probably not approve exports in sufficient quantity to allow U.S. customers to stockpile, ensuring that Beijing's leverage remains undiminished,' he wrote. 'Beijing may approve few if any exports to U.S. defense companies and their suppliers.' Smith of NioCorp. said even if the Chinese are offering a reprieve from their restrictions on rare earths, they will likely still keep limits in place on U.S. military uses. 'If I'm in the military and flying a jet or running a nuclear class submarine or a guided missile, I don't want that to fail because of high temperatures. So we have to have these heavy rare earths,' Smith said. Smith said he hopes to find a solution to the problem of America being almost entirely dependent on China for these elements. 'I sincerely hope from the bottom of my heart that we use this situation as our final learning," Smith said. 'Let's take care of what we know needs to be taken care of.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Stephanie Ruhle: Trump's China trade 'deal' returns the U.S. right back to where it started
After two days of negotiations, the United States and China appear hopeful about the progress they're making on a trade deal. But let's take a look at what actually went down this week. Both countries say they have a "framework" that basically gets trade talks back to the agreement they made in Geneva a month ago. That agreement paused Donald Trump's 145% tariff on China and China's 125% tariff on U.S. exports, reducing them to 30% and 10%, respectively. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Wednesday that, as part of the agreement, China will start granting rare earth export licenses for U.S. companies immediately. Those materials are vital for automakers, semiconductor manufacturers and other tech companies. But those licenses will only last six months, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Also, as part of the deal, there are reports that the U.S. will ease restrictions it placed on its own exports of technology and other products to China. And the administration will also reportedly pull back on cancelling visas for Chinese students. So if you call that a truce, it's a thin one. Why? We still need to wait and see if Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping approve the concept. (Though that didn't stop the president from also declaring on social media, "Our deal with China is done.") And if they do, we also need to know when they actually plan to implement it. Lutnick also said that our tariffs on China are not going to change from their current levels. So I guess we're not going back up above 100%? That might sound like good news. Except, remember, the U.S. has already added 30% tariffs on Chinese imports since Trump took office — and China hit us back with 10% tariffs. And for those trying to follow the back and forth, the deal actually leaves tariffs on China at 55% after including the 25% tariffs already in place before Trump came into office. Meanwhile, that 90-day countdown clock is still ticking for all the other countries that have to negotiate new trade deals with us. However, on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told House lawmakers that it's "highly likely" Trump will push back that July 9 deadline for countries engaged in good-faith negotiations. All of which makes these hard-line trade deal deadlines seem more like a soft promise written with erasable ink. This article was originally published on
San Francisco Chronicle
an hour ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
China grants rare earth export permits after US trade talks, offers relief but uncertainty persists
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The high-level negotiations over China's export controls of rare earths is giving U.S. businesses some relief, even though it may be only for now. China has approved 'a certain number' of export permits for rare earth elements and related items, its commerce ministry said on Thursday, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump declared that Beijing would supply to the U.S. companies those key elements and the magnets made from them following a two-day trade talk in London. 'I will be one of the happiest people out there if, if in fact, China starts to, to release some of those heavy rare earths and allows them to get into the world economy because the world economy is going to shut down without those heavy rare earths,' said Mark Smith, chief executive officer of NioCorp., which is developing a new mine in Nebraska to produce niobium, scandium, titanium and an assortment of rare earths. Export controls of the minerals apparently eclipsed tariffs in the latest round of trade negotiations between Beijing and Washington, after China imposed permitting requirements on seven rare earth elements in April, threatening to halt production of cars, robots, wind turbines and other high-tech products in the U.S. and around the world. Negotiators from the two governments said they reached a framework to move forward, with details yet to be agreed to by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, but businesses welcomed the developments, even though uncertainties persist. Important elements used in many products Rare earth elements are some of the most sought-after critical minerals. Despite the name, they aren't actually rare, but it is hard to find them in high enough concentrations to make mining them economical. They are also difficult to extract from the ore, and China over the past several decades has built dominance in the processing capacity, supplying nearly 90% of the world's rare earths. In the heat of the tariff war with Trump, Beijing on April 4 announced permitting requirements for seven heavy rare earths: samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium and yttrium, citing the need to 'better safeguard national security and interests and to fulfill global duties of non-proliferation.' The elements China has restricted, such as terbium and dysprosium, are key ingredients needed to make permanent rare earth magnets withstand high temperatures. That is crucial for a variety of uses in electric vehicles, wind turbines and military uses like jet engines and nuclear submarines. Some of the other rare earths needed for those magnets are produced at the only operating U.S. rare earths mine run by MP Materials in California, but China remains the only source of nearly all of what's known as the heavy rare earths. MP Materials previously sent the heavy rare earths that it mines to China for processing but it halted that in April amid the tariffs. The company is working to expand its own processing capability as soon as possible, and it is building a new magnet plant in Texas. Looming shortages start to hit manufacturing Neha Mukherjee, rare earths analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, had previously predicted that most companies wouldn't start to run short of rare earths until later this year, but it appears some companies already have problems. 'The overall market stockpile exists, but looks like a lot of OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), especially auto manufacturers, were not prepared, especially in Europe,' Mukherjee said. Some American companies have stockpiled, but they 'might start experiencing constraint if this continues.' 'Looks like most of the stockpile is still in China hence the bottleneck in supply,' Mukherjee said. On June 4, the European Association of Automotive Supplies said the industry was 'already experiencing significant disruption' due to China's export restrictions on rare earths and magnets. 'These restrictions have led to the shutdown of several production lines and plants across Europe, with further impacts expected in the coming weeks as inventories deplete,' the group said. Questions remain about latest trade deal Details are still scarce on any agreement on rare earths shipments from China. On Thursday, He Yadong, spokesman for the Chinese commerce ministry, said China will 'sufficiently consider the reasonable needs and concerns by all countries in the civilian field" in reviewing applications of export permits for rare earths and related items. He said that it is consistent with international practice to put export controls on rare earths because they can be used for both civilian and military purposes. China's limits on rare earths remain a threat In a note, Gabriel Wildau, managing director of the consultancy Teneo, wrote that even though there is an agreement for now, 'supply cutoffs will remain an ever-present threat.' That's because China's licensing regime for the export of the seven heavy rare earths and related magnets is permanent, despite perceptions at the time that it was an act of retaliation, he wrote. China "will probably not approve exports in sufficient quantity to allow U.S. customers to stockpile, ensuring that Beijing's leverage remains undiminished,' he wrote. 'Beijing may approve few if any exports to U.S. defense companies and their suppliers.' Smith of NioCorp. said even if the Chinese are offering a reprieve from their restrictions on rare earths, they will likely still keep limits in place on U.S. military uses. 'I sincerely hope from the bottom of my heart that we use this situation as our final learning," Smith said. 'Let's take care of what we know needs to be taken care of.'
