Little Tokyo Chef at historic cafe makes family recipe for isolated seniors

LOS ANGELES - Jist Cafe, a family-owned cafe in downtown LA’s historic Little Tokyo has been a beloved restaurant for about 70 years. 

The cafe survived Word War II, the LA riots and gentrification. 

When business came to a halt during the pandemic, Chef Glen Ishii of Little Tokyo's Jist Cafe began preparing hundreds of orders of chashu shumai for sheltered seniors in need. 

It’s an old family recipe that had been passed down from his grandmother. 

The labor-intensive dish consists of week-long marinated pork served with shumai dumplings. 

The return of chasu shumai has become a spirit-lifter. 

Jist Cafe is making it available to the public and has been selling out of it. 

Chef Ishii says it is helping the business stay afloat during the crisis. 

Jist Cafe is open Tuesday through Sunday for breakfast and lunch.