Long Beach Legends: 3 Chefs Who Transformed the City’s Flavor 🍔🔥

Long Beach has always been a city with personality—but in the last few years, its food scene has leveled up in a way that feels uniquely Long Beach: creative, community-driven, and proudly independent.

In this episode of Long Beach Legends, we meet three chefs who’ve helped reshape how the city eats—through dough mastery, Colombian soul, and burgers that rewrite the rules. These aren’t just great meals. They’re stories about grit, culture, and building something people can gather around.

Beatrix Whipple interviews local chefs for Long Beach Legends

What makes a “Long Beach Legend”?

A legend isn’t just someone who cooks well. It’s someone who:

• takes a risk and builds something from scratch,

• turns a personal story into a public experience,

• and makes the neighborhood better by existing in it.

That’s exactly what these three chefs have done.

1) Waldo Stout: Backyard pizzas → Due Fiori favorite

Waldo Stout and a wood-fired pizza moment

When people think pizza in Long Beach, one name comes up again and again: Waldo Stout.

Waldo’s story starts the way so many Long Beach success stories do—with pop-ups, persistence, and a decision to bet on himself. After years in kitchens (10+ in the industry, with 5–6 in leadership roles), he hit a moment that forced clarity: if you want control over your craft, you have to build your own lane.

So he bought a pizza oven, started doing pop-ups and caterings, and built a following the old-fashioned way: one great bite at a time.

Eventually, the owners behind Baby Gee approached him with a new project: Due Fiori—and the pop-up era turned into a restaurant chapter.

What people love at Due Fiori

Waldo’s food is thoughtful and technique-driven, but still feels welcoming.

Signature favorites mentioned in the episode:

• Sprouted cauliflower (vegan) with roasted eggplant + pepper purée and a bright salsa verde (cilantro, mint, acidity)

• House bread brushed with garlic and fried rosemary, served with European butter + olive oil

• Caesar salad (yes—his favorite is the Caesar, and everyone agrees)

• Duck ragù pasta, made from whole ducks (nothing wasted—bones become stock)

Why Waldo is a legend

Because he turned a “fine, I’ll do it myself” moment into a place people now bring their friends when they want to show off Long Beach.

2) Carlos Jurado: Colombian soul meets California cool at Selva

Selva dishes and tropical cocktail energy

Next stop: Selva, where chef Carlos Jurado blends Colombian roots with Long Beach culture—and does it with bold flavor, playful joy, and serious technique.

Carlos’s story is deeply Long Beach. He left Colombia as a toddler, grew up blocks away from where he cooks now, and later—once immigration allowed—began traveling back to Colombia as a teenager.

Those visits didn’t just reconnect him to family. They sparked an idea: there wasn’t much Colombian food represented in Long Beach. If you wanted it, you often had to drive to LA.

So Carlos built something that didn’t exist—food that feels like home, but also like the city that raised him.

Signature dishes and the “Selva DNA”

Carlos describes the foundation of Selva as comfort classics done with intention:

• Smoked chicken with rice and beans (a cornerstone dish)

• A flexible, ever-changing fried rice that evolves based on what’s in the kitchen (leftovers become features)

Carlos also brought in techniques from his time in Nashville—including time working in kitchens connected to Sean Brock—and combined that with family flavors (like his mom’s rice and beans).

Cocktails, desserts, and playful refinement

Selva’s bar program is a collaboration—Carlos brings ideas, and his bar partner elevates them. Expect:

• Colombian fruit inspiration (maracuyá, lulo)

• tropical energy

• creative, unexpected presentation (including playful sensory moments)

His philosophy is simple: don’t take it too seriously—while sourcing the best and doing it the right way.

Why Carlos is a legend

Because he didn’t just open a restaurant. He gave Long Beach a new flavor language—Colombia, reintroduced through the lens of the city.

3) Jairo Bogarín: Redefining burgers at Hamburgers Nice

Hamburgers Nice breakfast burger close-up

If you think burgers can’t be surprising anymore, Hamburgers Nice will change your mind.

Chef Jairo Bogarín built his concept around nostalgia, comfort, and quality—without pretending to be a “chef-driven” spot.

He calls it what it is: a neighborhood vendor that cares.

The breakfast burger that wasn’t supposed to happen

One of the best stories in the episode is how the breakfast burger came to life.

Jairo was offered a space with breakfast hours (8am–noon), so he had to create a breakfast burger on the fly. The result became a standout:

• Beef sausage patty

• House-made berry jam

• Sweet + savory diner energy—like pancakes, bacon, and eggs all in one bite

He also created a Mexican breakfast counterpart:

• A chorizo breakfast burger

• Fried egg + spicy-savory sauce

• A nod to the SoCal patchwork that makes Long Beach… Long Beach

Collaboration as a way of life

Jairo’s take is one of the most “Long Beach” lines of the whole episode:

To exist in Long Beach is to collaborate.

He talks about how collabs are flexible, community-driven, and unexpectedly rewarding—from working with respected chefs to partnering with local concepts that care about food, music, and vibe.

What’s next?

Maybe a brick-and-mortar. Maybe more pop-ups across the West Coast. Maybe both. The brand stays intentionally flexible—built to keep moving.

Why Jairo is a legend

Because he proves you don’t need a fancy kitchen to become essential. You need passion, consistency, and food that brings people together.

The common thread: food as community

These three chefs aren’t just making dishes.

They’re building places where:

• a pop-up becomes a restaurant,

• a cultural story becomes a menu,

• and a burger becomes a neighborhood ritual.

Long Beach is lucky to have them.

Nominate the next Long Beach Legend

Who should we feature next?

Drop a comment with a chef, pop-up, baker, bartender, or hidden gem that deserves the spotlight.

Want more Long Beach neighborhood + lifestyle guides?

Subscribe to The Whipple Group – Long Beach Living for more local stories, neighborhood tours, and community spotlights.

If you’re thinking about making a move in Long Beach and want a real, boots-on-the-ground guide to the neighborhoods, we’re here.

Disclaimer: Menus, availability, and offerings may change. Please check each restaurant for current hours and details.