Reel Urban News Exclusive
By Michael Reel
Post & Beam has become a Los Angeles landmark dining destination since it opened in 2012. Celebrated chef and restaurateur John Cleveland has ensured that its reputation remains intact. “Post & Beam has been here for 10 years and we’re simply carrying on a rich tradition.
“I’ve been with Post & Beam a little over five years and I’m very proud to have inherited a great tradition and to be able to continue it.” Cleveland honed his culinary skills in Oakland and North Carolina, which made him uniquely positioned to take the reins of Post & Beam.
The Bay Area native credits his love of cooking to his father, an authentic Bar-B-Q Pit Master, and his grandmother, who Cleveland says would be considered a modern-day chef. On any given weekend, she cooked and served meals for countless families in her community.
Under the watchful eyes of Chef John and his wife and business partner, Roni Cleveland Post & Beam continues to flourish. Roni has enhanced the professional development of the hospitality staff while making sure every guest’s experience at Post & Beam is memorable.
A third-generation resident of South Central Los Angeles, Roni is very much a part of the fabric of the community of her birth and childhood. “This restaurant is in a neighborhood that I grew up in and to have a business here where people love the food and they love us is the best.”
The term comfort food can be traced back to 1966 when the Palm Beach Post coined the phrase. When adults are under severe emotional stress, it noted, they turn to comfort food — food associated with security or childhood, like mom’s chicken soup on a cold day.
Fast forward 50-plus years and the term comfort food is still very much a part of the American lexicon. However, chicken soup is no longer the meal that comes to mind when craving comfort food. Mac and cheese, warm buttered biscuits and mashed potatoes are now the norms.
“We serve what we’ve coined California Comfort Food,” says Cleveland. “It’s Southern traditional cuisine that I’ve taken from some of my family recipes. Chef Govind has put a great deal of his influence into a lot of our recipes and we also use California fresh produce in all of our comfort food cuisine.”
The Los Angeles Times was one of the first publications to write a glowing review about Post & Beam. Additional raves by the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Essence and Los Angeles magazine soon followed.
And it’s not just great food. Post & Beam is one of L.A.’s unique cocktail excursions. The inside-outside bar sits adjacent to the open kitchen. Shelves are lined with traditional brands intermingled with emerging liquors, tequilas, bourbons, vodka, scotch and gin. The Post & Beam wine and beer list is the envy of nearby bars and eateries.
The bar at Post & Beam remains in the capable hands of mixologist Courtney Charles. On any given evening Charles favors folks with signature drinks and cocktails. “I put my heart and soul into what I do, just like Chef John and the kitchen staff put their hearts into the food. I do the same at the bar. I take the opportunity to show out when I have it.”
A top-drawer restaurant must have a sous chef who embraces the vision and direction of the head chef. Cleveland and Sous Chef Jaron Quetel’s culinary knowledge complement one another.
“Primarily the responsibility that I have is to help Chef John Celevand with his vision,” says Quetel. “When you take on leadership here it’s signing up to play a very strong role in reinventing the Black chef. It’s time to retire ‘Aunt Jemima.’ It’s time to retire ‘Uncle Ben.’
“I’m a real-time chef. Chef John Cleveland is a real-time chef and these are the faces that make Black cuisine and Black culinary arts in this city what it is.”
Chef John and Roni Cleveland spoke exclusively with Michael Reel of Reel Urban News. In the closing moments of our profile, Chef John said, “I think I was drawn to this business because I realized everybody’s got to eat.
“It’s natural in our culture to be hospitable, to dine with each other and to break bread as we say. Keep in mind, everybody comes in here not only to digest the food but for the vibe. I hope every time you walk away from Post & Beam you walk away with a memory.”
