Kerry Rose Schwartz: “LA Dining Is Such a Scam.” Until It Isn’t

“LA dining is a such scam, and I’m done pretending it’s not.”

It is the line that helped define Kerry Rose Schwartz’s arrival in the Los Angeles dining conversation. Provocative, certainly, but delivered with enough wit to make the point clear: Schwartz loves restaurants enough to expect something from them. As the creator behind Scam or Slam, the Brooklyn-born, Los Angeles-based personality has built an audience by saying what diners are often already thinking, questioning the hype, the price tag, and whether the experience on the other side of the reservation is actually worth it.

Behind the candor is a career built on storytelling. Before restaurants became her subject, Schwartz spent two decades working in television as a writer, producer, director, and reality television personality. She later became the bestselling author of Series of Unfortunate Men, a memoir currently in development for television. Across mediums, her instinct has remained remarkably consistent: find the story, understand the people behind it, and speak to an audience without overcomplicating the message.

With Scam or Slam, that instinct found a particularly natural home. Los Angeles has no shortage of restaurants engineered for attention, but Schwartz is interested in what happens after the reservation is made. Is the food actually good? Does the experience justify the price? Would she return? Her reviews are direct, but never simply for the sake of being provocative. When a restaurant delivers, Schwartz is often its loudest advocate.

That instinct has since moved beyond the screen. With Kerry’s Table, Schwartz has translated her audience into a real-world dining series, bringing people together around restaurants, chefs, and shared meals. What began with restaurant commentary has expanded into something more tangible: an opportunity to put people directly into the rooms she believes deserve to be full.

There is another side to Schwartz’s influence that is quieter than the premise of Scam or Slam, but increasingly central to what she has built. While the series may be known for questioning the city’s buzziest and most expensive dining rooms when they fail to live up to their billing, Schwartz has consistently used the same platform to champion independent restaurants, neighborhood institutions, and family-run businesses that might otherwise sit outside the spotlight.

At a particularly challenging moment for independent restaurants, that visibility can translate beyond the screen. Her reviews have brought new audiences through restaurant doors and renewed attention to businesses navigating a difficult economic landscape. Some of the most compelling stories around Scam or Slam have consequently had very little to do with the “scam” at all. They are about restaurants finding new customers, dining rooms becoming busier, and people discovering places they might never have encountered otherwise.

Schwartz’s relationship with these restaurants rarely ends when the camera stops rolling. She returns. She knows the chefs, owners, and longtime staff. In some cases, those relationships have developed into collaborations and Kerry’s Table events. There is little distance between the restaurants she recommends and the communities behind them, giving her work an intimacy that feels increasingly uncommon within the economy of online restaurant criticism.

For FML’s cover story, that relationship between fashion, food, and community took us to two restaurants in North Hills that Schwartz holds particularly close: CF Food Kitchen and Horseless Carriage Restaurant at Galpin. They are distinctly different spaces, but each represents the kind of restaurant Schwartz has repeatedly brought into her orbit, places where what is on the plate matters just as much as the people behind it.

At CF Food Kitchen, Chef Flores and Sylvie have created the sort of neighborhood restaurant that feels immediately personal. Schwartz describes a space reminiscent of a family living room from another era, warm, familiar, and refreshingly unconcerned with chasing the latest aesthetic. The intimacy extends to the kitchen. Beef Wellington, filet mignon, and crab cakes are among the dishes Schwartz considers some of the best of their kind in Los Angeles.

For Schwartz, CF Food Kitchen is also an example of why neighborhood restaurants still need advocates. Exceptional cooking does not always arrive with a publicity machine, a celebrity clientele, or a months-long reservation list. Sometimes it exists quietly, sustained by the people who know and return to it. Bringing greater visibility to a place like CF is less about changing what makes it special than making sure more people know where to find it.

If CF Food Kitchen feels like being welcomed into someone’s warmest home, Horseless Carriage feels like stepping into a wonderful, time-capsule reimagined Los Angeles.

Located at Galpin, Horseless Carriage carries the visual language of a classic 1960s diner, complete with photogenic booths and a sense of history that cannot be manufactured. There is something distinctly cinematic about finding it within a car dealership, a preserved piece of Los Angeles culture hiding in plain sight. Yet for Schwartz, nostalgia alone would never be enough.

In the kitchen, Chef Giovanni brings an unexpected level of refinement to the setting, working with high-quality meats and seafood and delivering the caliber of cooking Schwartz associates with Beverly Hills dining, only here it is being served in North Hills. Alongside his partner Anthony and a staff that includes longtime team members who have been there for more than a decade, the restaurant has retained something increasingly difficult to engineer: genuine hospitality.

That warmth is personal for Schwartz. During a difficult period in her life, when she lived just up the street, Horseless Carriage became a kind of second home and safe space. The people knew her. The room was familiar. She could walk through the door and feel taken care of. Years later, when she began building Kerry’s Table, it was only fitting that Horseless Carriage became its first location.

It is a full-circle detail that says considerably more about Schwartz’s approach to dining than any viral review could. For her, the restaurants worth remembering are rarely defined by a single dish. They are defined by the people who remember your name, the server who has been there for years, the chef who still cares about what leaves the kitchen, and the room you find yourself wanting to return to.

Beyond food, Schwartz continues to build across entertainment, entrepreneurship, and community. She is also the founder of the Women’s Health Advocacy Group, extending a career increasingly centered on using an audience to create something tangible beyond the screen. Whether through media, advocacy, or a table filled with strangers who leave knowing one another, connection remains the through line.

For FML, the cover story brought that world into fashion. Moving between the kitchen and dining room, Schwartz stepped into a more heightened version of the spaces she knows so well, where the ritual of going out to eat met the visual language of an editorial. But underneath the clothes and the camera was something decidedly familiar: Kerry, in restaurants she genuinely loves, surrounded by the people who make them matter.

FML got the chance to sit down with Kerry Rose Schwartz to talk about Scam or Slam, the success of Kerry’s Table, her evolution from television to the Los Angeles dining scene, and the restaurants she believes deserve a seat in the conversation. From the familial warmth of CF Food Kitchen to the old-school soul of Horseless Carriage at Galpin, our North Hills cover story is ultimately about more than where Kerry eats. It is about the restaurants worth rooting for, the people who keep them alive, and what can happen when someone with a platform chooses not only to critique, but to champion.

FML: Your opening line, “LA dining is a scam, and I’m done pretending it’s not,” has become synonymous with Scam or Slam. What initially inspired you to start the series?

KRS: The series actually started completely by accident on my 40th birthday last November. I had a terrible experience at Cipriani, where they screwed up our reservation and several things went wrong, and the restaurant did nothing to help, address or apologize for what happened. The following month, we went to Christmas dinner at the Culver Hotel, where we were served a premium-priced dinner and beef Wellington that, quite frankly, looked like a Lean Cuisine. I posted about both experiences, and the videos went viral. What surprised me most was how many people related to what I was saying. I realized I wasn’t the only person frustrated by paying premium prices for dining experiences that didn’t live up to the hype. I had felt this way about restaurants in L.A. for years… I had just never talked about it publicly. Once I did, people listened. And that’s really how Scam or Slam was born.

FML: What makes a restaurant a genuine slam in your eyes? Is it the food, the experience, the price, or a combination of everything?

KRS: A SCAM, to me, is when the experience doesn’t match the expectation. It’s when a premium-priced restaurant charges me $120 for a tiny piece of fish that isn’t even fresh, the service doesn’t match the price point, or I’ve been told by every overhyped, paid influencer that something is “the best,” only to spend my own money, wait in line, and wonder what all the hype was about. That disconnect between what you’re being sold and what you actually receive—that’s where the feeling of being scammed comes in.

A SLAM is the exact opposite. It’s when the experience meets, or even exceeds the expectation. People go out to eat for more than just food. Sometimes we’re celebrating, sometimes we’re treating ourselves, and sometimes we just want to escape the world for a couple of hours. When the food, service, ambiance, and hospitality all come together and genuinely make you feel good, that’s a SLAM. I compare it to walking out of an incredible movie. You know that feeling when a movie stays with you, inspires you, or somehow leaves you feeling better than you did when you walked in? I think a great restaurant can do the same thing. Quality food with a price tag that makes sense, a staff that makes you feel like family, and an experience you’re still thinking about the next day.

To me, the best restaurants leave you better than they found you. That’s a SLAM.

FML: Los Angeles has a dining culture heavily influenced by social media. Do you think restaurants today are becoming more focused on creating viral moments than delivering a memorable meal?

KRS: Absolutely, and it’s incredibly frustrating. Social media has completely changed the food industry, and in many ways, I think we’ve created a culture where restaurants and chefs feel pressured to play the game just to get people through the door. Everything has become about what can go viral. Restaurants are paying influencers—who may not even genuinely love the food—to tell their audiences that everything is “the best.” Chefs are creating dishes based on how dramatic or aesthetically pleasing they’ll look on Instagram rather than simply focusing on whether they taste incredible. Somewhere along the way, we started prioritizing what photographs well over what actually tastes good.

And I don’t entirely blame the restaurants. Social media has become such a powerful marketing tool that many businesses probably feel like they have no choice but to participate. If the restaurant down the street has twenty influencers posting a viral dish and you don’t have that kind of exposure, how do you compete? What concerns me is what gets lost in the process: quality, authenticity, and hospitality. Restaurants are supposed to be about making people feel something, not just creating a photo opportunity. And meanwhile, there are incredible small businesses making amazing food that may never get the same attention simply because they can’t afford influencer marketing or manufacture a viral moment.

That’s the culture I’m tired of. I want us to get back to talking about food because it’s actually good, supporting businesses because they deserve it, and remembering that hospitality is about how you make people feel, not how something looks on a feed.

FML: Has there been a restaurant you’ve visited in 2025 or 2026 that completely surprised you, whether for better or worse?

KRS: The most surprising SCAM for me was Mr. Chow. I had heard so many amazing things about it over the years, and it’s such an iconic celebrity hot spot that I went in thinking, “It can’t possibly be that bad.” What shocked me most was the disconnect between the premium pricing and what I felt was the quality and portion size of the food. For a restaurant with that kind of reputation and price tag, I expected so much more.

On the flip side, one of my most pleasantly surprising SLAMS was the focaccia and cinnamon roll at Truman’s Bakery. It’s gluten-free… and I am not a gluten-free girl, so my expectations weren’t particularly high. I was completely wrong. They turned out to be two of the best focaccia and cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had, gluten-free or otherwise. Truman’s is now one of my favorite bakeries, and that’s exactly what I love about doing this: sometimes the places you least expect completely blow you away.

FML: You were born in Brooklyn and are now based in Los Angeles. How do the dining cultures of these two cities compare, and has your New York upbringing influenced your expectations of a good restaurant?

KRS: I grew up in a true melting pot of cultures, which meant growing up around incredible food from all over the world… the best Italian, Chinese, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Jewish delis…the list goes on. And, in my opinion, we have the best bagels and pizza in the world. Sorry, I don’t make the rules! Growing up in Brooklyn definitely set the bar very high for me when it comes to food.

After living in L.A. for 11 years, I’ve watched it become an incredible melting pot of cuisines too. The difference is, L.A. loves to make everything trendy, and usually more expensive. Sometimes they’ll take something that was already great in its simplicity and completely fuck it up in the name of giving it a “unique twist.”

Don’t tell me you have the best bagel in America and then charge me $18 for it because you covered it in edible flowers and fancy toppings. Especially when I can walk into a random spot in Brooklyn, get something ten times better for half the price, and nobody had to put a flower on it. I think growing up in Brooklyn taught me that great food doesn’t need a gimmick. Sometimes the simplest food, done really well, is the best food in the world.

FML: Youve spent two decades working across television as a writer, producer, and director. How has that experience influenced the way you approach storytelling through Scam or Slam?

KRS: I went to school for broadcast journalism and spent years producing, writing, and telling stories, so I understand what makes a story connect with people. I’ve also always believed that the uncomfortable conversations are often the ones that create the most meaningful change.

That’s why I love creating this content so much. It allows me to bring together so many parts of who I am, my love of cooking and food, my background in television and storytelling, and my willingness to say the things other people might be thinking but are afraid to say out loud. I don’t look at my videos as just restaurant reviews. Each one is its own little story, a page from my personal diary of food, dining, and the experiences and people I encounter along the way

FML: Beyond the reviews, youve developed a community of people who trust your perspective. At what point did you realize Scam or Slam had become something bigger than a restaurant review series?

KRS: A lot of influencers have “followers.” I feel like I have a tribe, a community, a loyal family that I’ve built one honest conversation at a time. I sometimes joke that I’m the Taylor Swift of food reviews because of how fiercely loyal the Swifties are. That’s my tribe. They go hard, they show up, and when they believe in a small business I highlight, I’ve seen them quite literally help change that business overnight.

I think real recognizes real. Like any relationship, trust is built through honesty and consistency, and I’ve never wanted my audience to question whether what I’m telling them is what I actually believe. In a strange way, I feel like I have a relationship with every person who follows me, because they’ve trusted me with their time, their money, and where they choose to eat. What’s been surreal is seeing that trust translate into real influence. I’ve watched my community change lives for small business owners, and I’ve earned a level of respect within the restaurant world that I’m still getting used to. When I walk into certain restaurants now, there’s definitely an awareness of who I am, and maybe even a little fear sometimes, LOL. There are moments when I still think, “Damn, people really care what I think.”

I don’t take that lightly. Having influence is one thing; having people genuinely trust you is something entirely different. That trust is probably the most valuable thing I’ve built.

FML: Your latest venture, Kerrys Table, has brought your community together through curated dining experiences. How did the concept come about, and what has its success meant to you personally?

KRS: Kerry’s Table really came from my followers constantly telling me, “I wish I could go out to dinner with you.” I started thinking, why can’t they? It also grew out of my own love of cooking, hosting, and bringing people together around food.

I wanted to create an experience where I could highlight small businesses and talented chefs who deserve more recognition, while also giving my community a safe, welcoming space to actually connect with one another. I feel like we’re slowly losing the art of the dinner party. So much of our connection now happens through social media and behind our phones, and yet there’s something irreplaceable about sitting around a table with people you may not know, sharing incredible food, having real conversations, laughing, and leaving with new relationships.

In a funny way, I built this community through a screen, and now Kerry’s Table is my way of taking everyone out from behind that screen and bringing us together in real life. I want to bring back that sense of genuine human connection… one dinner table at a time.

FML: What has been your most memorable moment from Kerry;s Table so far, and how do you envision expanding the experience in the future?

KRS: It’s really hard to choose one memorable moment because every part of Kerry’s Table is so special to me… from building relationships with the chefs to finally meeting this incredible community I’ve built online in person. But I think the most beautiful and unexpected thing to come out of Kerry’s Table has been the friendships. One woman traveled all the way from Canada for my very first dinner, and since then I’ve visited her in Vancouver and she’s become one of my closest friends. I’ve also watched complete strangers meet at my tables and form genuine friendships of their own. I love seeing people happy, and there’s something really special about looking around a room and realizing that people who may never have crossed paths are laughing, eating, connecting, and creating memories because of something I brought together. As I expand Kerry’s Table, I never want to lose that intimacy and sense of community. I’d love to bring the experience to other cities, collaborate with more incredible chefs and restaurants, and create different versions of Kerry’s Table… from larger signature dinners to smaller, more intimate experiences. At its core, I want it to always be about great food bringing people together.

FML: Fashion and food have more in common than people might think, particularly when it comes to presentation, craftsmanship, and experience. How would you describe your personal relationship with fashion?

KRS: I think fashion, just like food, is another form of storytelling and ultimately, it’s about making people feel something. When I’m cooking or hosting dinner for friends, family, or even just my partner, of course I want the food to taste incredible, but presentation matters to me too. I love creating a beautiful plate, incorporating color, fresh herbs, and little details that tell a story before you even take the first bite. Fashion feels very similar. What we put on our bodies can completely change how we feel and how we show up in the world. At the end of the day, whether I’m serving food or serving looks, I think it all comes down to the same thing: creativity, presentation, and creating an experience.

FML: For our FML cover story, we brought high fashion into the culinary world, taking you from the kitchen to the dining room. What was it like stepping into this interpretation of your world, and did you discover a different side of yourself during the shoot?

KRS: Fashion and food are both incredibly passionate, demanding worlds, so I absolutely loved seeing them collide for this shoot… especially getting to bring high fashion into the kitchens and spaces of some of my favorite small businesses. When I lived in New York and went to school and worked in Manhattan, I dressed to the nines every day. Hair, makeup, nails, the whole thing. I was basically living out my Carrie Bradshaw era. I loved being glamorous, and fashion was such a big part of how I expressed myself. These days in L.A., I practically live in activewear, so what I loved most about this shoot was that it brought back a version of myself I don’t get to see as often anymore. There was something really special about reconnecting with that glamorous, fashion-loving side of me while placing her inside this culinary world that I’m so passionate about today. It felt like bringing two different chapters of my life together… and realizing they actually belong in the same story, Mine.

FML: You wore Diana Couture, a close collaborator of FML, for Kerry’s Table #2. Tell us more about the look, the moment, and how it all came together?

KRS: This look was special to me in more ways than one because it was completely outside of my comfort zone. Funny enough, I don’t actually feel comfortable in a lot of dresses… my friends make fun of me for it all the time. I’m much more of a sets-and-pantsuits girl, and I’m a sucker for a great jumpsuit or onesie. I’ve always been insecure about my legs, which is one of the reasons I tend to stay away from dresses. But the moment I put on this Diana Couture dress, something felt different. It flattered my body, but more importantly, it felt like it matched my energy. The sheer detailing on the bottom showed just enough while still giving me the coverage I needed to feel confident. It pushed me outside of my comfort zone without making me feel like I wasn’t myself. And let me tell you, people at Kerry’s Table would not stop talking about that dress. It really became my Cinderella moment. It wasn’t a wedding dress, but I finally understood that feeling brides talk about when they put on the dress and just know. For that night, celebrating something I had created and was so proud of, it felt like the dress that was meant for me.

FML: Let;s talk personal style. Whether youre heading to a tasting menu, a neighborhood restaurant, or an evening out in LA, what does the quintessential Kerry Schwartz look like?

KRS: I swear I need to be sponsored by an activewear or luxury loungewear brand, because that is genuinely what I live in. I think what’s different about me from a lot of female creators is that I don’t feel the need to get dressed up every time I’m on camera. I repeat outfits. Sometimes I’m not wearing any makeup. My hair is usually in a simple slicked-back ponytail. And I actually think that’s part of what resonates with my audience… I’m just showing up as a normal human being. Sometimes I look back at a video and think, “Kerry, you could have put in a little more effort.” But let’s be honest, there’s nothing better than a great activewear set with a beautiful watch, cool sneakers, and an oversized button-down or blazer thrown over it. That’s probably the quintessential Kerry look.

At the same time, turning 40 has made me want to play with fashion again. My style is evolving, and I’m having fun figuring out what this next version of me looks like. I don’t really believe in dressing according to one specific aesthetic anymore. However I’m feeling that day is how I dress, and that feels the most like me.

FML: If you could host your ultimate dinner party, bringing together anyone from fashion, entertainment, and the culinary world, who would be at your table, and what would you serve?

KRS: I’m really old school, so before any celebrity names come to mind, my ultimate dinner table would have my grandmother, my grandfather, my father, and the loved ones I’ve lost sitting around it again. If I could have one wish, it would be to share one more meal with them. Food has always been so tied to family, memories, and connection for me, so that would make it the ultimate dinner party before anything else. Then I’d add a few people who would make the night incredibly entertaining. Gordon Ramsay, I’d want to hear every unfiltered thing he had to say about the food. Rihanna would be there because, well, she’s Rihanna. Adam Sandler is one of my favorite celebrities and humans, having him at my table would probably make my entire year. And for fashion, I know she’s not a designer, but Kendall Jenner has become such a presence in that world and on the runways. She also just seems like such a down-to-earth, beautiful person, she would always have a seat at my table.

As for the food, my table would be a little bit of everything because that’s how I love to eat. I’d definitely make a beef Wellington and my honey butter cornbread—which, I have to say, is pretty damn good. Then I’d bring in flavors from different cultures: beautiful Mediterranean dishes, Asian dumplings, Italian pasta, seafood, lots of SAWCE, and incredible bread. I wouldn’t care if any of it technically “went together.” If I love it, it belongs on the table. And for dessert, we’re absolutely having the Tom Cruise coconut cake.

FML: Your bestselling memoir, Series of Unfortunate Men, is currently in development for television. What has the process of adapting such a personal story for the screen been like?

KRS: The process has been liberating, exciting, surreal, and definitely disappointing at times, because let’s be honest, the entertainment industry is the worst! But I still have moments where I have to pinch myself. I essentially wrote a book that was my diary, filled with some of my deepest, darkest secrets and most vulnerable experiences, put it out into the world, and now there are people who believe in it enough to help me turn it into a television series. There’s something incredibly validating about taking experiences that were once painful, embarrassing, or difficult and transforming them into something creative that other people can see themselves in and hopefully laugh along with.

Of course, I would love to see the series make it all the way to the screen, but I’ve also learned not to let the outcome define the experience. Whatever happens—whether it gets picked up or not—I’m genuinely grateful that a story that once lived privately in my diary has taken me this far. That alone is pretty incredible.

FML: You;ve also founded the Womens Health Advocacy Group. What inspired you to establish the organization, and what conversations are you hoping to bring greater attention to?

KRS: The Women’s Health Advocacy Group is a perfect example of how something meaningful can come from a terrible, even traumatic, experience. I underwent a uterine biopsy with no sedation or pain medication, and very little empathy from the medical professionals in the room. I nearly blacked out from the pain, and it became one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. When I shared what happened on TikTok, I was stunned by the response. Hundreds of thousands of people saw the video, and women began sharing their own stories of undergoing painful gynecological procedures without adequate pain management or feeling like their pain wasn’t being taken seriously. That was the moment I knew I had to use my platform for something bigger than myself. I founded the Women’s Health Advocacy Group to advocate for more humane treatment of women during gynecological procedures and to bring greater attention to conversations around pain management, informed consent, sedation options, and simply listening to women when they say they are in pain. Some of the experiences women described to me sounded like something from another era, and yet they’re happening today. This has become one of the greatest passions of my life. Women should not have to prove how much pain they can endure in order to receive healthcare. We deserve better, and I want to be one of the voices helping demand that change.

FML: Your career has taken you through television, publishing, advocacy, and now food and entertainment. What has this latest chapter taught you about yourself, particularly when it comes to building something entirely your own?

KRS: To be honest, I’ve always been building something of my own. Since my late teens to early twenties, I’ve been starting businesses, creating brands, and finding ways to carve out my own path. The difference is that I’ve rebuilt myself over and over again along the way. I always say I feel like I’ve lived so many different lives, been so many different versions of myself. And every single one of those women worked her ass off. Every version kept going, even when things didn’t work out the way she thought they would. This chapter has reminded me that it doesn’t matter how old you are, where you are in life, or what has happened to you. None of those things define what you’re capable of becoming. In a lot of ways, this opportunity fell into my lap, and I truly believe that was God’s plan. It has taught me to trust Him, trust my instincts, and keep moving forward even when other people don’t understand or agree with me.

It’s no secret that I get a lot of criticism for being a woman with a strong, honest opinion. There will always be people who want you to soften your voice or change your narrative because it makes them uncomfortable. I refuse to do that. And if there’s one thing I hope other people take from my journey, it’s this: never change your voice simply because someone else disagrees with it. The funny thing is, food has always been a huge passion of mine. My partner, friends, and family had been telling me for years that I should review restaurants, and I always resisted because I didn’t want to become another voice in an already oversaturated space. Then this path opened up in such an organic way that I couldn’t ignore it. For the first time, instead of trying to figure out what my next chapter should be, I’m trusting that maybe I’m already exactly where I’m supposed to be.

FML: With Scam or Slam, Kerrys Table, and new creative collaborations continuing to evolve, whats next for Kerry Schwartz, and what are you most excited to share with your audience?

KRS: For me, what’s next is about taking everything I’ve built and making the world around it bigger. I want to continue Kerry’s Table and create different kinds of events that bring my community together while giving smaller businesses and chefs a platform. Helping small businesses has become such a huge part of my purpose, and I want that to remain at the heart of everything I do. I’m also really excited to take this community outside of L.A. I’ll be traveling to more cities, and eventually more countries, to review food and discover the people and stories behind it. I’m even starting to explore group food travel experiences where my audience can actually come along with me. The ultimate dream is to take what I’ve created and make it global.

At the same time, I’m partnering with Cat Cora to develop a docuseries, which feels like such a natural way to bring this new chapter back into my longtime love of television and storytelling. I’d also love to start sharing more of myself in the kitchen, my own recipes, the dishes I cook at home, and another side of my relationship with food that my audience hasn’t really seen yet. Ultimately, I don’t want to build just one show, event, or series. I want to build an entire world around food, storytelling, community, travel, and authenticity. I’ve spent my life reinventing myself, and this time, I feel like all of those different versions of me are finally coming together. I’m incredibly excited to see just how big we can make it.

Kerry Rose Schwartz may have built Scam or Slam by questioning what Los Angeles dining gets wrong, but her larger story is increasingly about what deserves to be celebrated. Behind the sharp reviews is someone deeply invested in the people who make restaurants worth returning to: the chefs in the kitchen, the servers who have spent years on the floor, the independent owners betting on their businesses, and the communities that keep coming back.

That may ultimately be the most compelling part of what Schwartz has built. Attention is easy to measure in views; impact is harder. It looks like a dining room filling up, a neighborhood restaurant finding a new audience, strangers becoming friends around a Kerry’s Table dinner, or a place that once offered her comfort now becoming part of the world she is building. Her relationships with restaurants such as CF Food Kitchen and Horseless Carriage at Galpin make that distinction clear. They are not simply recommendations. They are places with people, histories, and meaning attached to them.

And perhaps that is the real answer to Scam or Slam. For all the noise surrounding where Los Angeles tells us we should eat, Schwartz keeps returning to something far simpler: good food, genuine hospitality, fair value, and people who care. She has made a career out of saying exactly what she thinks, but her greatest influence may come from knowing when to turn that voice toward something worth championing. In a city built on hype, Kerry Rose Schwartz is making a case for substance.

Kerry’s #FMLFaves

Favorite Song: Golden by Kpop demon hunters and Bring it on home to me by Sam Cooke ( I love 50’s and 60’s music)
Favorite Movie: Dirty Dancing and Scar Face
Favorite Dish: Beef Wellington and a Bacon egg & Cheese on a Brooklyn Bagel.
What’s in your bag? TOO MUCH!  A hair brush, chapstick, Lipstick, my portable table tripod and mic in case I decide to do a review, I always bring a snack with me so I don’t get hangry, mints, and charger and my wallet

EIC: Gina Kim-Park ( @ginakpark )

Photographer: Reinhardt Kenneth ( @reinhardtkenneth )

Muse: Kerry Rose Schwartz ( @comfywithkerry )

Production: ARTCODED ( @art.coded )

Venue: CF Food Kitchen ( @cffoodkitchen ) & The Horseless Carriage ( @horselesscarriage )

Hair Stylist: Jael Serrano ( @serranostudiosla )

Makeup Artist: Suzie K ( @suziekbeauty )

Wardrobe Stylist: Casey Puhr ( @layzer_wolf )

Team Kerry: Mariana de Cordoba ( @marianadecordoba )

Lighting Director: Ralphy Valle ( @ralphyvalley )

Digitech: Suimay Lee ( @suimaylee )

Retouch: Valeria Mediana ( @medianaretouch )

Photographer’s Assistant : Jaime Ruiz ( @jaime_ruiz415 )