Q&A: LA Times CEO, publisher discusses the book club Reading Los Angeles

Austin Beutner grew up in a small town in the Midwest, where he said food trucks have yet to hit the culinary scene.

Unlike in his homeland, the food landscape of sunny Los Angeles has allowed food trucks to flourish due to the efforts of entrepreneurs like Kogi BBQ truck co-founder Roy Choi.

As the CEO and publisher of the Los Angeles Times, Beutner wants readers to engage in a conversation about Choi’s memoir and cookbook, “L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food,” which focuses on the author’s culinary exploration of Los Angeles neighborhoods.

The novel was selected by the Los Angeles Times for August’s Reading Los Angeles, the newspaper’s monthly book club. The Los Angeles Times will host a discussion Tuesday with Choi at Royce Hall, moderated by Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold.

Previously the First Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles, Beutner is an economist, civic leader, businessman and publisher, but also a self-described avid reader. The Daily Bruin’s Lindsay Weinberg spoke to Beutner about the upcoming book talk, Los Angeles’s food scene and the importance of reading today.

Daily Bruin: How did the idea for Reading Los Angeles come about?

Austin Beutner: I thought it was an opportunity for (the Los Angeles Times) to engage our most ardent readers around the idea of books. It’s not unique to us – politicians have done it, public figures have done it. I just thought that since we reach so many people throughout our community, that there might be a way to identify ideas and topics that ought to be discussed, and use a book as a frame in which to do it.

DB: Why did you want to be involved with the book club?

AB: I’ve always been an avid reader. My mom was a public school reading teacher and since I was pretty young, I’ve always enjoyed reading. For me, books sort of open your world to a whole new set of ideas. They become where you learn something, where you experience something you might not have otherwise experienced. You see life or the world through someone else’s lens … Anyone who’s an avid reader gets something out of the experience with a book that is above and beyond. The ability to share that with others and engage around that book or set of ideas helps better inform all of us.

DB: Why did you choose Choi’s novel for August?

AB: (The Los Angeles Times) tried to strike a balance. … We just thought for August this would be fun. Roy Choi’s story is a typical Angeleno story – a self-made entrepreneur. Los Angeles is, in so many respects, where America comes to see its future, including aspects of pop culture and food, and this is just one of those. Between Roy being Angeleno and Jonathan Gold, who is on our staff (and understands) food as it meets culture, we just thought it would be an interesting and fun experience to have in August.

DB: Why do you think this time period is so apt for new food visionaries and trends, like Choi’s food truck?

AB: I don’t know if it’s necessarily the time period, maybe people are more aware of (innovative foods). But in his day and age, Wolfgang Puck was doing in food what Roy’s doing with food trucks. So it’s a different way of expression. I think some of the things – social media – that now exist make it easier for those types of entrepreneurial activities to take place … I’ve seen it happen, as I said, from Wolfgang Puck to now Roy Choi and I’m sure 20 years from now, we’ll be talking about some new artist who expresses his or herself through food.

DB: How do you think modern students can be more engaged with books?

AB: We had a book club meeting to talk about the book “Cadillac Desert,” which is Marc Reisner’s epic on how water was brought to the south of California from the north. … (For the meeting) we met at the Hyperion Water Treatment Plant over on the ocean right near the airport. So people could take a tour, they actually learn something about water treatment and we could discuss water. So (instead of just reading) it was a full-on discussion about a topic that interests people of all ages in Los Angeles.

Compiled by Lindsay Weinberg, A&E senior staff.