MY DAY OFF

Selema Masekela’s Day Off in Venice is All About Surf, Food, and Community

The longtime Venice local co-founded America’s first African surf shop right on Abbot Kinney Boulevard.

By Danielle Dorsey and Selema Masekela

Published on 8/25/2022 at 12:00 PM

Selema Masekela at Flowerboy | Photo by Alicia Cho for Thrillist

Pro athlete and sports commentator Selema “Sal” Masekela has conquered waves from San Diego to South Africa. Earlier this year, he launched Mami Wata, America’s first African surf shop, on Los Angeles' iconic Abbot Kinney Boulevard. While his work frequently takes him around the world, Sal still prefers the mild swells at his local Venice Beach.

I grew up on the East Coast—New York and New England. San Diego is where, in my late teens, I became a surfer and all things of the surf, skate, and snow lifestyle. It’s where I started to build my life professionally as well. But when I came to LA for opportunities in TV, I knew I didn't want to live in Hollywood. I was looking for somewhere that resembles where I’m from, and Venice ended up being that place that had a nice intersection between skate and surf culture, as well as arts, music, and creatives. It was a little rough back then, not the safest place, but also the warmest place at the same time—it reminded me of my New York upbringing.

What I love about the surf scene in Venice is that you see Black and Brown people in the water. Not to mention that back in the day, Venice was traditionally where Black and Brown people lived in LA. I didn't have access to that in San Diego. I didn't grow up seeing people like me surfing at all. Moving to Venice, it was like I got to merge all of me for the first time. I didn't think that I'd ever have a place where all of me would be able to exist.

My father was exiled from South Africa for 30 years for fighting apartheid, and I didn’t get to visit for the first time until I was 19 years old. Even my first experiences surfing in South Africa were marred by apartheid. I found myself surfing on what had been a whites-only beach a few months prior, and it got to the point where the police literally tried to take me to jail one day. I was so excited to finally surf in South Africa and it really slapped me in the face as to where I came from.

"If you want the dopest candles or just really, really great art-inspired items for your home that are made by really cool artisans, the people there have curated the perfect vibe."

I got my first job at a surf shop in North County, San Diego, when I was 19 or 20 years old. It was a dream job for me, but it only lasted two months. My manager called me up and told me that the owners of the surf shop fired me because my Blackness did not fit the image or the definition of a surf shop. Working in the cool local surf shop was such a rite of passage in the community, and that experience really broke me at the time.

Flash forward to 2017, I was in South Africa when a friend told me about these guys in Cape Town who had a small surf shop. When I met them, I immediately fell in love with the idea of an international surf brand that came from a strictly African perspective, and not being limited to SoCal or Australia. I came on as a co-founder and we’ve been working really hard at it ever since. We released the book Afrosurf during lockdown. When the time came to open up a store, my partner Nick stayed with me in Venice and we both agreed that it was the perfect place to launch Mami Wata as America’s first African surf shop. We stick out in the best possible way.

Flower Boy is my local coffee shop and always my first stop of the day. It's on Lincoln Boulevard, but it's far more than a coffee shop—it's also a fantastic boutique. If you want the dopest candles or just really, really great art-inspired items for your home that are made by really cool artisans, the people there have curated the perfect vibe.

Clutch is a local barbecue spot on Lincoln that’s owned by a second- or third-generation dude from Venice. It's my favorite place to go get a rack of ribs, which they do on the grill or smoke. The pulled pork is incredible. They also have a killer taco Tuesday and the best breakfast tacos on the weekends. Regulars are everything from local Venice to biker gangs—it's a very interesting intersection. If you want to get away from the Gen Z new money on Rose and Abbot Kinney, and just want to be in the mix, Clutch is a great place.

Lasagna | Photo courtesy of Scopa Italian Roots

"It's a really special gym where it doesn't matter who or what your background is. As soon as you walk in there, everyone is at eye level."

Founded by my dear friend, Logan Gilbreich, DEUCE Gym is no doubt inspired by what Muscle Beach was in the '70s, with people training outside, but it's very much a functional fitness place. It's everything from CrossFit to gymnastics to something called "strongman." There's powerlifting, breath work, and ice and heat breath-work seminars. The gym has an organization called Deuce Community that I sit on the board of. We specifically work with the incarcerated to help get them back into society. In the evenings, these young men and women who are on their way out of the system can come and train at night for free and learn how to become fitness instructors. It's a really special gym where it doesn't matter who or what your background is. As soon as you walk in there, everyone is at eye level.

Chef Antonia Lofaso is a longtime friend I met at the gym and owner of Scopa Italian Roots. It's my favorite place for comfort food. In my opinion, she makes the best ribeye steak in LA—I'll fight people about it. She makes this dish called the ricotta crostini that will just make you cry. Every time I have it, it's like the first time.

Wallflower is on Rose, and it’s like a Southeast Asian fusion vibe with an incredible bar. They make everything from a traditional nasi goreng that you would get in Bali to duck lumpia, which has more of a Filipino influence, and it's fuego. It's funny—for some reason, no one went there before lockdown, and then after lockdown, it became the hippest place in LA. I was just so stoked that they survived and now they're thriving. They're really, really great people.

Selema Masekela | Photo by Alicia Cho for Thrillist

"Even in the summertime, once you get south of Venice Pier, you can find days where you're on the beach by yourself. That's where I like to go and chill."

Hatchet Hall is this old Americana spot, but it's everything I never knew about American food. It's a place that educates you on the history of American food. And they're dope. They have a speakeasy in the back and they put out really, really creative plates and dishes, but no foo-foo. A couple years ago, they did a celebration of the history of American food, but from the perspective of the Black chefs, sharing how they were really the originators of a lot of the culinary shit that we celebrate today but weren't allowed to come outside or take credit for their food. It's one of my favorite places.

South of Venice Pier is where you can find me in the water. I'm usually around a little sandbar on the border of the marina in Venice, at Driftwood Avenue. I like to surf with as few people as possible, so that's my little zone. The waves aren't as good, but when the waves are as bad as they are just generally in Venice, you want to find a little nook. Even in the summertime, once you get south of Venice Pier, you can find days where you're on the beach by yourself. That's where I like to go and chill.

I love that people don’t think of Venice as a California surf spot. The waves are not the best in Venice. You've got to work for it. There are very, very small windows of opportunity because of tide, swell direction, and wind. Here, I'm lucky if I can surf good waves once a week, but it’s just made my appreciation level and what it gives me so much more as a result. You’ve got to work for it as a surfer here.