Ali El Safy, the owner of Bistro Vida in downtown Menlo Park, finds joy even on his drive to work. He describes the trees following the recent flooding as the happiest he's ever seen them, and says he hopes people will look at the world with a more positive eye.

Nearly three years into the pandemic, El Safy said he wants to give back to the community that supported his business during the COVID-19 lockdowns. To do so, El Safy, in collaboration with other local restaurants, held a holiday concert event on Dec. 17.

The event featured performances from the La Entrada and Menlo-Atherton High school bands, face painting, Santa Claus and free food provided by many local restaurants on Santa Cruz Avenue, including Bistro Vida.

"We wanted to thank the community for being supportive of all our businesses during the pandemic," El Safy said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bistro Vida managed to avoid laying off a single one of its 25 employees, in part thanks to donations from the community. El Safy says that he wants to help build a community, bridging the gaps he sees between people. The holiday concert, for example, presented an opportunity to connect residents to public safety personnel, as many police officers and fire officials attended.

"It's just the nature of human beings. We all start to complain about a lot of things but we don't see the goodness in things ourselves," El Safy said. "The event was more of (a) thank you ... whatever you do, you do it with good intention and good heart."

El Safy says he wants people to look at the world with more hope and less pessimism, pointing to the recent rainfall as an example. People are upset about the flooding and inclement weather, but it's helpful to natural surroundings and a necessity in California.

"We're human, we rebound back and we learn and we move on," El Safy said. "Of course there is damage. Of course, there was some stuff, but everything is replaceable, except the human being."

El Safy promises that the holiday concert won't be his last effort to bring the community together, and that he aims to hold more events when the weather begins to improve in the spring.