Category Archives: Los Angeles

A Few Favorite Tacos from Taqueando, and where to find them

I mostly avoid food festivals these days (long lines, hungry people, ugh) but a festival called Taqueando? Of course I was there. The all-you-can-eat taco festival featuring chefs and taqueros mostly from Southern California and Mexico is Bill Esparza’s reincarnation of Tacolandia, the former LA Weekly-sponsored festival (now independently funded because LA Weekly is owned by conservative a-holes). Despite my food festival kvetching, this festival illustrated perfectly why these types of events can be so important to cities. Especially in LA, where it’s a challenge to get from one end of town to the other, Taqueando was an opportunity to taste food from all over the city. Eaters got to try tacos they may have been lusting after in their IG feeds, and they got to try tacos from places they probably haven’t heard of. And while I think folks were excited to sample from places just over the border like La Guerrerense, Corazon de Tierra, and Tras Horizonte, I’d bet it was also an educational experience for people who haven’t traveled south yet. The vendors seemed genuinely happy to be there too.

Also, the festival was nicely managed, with the lines not too long and lots of aguas and mineral water to wash down the masa and meat. Not to be like “I’m an event producer so I know things,” but I am an event producer and I noticed that clearly the tickets were capped out of consideration for the guests and the vendors— they could have sold way more tickets. Don’t miss it next year if you like tacos (and if not, why are the heck are you here?)

A few of my favorite bites from stands in the area that you might not know about:

Poncho’s Tlayudas

A classic Oaxacan snack, tlayudas are thin and crispy tortillas that typically host asiento (lard) beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato and meat on top like a pizza, or folded and crisped up on a grill or comal. Not all tlayudas are created equally though, sometimes they are too dry, or overly loaded with one ingredient (like so cheesy you can’t untangle your mouth from the quesillo). I’ve been meaning to get to Poncho’s stand on Friday nights where they offer homemade moronga (blood sausage) and heirloom corn tlayudas from Oaxaca. It did not disappoint, with a healthy amount of juicy cabbage and salsa to balance the smokey masa and richness of the moronga served on the side. Next to the stand, Odilia, Poncho’s partner hosted a booth for Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales, a community-based org and coalition of indigenous organizations, communities, and individuals settled in Oaxaca and California. She gave me a cookbook by indigenous Oaxacan women living in LA, so I walked away extra juiced from these two stands.

Dos Tierras

I was delighted to see this crew from San Diego, who I had the pleasure of collaborating with for my event Mexico in a Bottle in Barrio Logan. There’s a lot that’s cool about them. Their dope logo is a start, but also they serve vegan, vegetarian and meat tacos. Often I find with vegan food that the positioning is anti-meat versus pro-veggie— and you can taste it in the boring soyrizo tacos. I’d always rather have an original like their enoki adovation: enoki mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli marinated in pineapple vinegar and guajillo chiles. BBQ flavors mingled with a layer of beans, topped with tangy curtido and a pleasant habanero beat salsa, plus cotija and fried onions for a little crunch. Their slightly thicker handmade tortillas are great too. Check them out at pop-ups in southern california.

La Huesuda Tacos

Slow braised pork ribs in grilled guajillo and BBQ sauce with chile de arbol pepper aioli and pineapple won me over here. Apparently I’m diggin interesting takes on BBQ flavors these days. Check them out as they pop-up around town.

Some of my other favorites from places that have more fama:

La Embajada

I know cauliflower has long been the new kale, but it was struttin yesterday with a number from Guerrilla Tacos and a fish taco riff from this restaurant in Monterrey, Mx. The battered and golden cauliflower was crispy and airy, cut by a burnt salsa macha with pickled onions.

Corazon De Tierra

Chef Diego Hernández represented his beautiful restaurant in Valle de Guadalupe with a striped bass taco from Todos Santos.

Breddos

I didn’t spot too many insects at the festival, but this London-based restaurant made up for it with a fat and crunchy chicatana on top of a cured rockfish and nectarine tostada.

Broken Spanish

Pork prensado with hibiscus pickled onions— as vibrant as it looked.

Sonoratown (pictured at top)

I had about 15 tacos by this point, but who can turn down a freshly made flour tortilla, the smell of mesquite, or a luscious guacamole splat? Not I.

Chichen Itza

Yucatan represented by none other than the poc chuc taco with two types of habanero salsa to sample. I have been missing Yucatan but a trip here might help with that.

Three Bowls of Soup in LA

Trump is President, it’s cold for us California babies, and everyone I know is sick. We need soup, y’all. Here are three places to get a bowl of soup in the Culver City/Palms area in LA.

Sunny Blue

sunny blue culver city
For a quick healthy-ish snack in the neighborhood Sunny Blue is my go-to. The staple here is the omusubi, rice balls with different fillings wrapped in nori. Balls run $3 to $4, are made to order and can be made with over ten different fillings, plus specials. I like the spicy salmon (cured salmon and spices), eggplant chilli miso, and the shiso ume (japanese pickled plum with shiso leaves). This is a quirky place (their homepage greets visitors with “This Little Place Has Balls”), but the food is interesting and consistent, which makes it all the more lovable. The menu depicts omusubsi as cartoon rice balls with eyes and personalities, while the rest of the whimsical orange chalkboard menu can be overwhelming. Apart from omusubsi, the menu is full of inexpensive sides: noodles, fresh salads, pickled veggies, kimchi and— one I couldn’t stop eating other day— fried burdock roots.

The pork curry udon comes in a small bowl for $5, less weighty than a typical bowl of udon, and more like what I would imagine is a quick street food meal on some corner of the earth. The curry flavors are bright, the broth glimmers with golden spices and fat, and the pork piles like a little tower of bacon on top of bouncy udon noodles. Don’t miss the outside seating and complimentary cold barley tea.

Phorage

phorageLA
This casual spot in Palms offers mostly standard pho joint fare with a twist: produce is sourced locally and proteins are sustainable. The chef here worked at the Slanted Door, so not surprisingly the food is solid. We had the pho with Washugyu beef brisket and the eggplant claypot, a bowl of peppery, caramelized eggplant and onions over broken rice. A big communal table is the focal point of the restaurant, with friendly hanging plants everywhere. There are rice plates, vermicelli, banh mi, and rolls. I hear the oxtail pho is the way to go. Prices run a little more than average pho (which makes perfect sense considering the ingredients).

Ramen Yamadaya

This ramen chain advertises its tonkotsu broth as being cooked for 20 hours, and after tasting it I would believe it. A ten hour boil extracts all the good stuff from the bones, resulting in a milky, thick broth that is as mouth to brain tingling as a bite of pork belly. There are several types of ramen here, most building off the basic pork broth base and adding spice, black garlic oil, soy, or super sized toppings including a thick, dangerous-looking slab of the tender kakuni pork belly. And while the broth is boiled forever, the chashu is not, retaining flavor and texture. The thin little egg noodles, bamboo, and half an egg are fine supporting actors. The broth here is the star.