“After September 6th, everything will make sense,” a friend told me. She’s referring to New Years Day of the Mayan calendar. It was supposed to be a comforting prediction, but I prodded her with questions. So, the Mayan calendar was developed thousands of years ago by a civilization known for their advanced math, writing and astronomy skills. They consider corn a gift from the gods and they nestle babies in between cobs for protection at night. In Chiapas, ghostly cobs bother travelers, urging them to plant corn instead of coffee. In this region, wasting food is an eternally damning sin, plaguing whole families when only one kernel is dropped and forgotten. The Mayan corn god has long silken hair, like the silks from the blessed stalks, and the “8th day” of the week is dedicated to him.

Alec Dempster; Maiz Moderno, 2006

The Mayan relationship to the earth is an attractive religious trend, and extremists are already selling stories to the media. Turns out, a lot of people believe that the Mayan Calendar predicts the end of the world to be in December of next year, 2012. But, according to this article:

“University of Florida anthropologist Susan Gillespie says the 2012 phenomenon comes from media and from other people making use of the Maya past to fulfill agendas that are really their own.”

Basically, the media made it up to further current political agendas. The Mayan calendar does not predict the end of the world at all. But! The Mayan New Year is definitely a time of rebirth, cosmically speaking. And this year, we felt it for sure.

More specifically, two of my closest friends (along with a bunch of other folks in the community) are going through totally epic, long term relationship break-ups. Nothing puts a band-aid on the situation better than mani-pedis and tequila! So, we swooped up my recently singled bestie and went to the East Bay’s favorite Mexican spot, Dona Thomas.

At first glance, this place is kick ass. The menu is killer. Its also entirely based on corn, and anything that has dairy in it is clearly stated in the descriptions. This is great because it means that my friend (who is deathly allergic to dairy) and I won’t have to ask a million questions about all the food. Also, I can eat all but two things they serve. Jackpot.

But as I ate, I realized that these folks are not nailing the basics at all! Housemade tortillas, not amazing. Refried black beans, ok. Guac, ok. Ceviche, ok. I mean, B-A-S-I-C-S. To me, if you chef a restaurant under the slow food umbrella in Oakland, your basics should be the best ever. I’ve had better refried beans at crappy taco stands. What happened here?!

So, we tried again a couple nights later at the Haight’s gem, Nopalito. Jesus, what a place. My bestie and I had yet another amazing not-having-to-ask-a-bunch-of-questions moment with the Nopalito menu. Jackpot, Part 2. Also, I was staring down the barrel of several high-end mezcals. Oh man.

I love mezcal. Its like drinking a tequila soaked leather boot, in a good way. It’s like chipotle pepper on acid and somehow contained in a glass. Its Mexico’s answer to a good whiskey. In fact, as food trends tend toward more soulful and heritage foods, mezcal might slip into the whisky spotlight for a bit.

We were corralled into this semi awkward area between the register and the really tiny dinning room for probably 45 minutes. But! Who cares when you are swigging Palomas (a fizzy, grapefruit and tequila cocktail that they make with mezcal) like it really is the end of the world. The bartender was total ham. He probably once had to display “flair” at work, but (as a former Starbucks-er) who am I to judge?

We sat down and promptly ordered almost everything on the menu. Our server said, “that’s a lot of food.” I know it is. I was hoping to have leftovers. Instead, I hurt myself eating it all. It was so good that I don’t even remember what I ordered. I had a gordita, with beef. Something with squash blossoms, and… I ate it all.

Gordita

They nail the basics. The house made tortillas are made from house made masa. That means, they start with an ear of corn. They cook it, dry it and grind it into flour. Then they make tortillas, chips, gorditas and everything else on the menu from something that grows out of the earth, not something that comes in a box or a bag.

Taquitos

I literally dream of eating at this place. And, even though I don’t want to admit it, my neighborhood slow food Mexican place is nothing in comparison to Nopalito.

Squid ceviche

Open kitchen

Salted rims

Taking names

The Mayan corn gods would be pleased.

I woke up thinking about breakfast. During my time in Italy ten years ago, I picked up the habit of not eating in the mornings at all–Italians tend to just have a cappuccino and cornetto (a little croissant-like pastry) for breakfast, opting to save space for a humongous lunch instead.

But I’m trying to fine-tune my routine here in Oakland now, and have started incorporating breakfast into my day. It must seem like such a given to you I’m sure, this notion of breakfast, but it’s hard to try to train yourself into eating first thing in the morning when you haven’t done so for a decade. I bought a quart of milk for the first time in forever this week, along with a box of cereal and bananas. We’ll start there. Baby steps.

It makes me sad though, because breakfast is actually one of my favorite meal of the day. I’m a morning person by nature, so I’ve gotta eat first thing, right? In my visit to Oaxaca last year, we made a point of eating a proper desayuno (breakfast) every day. We visited La Fonda Florecita, inside the Mercado de la Merced not once, but TWICE during my stay.

La Fonda is housed inside the market–a large cement building, with high ceilings and light peaking from above. Vendors wrap all around the windy building and outside too.

The menu for La Fonda spans across an entire wall. You know, so no one misses it.

Folks gather on large communal tables right outside the kitchen of La Fonda, which is basically just a little stand. Gentlemen in cowboy hats walk around with their guitars and serenade you throughout breakfast. It is such a joyous way to wake up!

Salsa de queso (Oaxacan cheese with black beans in a tomato broth):

Quesadilla de chorizo y flor de calabazas (chorizo + zucchini flower quesadilla):

Memelitas (Corn tortillas slathered with black beans and queso crumbles):

Chile rellenos, with chicken. This was absolutely delicious.

Chocolate de agua (Oaxacan hot chocolate with water–get the milk version instead!)

Pinapple juice. Fresh and cold.

The damage.

Here are some shots of the rest of the market:

Quesos Lupita, an Oaxacan cheese shop.

Lady wrapping the gargantuan pieces of wide stringy cheese into a ball.

Chiles.

Fresh eggs in a bag, and grains.

POLLO!

Butcher, overseen by Santa Maria de Guadalupe.

Fresh citrus.

Of course, I could not resist.

Oh, Oaxaca. The colors! The flavors! The energy! Such lust for life wouldn’t exist without a proper breakfast, right?

Sigh. I miss Oaxaca.

*La Merced Market is located on Insurgentes between Morelos and Murguía. It is also known as Mercado Democracia. (via Planeta dot com)

I am not talking about the big mole scene from Austin Powers. This is one of the most complicated food I have evermade. Why did I make mole?  Because my friend went to Mexico and brought back a bunch of dried chillies. When you have bag full of chili, you naturally make mole, right? I think I’ve had mole about three times in my life, so I have no idea how it should taste. Googled around for a bunch of recipes, and decided on one recipe, and mixing it with another.

So he gave me five different kinds, and I used three of them.

Pasilla.

Ancho.

Guajillo.

Here are the ingredients.

5 tomatillos
About 1/2 cup of sesame seeds
3/4 cup oil
chilies
8 garlic cloves
1 cup unskinned almonds
1 cup raisins
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cloves
1 plantain
bread (I didn’t have loaf home, so just bought a piece of bread from deli)
chocolate
3 quarts chicken broth
salt and sugar

1. Heat the oven to broiler. Quarter tomatillos, and lay on baking sheet. Broil for about five minutes or so.

Dump them in a bowl.

Toast sesame seeds, dump into bowl with tomatillos.

Open chilies, de-seed and lay flat on baking sheet.

Lower the oven temp to 400˚F, and put them in for about three minutes. The recipe said “Open you kitchen window and turn the vent on high”.  I didn’t know the relevance of this process, but shortly after I put it in the oven, I understood why. I started smelling the chili and a bit of a burning smell, so I opened the oven, and I got blinded by the smoke coming out of it. I mean, it was SMOKEY, and immediately the entire apartment was filled with thick smoke. I ran to the window, opened it, then grabbed a magazine and started fanning the shit out from underneath the smoke detector for about five minutes. Total disaster. I thought I burned the chilies. Priority right here was to get rid of the smoke from apartment, and after that was taken care of, I returned to the kitchen.

This looks kinda burned, but didn’t smell totally burned, and after all, majority of them were black from the beginning so it was hard to tell what the status was, but I went along with it. Soak the chilies in hot water (hot tap water is fine) to re-hydrate.

While chilies are taking a bath, heat oil in large pot, and fry almond and garlic, for about five minutes until garlic is soft. Put in a bowl. Then fry cubed plantain for about a minute, add to the bowl. Fry raisins for about 30 seconds. When they get really plump, add them to the bowl.

Add all spices (except for salt and sugar), chocolate and pretty well toasted bread (torn into small pieces) to the bowl. My friend brought Pierre Marcolini chocolate from Belgium, and I thought this would be a good way to use up leftover chocolate. Plus, it’s Tabasco Mexique flavor. I didn’t taste any tabasco, but sounds good to add into mole, right?

Add two cups of water to the bowl.

Now it’s time to go back to chilies. Once they re-hydrate, it’s time to blend them. Taste the soaking water, and if it’s not bitter (Yay, it wasn’t, that means I didn’t burn them), use the soaking water. But if it is bitter, use regular water. Put chilies in blender and add enough water (recipe said to use three cups of water, but the more water you use, it takes longer to simmer, so use your own judgment) and blend until smooth. Press through strainer (shouldn’t be too fine, otherwise it won’t press through).

So far so good.

Dump the chili sauce into the same pot you fried other ingredients (make sure the pot is smoking hot), and bring it to boil.  Simmer for about 30 minutes or so until it thickens. Stir often so that it doesn’t burn the bottom of the pot.

Meanwhile, blend the rest of the ingredients together. Depending on its thickness, you might need to add extra water (about 1/2 cup) to be able to run the blender. Try to blend this as smooth as possible. The smoother this is, the better and smoother texture of the final product.

After the chilies are reduced down, add above to the pot. Below picture reminds me of Slumdog Millionare. Quite shitty, literally.

From here on, you just keep simmering. I apparently didn’t blend the tomatillo/almond mixture smooth enough, so it was pretty rough, and in the middle of simmering, I used an immersion blender to make it smoother. Add salt and sugar (about 1/3 cup) to taste.

Here comes the difficulty. I had no idea if it tasted good. I didn’t have anything to compare this to other moles. It tasted fine, but what does great mole taste like? So I called my Mexican friend, and he came over for a taste test. Apparently it lacked chocolate, and wasn’t thick enough. Since it was too late to go buy chocolate, I called it a day and waited until next morning.

I added dark chocolate and cooked for about additional four hours. Still, without knowing if it was done, I got too tired of stirring, so I decided this is the end.

To serve it, I simply roasted pork tenderloin. As you can see in the pic above and below, the color is a lot darker at the end, and adding chocolate totally made sense. It added depth to the sauce. It was smokey, spicy, and sweet.

I made it for my friend’s 35th Birthday.

Mole takes too long to make. Unless I get another bags of chilies, I don’t think I will make this again. However, it tasted very good. I still have a jar full of it, and it makes very easy sorta-enchilada with store bought rotisserie chicken, which I made a couple of days ago.

Interesting experience, though.

These are probably the best Baja/Ensenada-style fish tacos I’ve had since the epic Fish Taco Crawl in San Diego last year (Umamiventure #21). The FISH TACOS neon sign just kept screaming out at me whenever I drove past this little joint, on a busy strip where Berkeley and Oakland meet.

I always order the fish tacos. Two if I’m ultra hungry. They’re pretty HUGE (they needn’t be, but I suppose it’s more bang for your buck, at about $3 a taco).

Two corn tortillas, filled with the requisite sliced cabbage, pico de gallo, cilantro and crema. What adds volume is that they add rice.

Fish taco in your face.

Fish taco in your face with flash and salsa verde.

I admit, the rice is unneccessary– it turns out that I’m a Baja fish taco purist! But they fry the fish to order and everything is super fresh thanks to the mamas behind the counter who lovingly watch over and assemble their babies. They’ve got specials on the menu everyday for $5, and all sorts of other housemade dishes like mole y enchiladas.

Their shrimp tacos are amazing too– again, the shrimp are grilled to order! But I think the fish tacos, as the neon sign testifies, is the true belle of the ball.

Also, don’t forget to get a fresh horchata or agua fresca. And a Corona. On second thought, why not all three?

Met up with fellow Umamimartians last week at The Trappist, a Belgian beer bar in “Old” Oakland, downtown. I made SF folks come out to the East Bay– and they actually did! On a school night! Such trickery.

The thing is, The Trappist is so much more than just a specialty beer bar. Oh, so much more. The kitchen serves up some dishes that really need to be taken seriously in the Bay Area food community. I had heard about their Taco Tuesdays from @serooo, who had Twittered the cute little piggy flyer. Belgian beer carnitas, could it be true???

The Trappist has nearly 30 beers on tap (Belgian, European, local microbreweries), and another 100 in bottles. If that ain’t the ultimate beer bar, well, you’re trippin’.  Among all 15 of us throughout the evening, I’m sure we ordered one of each from the tap. There’s the front bar, the Main Pub, with bar seating, which houses about half the beers listed on tap.

The rest of the beers are in the Back Bar, which is essentially the bigger back room. The beer menu is divided up between Front and Back Bar.

Yup, I ordered about four out of 12 on the list (my memory is a bit fuzzy, you’ll have to excuse me). All served in the correct glass, at the designated temperature. The Allegash Curieux was my favorite– probably because it’s aged in Jim Beam barrels for eight months. They had just run out of Green Flash Le Freak which totally bummed me out!

Ok, on to the carnitas. The Tamarindo (and newer taqueria La Calle) restaurant folks from next door set up shop in the back outdoor area of The Trappist to serve these tacos starting at 5pm. The actual carnitas are also prepared in the Tamarindo kitchen.

These tacos are delicious. Carnitas on soft corn tortillas, doused in house-made salsa verde with a squeeze of lime. Perfection. The carnitas are flavorful, with a hint of sweetness, not dried out, yet not overly fatty.

I was lucky enough to get an email this morning from Aaron Porter, co-owner of The Trappist, explaining the preparation of the carnitas:

The carnitas are basically a confit. The pork is cooked in its own fat and then beer (St. Bernardus Abt 12) is added along with some spices (orange, etc.). It’s left to cook for several hours like this. Everything else you see on the food menu at Trappist is made and prepared by the Trappist.

This is CRAZY!!!  Pork, slow-cooked in St. Bernardus?? INSANITY! Not only is this over-the-top luxurious, but it is basically GENIUS.

Packaging for Abt 12.

They stop serving the tacos around 8pm, or whenever they run out, so be sure to get there on the early side. Yoko sadly missed them.

Other awesomeness coming out of the kitchen: the housemade sausage sandwich.

This sausage was so taut and perfectly (er, fallically) shaped, that talking about the Great Weiner was quite possibly the highlight of the night. It’s seriously so beautiful though, so light in color!

Here’s how big the sausage is, to get a sense of proportion.

Served on a crisp roll with sauteed onions and housemade mustard. OUT OF CONTROL. The sausage is very crumbly once you bite into it, and just sort of falls apart in your mouth. It’s so ridiculously good.

JADE
To add to the (much anticipated) documentation and commentary on the sausage sandwich, one of the true highlights for me was getting my “pork and beer pairing” knowledge on. The gentile bartender at the back bar let me sample three beers, explaining that sausage generally pairs well with sweeter, maltier beers. It was great to try all three samples side-by-side–easier for my untrained taste buds to make a clear distinction. I chose the St. Feuillien Triple. More aromatic and fruity than sweet, the taste was impressive alone, but even better when paired with the equally impressive(-looking) sausage.

YOKO
Quite possibly one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had, the Trappist’s Salmon Sandwich was a perfect mash-up of salmon, chèvre, arugula and crispy baguette. I really don’t like beer, and I was really sad to show up too late for the tacos, but this situation allowed me to fully savor this sandwich. And for $10, the sandwich was very reasonably priced.

MICHELLE
I thought the tacos were great and the prosciutto and fig panini was excellent (well-balanced combination of salty and sweet flavors, good bread).

YOKO
I will definitely be going back to the Trappist for their awesome Harry Potter-esque interior and this amazing salmon sandwich.  I love the Trappist even though I don’t love beer.

Thanks to everyone for coming out! A special shout out to Gail, Travis’ mama, who came out for this– and who even bought Travis a beer. How awesome is that? Our very first Umamiventure UMAMIMAMA!

And of course, thanks to The Trappist for their impressive selection of beers, fantastic eats, and knowledgeable, helpful staff. We truly had a great time! We’ll be back for sure.

Next Umamiventure will be a beer tour through Sonoma County, hosted by UM’s very own beer guru, CJ. Stay tuned!

All photos by Travis LoDolce and myself.

*Umamiventures are organized monthly, traveling far and wide to find awesome, cheap grub off the beaten path.

Past Umamiventures include:
1.) Ocean Jewel Restaurant – Flushing, NYC; June 2007
2.) Red Hook Ball Fields - NYC; June 2007
3.) Taste of Jackson Heights – NYC; October, 2007
4.) Sripraphai Restaurant – Woodside, NYC; November 2007
5.) WINTERMARKET – South St. Seaport; December 2007
6.) Jackson Diner- Jackson Heights, NYC; January 2008
7.) Pacificana – Sunset Park, NYC; February 2008
8.) Puerto Alegre – The Mission, SF; March 2008
9.) Dinosaur BBQ – Harlem, NYC; April 2008
10.) Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden – Astoria, NYC; May 2008
11.) Brooklyn Banh Mi Crawl – Sunset Park, NYC; August 2008
12.) Sheapshead Bay Lobster Crawl – NYC; September 2008
13.) Flushing Food Circuit – NYC; October 2008
14.) Strong Beer Month – SF; March 2009
15.) Loisaida Throwback Crawl – NYC; April 2009
16.) Harley Farms Goat Dairy – Pescadero, CA; June 2009
17.) Tomales Bay Oyster Farm – Marshall, CA; August 2009
18.) Din Tai Fung – LA; September 2009
19.) Din Tai Fung – Tokyo; September 2009
20.) Schroeder’s Oktoberfest – SF; October 2009
21.) Fish Taco Crawl – San Diego; November 2009
22.) St. George Spirits & Hangar One Vodka -  Alameda; January 2010
22.5) Everett & Jones – OAK; January 2010
23.) Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse – NYC; February 2010
24.) Guerilla Ramen Night – SF; April 2010
25.) Knife Sharpening Workshop at Hida Tool & Hardware – Berkeley, May 2010
26.) San Pedro Fish Market - LA, June 2010
26.5.) Candytown – LA, June 2010

Sorry, these posts on Chicago are totally lagging. I’ll crank these last four out this week, I PROMISE! These will be la creme de la creme of what Matt and I ate during our trip.

We went to Rick Bayless‘ well regarded nouveau Mexican joint, Frontera Grill on our first night in town. I practically had to sacrifice my left pinky to get a reservation. Confession: I actually made us fly into town one night before we planned, just so we can have dinner here (it was the only available reservation for that weekend). I know, I am manic and totally OCD. I can’t help it! I had heard that the Obamas eat at Topolobampo all the time, which is the more fancypants side of the restaurant. I wanted to experience a meal where the Prez is a regular, I guess. What a sucker!

Topolo (“as the locals call it”) and Frontera are connected together inside so it’s a bit confusing. But Frontera is really festive and colorful, while Topolo is dimly-lit and seemed more self-consciously serious. Dark lighting seems to go hand-in-hand with expensive tasting menus– I’ll never understand why people insist on eating in the dark. It’s so effing weird!

We started with margheritas while we waited for our table. There was a dude at the bar in this cherry red cowboy getup that was just incredible. Matt took the picture of him up top. Brilliant.

Left: Mezcal Margarita- Del Maguey Single Village artisanal mescal (Oaxaca), 10-year-old Gran Torres brandy, Peychaud bitters and limonada. Right: Topolo Margarita- Sauza Conmemorativo tequila, Gran Torres liqueur and housemade limonada.

Maybe the best (and priciest) margaritas ever? I’m really getting into Mezcal these days, I love the smokiness, so that pink marg was awesome! Paystyle, please explore the world of mezcal.

It was a warm, balmy evening and so we asked to sit outside. They actually accommodated us! How nice.

COLD APPS

We started with some oysters. Duh. Matt finally eats raw oysters, YAYYYY! Matt, I haven’t been this proud of you since you started liking moutarde. I take full credit for both.

These here are Kumamotos, Fanny Bays and another kind that I forget. All from the Northwest, which are my favorite region for ostiones. Came accompanied with a tomatillo-habanero mioneta, and the chipotle-garlic salsa.

Hawaiian yellowfin tuna cocktail with chunky avocado-tomatillo guacamole and tangy mango-grapefruit salsa.

This was delicious, the tuna so fresh! Reminded me of Hawaiian poke. Loved the grapefruit.

HOT APPS

Sopes Rancheros: Crispy corn masa boats with savory shredded beef, roasted tomatoes, avocado and homemade fresh cheese.

I think this was my favorite dish out of everything we ordered. The spicy beef on the corn-mealy edible mini-bowls were just awesome.

Cazuela of duck carnitas, lentils, pineapple, slab bacon, ancho chile sauce; crispy onions.

This was too salty; I couldn’t really discern any of the flavors. Loved thees crispy onions though.

ENTREES

Grilled shrimp with Spence Farm first-of-season green garlic mojo de ajo. I got this cause I smelled the sweet garlic aroma wafting from the table next to us and simply HAD TO EAT IT. Matt doesn’t eat shrimp (sad) so we couldn’t share. Too bad for him!

It was too salty though. But that green garlic sauce was KILLER.

Matt’s pork dish.

Too salty!

As I age, I’m noticing that my palette is becoming increasingly sensitive to salt and high dosages of MSG. Eventually I’m not going to be able to eat out altogether. That will be a sad, sad day.

I’m glad we ate here– it was a good time! The bill was also totally tolerable, I think it was around $80 a person, including more margs and wine. That’s actually a great deal considering they use premium, farm fresh ingredients and we ordered so much food! Plus the Obamas eat here, which is pretty neat. I’d definitely come back for the oysters and the drinks, and would try different entrees. Bayless changes the menu every season anyway.

I hear the brunch here is awesome– but ya’ll know how I feel about brunch.

FRONTERA GRILL
445 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL
T: 312.661.1434

Top photo by Matt K.

I finally ate my first torta two weeks ago – on Superbowl Sunday. My friend Kishi, who lives in San Francisco, took me to Tortas Los Picudos on 24th Street between Alabama and Harrison.

I guess it took me this long to actually try a torta because of my intense love for burritos. If both a torta and a burrito are available on a menu, I always choose a burrito. But this time, the restaurant actually had the name “Torta” in it, so I thought it would be an insult to the establishment to order anything else (although the tacos at $1.50 were tempting).

All tortas were in the $6 to $7 range and are collasal at about 8-10″ lengthwise.

When my husband’s Wet Torta arrived, it really hit me that we weren’t in Japan anymore. This giant boat of a torta was drowning in a thick red sauce – it was seriously monotone and huge. It was the antithesis of anything served in Japanese cuisine. The sauce made the sandwich bread grow in size like those french pop-up sponges (available at Williams-Sonoma). If there was a contest for “Dish with the least care put into aesthetics,” this wet torta would win.

But as soon as I took a peek inside the torta, my mouth started to water. Huge chunks of fresh scooped avocados atop pulled pork made up for its outer-ugliness. And the relatively mild insides were a perfect compliment for the spicy red sauce. This red sauce was not ashamed to be spicy, which is exactly the way I think a spicy sauce should be. It was present during the bite and a few moments after, but didn’t linger persistently. It was just the right amount of kick for a crisp, cool San Francisco Sunday. I had a few bites of this torta while I waited for my Turkey Torta.

I probably shouldn’t have ordered the turkey torta, but being away from America so long, I find myself opting for the following things every chance I get 1) turkey, 2) cheese, 3) mexican food and 4) cereal. This sandwich covered three of those four items so it was kind of a no-brainer. I am not complaining about what I got, but it just didn’t taste very Mexican. I found myself squirting gobs of hot sauce over the sandwich, but turkey and green salsa didn’t seem to be the best combo.

The bread was excellent and I was satisfied that I got to taste the sauce-saturated and dry version. The turkey was not worth elaborating on. I guess I would just prefer to eat a turkey sandwich, American style.

The next time (and I am confident there will be a next time) I think I will order a different torta off the menu. I am sucker for fish and their Pescado Torta would probably be my first choice next time.

I didn’t think my husband would finish his whole torta, but I guess it was too delicious for left-overs. I ate half of my sandwich and had the other half for lunch the next day, which made it a fantastic deal at $6.50.

TORTAS LOS PICUDOS
2969 24th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
TEL: 415.824.4199

The day after the epic Fish Taco Crawl, Nate asked me, “Do you want to get lunch at one of the best Mexican joints in San Diego?”

Uhhhh… I was still stuffed to the chin from the holy trinity of fried fish, cabbage, and tortillas, and had absolutely no plans to consume a bite of anything that day. Really.

But then he began his soliloquy on Las Cuatro Milpas. The housemade tortillas! It’s been around since 1933! When they run out of tortillas they shut down for the day!

Are you kidding me?? SOLD! You wouldn’t say no to this, no matter how much you ate the day before, would you? Besides, when in SD, you gotta get your Mexican food on. It’s a must.

I already preempted this post with Patty’s Fruitland, which was just around the corner from Las Cuatro Milpas, aka “Best Mexican Food in SD.” Nate suggested we get there on the early side cause of “the line.” How bad could it be, right?

WRONG. There was already a crazy long line when we got there at 11:30am. It wasn’t even properly lunchtime! But they close at 3pm, which would explain the lunch frenzy. We literally waited about 30 minutes to get to the register.

El menu.

Expert Milpas ladies making lunch.

Gigantic fryer brimming with scorching, bubbling, sparkling oil. OHHHYAHHH.

When I told @mmmyoso I would be going to Cuatro Milpas, he told me make sure I “bring my lipitor.” HA! Not bad advice.

Sean was the most restrained, and just ordered the rice, beans with the flour tortillas. So healthy and gorgeous, don’t you think? Love that hotsauce.

Nate’s lunch of chicken tacos and a burrito.

Look at all the queso fresco! It’s snowing in tacoland!

Seriously, no joke, one of the best burritos I’ve ever had. There were boiled potatoes inside which really made it superawesome.

Here’s my lunch of “roll tacos”, tamale, “chorizo con huevos” and their famous tortillas. YES! As usual, I ordered the entire menu, practically. All this was less than $10 though! But I am well aware that that is no excuse for my gluttony. I just can’t help myself– it’s a disease.

Ok so when I first ordered the “chorizo and eggs” I definitely was not expecting this. I even had to ask the lady behind the counter for it, as if to remind her, and she pointed at my tray and said, “It’s right there.”

Ohhhhh, so the eggs and chorizo are inside the beans, I get it now!!! SO EFFING GOOD!!! The bits of scrambled egg are like little nuggets of gold.

Bite of the pork tamale. The cornmeal was so soft, covering a generous helping of shredded carnitas– this was delicious and so comforting.

The “rolll tacos” were essentially what we would call taquitos. The perfect finger food.

Housemade hotsauce. So necessary.

The Tortilla. Seriously gorgeous– looks like the moon, right?? I loved the charred bits and the random little holes peaking through.

TortillaFactory.

Petra and Nati, founders of Las Cuatro Milpas. They would be proud.

LAS CUATRO MILPAS
1857 Logan Avenue
San Diego, CA
T: 619.234.4460

Years ago, Kristi took me to Juanita’s for a burrito and to this very day, I still fantasize about it. So of course it was the first place I asked her to take me as soon as I landed in San Diego. They put fries in the burrito!!! Reason #1 to move to SoCal.

You could imagine my indecision.

The California Burrito has landed. No-frills white paper plate. Look at this tortilla! So soft, dotted with wart-like crevices and freckles. Like the surface of the moon.

BURRITOPORN WARNING (proceed with caution).
Carnitas, cheese, cilantro, sour cream. Do you see the fries??? This will definitely be at my Last Supper.

Love me a good horchata.

T2 arcade game! No commentary necessary.

JUANITA’S TACO SHOP
290 S Coast Hwy 101
Encinitas, CA
T: 760.943.9612

*Kayoko lives in Cupertino, CA. She is still recovering from all the meat and tortillas she consumed over the weekend.

We went out to Pescadero this weekend to visit Harley Goat Farms for our Umamiventure, which was awesome- but more on that later. After the farms, Thien and I went through Pescadero- he had heard of some tacos inside a gas station that he heard were awesome. You’ll see the gas station off the main road- not a taqueria in sight, right? Walk inside and think again!

Their menu consisted of all the usuals: tacos, burritos, quesadillas. But they had all these specials too.

The kitchen.

Requisite chips and salsa bar.

We got four tacos: choriza, carne asada, carnitas and LENGUA! (Beef tongue).

It’s kinda creepy looking up close like this but this was delicious. The tongue was cut up into cubes (I had never had them like this before) and was super soft and mouth-melty.

Mercado & Taqueria de Amigos
1999 Pescadero Creek Rd
Pescadero, CA 94060
T: 650.879.0232