Oaxaca

Petty Cash Taqueria Opens Tonight

There was a lot of speculation about what would become of the space formerly known as Playa on Beverly Boulevard when the restaurant closed earlier in March. About a week and a half ago, restaurant partners Bill Chait and chef Walter Manzke -- with assists from food blogger Bill Esparza and chef Gui ... More >>

Trader Joe's Mexican Chocolate How to Make Mexican Hot Chocolate

Trader Joe's is known for traveling the globe to find a wide and ever-changing variety of foods. They recently went next door to bring back Organic Stone-Ground Mexican-Style Dark Chocolate, which has the shape, taste and paper packaging of traditional south-of-the-border chocolates. There are two ... More >>

Cooking With Farmers: Clarita Coleman's Scarlet Runner Beans

When fantastic farmers -- and cooks -- like Clarita Coleman matter-of-factly say things like, "I don't write anything down," you stop to jot that recipe down. If there even is a recipe. With Coleman, you're likely to get a basic cooking outline. But really, with beans this fresh, that's all you need ... More >>

Gish Bac Gets Oaxacan Food Just Right

Maria Ramos and David Padilla's Mid-City restaurant nails the details -- and the goat

3 Best All-Around Summer Barbecue Books

Looking for a terrific barbecue book? In theory, not a problem, as barbecue books are a summer staple in the publishing industry. No matter how many recipes for grilled chicken you may have seen, tried and tasted over your cookbook years, you can bet there will be a new summer barbecue book touting ... More >>

Culver City Restaurants Serve Free Spiked Lemonade: Happy Summer Designated Engineers

Next Wednesday, June 20, Culver City restaurants will be celebrating the official start of the summer season and the opening of the Culver City station on the Metro's Expo Line by putting a little something-something in their fresh-squeezed lemonades.

L.A.'s Idea of Mexican Food vs. What Mexicans Really Eat

In this episode of Squid Ink's Venn Food Diagrams, we study Mexican food. Why? Well, because deep down, every single person in this city has a soft spot for the stuff. Whether it be Americanized or not, fajitas or tacos de guisado -- a taco is the archetypal Angeleno meal. In this city, a taco is ea ... More >>

Intelligentsia's Slow Bar or: An Experiment in Coffee and Customer Service

T. NguyenAn affogato at Intelligentsia's slow bar.​ Google allows its engineers to devote 20% of their full-time jobs to "work on what they're really passionate about." Similarly, Harvard & Stone has a "R&D bar" for visiting mixologists to beta test drinks. The closest thing to a coffee shop ... More >>

Bricia Lopez: Mezcal & Mole

Kevin ScanlonBricia Lopez​Bricia Lopez was 17 the first time she was fired -- by her father. She had stayed out late partying and, afraid to come home, crashed at a girlfriend's house. His wrath was swift. Though the family restaurant business had always been her safety net, she got a job as ... More >>

Bricia Lopez: Mezcal & Mole

Bricia Lopez: Mezcal & Mole

Dan "The Imbiber" Dunn's Living Loaded 2 Cocktail Recipes

Crown Publishing GroupDan Dunn's Living Loaded: Tales of Sex, Salvation and the Pursuit of the Never-Ending Happy Hour​Playboy's nightlife and liquor columnist Dan "The Imbiber" Dunn's new book, Living Loaded: Tales of Sex, Salvation and the Pursuit of the Never-Ending Happy Hour, isn't just ... More >>

Top Ten 2010 Cookbook And Drink Pairings: The AA Edition

J. GarbeeCook's Illustrated's Meticulous Instructions Require A Lot Of Caffeine​Still pretending you are sticking to your New Year's resolutions? Fine, just please don't tell us you gave up Nutella. To tide you over, we bring you the AA, or in polite company if you will, the "Get Up" Early Sho ... More >>

Champurrado and Champurradas: Have Them Both on Three Kings Day

Barbara Hansencup of champurrado with a champurrada​ The drink of the day tomorrow, this Thursday, January 6th, will be champurrado, the Mexican corn masa beverage flavored with chocolate. It's what traditionally goes with the rosca de reyes, a ring-shaped sweet bread baked for El Día de lo ... More >>

Top 5 Uncommon Places to Buy Cookbooks, Etc. For Your Food Lover Friends

D. GonzalezThe new table of cookbooks... at Cookbook​ Food lovers are often maligned as being picky. And yes, there are those who would rather drive the extra 35 miles to The Donut Man than go to the Winchell's down the street. But now that it's the season of giving, we would like to point ... More >>

Sneak Peek: La Monarca in Santa Monica

Guzzle & Nosh​ The bakery named after the butterfly is about take flight -- all the way from Huntington Park to Santa Monica. As soon as La Monarca receives final approval from the city and passes the last health department inspection -- a week or two, maybe three -- the popular Mexican baker ... More >>

West L.A. Guelaguetza to Reopen as Mitla

e*starLASome of the moles that have made Guelaguetza famous.​More big news from the Lopez family. As this Friday's opening of the second Pal Cabron location wasn't keeping them busy enough, they will reopen the long-closed Guelaguetza location in Palms as Mitla, a more upscale Oaxacan restaura ... More >>

Now Open: Cafecito Orgánico on Heliotrope

J. Ritz​ Cafecito Orgánico isn't the kind of business to grow with a wow-look-how-big-we're-getting type of plan. Instead its latest expansion feels, well, organic. It's been about eight months since Mitch Hale and Angel Orozco's mobile farmers' market coffee stand and roaster set up its firs ... More >>

Tacos Leo: Authentic Al Pastor Comes to Venice and La Brea

N. GalutenTacos al pastor from Tacos Leo​ UPDATE: We spoke yesterday with the Bureau of Specialized Surveillance and Enforcement, who confirmed that Tacos Leo was cited on Friday night, and that the trompo was confiscated, as it was not classified as "commercial equipment." When asked for the ... More >>

September Chile Roasts at the Santa Monica Farmers Market

Bill JohnsonMarket managers Ted Galvan and Laura Avery roasting peppers​It's the season of chile roasts, even if you don't live in New Mexico, and if you didn't make it to any of the Hatch chile roasts at Bristol Farms, you can head on over to the Santa Monica farmers market, where they're hav ... More >>

Squid Ink Drink Fight: Oaxacan Hot Chocolate Con Leche

For such a tiny, bitter thing, cocoa has done remarkably well. It has been cultivated in the Americas for thousands of years, and today exists, in some form, on just about every dessert menu in the Western world. Dating back to its earliest history, chocolate was consumed as a beverage, developing d ... More >>

Beware the Dangerous Cemita

It might just bite back — in a good way

Best of the Oaxacans: A Mole Here, a Mole there ...

Ask Mr. Gold: A Mole Here, A Mole There

Photo credit: Anne FishbeinMr. Gold, with dim sum menu​Dear Mr. Gold: I have friends coming from NYC and they've been asking about Oaxacan food. Oaxacan food? I'd like to find a great place, and what I mean by great is very good food and not a truck. --Sherry, Manhattan Beach Dear Sherry: ... More >>

Mexican Pride and the Reconquista

End of Week Bits n' Bites: Fuego in Long Beach, Hungry Cat Crabs, Smokin' Joint BBQ, Essex Happy Hour

Fuego at the Hotel Maya brings a coastal oriented, pan-Latin menu and a non-chain option to the Long Beach waterfront. The restaurant, bar and lounge incorporates an indoor/outdoor flow, faces expansive views of the port and beyond, and shows off a mixture of polychromatic materials and textures des ... More >>

Lila Downs Cancels Santa Monica Pier Show

Elena Pardo​Oaxaca singer Lila Downs has canceled her Thursday night performance at Santa Monica Pier. In her place will be the Lowrider Band. Last week we profiled Downs, and were greatly looking forward to her show. Here's the announcement: August 23rd, 2009 It is with much regret that we ... More >>

Movie Reviews: Casi Divas, Post Grad, Shorts

Also, Earth Days, Gotta Dance and more

GO LA: Dead Poets, Dead Writers and Denis Leary

Plus lots more to mourn and celebrate in town (not necessarily in that order), April 3-9

She Sat Wrapped: The Yarn- and Felt-Covered Chairs of Tanya Aguiñiga

Rocks and logs as seating too

The 10 Best Dishes of 2008

Hot dogs and hominy, blowfish and a fine cup of joe

¡Ask a Mexican! Recipe From the Melting Pot

Who came up with Tex-Mex or New Mexican food names?

Relatives in the Mirror

Unearthing la raza’s Third Root

Where to Eat Now

Where To Eat Now

Where To Eat Now

Where To Eat Now

Get Your Goat

The Simulated Republic

Alleged electoral fraud, the recount and a hail storm

Where to Eat Now

Sunset Rising

With a handful of splashy new shops, Sunset Boulevard is becoming a red-hot furniture spot

Film Reviews

Jonathan Gold’s 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants

From A.O.C. to Zankou

Cagey Cretins

Tyranny, mutation and Blue Öyster Cult

Slow Food

In search of a good stew

Marine Land

Finally a great fish taco in Los Angeles

Good, Better, Wurst

You never sausage a thing in your life . . .

Hot Sauce

Oaxacan mole in a Westside mini-mall