A summary of latin food from the first half of this year and stories from my hazy memory.
Technically end of last year was when I drove down to San Jose to meet Jose for mole at LUNA Mexican Kitchen. It's always hard for me to resist mole on the menu because it's pretty firmly in that category of will not make at home though I occasionally have ambitions to spend a whole day making my own paste. If I'm being honest with myself, unless we go into another lockdown, it probably won't happen.
I would never under any circumstances drive all the way down to SJ just to have dinner, but I had perfectly lined up some South Bay plans that were all either cancelled or misunderstood, and I'm glad I ended up catching Jose before I went home for three weeks for the holidays. And I'm glad I came home with mole leftovers.
Second annual roadtrip up to DC to see Alicia over the holidays included a bonus reunion with Donka and GareBear. We met up in Georgetown for lunch where I navigated us to a vegetarian taqueria that I was intrigued by - Chaia. I got a flight of three tacos - braised mushies (feta, salsa roja, cilantro), cumin-roasted cauliflower (queso fresco, arugula pepita salsa), and creamy kale & potato (poblano crema, salsa verde, pickled onion). And I was not disappointed. Ever since that broccoli taco at Tacos Oscar that outshone the meat ones, I've felt my mind crack open with a new appreciation for vegetables. And this is coming from someone who has always loooooooooved vegetables. Honorable mention goes to the potato taco but maybe it had an unfair advantage with that poblano crema.
We putzed around for the rest of the day until making our way north for dinner, stopping by Tequila & Mezcal for a quick drink on the way. I mean... this place was called Tequila and Mezcal - how could I not? Do I remember what I got? No. Do I always like my mezcal drinks? Yeah pretty much.
We sat bundled outside in the cold talking about D&G's crazy NYT crossword streak and doing the day's spelling bee.
I almost never go on last minute dates. Especially not recently because I prioritize free time for myself, my friends, or my travels. One slow Sunday evening, I was like eh why the fuck not? I had no food at home - let's turn it into an excuse to try a new place. I went up to El Patio for the mezcal selection :) and ended up getting yuca fries and a pabellon arepa. I still prefer my yuca fries as thicc boys but the extra surface area of crunch on these guys was worth getting it again.
Did I eat this gracefully? I'm sure I did not. Do I care? No. Take me or leave me in all my food-dripping-from-my-mouth glory. Also not a single one of my tees is without a sauce stain.
I had a decent tub of hatch chili jam leftover from Friendsgiving that I repurposed into a glaze for roasted Brussels. Usually my staple veg of choice (that or cabbage) because it lasts so long. Threw in some leftover Beyond crumbles that I found in the freezer stash as well.
Valentine's day was on a Monday this year. My yearly ambition to force my gal pals to do Galentine's with me turned into a Super Bowl watch party (which is fine because the half time show!!!), but I unintentionally got Matthew to third wheel me and Christy on love day at Capullo Cocina Mexicana. It was either newly opened or was on Christy's list, and my favorite things about the place were that they apparently have bottomless margs on Tuesdays (ugh just missed) and that the shrimp diablo dish had a disclaimer in red next to it: (no returns). Literal el oh el. We had to ask - does this mean... people try to... return this dish??? Yes, the waitress informs us, she always warns the demographic of Walnut Creek that the camarones a la diabla are spicy spicy like actually spicy, and apparently no one listens.
We went with the tostaditas de langosta to start, and I really debated between the mole negro and duck carnitas chile relleno for my main.
Ended up going with the mole because my rationale was that I could eat duck anywhere but I couldn't get mole anywhere. Pretty sure I enjoyed it. I don't know that I've had a mole I don't enjoy. I think the chicken leg could've been more fall-off-the-boney. The egg was a nice touch.
Speaking of duck, I found this incredible burrito filled with rice beans, pico, salsa roja, cheese, crema, and roast duck at the food stand at Anchor Brewing. Holy fucking shit it was amazing. There's even a layer of duck skin lining the inside of the tortilla like a fur lined coat where only I get to experience the joy and comfort. It was so juicy and oily, and I managed to resist eating the whole thing before walking over to a date where I didn't want to be stuck in a food coma with the intense smell of duck fat oozing from all my pores. It was worth it because I can say, it was just as good cold the next day.
This was also from sometime last year, closer to when I first started at my current job and had the will to explore the Pleasanton restaurant scene while I was out there. On occasion I do still think about this oxtail steam with dumplings and butterbeans from Oyo.
Also from last year when Steph was back in the Bay and preggers with Juni *sobbing emoji*, this enchilada de huevo y tomate from Popoca blew my mind because the tomatoes were SO FRESH 'n SO BRIGHT. I believe the pupusa was a mushroom one. There's so much to like about corn and masa and I'm wildly easy to please when it comes to masa and corn things. One of the friends who's Salvadoran was more critical than I could be, but I also don't make my own pupusas.
Mishy doesn't like beans - how can this be(an)?? She recently reminded me of such but I'm sure I learned this when we went to Otra for dinner one of the times before I had to hop on a redeye to Boston.
The vibes at this place were immaculate. The deep navy color theme, the junglesque mural, the wall of calaveras. And even she can't deny the frijoles were damn good. Creamy black beans, epazote, queso fresco, peanut salsa macha goodness with the thic kind of tortilla chips that I love.
Perfect pre-plane snacky meals were beef tacos of slow cooked carne, guajillo chile, toasted garlic, avocado, onion, cilantro and cod tostadas of refried black beans, cabbage, fresnos, tomatillo salsa, morita chile. I like the cod more, I think I remember the beef being a tad dry, but the atmosphere was worth returning for the mushroom tacos next time.
Erin and I drove down to SJ with the intent to hike with Jose, but I got hungry and needed coffee. While looking for a cafe, I got an empanada place with skittish empanadas apparently.
And for a rando find (that was well reviewed on Google at least), the beef empanada was really yummy!
There was a weekend of bad news bears just after I recovered from covid. Jen and I caught up at Aloha Club over margarita salads. And I was very much excited that La Grana Fish is the associated food truck to this patio bar because a birria taco was just what I didn't know I needed. Plus a cabeza plus an adobada. Very mmm very just what I needed. Comfort food during a weekend of sad news across the spectrum of possible sad news.
But the seed of mole was planted, and there was nothing to do but... drive up to the El Cerrito location. I got the Mama Elena, Jennie got the mole poblano, and David got the Mama Luisa. Or some permutation of that. I only remember that I liked them all - again, I am not picky with mole. Perhaps what I need to do is a focused mole tasting platter. Was halfway through eating my shrimp enchiladas before I remembered to take a picture for the mems.
On mom's birthday this year, I treated myself (with a giftcard from Alicia) to a hefty dinner for one at Comal Next Door. One fish taco, a chile relleno plate, and a prickly pear cocktail while I wrote a letter to her - something I haven't really done since middle school (aside from the "assignment" from my therapist to do so). I like this spot. And also the cashier was super cute.
Then I picked up this orange wine for the label, of course, and also because the guy described it as kind of smokey. It fit the evenings theme. I even just noticed the price happened to be 36, which has inadvertently become a significant number for me. And then I irresponsibly drank 2/3 of the bottle on a Wednesday night.
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