Restaurants | Youth Radio

Posted by Javier Cabral on August 3, 2010 at 10:08am

I spent this last Sunday stuffing my face ever so splendidly in the taco motherland that is Tijuana. The trip was thanks to the efforts of fellow food blogger mentor Bill Esparza of Street Gourmet L.A. and CANIRAC (restaurant association of Mexico) and COTUCO (a tourism agency serving Baja). They organized an impromptu day trip to the 29th Annual Festival of Fish and Seafood. Lately, the news out of Mexico has been about drug-related violence. My friend Dave Lieberman, a writer for the O.C Weekly Food Blog, compiled some statistics that actually proved “you are more likely to be killed in Washington, D.C. than in Tijuana.” Plus, I have gone to Tijuana numerous times in this last year and I've always returned with a need to go back.

I tend to forget how just a two-hour drive from Los Angeles is all it takes to eat regional quality Mexican food. Mexican food for what it really is--beyond the inescapable Carne Asada L.A. taco truck trap, beyond gimmicky “fajita” platters and the status quo of “combination platters”. In Tijuana, you will find craft tacos. It should be known that Baja has shares a similar coastal climate to the Mediterranean. That means, you'll taste great local seafood and some great wine.

Places like Tacos Salseados is just what I am talking about. The tacos are a brilliant showcase of the current state of Tijuana tacos. The chef, Javier Campos Gutierrez, used to be a sauce cook and now applies those masterful techniques to salsas. At his place, tacos come with beautifully emulsified, creamy salsas. I'm still dreaming the flaky smoked trout taco topped with a smooth Tamarind salsa.

Cebicheria Erizo also is a must stop thanks to the creative vision of chef Javier Plascencia. The eatery has ceviches made from la variety of local callos de hacha (scallops) and of course fresh erizo (Uni). Think sashimi, doused with the staples of tomatillos, lime, garlic and cilantro. If that’s not enough, there is some addictive house made spicy Chipotle Aioli that’s available at every table. And they have crispy fried tortilla shells that support the richness of skillfully crafted raw seafood creations.

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Big Apple vs. City of Angels

Posted by Javier Cabral on March 15, 2010 at 11:45am

Big Apple vs. City of Angels

L.A vs. NY? Which city has better food? I dare you to bring that topic up to a born and bred East Coaster…you two will never hear the end of it! I recently came back from a weeklong “educational” trip in New York. The purpose: check out NYU. The reality: check out the food. It was my third trip to New York, but this time I had an appetite. After all, I’m now a food blogger. (Teenage Glutster)

Each coast has its strengths and weaknesses for sure. Take the vague label of “ethnic” cuisine. It is a term loosely used in the food-writing world to describe comprehensive regional food variations of countries. I mean, I have yet to see a New York native family-operated dive that offers Nayarit or Sinaloa style Pescado Zarandeado with the ultra-traditional bony Snook Fish like at Mariscos Chentes in Mar Vista does. New York does have Mexican cuisine. It is home to a copious amount of Poblano residents that--I’m sure—eat along finely in Mole houses that I have yet to try. But Los Angeles is my place for Mexican cuisine.

But, New York has its charm. I waited 21 years to taste my first Knish, a unique pastry of sorts that encapsulates perhaps a pound of mashed potato, made famous at the Lower Eastside Jewish eatery, Yonah Schimme’s Knish Bakery. I never ate Plantains in their unripe state like in the Spanish delight of fried Tostones. Not sweet and creamy like their ripe Mexican Platano Macho counterparts but instead like a dense potato, and when fried…like the most buttery of hash browns or tasty of Mojo’s.