Pambazos and World Cup this Sunday(6/20): Angeli Caffe and Evan Kleiman to Host Fundraiser for Breed St. Alum, Nina's Food.

After the first annual Los Angeles Vendy Awards, Nina Garcia, a Breed St. alum, took the top honors for her Mexico City style pambazo. I ran into her the next day cruising Boyle Hts. and she was beaming ear to ear, and righfully so, after 20 years cooking on the streets of Boyle Heights, she was finally recognized for her cooking.

But, with success often has its challenges. The spotlight put on Nina brought an extraordinary amount of police pressure, to the point that Nina and her family couldn't do business at all without getting rousted.

Nina was one of the stars of Breed St., the street fair that first came to the attention of the non-Latino world right here on this blog post. I started Street Gourmet LA so that I could write about my find, Breed St., and share it with LA's non-Latino communities.At the time,back in 2007, all five of my readers were in the know!When Breed St. got shut down in 2009, Nina moved to Chicago St. near the corner of 4th, and then Breed St. just south of Cesar Chavez prior to the Vendys, where she currently is parked in a temporary truck. Oh, and for a minute she was on Soto, a hop-skip-jump from the Soto Metro stop.

Evan Kleiman contacted me and told me what had happened and decided that we should hold a fundraiser to get her into a truck, permanently. Nina is currently renting a truck so she can operate in the interim.

Evan offered up her restaurant, Angeli Caffe, to hold a fundraiser in cooperation with Erin Glenn of the Loncheros Association, and has taken it upon herself to go all out,buying the ingredients for the fundraiser and having someone install cable that day so we can watch World Cup! I have been shuttling back and forth to Boyle Heights acting as messenger/interpreter, so with our guerilla staff of three,Evan, Erin, and I, we are creating a microfund that we plan to continue as a way to support other street vendors in make the transition into fully legal operations, until such time as Los Angeles can come up with reasonable regulations that can make street food legal.

Come out this Sunday and celebrate Father's Day with Nina's pambazos(the Mexican spicy french dip sandwich), real Mexico City style quesadillas, and sopes(masa discs). Huitlacoche(corn smut),flor de calabaza(squash blossoms), hongos(mushrooms), chicharron prensado(pressed pork skin), and tinga(spicy beef). All items cost between $3.50 and $6.50, with all proceeds being held by the Loncheros Association in assisting Nina in obtaining a truck, and any left over funds will be saved for use by other street vendors in need of assistance.

Come join us at Angeli Caffe this Sunday, stop in and have a beer and watch World Cup with your dad. Have a pambazo, pick up some of Nina's salsa de semillas(salsa of nuts,seeds, and dried chiles to go, or simply drop off a donation on your way to dad's house.

WHEN: SUNDAY, JUNE 20 from 11am – 3pm – yes Father’s Day
WHERE: Angeli Caffe – 7274 Melrose Ave (at Poinsettia)
WHY: Made a difference and eat delicious food


If you can’t make it and want to make any size donation please make your check out to Nina Garcia and send it to:

Nina’s Food
c/o Carl Berquist
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles
2533 West 3rd Street, Suite 101 | Los Angeles, California 90057

Nina's fundraiser on Daily Dish



Look at this? Pick up some salsa de semillas(seeds) at Angeli Caffe this Sunday, to go.


Breed St. just south of the buzz of Cesar Chavez, where Nina tries a truck on for size.


Earlier in 2010, Nina grills up some Mexico City magic out on Chicago St.


Breed St. at the height of its glory, where there were upwards of 40 vendors. You could sample regional Mexican from Mexico City, Puebla, Michoacan, Jalisco, Guerrero, Sinaloa, and more. But Nina's was always on my list of Breed St. legends:Nina's, Antojitos Carmen, the pozole stand,and Alma's tacos of guisado stand.


On a Sunday night, Breed St. was the place to be, for those who missed out, I shed a tear for you. We listened to mariachis, laughed, mingled, and ate like kings.


Watching Nina's masa shapes man, Gil, churn out quesadillas, sopes, gorditas, and huaraches was a favorite pastime of mine.

See you this Sunday.

Grand Opening: Antojitos Carmen, a Piece of Breed St. Finds a Permanent Home in Boyle Heights

Back in 2007 I came across the gathering at Breed and Cesar Chavez that became a regular Los Angeles institution.Back then the vendors were about a dozen or so, lined up on either side of Breed St., just north of Cesar Chavez.

It would be a while before others would discover the magic of Breed St.,but all throughout the rising profile of this street fair I was a regular attendee on Sunday nights.

When Gloria Molina started her heinous crackdown on the trucks some of the vendors were chased away, and the remaining hold outs started to gather in the Bank of America parking, where many more vendors joined in due to the popularity of the street fair and the spaciousness of the parking lot.

Antojitos Carmen was one of the originals,though.The recent demise of the Breed St. Fair due to pressures from local restaurants ended an era.

But I say, be careful what you wish for.Any of you restauranteurs that might have made one of those phone calls to break up that rowdy street fair stealing all your business? Now you've done it. Antojitos Carmen is here to stay, better get your ass back in the test kitchen, compa!

On Sunday, January 10, 2010, I attended the opening of Antojitos Carmen's new restaurant, just down the street where they once battled it out with three dozen other stands.While others are still scrambling for places to sell their food, Antojitos Carmen has taken it to the next level.


The kitchen was well staffed that day, and hustling to keep up with the packed restaurant and the new challenges of a brick and mortar.


Carmen, who had become so well known amongst the Los Angeles food scene through blogs and local press was on fire. Cooking, directing, and squeezing in between family members in the narrow cook's corridor.


The small restaurant was packed on opening day as a steady stream of Carmen's well documented DF style "little whims", called antojitos, glided from kitchen to already worn earthy-red booths.


The familiar salsa of dried red chiles all to myself, part of me enjoyed the exclusivity, and the other part missed the hordes crowding around condiments, vying for the space to finish dressing their sopes or huaraches. "Permiso." "Pase"


Ah pozole, the benefit of stoves and counter space means that Antojitos Carmen has a few more items on their restaurant menu.


Flautas for the gentleman in the hat, gorditas for table number two.No numbers to call out and no cops to chase you away, just the nice officers sitting at table number three asking for that "flat thing with the green sauce."

The extended family of sopes is what Carmen is known for, though. Masa shapes:sopes, huaraches, gorditas,and quesadillas filled with home cooking fillings of huitlacoche, squash blossoms, tinga(spicy meat),picadillo,potato and chorizo,chicharron,carne desebrada(shredded meat), and mushrooms. Enchiladas,fried tacos, or dorados,round out a solid offering of supper time favorites.


There was a seamless rotation at the tortilla station, a serious task for an organization molded from a mound of masa.


Abraham, Carmen's son, carefully prepares to deliver a sope and a tostada, assisted by an intent East Los beauty. An OG picks up another order and grabs a bottle of Jarritos.


Menudo debuts at straight out of Carmen's home kitchen, along with seven different tortas,migas(egg, cheese, and tortilla bits),stewed chicharrones, ribs in salsa,barbacoa,eggs any way you like,


Two elderly gentlemen wearing their Sunday best, blast ballads on a karaoke machine, a little bit of Joan Sebastian for your tia(aunt), and some Don Chente los abuelitos(grandparents).


When I stopped by the other night, their new sign had just been installed and lit.Opening day has now passed, the cops can't bother you any more, you can all take a deep breath and sit back and enjoy this a bit.This was 20 years in the making!!And for me? It's a little strange adjusting to being able to sit down, but I'll manage.

Congratulations to Carmen, her family, and all their loyal customers, who will always be a part of Breed St. long after that day when the comals and fryers went dark.

Antojitos Carmen
8:30AM-10PM Mon-Thurs.,8:30AM-midnight Fri.-Sun.
2510 E. Cesar Chavez
Boyle Heights, CA
323-264-1451

Breed St. update!!

Cual es mas macho?The pambazo, rolls fried in a chile guajillo sauce and then stuffed with papa con chorizo!

I went by Breed St. tonight to check up on things and it is thriving and has some new stands.Nina's, the pozole lady, and la veracruzana are still dealing the serious eats.In case you hadn't read my report, an older post, I've edited it and added some new info in case you missed it.Check it out.

http://streetgourmetla.blogspot.com/2007/09/la-feria-de-big-buy-foods.html

Breed St.-The Mexican food street scene in Los Angeles

Quesadilla preparada of corn fungus

Nina and her crew taking orders

The pambazo with a salsa of seeds

cochinta, huevo con chorizo, and guisado de chicharron from la veracruzana

Nina(on the far right), and her family

In November of 2007 while wandering through Boyle Heights and East L.A, as I often do browsing the rich food scene for something new, I came across a scene straight out of Mexico.A street food scene just like the kinds that erect themselves all over Mexico in and outside "Ferias"(fairs)and the many "glorietas"(public squares) celebrating the heroes of Mexico.We have street food in L.A., but it usually consists of cloying tacos and uninspired bacon-wrapped hotdogs.No matter what city you find yourself throughout Mexico, the nights bring forth a panoply of lucious street foods.

Mexico has many regional foods available during the day, but at night along the "malecones"(seawalls), "plazas", streets,parks:tacos,sopes,huaraches,tortas,hot dogs wrapped in bacon, tortas, tacos al vapor, tacos dorados, carne asada(best in Sonora) , pozole, nopales, pollo asado,pambazos,members of the sopes family,vampiros, gringas,etc.I remember arriving late one night to Campeche asking around for mariscos only to strike out as all the stands were closed.That's right, certain foods like the seafood,barbacoa, and birria start at the crack of dawn and head home in the afternoon.The grill and comfort food "puestos"(stands) come out at night and fill the air with their smoky, mouthwatering scents wafting throughout the streets of Mexico.

When I arrived at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Breed where the Big Buy Foods market lies in Boyle Heights all my longings had been fulfilled. Nina's catering,located in the Bank of America parking lot , with their sopes, huaraches, gorditas, quesadillas preparadas, tostadas, flautas, and pambazos.Classic fillings cooked to perfection such as hongos(mushrooms), papa con chorizo(potato with chorizo), tinga, carne asada,flor de calabaza(squash blossoms),huitlacoche(corn fungus),and pollo.This stand has the best salsas on the street including a salsa de semillas consisting of pumpkin seeds, peanuts, sesame seeds,chile de arbol, and a little bit of peanut oil.Que rico!! With some free nopales and pickled red onions with habaneros on the side, Nina's can't be outdone.on the sidewalk opposite Nina's a quiet woman from Veracruz serves the kind of tacos you would find in homes in Mexico and from street vendors in Mexico City selling tacos de guisado(tacos of stews): cochinita, huevo con arroz(rice and hard boiled egg),bistec con papas(steak and potatoes), guisado de chicharrones(pork skin in a green sauce), or whatever she feels like bringing that day.She also has a tender cecina, but that rice with hard-boiled egg taco is a hug from grandma.

Next to la veracruzana under a blue umbrella as you head south on Breed St., is the delicious pozole stand, with the red and white varieties.They also serve up a formidable tostada of cueritos(pig skin).Pure heaven!!The chef assembles her pozole, the stock with hominy and chicken, then the meats-"que quieres de carne, mijo"(what meats do you want, son), oh, a little of everything please.Carnitas, cueritos,patas,etc.If you ordered white she executes the handoff,if you ordered the red she adds the red sauce flavored by mild and delectable California Chiles. Now, it's your turn! A little cabbage, lime, diced onion, crumbled chile de arbol, radishes, salsa and you are ready to go.This pozole may be the best in the city! Next a simple taco stand, an out of place pupusa vendor, some candies and botanas(snacks) along with the ubiquitous pirate DVD guys.The competing sopes and more stand to Nina's on the other side of the street flanked by a mariscos truck that packs up earlier than the rest.On a recent visit I had a caramel crepe from a newcomer to Breed St. and also a tamale vendor with pork, chicken and cheese tamales to go with a homemade champurrado.

Not far away near the churros heading north on Breed is a Hidalgo style barbacoa cart. These gentlemen pit roast the lamb in their backyards. The regular barbacoa is among the best you'll find here in LA. I would pass on the pancita, it's not easy to make this properly, and it's not their srongest skill.Have some lamb consome to dip your tacos of barbacoa, it's on the house.

You never know what you will find on Breed St, it's a living entity constantly moving and changing.I still keep hoping for that one lady to show up who was selling her original churros filled with flan.The crepe stand also does ricos hotcakes(street pancakes), another late night option you'll find in Mexico.Breed St. is a Los Angeles treasure, where the spirit of Mexico has found a place in our own backyard. The traditions of family and great food will fill you with comfort and indulgence.A great way to pass an evening in Los Angeles.

So, come on out to this "feria" in Boyle Heights, Thurdays through Sunday starting at 7PM and finishing up around 10 or so.You'll be glad you did.Provecho!!

Breed St.
located on Breed at Cesar Chavez in Boyle Heights, just two blocks east of La Parrilla.
7PM -10PM???
Thursday through Sunday