Sedlar, Salgado, and Ruiz Serve up Modern Mexican at Los Angeles Magazine's Social Hour on 3/19

If you haven't heard, chefs Eduardo Ruiz(Corazon y Miel) and Carlos Salgado(Taco Maria) are a pretty big deal--no, you didn't hear? Well, then be sure to pick up the March issue of Los Angeles Magazine where L.A.'s best and most trustworthy critic, Patrick Kuh, talks about the quiet revolution happening at these two restaurants. Not to mention, you can read about my first Road Trip for the travel section in which I write about one of my recent Baja adventures.

The two young, trendsetting chefs will join chef John Sedlar tomorrow night (3/19), who was the first Latino chef in the U.S. to blaze these trails over 30 years ago at St. Estephe, and then did a historic repeat by opening the only Modern Latin cuisine restaurant--Rivera--in the U.S.

This story is just beginning, about Modern Mexican in the U.S. led by Mexican-American chefs--all three grew up with the matriarchal cooking of their grandmothers, mothers, aunts, and cousins and have absorbed a lifetime of flavors, techniques, and cultural cues filtered through the practice of cooking in the best kitchens in the world.

You are invited to taste the future of Modern Mexican in the U.S. tomorrow night(3/19) at Rivera in 3 courses with Los Angeles Magazine Dine editor Lesley Barger Suter and I for only $40.00--it's a steal--exclusively for our Social Hour series. Viva la revolucion!

Modern Mexican Cuisine @ Rivera with chefs John Sedlar, Eduardo Ruiz, and Carlos Salgado
Wednesday, March 19 @ 7PM, $40 a person
Rivera, 1050 S Flower St #102, Downtown Los Angeles, call (213) 749-1460 for reservations

Chef John Sedlar's Rivera and Playa Have a Secret...Menu-PST's Art as an Appetizer Available Feb. 7-March 31

'47 Chevy in Wilmington, CA by Oscar Castillo

Chef John Sedlar knows how to throw a party. I attended a preview for the Pacific Standard Time Art as an Appetizer secret menu at both Playa and Rivera restaurants. Influential bartender Julian Cox shook our drinks into splashes of Endless Summer; mezcal baron Ron Cooper himself poured his brand of lusty nectar from the gods; and famous artists and their admirers took in a late lunch with foodists and twitterati.

The menu is a collaboration of Chef John Sedlar(Rivera, Playa), Del Maguey's Ron Cooper, and mixologist Julian Cox. An inspired menu to provoke an interest in Pacific Standard Time's Performance and Public Art Festival.

Only those in the know--that means you--will have a go at this quite reasonable tasting at $37 for 3-course meal. Ask for the Pacific Standard Time menu and dine over works of art hand selected by Chef Sedlar, who will open his own Museum Tamal this year.


Ball Drop – Single village mezcal, london dry gin, freshlime yuzu tincture, cayenne. Inspired by Ron Cooperʼs 1969 piece “Ball Drop” featured at the Collection of the University Art Museum Art Video Archive at Cal State Long Beach University.



ʻ47 Chevy in Wilmington, CA – Micro climate mezcal, agave nectar, st. vincent orgeat, passion fruit, fresh lemon, lavender air. Inspired by Oscar Castilloʼs 1972 piece “47 Chevy in Wilmington, CA” featured in the Icons of the Invisible: Oscar Castillo at the Fowler Museum, UCLA.

This drink is an inspired margarita, an East-side sipper to chill out the homies como puro relax.


Course 1-Crudo Assortment: A crudo assortment of fresh and smoked seafood with kumquats, fresno chiles, lime, red seaweed, copita of Del Maguey's Chichicapa mezcal. Inspired by Beatrice Woodʼs “Fish Platter” featured in the Beatrice Wood: Career Woman-Drawings, Paintings, Vessels, and Objects exhibition at the Santa Monica Museum of Art.


2nd Course-Los Angeles county Museum of Art on Fire: Fire – grilled breast of chicken with cobb salad quemado, goat cheese, incendiary salsa. Inspired by Ed Ruschaʼs 1965-1968 “Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Fire” featured in the Crosscurrents in LA Painting and Sculpture 1950-1970 exhibition at The Getty Center.

Outstanding chicken dishes are coming out of Sedlar's kitchens these days and this is no exception. It's Burnin' Down the House good.


Course 3- Beach Trash Burning: Sorbet splashes of roasted pineapple mescal, poblano chile lime, hibiscus pomegranate. Inspired by Carlos Almarazʼs 1982 “Beach Trash Burning” in the Mapping Another LA: Chicano Art Movement exhibition at the Fowler Museum, UCLA.

Challenging flavors of heat and liquor in lightly sweet desserts are signature Rivera and Playa flavors.


The Latin-American kitchen has a long tradition of beautiful, thought provoking plates and dishes to present cuisine. Let the PST menu tempt you through the senses to seek out the Los Angeles artists and their works created during the years 1945-1980.

The PST menu is available during dinner only and is listed at $37 for three courses, although each course is available
individually as well.

Playa Restaurant
7360 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-933-5300

Rivera Restaurant
1050 South Flower Street Los Angeles, CA 90015-5100
213-749-1460

WHEN: February 7, 2012 – March 31, 2012

2011 in Street Food, Friends, Revolutions, Hotels, and Melancholy Sips:Thanks for the Wake-Up Call

Chefs John Sedlar(Rivera, Playa) Javier Plascencia(Mision 19), Pablo Salas(Amaranta), Joseph Panarello(chef d'cuisine-Rivera), Angel Vazquez(Calzada Zavaleta), Kevin Luzande(chef d'cuisine-Playa), and Cristian Bravo(Hacienda Temozon, Hombres en La Cocina) for the first Baja Culinary Fest back in October of 2011.

Oh, yes! What were the best bites of the year, the best dishes, the most enviable reservations and restaurant brands accessed?

Let 2011 be the year we thought more about where we were and who we dined with--well at least that was the case for me--than all the other trappings of the food obsessed lifestyle. And the future holds more of the same. I resolved to accomplish this at the end of last year and it has made my life all the merrier.

The year began with a revolutionary tasting with mi compa Chuy Tovar and my girls at Boobs 4 Food in tow, at the newly opened Mision 19.SGLA would be the first to introduce chef Javier Plascencia's Tijuana masterpiece to what was still a hesitant US media(although Tijuana has been a model of order in the last couple of years travel fears are still stoked by US media about the cartels), yet the wave of press picked up this last year in the wake created by our 2009 FAM that first told the world about a greater scope of Baja cuisine from the streets to its finest dining rooms. This year Baja was featured on Rick Baylesses Mexico: One Plate at a Time, and Tijuana and Plasencia's Mision 19 picked up coverage from no less than the New York Times and the New York Post among others; as well as some pieces that should surface early in 2012.

My unending explorations of Baja have truly enriched my life with people, laughter, and memories that continue to lead me places I'd never expected. We are inextricably linked: Baja and I.

I first got to know chef John Sedlar in Tijuana, wandering the streets looking for inspiration amid sips of mezcal wine. This year I attended an unforgettable event as Sedlar brought back the trendsetting St. Estephe menu for a month at Rivera. It was such a fine evening, exciting and delicious. These were the moments in 2011 where the meals were seasoned with the finest ingredients:friendship, love, bouncing bodies full of giggles,toasts, and romance.

Meals at Mison 19 and the St. Estephe menu at Rivera made the year such a thrill. I also had an unbelievable dinner at the house of the Tamale's Elena family for a birthday party: buttery pozole made from the stock of a whole hog's head, and some of the best moles I've had in and out of Mexico. You never know where your next life changing meal will happen. This was in a backyard in Watts.



Viviana Ley and Chef Marcela Valladolid at the Baja Culinary Fest

I appeared on chef Marcela Valladolid's Mexican Made Easy, and, how much do I love Chela? Adore. Another one of my 7 degrees of Tijuana separation--Marcela is from Tijuana and I look forward to watching her continued triumphs on MME in 2012.

I also got to work with KCAL 9's Suzanne Marques for Dine on a Dime, and made another soul connection with this beautiful Latina that is now such a big part of my life. On a lovely night out with Suzanne and her friend Christine Kirk, I found a pair of angels. The connections we make while dining out can set your table for life. Pretty girls: this is why I blog. Yes, ironic, I know.

For all these extraordinary meals there were stimulating people across the table, behind the stove, manning the POS, and at my sides. Thanks to Chela Valladolid,Chuy Tovar Javier Plascencia, John Sedlar, Patricia Quintana, Evan Kleiman, Josh Lurie, Matt Kang, Suzanne Marques, Christine Kirk, Steve Livigni, Pablo Moix, Julian Cox, Mia Sarazen, Shawna Dawson, Bill Chait, Nastassia Johnson, Patrica Chen, Fiona Chandra, Christina Bellera, Katherine Chen, Jessica Chen, Liberty Huang, Lesley Bargar Suter, Stephane Bombet, Ricardo Zarate, Joanne Robles and Mynor Godoy, Oanh Nguyen, Barbara Hansen, Betty Hallock, Josie Mora, Benito Molina, Misty-Ann Oka, Jahdiel Vargas, Bricia Lopez, Andre Guerrero, Elina Shatkin, Connie Cossio and Bianka Cordoba, Catherine Solomon, Nancy Kim, Helen Kim, Cathy Chaplin, Gustavo Arellano, Dave Lieberman, Esther Tseng, Jo Stougaard, las tias Rosa Tovar and Carmen Esquitin, my friends at Aromas y Sabores, Pablo Aya, Abby Abanes, Marian Bacol-Uba, Lucia Mariegos, the Alfonso family in Havana, and all the people I met in Cuba, Belize, Mexico, and Argentina this year for sharing a meal, some moves on the dance floor at Classico, giving excellent conversation, inspiring without effort, spreading joy, and making great eye contact during toasts. Cheers!! But, a very special thanks goes to Tomoko Kurokawa, who gave the greatest gift of awareness.


Much happened for this little blogger this year, there were several other TV appearances: ABC7 with Alysha del Valle, the Sundance Channel's Live/ Lust, and more. But most amazing was that I was asked to freelance for the Los Angeles Times, something I hadn't really thought about much nor expected, but I debuted this past year with a story on Salvadoran cuisine that I'm very pleased with. My editor Betty Hallock is, well: divine, patient, full of wit, and a great teacher. I'm grateful.

2012 will be guns blazing, many new TV and writing stuff right away.



chef Patricia Quintana at the waterfalls in Santiago, Nuevo Leon.

As for travel. My initial trip with Patricia Quintana's Aromas y Sabores is one of my happiest moments of 2011. A tour through Nuevo Leon, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, Michoacan, and back to D.F. with 2 busloads of serial noshers from around the world. Working with the first lady of Mexican cuisine? A dream come true.


We played a Purepecha sport of a kind of street hockey with a flaming ball that hissed at it flew within an inch of your face in the streets of Michoacan. It was amazing and moving.


And the best eats would always be found from humble, unknown vendors off the itinerary: some blue corn and red corn gorditas at the train station in Divisadero, Chihuahua filled with chile pasado.


Or a perfect taste of raw steak ceviche in Patzcuaro known as carne de apache.


I did dance the tango in Buenos Aires, at a little club in San Telmo.


There was plenty of wine in Buenos Aires, but this bottle of hooch from a plastic bottle poured by Fredi, the austere grill man at a small parrillada might be my choice of drink for my last day on earth. It was a time and place sensation that I could never describe nor expect anyone to understand.


His morcipan deserves a shrine and a set of disciples.


Belize is beautiful, peaceful, and proposes another shade of Latino culture that has occupied my thoughts this last year with frequency, and I finally got to know this interesting Central-American country. I fell in love with this place right away and even enjoyed the neglected Belize City, a place that tourists skip over in their haste to go scuba diving and hang out at the beach. Their loss, and the first of many trips to come for me.

But I did scuba dive on San Pedro Island and held a 5 ft nurse shark in my arms--a utopian dream


Having lunch and the best place on San Pedro Island with Miss Guatemala World 2011, Lucia Mazariegos, and Miss Costa Maya 2010, Gabriela Asturias. It's who you dine WITH!


About the best bowl of chirmol at El Fogon with the beauty queens nearby didn't hurt. Beautiful people, a beautiful island, comforting food...last night I dreamed of San Pedro


Nothing this year compared to the magic, quixotic nights, rumba, and hustle of a week in Havana, Cuba. Slow drinks of aged Havana Club at El Floridita, a flirt on La Rampa, working the malecon, dancing the cubeton, holding hands at the restaurant where they filmed Fresa y Chocolate, sweating like a tourist, rockin 50 Cent at the Partagas factory, the sublime ropa vieja on the patio in Miramar with friends as we all nodded from sun, drink, and strong tobacco.

Rally 'round the family-Ele(lead vocals), Carlos Alfonso(bass), and Eme Valdez(lead vocals).Sintesis in concert at Arte en La Rampa, Habana, Cuba. Summer 2011

No loungy retrospectives for me, but a show by friends and Grammy award winning Afro-Cuban fusion artists: Sintesis. A summer concert at La Rampa was a quintessential local experience.


While some complain about not finding cuisine in Cuba, I dined like a king on the streets, in the paladares, cafeterias, and private homes of Cubans. Ele Alfonso's--lead singer for Sintesis--arroz con pollo is an all time favorite dish. Its flavors and soft, warm textures fall into a rapturous unity that betrays the simple construction of this recipe.


How could I forget the house specialty at Paladar La Mulata in Miramar--one of the original paladars that began when Cuba first instituted the program--snapping and crackling chicharrones. The pork skin is meticulously trimmed of all fat leaving a light, practically transparent food that sounds like Rice Krispies bubbling in milk at your table and then ignites like Pop Rocks in your mouth. Who needs modernist techniques here?


The Cuban people are fascinating, you almost feel like each one of them would lead you to a discovery of some sort if you were to engage them. Walking the streets of Habana Vieja, Centro, and Cayo Hueso is like a rhythmic dream sequence.


Again at the home of friends: a spread worthy of a magazine shoot of Cuban home cooking. Fried sweet potato, ropa vieja like I've never encountered, giant Cuban tamales, kimbombo(okra), and Cuban salads served with fresh juices. We shared stories, many cuba libres and Cristals(Cuban beers), and finished with coffee and cigarettes, cigars for me: Cohibas.


Lunch with friends and family of Sintesis in the Miramar neighborhood, Habana, Cuba.

What a year. Change is here, though. Big change is all aspects of this business of sensual pursuits. Thanks for the wake-up call, Tomo.

On a much sadder note, we finally received the official announcement that Evan Kleiman's 27 yr. old LA institution--Angeli Caffe--will be closing on Jan. 8th. I've known this was coming for some time and can't even find the words to say to my friend, but I shall try anyway. I will be dining at Angeli for the last time on Jan. 4th at 7PM with a few friends. Please go and experience one of the longest running restaurants in our fair city, and one of the historic dining establishments in the history of Italian cuisine in America. We are going because it's still a great restaurant, and to help take care of the employees that have been with the restaurant for so long as they go off to find jobs in this tough economy.


Evan Kleiman opened Angeli Caffe in 1984 at a time when using fresh, seasonal ingredients was a revolutionary idea. It was an exciting time in Los Angeles in the early, Wolfgang Puck opened Spago, a young Mark Peel and Nancy Silverton were part of the crew; John Sedlar had the seminal St. Estephe that introduced modern-southwestern to the world down in Manhattan Beach; the two hot tamales Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Millikin had City where they struck a chord with Latin spices; and up north the California cuisine giant Alice Waters had just begun to offer a more affordable menu at her cafe--Chez Panisse was a little over 10 years old.

Angeli's mission was to serve simple food in a friendly atmosphere, and to anyone that's ever been, the the casual spirit is realized from the moment you walk in the door. And the food was to be served at room temperature--a radical approach in 1984.

Back then, Evan wasn't the media giant, nor passionate spokesperson for Los Angeles food and politics that she is today. She was shy, and preferred to stay behind the scenes. Over the year Evan has transformed herself into that engaging wit that stirs up the airwaves on KCRW's Good Food every weekend.

When the cook on California cuisine is written, and a history of Italian cuisine in America is documented, the contribution of Evan Kleiman and Angeli Caffe will be monumental. And, Angeli in its 27 years has outlasted the original Spago, lived long enough to watch chef John Sedlar rise like the Phoenix, and saw all the best restaurants of the 80's, 90's, and the last decade come and go. The restaurants we call the best in town, and we obsess over on twitter mostly aren't even a year old--Angeli had faced those trials and kept on cooking.

In a recent review of Sotto by Los Angeles Magazine food critic Patric Kuh wrote that Evan "captured something fundamental about the cuisine when she opened Angeli Caffe on Melrose Avenue in 1984, narrowing her sights on the most humble elements of the food with her austerely dressed pastas and her love of wild greens." Today we take these things for granted, but Kleiman boldly laid the foundation for our restaurant of the moment.

For years Angeli Caffe stayed on the list, Jonathan Gold's 99 Essential Restaurants in LA. In his recent 99 rundown he(Gold) stated that "this restaurant crystallized the affinity of Angelenos for this kind of casual Italian cooking decades ago, and hundreds of imitators have come and gone, but Angeli endures.."

What was it still doing on the 99? Because the 99 is about what defines Los Angeles regardless of fashion, and Angeli has always mattered.



Ricky Pina of Ricky's Fish Tacos with Jaime and Ramiro of La Casita at Street Food Mondays

I suspect many others more important than I shall write about Evan in the near future, but in the last two years I got a glimpse into this amazing woman during our collaborations on Street Food Mondays.All she ever seemed to worry about was making sure her staff and the vendors were taken care of, and we started these events because she wanted to do something for Nina, the famed antojito vendor from Boyle Heights who had increasingly become a target of police harassment.



Packing them in for fish and shrimp tacos at Angeli Caffe


Priyani and her family prepare egg hoppers one last time at Angeli Caffe after she had to close her humble Sri Lankan kitchen


And I started stooping by recently to order take out, like this off menu eggplant past at Angeli, so delicious. Excellent pizzas, and pastas executed exactly like they were in 1984.


And that amazing bread! It really was an awful feeling knowing what was to come.


As I go to say hello to Evan and the Angeli staff one last time as a restaurant I want to express how proud I am of Evan Kleiman for 27 years of business, and for making her mark in food history. Among all of our best restaurant of the last year in list and rundowns, some will be gone in as few years(maybe sooner), and very few will crack the 25 year mark, perhaps none. Will any of them be remembered as doing something new? Not likely.

Evan Kleiman will still be around on Good Food, and a thousand other venues, and I believe will be a huge success in her next endeavors.

Her contemporaries that are still around like Wolfgang Puck made much more money on QVC, catering, book deals, and food products than he ever did in the kitchen at Spago. A similar figure, Rick Bayless--who became to Mexican cuisine what Evan was to Italian in the 80's--had a television show to keep his restaurants packed in recent years, but it wasn't until his win on Top Chef Masters that he moved into Wolfgang's neighborhood.

All the while Evan has taken care of us, and brought us together, and made us crazy for pie.

I'm so upset to see this restaurant go, and where will I get my Sunday take-out pastas, salads, and pizzas? But, Angeli Caffe is a hit, and so are you Evan. See you on Wednesday at Angeli.

Happy New Year to readers and friends of this blog.

St Estephe at Rivera-Back to the Future of Modern Southwestern Cuisine

Steve Garcia and John Sedlar circa 1981, photo from LA Times

1981 was a big year for food in Los Angeles. It was the first wave of new cooking in the City of Angels when a then 23-year-old John Sedlar created Modern-Southwestern cuisine, applying French-technique to his Southwestern roots. Spago hadn't even opened yet, and goat cheese was considered a luxury. It's amazing how far we've come as a city, and a whole community of food lover's race to the next new thing, far too young to even take it for granted.

It's very hard to fully understand the legacy of St. Estephe today. There isn't a restaurant standing that equals this level of expression in modern Southwestern. Even the Bobby Flay's and other current practitioners of this genre cook more casual. Speaking with owner/partner Bill Chait of Rivera,Playa, Picca, Sotto, and the upcoming Short Order, he was able to put St Estephe in perspective."John was part of a small group of chefs that were bringing the first progressive restaurants to Los Angeles.""It was an exciting time in the restaurant business and then the recession came,many restaurants closed, and we sort of lost momentum for some time." Simply, Sedlar was doing something in style and presentation that hadn't been done before. There were many firsts.

In 1981, St Estephe was as foreign to me and my family as any such fine dining experience. I was basking in the luxury of Van de Camp's pork 'n beans and TV dinners--we were a struggling single parent family of three; my mom, younger sister, and I. On the weekends with my father, it was the traditional cooking of my grandmother from Aguascalientes, Mexico.

I recall one fine-dining experience in Los Angeles around 1978.My grandmother on my mom's side and I caught a TWA flight from Sacramento to LA to see the Dodgers, visit relatives, and have a lobster dinner. I remember the wine list having chablis and blush(rosé), and lobster was the most expensive item on the menu--"get the best thing on the menu", said my grandmother. Lobster it would be. This would be the first and last fancy restaurant until I was an adult.

I loved 1981. I was rolling in Kennnington terry cloth shirts and OP pants from Miller's Outpost, wore out cassettes of AC/DC, Journey,Van Halen and Led Zeppelin on my Walkman, and lived for the cheap thrills of slow dancing at my junior high school socials. It was a memorable time for me. I had moved on from my first girlfriend and first make-out session(Wendy Herrera,we're still friends), made the leap from flute to the saxophone, and had just seen the original Van Halen on tour in support of their third album--meanwhile, John Sedlar was making history.


Modern Southwestern came out of Chef Sedlar's experience cooking in New Mexico as a young man--this is his heritage. Sedlar is our elder statesman here in Los Angeles. We live in a time where chefs are popular on television, and have become pop culture icons--none though can claim to have created an original style:twice.

Little did I know that I'd get a shot at St Estephe here in 2011, to witness and taste a piece of Los Angeles restaurant history that I could only before read about. At a preview dinner last week I had the honor of going back in time to 1981, at Rivera, home to Chef Sedlar's second revolution. For the entire month of September, diners can take journey of the senses to St Estephe, to reminisce or to discover Modern Southwestern for the first time at its 30 year anniversary.


Fireworks amuse bouche, shows the stars and stripes of New-Mexican hospitality.

An edible Kachina of American caviars with chopped egg and endives. This dish is a delicious way to commune with Hopi and Pueblo native culture--all flavors in balance.


This southwestern scramble will satisfy any aficionado of huevos rancheros, this author included.


Tamale of Salmon Mousse in a cream of cilantro sauce.


A master of rellenos:Chef John Sedlar. Chimayo chile relleno stuffed with mushroom duxelle,accompanied by a paint of garlic chevre sauce. This is sublime, like a southwestern chiles en nogada. A benign heat, savory filling, and cream sauce all delight in their perfect harmony.


Scallop nachos served with gorditas and a roquefort cream sauce.


The famous salmon painted desert with a trio of sauces will make you want to savor the moment. It's almost a shame to dig in, but you'll manage.


Roast breast of chicken served with wild spinach greens, jicama and jalapeno vinegar sauce. I enjoyed this plate tremendously--so flavorful and comforting.


Dessert was dazzling and fun. Neon tumble weeds with fresh fruits and cactus cookies.


Finally,blue corn meal crepes with pumpkin ice cream.

It's easy to overlook Chef John Sedlar these days. He was on TCM for a minute, and did Iron Chef America, but he's no media hound. He's humble,polite,keeps his opinions to himself, and is busy these days running between his two restaurants: Playa and Rivera. He's in his kitchen and his spare time is for the Museum Tamal project. While many other chefs beg, borrow, and steal their recipes and concepts--Sedlar is an original. Sedlar represents experience, patience, and substance during a time when pop-culture chefs are sometimes marketed as relentlessly as Justin Bieber. Like Miles Davis, he created a modern fusion, then retired only to return and lead again.

I will be making time to visit St. Estephe this month at Rivera starting with the Garcia/Sedlar reunion this Wednesday night. Just like Marty McFly, I gotta get back in time to 1981, when Member's Only was a jacket, and Friday nights were the Love Boat and Fantasy Island.Well, for a 7th grader it was. If I could only get Wendy Herrera to go with me!

30th Anniversary of St Estephe at Rivera all all through the month of September.For reservations click here.

(The meal for this preview was courtesy of Chef John Sedlar and Rivera restaurant)

Rivera
1050 S. Flower St. #102
Los Angeles, CA 90015
P 213 749 1460
F 213 749 7359
info@riverarestaurant.com

2010-It was a Very Good Year, Indeed

Kicking back at El Corazon Del Maguey mezcal bar in Coyoacan, Mexico City in the year of the bicentennial.What a time is was?

There are many things to be thankful this year.I've traveled to my beloved Colombia, about 25-30 trips to Mexico lindo, at least five trips have been to Mexico City, and including new states:Hidalgo, and San Luis Potosi. To date, I've traveled extensively through 24 states in Mexico, and hope to see all 31 by the end of 2012.

It was a little slow for music but I did get to work with the legendary Wailers maan, and got to perform in my family's hometown Aguascalientes, at the largest fair in Mexico.The year was full of adventures throughout Mexico. The low light of course was backing up Nguyen of Starry Kitchen at Test Kitchen playing the viral internet hit, the Rapist song.But, I love Nguyen and Thi, I'd do it again.

I've met even more amazing people in the food community, and have enjoyed night after night of adventure, laughter, cuisine, wine and spirits, revelry, and cheer.2011 will be even better, but let me just share some of the highlights of 2010.


LA Street Food Fest
The first big break of the year came after meeting Shawna Dawson of Artisanal LA for lunch at Saap's Coffee Shop.We got off famously and then it was off for a personal snapshot of the Los Angeles street food scene, our city is truly amazing if you just veer off the beaten paths.

I was recruited to bring some of the traditional street vendors we visited to the first LA Street Food Fest, which turned out to be perhaps the largest food event LA has ever seen.This was in February. I was promoted to judge on the follow up Summer Tasting Event at the Rose Bowl with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,Walter Manzke,Susan Feniger,Rene Lynch,and actor Jesse Williams, but more importantly, Shawna has become one of the most important people in my life.

Culinary Ambassador
In early May I led John Sedlar of Rivera Restaurant,the great Barbara Hansen, my friends Tomoko and Brian on a Great Chefs of Baja Tour I had arranged with the chefs. Between Tijuana, the Valle de Guadalupe, and Ensenada, we feasted on extraordinary cuisine. Out of this trip came inspiration for Rivera's new menus that would be realized later in the year, and more inspiration for the new Playa Rivera restaurant set to open soon in the former Grace location. While we were there, I delivered invitations to baja vintners to attend the 2010 East LA Meets Napa, which was a success. Some of the top Baja wines made it to the event.And, I introduced Javier Plascencia on this and some previous trips to Test Kitchen, in which Javier Plascencia's run would turn out to be the finest performance at the star studded pop-up restaurant. One of my missions is to share the culinary treasures of Mexico and Latin America with friends, 2010 provided many opportunities, 2011 will be even greater.

The Source
Upon dropping John off, I received a call a bit later in which he informed me that I was mentioned in Travel and Leisure. It was on his porch when we got back.It turns out that the writer Peter J. Lindberg had been devouring my Baja blog posts and old Chowhound posts which he used to snag locations for his article.Ever the gentleman, Peter mentioned me in the article, and even suggested Baja put me on retainer. Uh, not going to happen, but a novel proposition.


The cast of Top Chef Masters, Season 2,Episode 6-Scary Surf and Turf

Top Chef Masters
My television debut came, well, at the TOP.Where do you go from here? On May 12th, I appeared on Top Chef Masters, Season 2, Episode 6 Scary Surf and Turf with Andrew Zimmern, with my blood brother from a Taiwanese mother, Eddie Lin of Deep End Dining.I had taken Eddie to Baja on that infamous media trip back in 2009, so he returned the favor and dropped my name in the hat for this show, and.......I got the call.In case you missed us, there is a video clip extra where Andrew discusses the strangest thing he's ever eaten. I think my contribution to this bit was drinking wine! Well, if you can find the actual episode somewhere on the net you'll see that Eddie and I held our own with the big boys. We had a fabulous evening viewing the episode while close friends and supporters watched with us at the Edison. Huge thanks to Dan Cox for that one.

I even scored a date with fellow judge, Gael Greene, who has referred to me as the guru of street food. Not bad,eh?

Vendy's
I was a judge on the first LA Vendy Awards, where I met my great friend Evan Kleiman, and Vinny and Jon of Animal. From of this event, Evan and I went on to start Street Food Mondays, a street food pop-up with the goal of bringing street food culture to the West Side. Vinny and Jon, the chefs of the hit restaurant Animal, also hit me up for a street food crawl, but, we upped the stakes and the boys joined me on another epic Baja journey of the senses. It was a a great time eating and drinking with those guys. All I can say is....Dirty Chicken!!

Marcela Valladolid
In between all this madness, in early June, I was invited by my dear brothers, Jaime and Ramiro of top LA Mexican restaurant La Casita, to attend a cooking demo by Marcela Valladolid, who has become another special person in my life. Marcela is the only latina on the Food Network, and is a Baja native. Keep an eye out for her, and for Mexican Made Easy on Saturday mornings on the Food Network.


Tintin and Patricia, the LA Boobs.

Boobs 4 Food
On June 6, completely giddy knowing my Bizarre Foods episode was coming up, I had to keep busy, or would have gone nuts. My girls, yes they are my girls, at Boobs 4 Food had sent me an invite to volunteer for an event that turned out to be the Taste of the Nation.Really?I didn't realize that's what I was doing 'til I saw the tweets. Anyways, myself and others kicked ass that day at Wine Bingo, completely selling out.Boobs 4 Food is a volunteer organization based in Los Angeles and San Francisco dedicated to fighting hunger, I love these girls.I don't know why they've taken a liking to me, but I guess I'm just lucky that way.

I recently volunteered with Boobs 4 Food to prepare meals for the West Hollywood Angel Food Project, which delivers meals to those homebound or disabled by HIV/AIDS or other illnesses.


Bizarre Foods
In June 13th I appeared on Bizarre Foods Baja, an episode in which I also was a location scout, fixer, and the primary source of the show's content.Working with Andrew was inspirational, a great guy who is a consummate pro, in every sense of the word. His production company, director, and location crew are all people that I'll never forget.You'll never know how much I fought to keep Tijuana in this show, combating all the negative press and misconceptions about Tijuana, but in the end, all things fell into place, and the Bizarre Foods people consider it one of the best episodes of the season. This was the highest of honors to participate in the making of this show.


Our Jo.Jo Stougaard of My Last Bite,the sole owner of a Street Gourmet LA dot com t-shirt.She had it made for the Bizarre Foods Baja viewing party. So far, only chef Ludovic Lefebvre and I have earned this privilege. I love you,Jo.What do I do to deserve such wonderful people like you? Greater than any award or recognition are the people we love, and who love us back.

I wrote about this incredible experience in a three part series. Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. We had a blowout viewing party at Guelaguetza restaurant in Koreatown in which around 100 friends and members of the food loving community showed up to eat grasshoppers, drink mezcal, and.....occasionally watch the broadcast. You can read about this soiree on It's More Than Just Eating, by another new and special friend from 2010, Oanh Nguyen.

The Last Samba
Well, the year had been amazing to this point, and I decided to help Rio Brazil Cafe, the little restaurant that ALMOST could, throw an Anniversary party. Friends came out for a special night of music, samba dancers, and carioca cuisine. Well, owner Luciene Peck probably didn't have the heart to tell me that evening, but after a year of struggling, she would close the restaurant shortly after this party. So, it ended up being a farewell party. I'm so thankful to all that came out that day, and for the Camarena tequila guys for supplying the booze.

Like Matt Kang of Scoops Westside, Sam Kim, Fiona Chandra, and other members of the food lover community in the area, I was really looking forward to the Rio Brazil Cafe for dinner, and Scoops for dessert combo.Oh well. We love our restaurants, but it's not a business for everyone, not in these times.Here is a little cheer from that day.

Sambistas Camila and Soraiya tantalize the twitterati.


Patricia, Allan, Maya, and Sam Kim grabbing the last orders taken at Rio Brazil, and surrounded by Camarena Tequila. It was caipitequila time!Yes it's a real drink.


Justin and Mist O. relaxin' carioca style.


Tina of Boobs for Food with her Camarena tequila swag. They wrapped the gifts like burritos.


It's Carnaval at Rio Brazil Cafe with Camila and Soraiya.


Boyz Nite Out and La Descarga
Around mid-July a little gathering of cigar smokers and spirit aficionados I started with just Brian Saltsburg and Ben Bailly present, blew up in the twitterverse and moved into La Descarga and opened Test Kitchen.La Descarga just happens to be my favorite watering hole in the States, so it was amazing to move this event into their bar, which I first fell in love with earlier in the year.This is a regular stop for me, Steve Livigni(manager) and Pablo Moix(mixologist)of La Descarga have become great friends one shot of rum and one puff of a cigar at a time. There is no greater bar in town, or outta town.

Burger King - Rick Bayless - (2003) 0:30 (USA)

I'd rather eat this Southwest chicken sandwich by Rick Bayless from Burger King than go back to Red O.

Bayless
In August I experienced my worst meal of 2010, and felt justified in lighting up a false representative of Mexican cuisine, Mr. Rick Bayless, since he offended the latino chefs and restaurateurs in Los Angeles by claiming to be bringing authentic Mexican to Los Angeles. This post about Red O would be the first spark in a national media frenzy that was set off because Jonathan Gold was quoted poking fun at Rick Bayless's outrageous assumption by Gustavo Arellano, the Food Editor for the OC Weekly, and author of the Ask a Mexican column, at a Latino Journalists event Jonathan Gold was addressing.

Rick attacked Jonathan Gold on twitter, and the OC Weekly's piece went viral. Jonathan Gold and Rick Bayless kissed and made up, and Jonathan Gold did a, well....mixed review of Red O the following month. See what Jonathan Gold has to say about Red O, Rick Bayless, and yours truly in his review titled Back to Bayless.

I'm happy to say that Rick has been a little more humble in his public speaking as of recent and when his chef left Red O recently, a Latino chef took his place. I'm calling this the Street Gourmet LA effect.I even hear he's looking to Baja now for inspiration,hmmm.Think he's been reading the blog?

The latest with Red O? GQ Magazine's Alan Richman just called Red O the most annoying restaurant of 2010, and said that Rick should be placed under "hacienda arrest", for crimes against Mexican cuisine.

I'd still like to see an apology to the talented latino chefs of LA for the comments made on the Feast interview, and for Rick to spend a little time getting to know the authentic Mexican restaurants and chefs of Los Angeles.What do you say Mr. Bayless?A New Year's resolution?

Los Angeles Magazine
After running around Los Angeles with Lesley Barger Suter, the Food Editor of Los Angeles Magazine, and a couple of brainstorming sessions, the Ultimate Guide to Mexican Food in LA was revealed in the November 2010 issue of Los Angeles Magazine. Here I was featured in a taco crawl with Lesley, fun, and was the sole consultant for the Mexican Food in LA feature. This was such a pleasure. I loved working with Los Angeles Magazine, and Lesley is amazing. I think this is their best Mexican food edition ever!

The Quest
My greatest single dining experience of 2010 was having barbacoa in Tezontepec, Hidalgo. It was dream like, an outer body experience. I can recall every sensorial experience that day. Put this on the list of things to do before you die.

Resolutions
I look forward to dining with you in 2011, and sharing. Let's dine, raise our glasses, but please, let's talk about something other than food! It's a bore to talk about where you've been eating, or to weigh in on the meal...while you're EATING.Enjoy the meal and let me do the same. It's like making love to a woman while talking about your ex.And please, don't shut your eyes and tell me the flavors you're getting, it's ridiculous. Here are some topics:music,politics, sports, modern dance, travel, tequila(I like this one), your favorite samba school, or even some juicy gossip.Oh, this was for CERTAIN bloggers, by the way.This is supposed to be fun, not an academic exercise my young friends!!

Still got nothing to talk about at dinner?Let me share a little Meaning of Life clip with you from the brilliant Monty Python players, about dinner conversation.Maybe you need........conversation cards?



The other big change in 2011? If your going to suggest we drop a C Note to try SOME chef doing SOMETHING different, out of his/her element, you can count me out.I'm talking pop-ups, restaurants, special tastings, or whatever the venue.This was the year I found countless blissful bites under $10, almost everytime I spent $100 on dinner I was left disappointed.It had better be worth it. I don't just want to like a few dishes, I want to be wowed.I'm sick and tired of chefs who can't get it up for $100.No more, we're in a recession my friends.

And, the ordering everything on the menu? STOP already. How about, as Frank the Tank said in Old School..."how about we get together for a whole meal of food sometime?" An appetizer, a main, a dessert is okay every now and then, isn't it? Am I the only one that thinks it's weird to eat the whole menu? It's OCD dining.

Another resolution. I promise to stop leaving a mess on the table after every frickin' meal, demonios! I hate it!! Your area is spotless, and mine is a mess. No more, not a drop in 2011.

Happy New Year to All.And,Love and success to all types of food writers, food lovers, bon vivants, chefs, restaurateurs, bartenders, valets, cooks,organizations, waiters, hosts/hostesses, and all the other passionate people that support dining out, living the good life, and great cuisine in the New Year.

Special thanks to Josh Lurie, Jo Stougaard,Eddie Lin, John Sedlar,Evan Kleiman,Shawna Dawson,Tomoko Kurokawa,Barbara Hansen,Harriet Ells,Javier Plascenica, Benito Molina,Miguel Angel Guerrero,Andrew Zimmern,Andre Guerrero, Julie Wolfson,Nastassia Johnson,Sarah Gebeke,Gael Greene,Ricardo Zarate,Stephane Bombet,Esther Tseng,Zach Brooks,Rodrigo Oliveira,Cathy Danh,Nguyen and Thi Tran,Chuy Tovar, Josie Mora,Steve Livigni, Pablo Moix,Jaime Martin del Campo,Ramiro Arvizu,Abby Abanes, Fiona Chandra,Matthew Kang, Pat Saperstein,David Lieberman,Julian Cox,Connie Cossio,David Haskell,Boobs 4 Food,Jahdiel Vargas,Bill Chait, Brian Saltsburg, Bricia Lopez,Dan Cox, Javier Cabral, and the cooks, chefs,and people of Baja California,Mexico,Latin America and Los Angeles for your friendship, sustenance, and support in 2010.

Thanks to you all in the over 100 countries and territories who stopped by the blog in 2010!

Happy New Year!!! May 2011 bring joy and deliciousness to all of your dining tables.