La Casita Mexicana ~ 4030 Gage Ave Bell, CA 90201 - (323) 773-1898

In Los Angeles, Mexican food is as much a part of our culture as Disneyland and the Dodgers. Regardless of what part of town you’re in, you’ll see one, two or more Mexican restaurants in your neighborhood, from fast food joints and chain restaurants like El Torito to small hole in the wall taquerias and casual family-run restaurants.

The menus of many of these Mexican restaurants consist primarily of tacos, burritos, tostadas, quesadillas, etc. Not that those dishes weren’t tasty, but once I sampled everything, there wasn’t anything new to look forward to.  I always felt like there wasn’t enough variety in the local restaurants in my area.

It wasn’t until my first meal at La Casita that my eyes were opened to new and different tasty possibilities that I never experienced before and all because of the soulful cooking of Chef-Owners, Jaime Martin del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu. I’ve dined at La Casita for the past 3 years and with each meal, I’m just thankful that I’ve been able to expand my view of Mexican cuisine and experience more of its culinary traditions.

Given that I’ve been a steady visitor of La Casita, I thought I’d share with you some of the dishes that have wowed me over the years. One thing to mention is that while I have eaten dishes from their regular menu, there have been times when I’ve had off the menu items as well because of one of the Assistant Organizers of my dining group, Pleasure Palate. She truly is a frequent customer and as such, has a special rapport with the two chefs, which has resulted in some pretty special meals . I’ll be sure to note those off menu items in my descriptions below. If you’d like to order any of the off menu items, call ahead at the restaurant and they may be able to accommodate you.

As mentioned above, my first visit to La Casita really gave me a new perspective on Mexican cuisine and on that first day, the following are some of the dishes that made me say, “I didn’t know Mexican food could be like this.” One of our starters for that meal was the Cream of Pork Rind Soup (off menu). Who would have thought the crunchy goodness of pig skin could be made into a soup? Yes, it is possible and wow, was it good.

Then there was the Traditional Mole Poblano with Chicken. This was actually my first taste of mole and the flavors hitting my taste buds were amazing ~ nutty, smoky, a little bit sweet, a little heat. Simply amazing.

The two desserts we had that day were quite unique. One was the Dulce de Jicama (off menu), candied jicama with cinnamon in a creamy sauce. It reminded me of rice pudding, but the jicama added a nice juicy crunch.

The second dessert were Guayabas Con Compope, stewed guavas in a Mexican eggnog liquor. Tart and sweet. Christmas came early.

A subsequent visit was a Day of the Dead dinner where I was introduced to their Tamalito of Green Chile and Panela Cheese with Red Mole (off menu). It was moist with a bit of a kick from the tender chili peppers and the red mole sauce was outstanding.

This particular visit was also where I first tried one of La Casita’s signature dishes, the Chili En Nogada. The Chili En Nogada is a poblano pepper stuffed with pork, dried fruits, walnuts, candied cactus, pecan cream sauce and topped with pomegranate seeds. I liked how the poblano pepper still had a slight crunch to it. The filling was delicious and the pomegranate seeds added just the right touch of tartness.
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I was on a quick hiatus from writing reviews. But, I’m back! Saturday Night’s Justice Tour 09 Finale at the Henry Fonda in Hollywood was so great it compelled me to attack the ol’ wordpress.

If you have ever attended any of these benefit shows thrown by the incomparable Tom Morello (Nightwatchman/RATM), you know they are ALWAYS a good time! Few things have remained constant w/ these shows. They are usually held around L.A. in intimate venues like The Hotel Cafe to The Troubadour. The Ticket price are always at what Tom calls “The People Price” ranging from a whopping $10-$15 bucks, 100% of which is donated to Charity btw! Oh and the friends he gets to jam out with him? How about the likes of Ben Harper, Slash, Jerry Cantrell, G. Love, Perry Farrell, Flea, David Navarro, Travis Barker, Stuart Copeland, Cypress Hill, Joe Satriani are just a few that I have seen perform at these gigs.

This last Saturday’s show was no exception. The roster of artists joining Tom at the Fonda were… Slash (GnR), Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), Eugene Hutz (Gogol Bordello), Wayne Kramer (MC5), Shooter Jennings, Boots Riley (The Coup), Sen Dog (Cypress Hill) and more.

Each artist takes turns doing mini 3 song sets with Tom jumping in and out. Then it gets nutty when all the artists hop on stage collaborating (mostly impromptu) on crowd pleasing cover after crowd pleasing cover.

Top 5 Highlights of the night
(1) Jerry Cantrell, Slash, and Corey Taylor – covering Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”.
(2) Slash, Corey Taylor, Sen Dog, and Tom Morello – covering not one but TWO Guns and Roses Classics “Paradise City” and “It’s So Easy”.
(3) Sneak Peek at Street Sweeper (new group consisting of Boots Riley and Tom Morello) – in addition to a couple new songs they did a cover of MIA’s “Paper Planes”! Whoever is attending the NIN/JA Tour this year make sure to get to the venue early and catch these guys!
(4) Surprise (not billed) performances from Eugene Hutz (Gogol Bordello) and Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead).
(5) Everyone (including the entire crowd) – performing Woodie Gutherie’s “This Land is Our Land” to close out the show and tour.

3 hours of great music and entertainment for $15 bucks and all going to charity? Everyone wins – especially the fortunate fans that got to experience it. Thanks again Tom!

Special Shout Out – goes to E.D.B.M & O.E, Aziz & Paul of Human Giant, and Chef Roy & Aliiiiice of Kogi for good times last Thursday night on the Great L.A Taco Tour! Everyone should vote for them! Although my NCAA bracket is dust (Thanks for nothing Pitt!) my Taco Madness Bracket is still pristine and no offense to James Beard Award Winning Grandma Yuca (we all know this place all about the conchinita pibil burrito and not the tacos), but I’m predicting a Championship Final w/ Kogi ultimately pulling out a close victory over the King Taco Evil Empire. Come on people! Kogi tastes so much better! Here’s are recaps of the night food met comedy met music…
http://eatdrinknbmerry.blogspot.com/2009/03/taco-tour-with-roy-choi-of-kogi-bbq.html
http://oishiieats.blogspot.com/2009/03/appreciating-taco-warriors-with-kogi.html

and more videos from the Moviebruin here http://www.youtube.com/user/moviebruin

See more in progress pictures on GraffHead.com

After nearly three weeks of intense battling, comments squabbling and behind the scenes get-out-the-vote campaigns, the results are in and the final four have been confirmed. Here they are, with their path to the finals:

#3 Tacos Por Favor
Seeded third, Santa Monica’s most popular taco shop has proven to be a resilient competitor, with loyal west side fans turning out in droves to vote for “TPF”. The Olympic Boulevard spot beat Carnitas Michoacan in round I, and the mighty fish tacos of Tacos Baja Ensenada in Round II to secure a spot in the final four.

vs.

#1 King Taco
The heavyweight chain with a legion of fans spanning the entire city and its outskirts handily chomped its way through the competition, proving the #1 seeding was accurate. Round I saw an initially heated battled with West LA’S Two location mini-chain Tacomiendo that ultimately proved no challenge to the King. Round II was much the same, with an easy win over Echo Park’s beloved Taco Zone.

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#3 Kogi BBQ
The internet sensation was reviled by many in the comments, who felt that the two-truck fusion korean tacos were not authentic enough for the competition. Still, purists can take solace in knowing that Kogi defeated the competition’s other most controversial entrant, seventh seed Tito’s Tacos in Round II. Round I was a cakewalk for Kogi as they easily beat the Valley’s only entrant, Tacos El Zorro.

vs.

#4 Yuca’s
The seeding committee is fans of Yuca’s but mistakenly seeded them 4th, thinking they were more of a local favorite and not a taco heavyweight. Defying those expectations, Yuca’s battled for every vote and ultimately defeated Loteria Grill in Round I and upstart Cactus Taqueria in Round II. Yuca’s family owned mini chain is beloved by people from all over the city, it seems, but they will need to rally their fans to beat internet supernova Kogi BBQ.

VOTING IS OPEN UNTIL THURSDAY. A CHAMPION WILL BE CROWNED MONDAY of NEXT WEEK!

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Hollywood ~ CA

Taqueria Chihuahua ~ 1909 Lincoln Blvd. ~ Santa Monica, CA 90404

Just when we figgered over-consumption was on the way out for our plundered red, white, and deep blue souls, heeeerrrre’s asada fries! Now available at Taqueria Chihuahua to make North Americans fatter, sicker, and $7 poorer.

Simply speaking the words “asada” and “fries” together while ordering this massive orgy of Mexi-melted spuds adds 3 pounds to your assuredly already large ass.  Still, seeing how everyone’s got their pantalooms in a twist during the Taco Tourney on the merits of Kogi’s and Tito’s and blah blah boom boom, your friendly neighborhood TACO website braved the inevitable seaside jeers to come this summer swimsuit season to indulge ourselves two of our favorite foods fused together.

I’m not a giant Chihuahua fan to date. I once had a chicken burrito there that was edible and haven’t yet tried the tacos, but when the proverbial dude-behind-the-counter started speaking off-the-menu specials, this plate pricked up my ears so to speak. I instantly conjured some sort of chili-soaked splatter, maybe just a subconcious response to the Tommy’s staring at us through the store window. I predicted the meal would look nearly worse than it tasted. What kind of  horrible spawn could this dish dubbed after such artery-blocking super stars be? Would the fries come injected with asada paste or would the asada be coated with a thin layer of fry crust? Clearly, I lack imagination, but the monstrosity I imagined was gross indeed.

What appeared was a pretty kickass, though photographically resistant, variation on nachos with a tangle of medium thick fries stuck together with melted cheddar. Up top, carne asada was making it rain in pint-sized cuts with a hearty sprinkle of guacamole, cream, and pico de gallo. I like to imagine Jeff Spicoli was brought into the kitchen in a white lab coat, hired to confer with Chihuahua’s top chefs towards the goal of creating a meal only the world’s most stoned individual would crave. You dropped your asada in my fries, bro! You dropped your…aw, forgit it!

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8PM -2AM At Echoplex ~ 1154 Glendale Blvd. Echo Park, CA

Lankershim Blvd. & Magnolia ~ North Hollywood