As night was falling with the sun we drove deeper into the valley on Laurel Canyon Blvd. It looked as if everybody had gone home for the day; everybody, that is, except Tacos Al Vapor and their wheels of steel. Home is where the hunger is, and Tacos Al Vapor was just getting started for the evening. An orange taco truck specializing in tacos de cabeza, al vapor, was not what we expected to find on this relatively barren stretch of N. Hollywood auto shops and warehouses. But, evidently, countless taco lovers know exactly where it’s at.
Here you see two tacos de cabeza and a taco al pastor, all smothered in Tacos Al Vapor’s home-made salsa molido, a wicked creation. This extra fresh, hand ground salsa was hiding under tinfoil because it threatened to catch fire, even in a bed of ice. The amiable crew of Tacos Al Vapor, apparently mother and son, originally hail from Jalisco, Mexico. They decorate all taco plates with grilled sweet onions and a split jalapeño. The onions are all sweetness and softened up just enough to slurp down like you were the lizard king.
To the strains of psychic and spoken shouts of “sell-out,” today local supervisor Gloria Molina launches L.A.’s stormtroopers on loncheras/mobile Mexican restaurants, attempting to put a serious dent in our Southern Californian culture. This attempt to deny healthy marketplace competition and consumer choice of product and price seems damned un-U.S. American to me! That this legislation has politically racist overtones screaming out of it is another component that appears out of step with the true popular opinion of our city. Don’t touch our tacos! A few ideas to join the fight back:
Yesterday the L.A. Times mentioned a swelling “taco resistance.” Get behind it! Make sure you’ve signed the petition at www.Saveourtacotrucks.org.
Moderated by C. Thi Nguyen, Chow Digest Editor at Chowhound.com, Remember the Taco Truck! at Zocalo~ Los Angeles Theater Center on Thursday, May 22nd @ 7:30PM, hosting “a panel of writers, thinkers, and activists (including Jonathan Gold, Barry Glassner, and Chris Rutherford of SaveourTacotrucks.org) discussing the joys of taco trucks, their place in Los Angeles culture, and the politics behind the new regulations.”
Support your favorite independent restaurants, be they taco truck, taco restaurant, or another–whoever has the best food and price should have a right to compete for our taste buds and dollars.
Ontario, C.A.-bred Charles Phoenix is a true master of Los Angeles history, kitsch, and trivia. His nostalgia-inducing slides, painstakingly unearthed from forgotten decades at L.A. yard sales and second-hand shops, were something we long enjoyed at Losanjealous.com. And we once spotted him rocking a mariachi suit quite handsomely to boot. This fun-loving tour guide, performer, archivist, and author has recently been getting back the love he gives, with an appearance on Martha Stewart’s show and vast kudos for his “Disneyland Tour of Los Angeles.”
This weekend in Glendale, Mr. Phoenix presents his Moonlight Rollerway Jubilee, a spectacular night of Charles’ slides, accompanied by live organ and some kick ass pro roller-skating displays, followed by free snacks and a late-night skating party. Spending a night with Charles is a fun-filled retro romp to be sure, we took just a minute to catch up with this urban docent to research what his top taco pick is in the City of Angels. Turns out, his impeccable taste does not falter when it comes to Silverlake’s Mexican food purveyors.
Hey Charles Phoenix, what’s your favorite taco?
Charles Phoenix: “I love tacos! All kinds of tacos. In fact I’ve hardly ever had a taco I didn’t like. Growing up here in Southern california I’ve been eating them since I could chew. It’s difficult to choose a favorite. But…if I had to, it would be the carnitas taco at Alegria, a little Mexican restaurant in a strip mall in Silverlake. Carnitas dripping in fat served in a medium sized flour tortilla with fresh chopped white onion and cilantro and a lemon wedge on the side. Simply delicious.”
Our tireless friends at SaveOurTacoTrucks.org have declared May 1 to be Taco night, a night to support your local taco truck (especially in the unincorporated areas such as East Los) and show the power of the taco lifestyle. Visit the site to sign the petition or other action items that will connect you to Gloria Molina and other anti-taco supervisors.
The cartoon above is by Al Guerrero, one of our city’s up-and-coming cartoonists and a blogger at our new favorite site laeastsise.com. We also heard from our pals at York Blvd. who send along a “Save the Taco Trucks” online petition: www.saveourtacotrucks.org.
Meanwhile, our poll results are overwhelming– 88% of our readers, who represent a cross section of the taco lifestyle, are against Gloria Molina’s anti-taco truck law. So, vote in the poll, sign the petition, visit the pro-taco truck sites above.
Bookstore shelves practically sag under the weight of every tome published on the art of graffiti. Nothing tells the story as beautifully or fully as the epic Graffiti L.A., released last year by author and photographer Steve Grody, who has been shooting walls in Nuestra Señora since 1990. The full color pictures are stunning, while Grody details the basics of the art form for the curious, simultaneously exalting it as the important evolution in painting that it is. He also gives voice to some of the city’s best to speak for themselves on long-ranging debates about style, technique, mediums, and what makes an artist a graf artist. Plus, it finally gives L.A. writers the props for pioneering, innovation, and progression that is deserved.
Bravo Mr. Grody, we can’t wait to see what’s next. And we gotta know, what’s your favorite taco?
Steve Grody: “Thanks for the support! Though it’s hardly an obscure spot, Senor Fish at 1st and Alameda is a regular save-my-ass when I”m hungry place. I most often get the seafood burrito, but also the seafood quesadilla or omelet.”
(2 tacos)
