The Heat Behind The Taste of Mexico

On October 11, Latin-loving Los Angelenos of all backgrounds will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the third annual The Taste Of Mexico.

Started in December 2010, in observance of Mexico’s bicentennial by The Taste of Mexico Association, this annual tasting draws thousands of people from all over Los Angeles to try out their favorite classic Mexican dishes and cocktails (and maybe a few new ones). On the eve of their third event, TLK got to know the founders:  Ramiro Arvizu, Ricardo Cervantes, Jaime Martín Del Campo, Vicente Del Rio, and Bricia López. They’re the heat behind some of the city’s most beloved restaurants and they’ll be joined by a couple thousand of their closest, and hungriest, followers and friends.

Ricardo Cervantes, who has served as the The Taste of Mexico Association president since its founding in 2010, opened La Monarca Bakery Cafe, a traditional panaderia (Mexican bakery), in Huntington Park with his business partner, Alfredo Livas, in 2006. Their freshly baked pan dulce (sweet breads), Mexican wedding cookies, guava cheese tarts, chocolate conchas (seashells), pineapple-filled puff pastry “tacos”, plus cazuelas and molletes (hot sandwiches), catapulted them to new locations in City of Commerce and, more recently, Santa Monica and Pasadena. La Monarca is aptly named for the monarch butterfly, whose annual migration between the U.S. and Mexico symbolizes the bakery’s bridging of cultures.

As the James Beard-nominated chef/owners of the groundbreaking La Casita Mexicana, Jaime Martín Del Campo and Ramiro Arvizu began luring carloads of diners to the eastside suburb of Bell in 1998. Their food was so authentic that even some local Hispanic residents, raised in the U.S. on burritos, hard-shell tacos, and chimichangas, didn’t recognize it. So they’d mingle with their customers, explaining their grandmother’s mole poblano (chocolate-tinged sauce), huitlacoche (corn fungus) tamales, and signature chiles en nogada (green chile, white walnut sauce and red pomegranate – the colors of the Mexican flag). When Mexicano opens in Baldwin Park, the menu will feature Mexican alcoholic beverages as befits two guys from Jalisco, the home of tequila.

In 1994 husband-and-wife team, Fernando López and Maria Monterrubio, brought their young children to Los Angeles and opened Guelaguetza, a tiny temple of authentic Oaxacan cuisine. No one else was serving such regional dishes as banana leaf–wrapped tamales, goat tacos, memelas (cornmeal cakes with various toppings), clayudas (Oaxacan pizzas), and moles so delicious they were forced to bottle them. Recently the couple retired to Mexico and put their now-adult progeny, Bricia, Fernando, Paulina, and Elizabeth, in charge of this Koreatown landmark. With vivacious Bricia, who has inspired more than one bartender to name a cocktail for her, they’ve installed live entertainment, a massive TV screen, and one of the largest Mezcal selections in the country.

Next, more on the founders behind one of L.A.’s most delicious events…

When Vicente Del Rio moved to Los Angeles from Mexico City in 1998, he gathered two partners and a collection of old family recipes from various regions of Mexico: filet mignon with Mexican truffle sauce; salmon wrapped in banana leaves; and pescado (fish) coral, stuffed with Oaxacan cheese and served on grilled cactus. With a few homemade desserts, and drinks like the Frida Cooler, a Frida Margarita made with Chamoy, and tequila served with a side of sangrita (tabasco, tomato juice and spices), they opened Frida in the heart of super-competitive Beverly Hills. They’ve since added branches in Westwood and Glendale, as well as three Frida Tacos on the west side.

Together, these founders held the inaugural even in December 2010, a tasting at the stunningly restored Cathedral of Saint Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles. Over a thousand people showed up, spurred on by mentions in local media outlets. Along with a Mexican Revolution period menu prepared by the five founders and mixologist Heidi Merino, there was Oaxacan dancing, an art auction and exhibit, and mariachi band performances.

This Friday, October 11th, will be the 3rd Annual Tasting Event. The ink is barely dry on a formal agreement between the association and La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, a Mexican-American museum and cultural center, that will see the event moved to their sprawling 2.2-acre campus surrounded by 30,000 square feet of public garden. It’s just steps from Olvera Street in the El Pueblo historic district, near where Los Angeles was founded in 1781.

Two thousand people are expected to show up to sample tastes from 26 of the leading Mexican restaurants in Southern California and Mexico. That includes top ranked Loteria Grill; the legendary Yuca’s, Ricky’s Fish Tacos, and Leo’s Taco Truck; Chef Ricardo Díaz of Bizarra Capital’s debut of Duro, and Colonia Taco Lounge in Silverlake; as well as the Ceviche Project; MexiKosher; Coni’Seafood and many more.

Mixologists Pablo Moix and Steve Livigni will pour and VIP ticket holders will have access to an ultra-premium tasting of Casa Dragones Tequila and craft mezcals. If that sounds impressive, keep in mind that a recent report found that 9 percent of the more than 50 million Hispanics in the United States live in Los Angeles County. If The Taste of Mexico Association founders have their way, all of these Angelinos? Angelenos? — Angeleños! — will soon be clamoring for tickets. Tickets are still available ($50 general admission, $70 VIP), get yours here.