[LA Weekly] Ramiro Gomez: Making Menial Meaningful
*PUBLISHED / Immigration Issues / LA Weekly / Urban Issues / VISUAL ART

[LA Weekly] Ramiro Gomez: Making Menial Meaningful

“I know how to draw faces!” Ramiro Gomez insists with a grin, dabbing brown paint onto a glossy white magazine page with a slender brush. Shoulders and arms appear in a coppery sheen, then a head topped with thick black hair. But no face, at least not this time. Continue reading

[LA Weekly] Best of Los Angeles 2013
*PUBLISHED / BOOKS & LITERATURE / Boyle Heights / Downtown / FOOD / LA Weekly / Latin American food / Little Tokyo / Mexican food

[LA Weekly] Best of Los Angeles 2013

Looking for more reasons to love L.A.? Just head to your local newsstand (or computer) to browse the latest “Best of L.A.” issue from the always eclectic L.A. Weekly. These are a few of my favorite things… well, eight favorites, from “Best Filipino Fried Chicken” to “Best Little Tokyo Bar” to “Best Japanese Bookstore.” Keep reading… Continue reading

[LA Weekly] Downtown’s French Garden Closing Friday
Downtown / FOOD / LA Weekly

[LA Weekly] Downtown’s French Garden Closing Friday

“It’s literally an oasis in one of the most hardcore parts of the city — and no one knows about it.” So wrote Huell Howser in 2007 about The French Garden, an eatery in the industrial side of downtown’s Arts District. But plenty of people know about The French Garden; they’ve sustained this lunch-only, 150-seat bistro for 15 years. And plenty of people are now sorely disappointed. The French Garden closes on Friday. Continue reading

[LA Weekly] Q & A With USC Professor Sarah Portnoy: On Latino Food in L.A
FOOD / LA Weekly / Latin American food / Mexican food

[LA Weekly] Q & A With USC Professor Sarah Portnoy: On Latino Food in L.A

We all eat for pleasure. Some of us also eat in pursuit of academic knowledge. “Food studies” is a burgeoning field where scholars consider food a potent tool for illuminating a vast range of topics and issues. Among L.A. colleges and universities, you’ll find classes on “Animal Ethics,” “Restaurant Culture,” “Food Politics,” and “Science and Food,” among others. One emphasizes L.A.’s Latino community — professor Sarah Portnoy’s “The Culture of Food in Hispanic Los Angeles” at the University of Southern California. As a class in the Spanish department, students spend ample time developing language skills. (Such as writing blogs in Spanish.) But the culinary twist means they also examine issues related to history, immigration, and cultural values. We spoke with Portnoy, a Houston native, over margaritas at Yxta Cocina Mexicana to hear her take on L.A.’s diverse and fascinating Latino food scene. Continue reading

[LA Weekly] 10 Best Eats in Little Tokyo: Neighborhood Grub Crawl
FOOD / LA Weekly / Little Tokyo

[LA Weekly] 10 Best Eats in Little Tokyo: Neighborhood Grub Crawl

L.A.’s Little Tokyo is home to at least 100 eateries — Japanese and non-Japanese, old and new, traditional and innovative. And it is just about 0.13 square miles in size — dense, compact, and easily explored on foot. (Roughly bounded between 4th, Alameda, Temple, and Los Angeles streets.) That means just one thing: It is the ideal setting for our ultimate grub crawl fantasy. Imagine the chance to explore a colorful, historic neighborhood bite by bite, from early morning to late at night. We’ve devised a potential walking tour featuring ten of our favorite foodie spots. (Plus a few extra. The trick is to graze!) What about the other 90-something restaurants? Well, now you have at least that many reasons to come back. Continue reading