Category Archives: Pendejadas

LH Micro Loft Fails to Catch Interest

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An enterprising citizen of Lincoln Heights gave Micro Loft living a go recently on a busy intersection of N. Broadway, but locals mostly ignored the concept, as can be seen in the photo above. With a small area for the Tupperware kitchen, a lightpost headboard, and some “facilities”, this attempt at urban space reclamation was short lived, all signs of this experiment had vanished a few days later when I went back to this corner. Even though the rent was appropriately priced, the constant flow of pedestrians thru the bedroom and the excessive banging on the crosswalk button above the pillow made for terrible sleeping conditions, even though the views were spectacular.

Click ahead for a pic of the garage!

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Rosca De Reyes

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There’s a plastic baby in my rosca !!!! 

One of my favorite things about having a rich cultural Mexican heritage is celebrating traditions and eating some of the best food in the world, like the rosca de reyes. I’m my house my mom tried to instill the history and tradition that came along with the rosca, but I never really paid attention because I was too busy trying to find the plastic baby before anyone else. I always knew as the bread with the baby inside and if you get the baby that means that you have to host the rosca party next year. When someone did get it, everyone would start laughing and poking fun at the person, but more than anything, I remembered that the rosca was one of the few times my family came together like a “real” family. Great food always brought us together. Course you can’t have rosca without champurado(mexican hot chocolate). Mmm….

My Favorite Burrito: Al and Bea’s Chile Relleno

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The sign says it all, “Specializing in Burritos.” Al & Bea’s here been here in Boyle Heights for more than 40 years and just like anything else in life, it gets better with time. My first time going to Al & Bea’s was a few years ago when a friend asked me if I’ve ever been there. “No I haven’t” I said and we were on our way there in no time. Coming from the taco truck lifestyle I was expecting the more traditional burrito de carne asada and the cliche menu that accompanies it. I get to the window and don’t even bother to look at the menu because I’m used to ordering the same thing give or take. I ask for carne asada and the guy taking my order says they don’t have carne asada. In my bewilderment, my friend stepped in and ordered for me, an Al & Bea’s special. I dove in and thought to myself, “this burrito is good, but I wouldn’t call it Mexican food,” even though the guys preparing the food are Mexican or look it. Since that faithful day, I have been going back and fourth to Al & Bea’s trying out the menu and learning to appreciate it for the great food it has, Mexican or not. 

Enter the burrito de Chile Relleno(bell pepper stuffed with cheese and fried). I’ve had most of the menu already so when I decided to go for the Chile Relleno, I was kinda hesitant. The last time I went out on a limb like that I tried their potato burrito, which turned out to be a burrito full of french fries. I threw caution to the wind and went for it. For those of you who hadn’t had the pleasure of spoiling your taste buds with the burrito, it consist of a Chile Relleno wrapped in a tortilla and smothered in beans. It was good !!!!! So good that’s the only thing I’ve ordered the last few times I’ve been there, aside of taquitos with guacamole goes well with it too. Chingado now I’m hungry.   

Ridin’ to the beat

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Peace. That’s one of the signs the dancing bycicle rider of Boyle Heights made during my bus ride with him. I didn’t notice we were on the same bus till I saw him sticking out his hand, makings signs and waves as the bus crused along. Since my last post, I haven’t seen him around and wondered what he was doing, turns out that when he’s too tired to ride his bike, he goes metro. 

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The Blob That Ate Lincoln Heights!

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Oh no, Downtown is on a hungry rampage and moving east! It first started with The Brewery and then The San Antonio Winery and now has consumed every hipsters’ favorite place to shop, The Saint Vincent de Paul Thrift Store in Lincoln Heights!

An article in today’s Los Angeles Times features the downtown loft of a “recycled living” bohemian realtor and his fashion designer girlfriend. This couple is really cool cause they are into old stuff that was previously used! Wow! Read what I mean:

In the spirit of adaptive reuse, nearly all the furnishings inside the loft hail from flea markets or thrift shops or are alley finds.

Uh, huh. And where might one of these chic thrift stores be?

Heller stops by downtown’s St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop at least twice a week.

Downtown? How did that happen? According to the Saint Vincent de Paul website, the store is located:

Just north of downtown Los Angeles … in Lincoln Heights, is one of the largest, well-stocked thrift stores in all of Southern California The St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store which according to Los Angeles Magazine is the “Best Thrift Store in Los Angeles.”

So it’s happened again…Downtown, in it’s appetite to swallow anything that might be “cool” has now gobbled up an even bigger chunk of Lincoln Heights. What will follow?

Tamale Casserole

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Some of the greatest ideas in life are the simplest ones, take for example the Tamale Casserole. Being the son of a Tamalera, I know tamales and when I laid my eyes on that concoction in the aluminum pan, I questioned it and it’s taste. Low and behold I was surprised by it great taste and ingenuity. Curious about the casserole, I asked the chef about it and she told me that it was a recipe her grandmother created back in the day. Chimatli dates it back to the ’50s, but this is the first time I laid eyes on something so clever and tasty. 

This particular casserole was of rajas and it had monterey jack and goat cheese making for a unique combination to say the least. The japalenos gave it a nice kick too and some extra flavor. Again letting my curiosity got the best of me and I asked how she prepared the casserole. In a nutshell, you take masa and put it on the bottom of the pan, add your toppings of choice and lay another layer of masa on top of that. Pop it in the oven for about 90 minutes and bingo bango, a tamale casserole. Over the holidays I’ve been exposed to a variety of tamale variations including vegetarian tamales. For years I thought that rajas, chicken red/green sauce, pork red/green sauce and pineapple and strawberry were the only ones available. My pallet is forever changed and I’m grateful to have been exposed to such culinary delights.

The Problem with Hacienda Heights

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I’ve talked alot of shit about some of our suburbs to the east in my past, and though I wish I could stop my bashing to save friendships and to not create any more hostilities with some friends and family members that live in these and nearby ‘burbs, it’s impossible for my sense of decency to keep quiet. The suburbs create odd behavior patterns, maybe perfectly reasonable within the context of their own reality but utterly absurd when exposed to the light of reason. Take for example this xmas tree spotted on a cul-de-suck in Hacienda Heights earlier today: even before 5:30pm somebody has managed to get rid of the holiday tree, leaving it out for the trash truck, even though this was still Christmas Day! Is the trash pick-up coming early in the morning? Are they scared of the fire dangers of a pine tree in the home? I have no idea, but whatever the “logic” that led to such an early curbside disposal, it just points to some warped thinking happening inside these homes. Fucking wasteful thinking. I almost considered bringing it home for that sweet piney smell, but neh pollos, I can barely tolerate the trappings of Christmas, so why push it with the decorations?

If people can build opinions about Lincoln Heights from some cholo getting shot and killed, isn’t it appropriate that I be able to form an opinion from some random sighting on my way out of a fun X-mas party in HH? I think the notion of justice demands I create a similar prejudice, just to be fair.