Never in my life would I have imagined the day where I wrote a 500 word profile on someone that I grew up listening to. A couple of years ago, I only knew Alice Bag through my brother’s milk crates filled with vinyl compilations where she was featured in, in particular Dangerhouse, Vol. 1., played over and over, and over again.

It is now with great honor that I present to all of you, my profile of her for this year’s LA Weekly People Issue!

Alice Bag: She Was a Punk Before You Were a Punk.

I would like to thank Nancy Marie Arteaga and Lalo Alcaraz for having me as a semi-regular guest on KPFK’s Pocho Hour of Power and making our friendship possible!

The ghetto hipsters of Highland Park have a new place to get shitfaced. La Cuevita opens up Friday night (May 4th) and it is just what this lovely city needs: An agave-spirit centered bar where we don’t have to spend a week’s budget. The Glutster was invited for an early tasting this last Tuesday and this is what that fucker drank.

The bar, all new and shiny.

La Cuevita cocktail

La Mezcalada

Mole Manhattan

Cocktail Menu

Mezcal Los Nahuales

Tequila and Mezcal List (for now)

“We want this place to be more of a sipping establishment” Jared Mort, the 1933 Group’s bartender that was called into action for La Cuevita tells me as I am the first and only of the night to ask for the pure Tequila and Mezcal menu. And by the looks of the prices for the agave libations, it looks like they actually mean it. There are only a a couple that break the $15 mark and the rest are all ready for working class enjoyment. The cocktails are still in the works, the Mezcalada sounds better than it actually is with only a 1/2 ounce of Mezcal used and probably even less of the roasted poblano tomato cocktail used to flavor it (think of a watery beer-y Mary). But then again, it’s only $8 and there are free AYCE tacos to make up for it if you are there on a Tuesday night.

But if you must cloak your poison with a bunch of sweet syrups and flavors, go for the Mole Manhattan. A bit sweet but still bitter and fully brute with cacao flavored booze.

The ambiance is definitely better than the old Gothic-y Little Cave days. They opened up all the windows and the image of Emiliano Zapata will gaze deep into your eyes as you imbibe Mexican history. Just hope that the live agave crops hanging off the patio walls as you walk in won’t fall on you.

La Cuevita gets bonus point for playing a steady flow of Ramon Ayala and other corridos through out the night though.

La Cuevita

5922 North Figueroa St,

Highland Park.

323-255-6871.

First of all, for such an answer to even exist, there are usually a number of undisclosed intangible factors in the food that comes to mind: the nostalgia, the cultural aspect, the significant others eating with you etc. Secondly, we all must eat three (or more!) freaking times a day, multiply those three times however days old you are and you’ll understand why the question is a little far-fetched.

Well, all this is basically true until — you actually eat that best thing you’ve ever eaten.

What this is, ladies and gentlemen, is that best thing: A taco of Birria de Ternera from Birriería Aceves in the Mercado de Abastos in Guadalajara.

I think the fact that this was the only food stand with a ten minute wait among a dozen others open gave the awesomeness of this place away. The guy dry-roast’s chunks of fatty ass veal, then throws a fucken ladle-full of umami-laden birria broth on top of the crisp-skinned tenderness. And to finish it off, wraps the roasted baby cow  in a sturdy handmade tortilla that is then pan fried ’till brown and crisp. It produces this kind of Xia Long Bao pork belly-like lipid anarchism in your mouth. Squeeze a little lime on it with a few tablespoons of table-oxidized minced raw onion (no cilantro!) and you get “the best thing you’ve ever eaten.” Apparently, this style is common in Jalisco and is recognized as “Birria tatemada,” which translates over to a combination of blackened and/or smoked Birria.

Yup, blackened and smoked fucken Birria made from local Mexican veal.

And the intangible factor for me this time around? Scarcity! My significant other had inhaled her half and I was taking turns between my half of the beauty and a bowl of roasted goat Birria in broth to make the decadence last. Then, out of nowhere, the cutest little girl came asking for money to buy food. Naturally, my table-mate handed her my half-taco on the premise of burgeoning Mexican capitalism and being able to afford another taco.

We obviously did not know the greatness of Birríeria Aceves, they had sold out of all food right after we ordered ours at 11 AM sharp. The little girl nibbled on her winnings and ran off to another patron who didn’t spare even a quarter of a lime.

At least I had a 1/2 bowl of Birria.

And that was that, the best thing I’ve ever eaten. As a consolation, I did eat a pretty decent quesadilla a couple of food stands over. It was griddled in the same manner but instead, stuffed with pickled squash blossoms and queso Adobera, a local cheese with a similar meltability like Monterey Jack. With a side of nopalitos and guacamole, I was good. Plus, the Tianguis de Tonalá was our next stop and there was plenty of munchies and drinks to be had there too,  I was sure.

For dessert, we stopped at a dulceria attached to the Mercado and picked up a sugar-free Mazapan made of pepita seeds. Oh well, on to the next best thing to eat.

Birriería Aceves
In the Mercdo de Abastos of Guadalajara.
Between Calle Nance and Mandarina.

Well, most of us ended up getting slaughtered. Literally too, as was apparent by the epees this school of fencing uses, the tips actually have three sharp little teeth that are made to “cling on to your clothing” and create an “uncomfortable feeling.” Unlike the electricity-assisted, sport version of the dueling weapon sport that is more popular and made it to Olympic status that only has a flat screw top.

These dudes are hardcore.

There are only two cool things that came out of this trip. First, enjoying the edible splendors of their hippy student market (it hast stuff like crystallized ginger sheep’s milk yogurt and puffed sorghum “popcorn,” available daily?!) Second, eating and drinking at Humboldt Brews.

Pre-Fencing Breakfast of Champions

Humboldt Brews is disguised as the local collegetown pub but it’s the pride and joy of the city of Arcata really. And while the rest of the 20+ fencers that participated in the tournament feasted like lumberjacks at the local historic restaurant, Old Samoa Cookhouse for the dinner reception, I asked to get dropped off and go solo at Humboldt Brews for a burger and a beer. As soon as I walked in, I knew my anti-social decision was the correct one. I sat at the bar and the cook had long hair, wore shades and was listening to “Iron Man” at a decibel level that would rival that of a metalhead cooking lunch on his day off.

I opted for their “Shroomers Delight” burger: 1/3 lb Humboldt grass-fed beef, roasted red peppers, sautéed mushrooms, a thick smear of Cypress Grove local chevre on soft buns with a steak knife stabbed in it. The meal came with mixed greens, tomato, red onion and their “Pub Fries,” which is basically their own unfussy rendition of fresh-cut Pomme Frites, for about $12.

The burger was bomb. Under seasoned, but in a consciously healthful way. Since well, grass beef doesn’t need much salt. Unsurprisingly, their medium rare was more “well” done than rare. The buns were amongst the softest I’ve had, as far as burger standards go. But all this just digresses from the fact that there was a thick, white, opaque dollop of local Cypress Grove chevre on a freaking burger. Chevre is the missing link on burgers. It works double shift; soft and creamy enough to replicate what a mayonnaise or aioli would do, and richly flavored enough to satisfy that tangy richness that a slice of cheddar or any other hard cheese would impart. The mushrooms and peppers were ample as well, barely cooked and unmushy.

To further the heavy metal feeling of the dinner, I washed the beast down with a “Back in Black” Black IPA from 21^st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco. I am in the “Black IPA” phase of a budding beer enthusiasts at this moment and this was by far my favorite. It’s just something about the corequisite flavors of malt and hops in the same cup of beer, for the beer geek that wants it all.

The meal set me back only $17 and it turned out that the bartender is close friends with the owner of Cypress Grove cheese, yes creator of Humboldt Fog cheese. She informed me that the owner “was a single mom who did every step of the process by herself,” including driving down to San Francisco and distributing her cheese weekly. And that she recently, “sold her company for millions to Swiss dairy.”

Well, I may have not discussed the subtleties of an inquartata fencing pose with the rest of my fencing adversaries but I did eat one of the best damn burgers of my life thus far.

Humboldt Brews

856 10th St. Arcata, CA 95521

707.826.BREW

For all of you beginning photographers out there, a little contest notification that might be relevant to you just showed up in my inbox. The theme is pretty simple, “submit photo stories based on a theme taken within a 24 hour 1-day time frame.” And the theme this year is…“What’s On Your Plate Today?”

Stuck in traffic? Snap a shot of the guy of the guy that flipped you off! Had pizza for lunch? Get all macro on that shit to capture the grease stains on the cardboard and fade the edges a little! Whatever, just go out there and snap them photos.

For more info, check out their website.

I saw your site last year and I have been saving it, so I can pick the best lunch spot. I don’t get to LA often because I am far to the North. I have to go to USC tommorow. Any advice on restuarants within 10 min drive from USC.

Thanks,

Anthony

A fan of your site.

Anthony,

First of all, thanks for reading and keeping it old school, means a lot, gonna try to write more exclusive theglutster.com stuff.

Well, I might be seeing you there in the near future man, I just applied and am waiting to hear from them soon.

Foodwise, I hear that Manna’s is the shit for starving student dining, in particular their lunch buffet. It’s an Indian food joint so you can pretty much forget about dinner that night if you eat according to your “growing body,” haha.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/manas-indian-cuisine-los-angeles-2

But if you really want something awesome and different, drive a little farther south until you hit The Pelican, a Belizean food joint. I was supposed to do a few review for the CRA-LA until they were put on the cutting block. So now, it’s all yours, and anyone else that still reads this old blog.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-pelican-belizean-cuisine-los-angeles

I’ve been there once, they have some interesting stuff, like red snapper steamed almost Jerk-style with onions, except with a hell of a lot more clove. Or some really Mexican-like things, like fried tacos stuffed with ground fish and eaten with slightly fermented onions. Also, pretty cheap, less than $10. Although, from what I remember, there was only one guy working the place and he had a little attitude, but fuck it, you’re here for the food.

Lates! Let me know where you end up and how it went.

Cheers, and more beers.

Photo by Paola Briseño

ADDENDUM:

(Taken from commenter Jin because she is awesome)

“Don’t forget the mercado la paloma where mochica and chichen itza live. they’re not too expensive and very worth it! also, there is a juice bar there as well as affordable thai food. there is lemonade at the usc campus that’s pretty legit, and across the street is health hut in the uv where the juices are cheaper than jamba juice. their salads and sandwiches aren’t bad either. bacaro has great happy hour at 5pm where all the food is $5. the burger there is amazing. just up hoover and olympic is the olympic cheonggukjang, which is my fave korean restaurant”

Well, what ended up happening was just me pretty much half-assing everything and not coming through successfully on any front, nor academic or writing. I failed math my math class yet again and fell behind in writing. But thanks to a recent “WTF” epiphany, I’ve realized my lazy ass ways and will now strive to change them. Yes, Gustavo Arellano, if you are reading this, your wish has come true for more Chicano bloggers as you and I type!

El Malecón” in Puerto Vallarta, bustling

That being said, I’m going to base my next series of posts on my recent discoveries of awesome food in Mexico, San Francisco, Portland and wherever else the tasty will take me. In other words the pitches and stories about food, booze and music that Saveur didn’t buy, haha. Oh, the joys to write so freely and with so many grammar and syntax mistakes. Now, if I go broke, that is all your guys’ fault!

For all the right reasons, I found myself in the lovely city of Puerto Vallarta this last new years eve. I was introduced to the local people, food and traditions of such an underestimated part of Mexico. Vallarta is not as corporate as Cancun, at all and in terms of regional authentic foods and drinks, it’s pretty much undiscovered as fuck with some pretty eccentric street foods readily available. Even at El Malecón, the city’s Universal Citywalk of sorts complete with a Bubba Gump Shrimp Factory and all, you will find drinks such as Tuba, a fermented coconut fizzy drink sprinkled with pecan and apple pieces that made its way from the Philippines during the Spanish conquest — now accustomed in the costeño tradition because of all the dang coconuts that grow everywhere.

refreshing Tuba

Walk a little deeper into La Zona Romántica and ask for the locals price on such things as local oysters from the neighboring coastal state of Nayarit or Ceviche de Calamar, local calamari treated with ketchup paste, lime and cilantro. The ceviche, in Vallarta fashion, is made with tons of shredded carrot and finely ground fish, although no Tilapia here, think Dorado or Red Snapper fish caught earlier that day. Yup, tis’ all common street food in the city of Bugambilias flowers blossom pridefully. As a matter of fact, there is a small CANIRAC walk of fame dedicated to Puerto Vallarta for it’s awesome hospitality and local cuisine

Local oysters from Nayarit for about $6 US for half about a dozen

Tostadas de ceviche: Street Food in Vallarta

But as the night gets deeper and the beer and tequila munchies start to creep in, there is really only one place you need to know about. El Carboncito in the north end of downtown on Honduras street. This place changed my life, ie. my beliefs in the al pastor taco system.

The tacos I grew up in Los Angeles, the city of Mexicans of every generation a’ plenty — was not this. In Los Angeles there are trompo’s, the prized vertical spits in the Lebanese Shwarma style that every self proclaimed taco expert swears by. But they are seldom ever sliced directly off the spit into a tortilla to eat directly as is. No, they are usually finished off in a pan, just like any other standard taco meat, right? As long as there is plenty of caramelized onion, achiote and citrus flavor?

Well, not really, a real taco de al pastor is three or four paper-thin slivers of pork on a tiny tortilla with a squirt of salsa, dash of cilantro, onions and lime. They are less flavorful things in this world that can be engulfed in a single bite and in dangerously large amount like this. But the most important part of the taco is a tiny one; the tiny chunk of cooked fresh pineapple atop each corn cake. It might be the meat-tenderizing/digestion enhancing bromelain in the fruit or just the same pineapple-pork phenomena that occurs in Hawaiian pizzas, whatever it is. There is no way to have an al pastor taco ever again.

Living in East Los Angeles for the later half of my life, I’ve seen a lot of my friends unexpectedly become baby daddies. At the same time, I have also seen a lot of my friends benefit from the free services at Planned Parenthood and not become baby daddies. It sucks that current conservative politicians want to cut funding to the organization because they say that no tax money should go to an organization that “perform abortions.” Although, by law, federal funding can not be allocated for abortions. Planned Parenthood sources its funding for abortions by private donors such as The Justice Fund and The Abortion Fund (as stated on their website).

With this nonsense controversy, such event is an important fundraiser for this organization. Join some of the best restaurants in L.A. support this cause too.

(taken from PPLA Food Fare 2012 press release)

More than 150 of Los Angeles’ best restaurants, caterers, wineries, florists and entertainers will gather at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on Thursday, March 8th for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles’ (PPLA) renowned annual Food Fare event.

Food Fare is produced by the Planned Parenthood Guild, a group of 200 women dedicated to providing financial and volunteer support for Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles (PPLA). Planned Parenthood Los Angeles’ 18 health
centers provide care to over 120,000 women, men, and teens each year. Over 93% of the care Planned Parenthood
provides is preventative, including life-saving cancer screenings, birth control, annual exams, and STD testing and
treatment.

Check out my coverage of the event back in 2009 to see what’s up!

I know the price for this food event is kinda high but if you could spare the cash and have time then come down. I you can’t make it, feel free to donate to them here.

Ahh! The music writer has become the written about, haha. Well, isn’t this a hell of a way to bust out of this month long writing hiatus (more on that to be covered on next post but in a nutshell…SCHOOL!)

Believe it or not, the East L.A. alternative post-punk rock community is a pretty close knit bunch. Poffy and David Loks of Fotogrofia Desmadrosa will be there documenting this whole urban shindig so make sure to smile and flash those guys. Poffy will also be selling his handmade jewelery “Shit by Poffy.” Word on the facebook street is that there will also be vegan avocado tostadas for sale!

Yup, the good ol’ golden era of punk rock in East Los Angeles is to be relived tonight at Josh’s pad, one of the few legendary “raid-proof” backyard venues ever. In the true spirit of punk rock, I have no idea what time my band will go on, also, I haven’t bought a new guitar yet so any temporary donors are welcome (hoping on my little cousin’s Squire). I’ll buy you a beer! I’ve shunned my band mates these last two weeks so don’t expect too much synchronization between us, haha.

That is all for now, cheers, more beers and fuck you stay punk.

Of course, my first post after a two-month hiatus is going to be about drinking pulque in Guadalajara.

Is there a better way to decompress after finally applying to transfer to a university and finally (somewhat) writing for a living? I think not. OK, perhaps drinking some Tesqüino, corn booze, from Raramuri natives in Chihuahua? One day. For now, I’ll settle for this.

Although Guadalajara has contributed to perhaps the most popular craft brew in all of Mexico with its prideful “Minerva” beer. There are still some local pulqueria’s if you look hard enough. Google “pulqueria” and “Guadalajara” and one of the first hits you will see is a message on Yahoo Mexico Respuestas stating “no creo porque en guadalajara no son pulqueros, son cerveceros y tequileros.” Well, while that is undoubtedly true. There are still a proud few available to those who choose to chug the luscious fermented sap of the Maguey plant instead.

La Pulkata is a chill pulqueria in Guadalajara, one of two left in the whole city according to the guy who was serving us. La Pulkata located in a suburban part of town, on two small streets named Pedro Loza & Eulogio Parra. It’s still hard as hell to find with the nearest metro stop being a couple of miles away. But as soon as you spot an old toilet that has been transformed into a pot with a flowering Blue Agave plant with a hand brushed sign that reads “La Pulkata” in opaque paint – you’re there.

El Padre Nuestro Pulquero

La Pulkata not so much a bar or place to drink alcohol than it is a café to meet a friend and chat. The room is small, with a few tables and a sofa set before the main counter. The walls are adorned with those popular black and white portraits of thick-mustached Mexican revolutionaries like Pancho Villa sipping pulque, you know, those that make you wonder why pulque is almost extinct?

Some pleasantly fast Mexican Ska-core music will probably be bumping loudly on one of those old-school, blocky wooden consoles in the middle of the drinking area. Sit down anywhere, the easygoing young dude with sagged pants and frizzled hair will come to you and take your order.

The menu for “curaditos,” the cutesy name given to pulque that is blended with fruits, veggies and grains is hand written and is rather extensive. It includes flavors like carrot, peanut, oatmeal, jicama, cucumber, guava or just “blanco,” the pure milky sap served as is without anything added; sour, my favorite.

My lovely girlfriend and her friend acting as my drinking mates for the evening ask nicely if there is a way we can taste a little of all of them. A minute later, tiny “probadita” sized shot cups arrive to the table in pairs and sometimes trio’s. They show up as fast as the bar’s small blender in the back could whip them up. Each curado is blended only moments before so the fruit sediment is still floating around the inside of your cup when you receive it.

The server and one-man kitchen staff started me off with a blanco “na-tu-ral.” The sap tastes just like it did when I sucked it out of the Maguey myself in my tio’s rancho in El El Jagüey, Hidalgo. The taste? Hmm…well, something like the Indian probiotic drink, kefir but mixed with the acidic tinge of G.T. Dave’s “Green Algae” Kombucha then add the texture of the Korean, unfiltered rice wine, Magkoli? Even then, the flavor and texture is completely unique of all these things.

Next to the blanco is the unfermented counterpart of pulque called Aguamiel, the sweet, translucent juice before the sugar is turned alcoholic. Then the guayaba (guava), tasting more like a Mexican licuado or thicker version of an Agua Fresca made with the aromatic fruit. Then the cacahuate, thick and extra milky with blended roasted peanuts that tastes like a drinkable version of the Mexican candy, Mazapan. Every other curado followed this delicious pattern of tasting just like the fruit or vegetable or grain it was blended with right after after.

As per Mexican tradition when out drinking, a complimentary “botana” or snack is always available if you ask for it. The botana for this particular evening at La Pulkata was a plate of sliced crisp jicama and slivered cucumber with a tiny bowl filled with Chile con Gusanito, the dried chili powder mixture enlivened with the earthiness of Agave wormies.

After trying each of the pulque’s. I ordered a full cup (similar to the traditional “tornillo” size cup of the drink) of the peanut one followed by a cup of the natural, white one, extra sour.

Like beer, pulque is pretty damn filling. After tasting all of them and drinking two full tornillo sized portions, I was pretty full. Although, not really buzzed at all. Fortunately though, someone had just brought in some local raicilla for the bar to try. Raicilla is the other agave liquor made from the non-blue wild agave’s that grow around the Jalisco Mountains. In Mexico, we don’t have digestif’s but we do have sharp tasting agave spirits “para el desempanse.” Literally translating to “de-gut” your belly after eating a lot of food or drinking a lot of liquids.

And the raicilla did just that. It was called “Sierra Mascota” and it was the best I have ever sipped, tasting elatedly of tropical fruits like cherimoya and pineapple; not aggressive at all. I would of bought a bottle if it wasn’t the bar’s only one they had.

I liked the light curados and thin blanco’s here a lot more than the thick-as-hell, slimy ones that I had at Pulqueria “Las Duelistas” in Mexico City. But no matter what, there is nothing like sucking it out of the Maguey itself and drinking it at room temperature a few hours later.

Nonetheless, I’ll take pulque over beer, any day and any way.

La Pulkata
Pedro Loza 719,
Guadalajara, Mexico
44100
tel. 33306825
cel. 3310978086
mail. pulquimia@gmail.com

5 PM to 11 PM Monday through Thursday
5 PM to 1 AM Friday and Saturday

http://www.pulquimia.org/