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Javier Cabral

Editor for James Beard Award-winning L.A. TACO. Associate Producer for JBA-winning Las Crónicas Del Taco. Former restaurant scout for Jonathan Gold. Co-Author of “Oaxaca: Home Cooking From the Heart of Mexico (2019, Abrams) and “Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling” (2023, Abrams).

Who Keeps Whitewashing Boyle Heights’ Anti-Gentrification Mural?

“We’re not going to let the gentrification of Boyle Heights go under the radar," says Viva Padilla, the founder of the anti-gentrification collective who collaborated with local artist Sergio Robleto to create the Posada-inspired art. They both have their suspicions of who is responsible for it.

December 2, 2023

Gusto Bread Expands Its Sourdough Panadería in Long Beach, Roasting Its Own Coffee and Making Hoja Santa-Matcha Lattes

Café Cuate will sell Oaxacan coffee from importers based in Mexico, a conscious decision by Enciso and Salatino to keep the money in Mexico, where the coffee is grown. There will also be an atole latte made with their house-ground nixtamal and a 'Xicano' instead of an 'Americano' drink, shaken with piloncillo.

November 17, 2023

Three of the Most Venerated Names in California Punk Played an O.C. Punk Festival This Weekend

Punk in the Park in Orange County is southern California's most exciting punk festival since Warped Tour.

November 7, 2023

Head to Los Feliz to Try Colonche, Mexico’s Refreshing Fermented Cactus Fruit Beverage That Almost Went Extinct

It’s a lightly alcoholic pre-conquest beverage of Indigenous origin, made from fermenting "tuna" cactus fruit that grows on nopales. The flavor is extremely refreshing, semi-sweet, tropical-leaning, and tangy at first. But it finishes dry. 

October 25, 2023

A Protest Demanding An End to Israel’s Bombing of Gaza Brings Tens of Thousands to March Through Downtown L.A.

An estimated 50,000 people of all age ranges and backgrounds supported the peaceful demonstration, which called for a ceasefire and the end of Israel's occupation of Palestine. The energy was palpable and many who have been active in Palestine's struggle say it was the biggest turnout they've seen in Los Angeles so far.

October 23, 2023

Bellflower’s New Sonoran Taquería Has Everything, Rivaling L.A.’s Best

The shop's paper-thin flour tortillas are made just for them by a local tortillería, specifically with lard, because that’s how it’s supposed to be if you’re eating tacos in Sonora. They also use Prime-grade beef and have the crispiest tripitas in SELA. The brothers who own it are from Obregón, Sonora.

October 19, 2023

The Seven Best Tacos Along Metro’s K Line, From Crenshaw to Inglewood

The K Line is Metro's newest light rail line that cruises through the heart of Black Los Angeles, from Nipsey Square to Leimert Park. The taco scene along this route is all about hustle, featuring some of the cities must under-the-radar community gems like a historic L.A. taquería with a killer red salsa, lightly crunchy "enchilada tacos," and so much more. Next stop: flavor.

September 29, 2023

The Eight Best Punk Bars and Venues in Los Angeles

This may be the last generation of beautifully grimy punk bars and venues in a city that is overdeveloping all of these counterculture community spaces into the post-gentrification abyss. Go and support by buying drinks at all these places to make sure they stick around for the next generation.

September 27, 2023

This 24-Year-Old Latina Mortician Beautifies the Dead and Influences the Living

Growing up in Arleta with a first-generation family from El Salvador, Berrios admits that her family only embraced her career choice two years ago, after she started to win awards like “Young Funeral Director of the Year.” The 24-year-old works as the licenced funeral director and embalmer at Hollywood Forever cemetery. As a young person born in peak Generation Z, she's documented her deathcare journey on TikTok and has accrued more than 43K followers on the platform. 

September 21, 2023