Thirteen years after Wes Avila first turned the classic taco de papa on its head by using in-season, local sweet potatoes, he continues to evolve his iconic, accidentally vegetarian taco. Five iterations of that iconic taco later, it now comes in a superlatively crunchy flauta filled with fluffy steamed Okinawan sweet potato and fried in rice bran oil, a best-seller at MXO by Wes Avila, his Mexican steakhouse on La Cienega.
“If you could copyright taco recipes like you can copyright lyrics or music, I’d be a rich man,” Avila jokes inside the elegant dining room of his eight-month-old new restaurant. “But nah man, I get it. As a chef, inspiration comes from everywhere.”
Avila’s sweet potato taco has been copied by many in L.A. and beyond. It’s also a best-seller at his taquería in Kyoto, PioPiko, proving that this taco is also effectively huge in Japan. Closer to home, a variation of that taco sits comfortably on Andrew Ponce’s menu at Silver Lake's modern Mexican restaurant, A Tí.