To Live and Eat in L.A.

Hugo’s fans take note: both the restaurant and the taco stand have new specials going at the moment, and both are as expected, delicious.

Hugo’s Restaurant has currently got this Happy Happy Holiday Feast: Two ‘New American’ veggie patties with our vegan, gluten-free gravy. Served with mixed seasonal vegetables, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. Vegans, you MUST specify that you want to substitute either rice or roasted potatoes since the mashed potatoes are not vegan.

This is really nice, their veggie patties are always good, great texture, flavor and crunch- but what makes this dish awesome is the gravy. It’s thick & creamy with a full-bodied flavor of mushrooms & rosemary. While I wish they’d just make their mashed potatoes vegan so I could eat this yummy gravy slathered all over them, it’s really good with the roasted potatoes too. The cranberry sauce was delicious as well, more like a compote with full plump berries in juice… I don’t have a picture of it for you because they forgot to bring it at first and I had to ask for it, by then I’d already started eating this lovely plate of food you see before you.

If you prefer you could also order this special with their grilled tofu instead of the patties, their tofu is really good too, but I say stick with the patties because they rule. They’ll also make it with chicken breast, but that’s just gnarly gross so we’re not even gonna go there.

Next up, check out what they’ve got going on over at Hugo’s Tacos…
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From what I can tell, Mama’s Hot Tamales Cafe in Macarthur Park has been around since at least 2003. So why is it that I’ve never heard of it before now? How is it possible that a place so delightful, delicious and vegan-friendly has gone under the radar of not just me but everyone else I know? Have you all just been keeping this discovery to yourselves, squirreling it away like a well-guarded secret? Well it’s not a secret anymore because I’m blowing the lid off this thing, so put on your loose fitting pants Los Angelenos and get ready to eat! A bit of what this place is all about, from their website:

“Mama’s Hot Tamales Café is an apprentice-operated business and job training restaurant that provides hands-on and classroom instruction designed to train low-and-moderate-income residents living within the central region of Los Angeles in the disciplines necessary to begin a career path toward success in the culinary world.

Under the watchful eye of Sandi “Mama” Romero, participants acquire the knowledge, abilities, and skills to pursue opportunities in the food service while working in Mama’s Hot Tamales Café. Featuring authentic presentations of regional dishes from throughout the Americas, this unique dining experience engages patrons as valuable participants in the education training process of our future food service professionals.”

Yeah all that, plus they make authentic made-from-scratch tamales and other foods in the traditional styles of various Latin American countries, including Guatemalan, Mexican, Columbian, Peruvian, Honduran and Salvadoran.

Let’s begin at the beginning. It’s the tamales which give this place it’s street cred, and let me tell you, that cred has been rightfully earned. This was the most delicious tamale I personally have ever tasted. I claim no expertise on the matter, it was just by far my favorite of any tamale that I’ve had the pleasure of eating, vegan or otherwise. I really like the Corn Maiden farmers market tamales, but these at Mama’s are in a league of their own. I’ve always enjoyed tamales, but in comparision to all the other amazing foods on earth, tamales are not the sort of thing I’d normally be raving about… but I’m raving now… these are not your everyday, pull it out of freezer at Trader Joes sort of tamale.

The tamales are individually wrapped in corn husks, banana leaves or avocado leaves depending on their recipes country of origin. Looks like banana leaves above, doesn’t it? Mama’s is not an all vegetarian restaurant, however they are very vegan friendly and aware, and even their menu (.pdf) is clearly marked with what all can be made vegan, which is nearly everything. The tamales themselves are not on the menu, I think because their selection varies daily.
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