A gentle breeze blew through the courtyards of Union Station Friday night, making for a cool and comfortable evening. AltaMed’s East LA Meets Napa was sprawled across the entire area with Mexican delights, fine wines and kick-you-in-the-teeth tequila.
It was disappointing that Cacao Mexicatessen ran out of albacore tostadas before we arrived at their table, but Jim Shaw’s swordfish tacos al pastor at Loteria! More than make up for it. One other standout seafood dish was Hugo Molina of Seta’s succulent sweet shrimp dish.
There were not as many variety meats as in years past, although El Portal offered a delicious lengua taco, Guisado’s had a duck taco that made duck fat drip sexily down your chin, and Chalio offered their traditional birria, made this year with lamb. Perhaps the best dish of the night was Rocio’s squash blossom empanada encased in a bright green dough.
Let’s not forget the wines. Ochoa had an outstanding zinfandel, Alex Sotelo and Rutherford were also standouts. Tributo tequila kept the party flowing into the night.
