The Best Things I Ate Last Week
Tripas tacos and mortadella sandwiches in Los Angeles, plus what to order at a legendary St. Louis deli.
Heyo!
Welcome to The Move, friends! Today’s edition is done “roundup style.” That’s where I lazily cover a bunch of different topics without offering anything of real substance! Nah, come on. I’m full of substances! Check my blood if you want!!
I was offered a $50 gift card to Homestate. Lol.
You may remember that I talked a bunch of shit on Homestate in the past. Well, their PR person reached out to offer me a $50 gift card to try their new breakfast taco/brisket collab with Franklin BBQ. At first I thought this was a trap, but the more logical answer is that these people just don’t read what I write.
I know what you’re thinking: Did you take the $50 gift card you absolute turd? No, and I really wanted $50 worth of free tacos. Fuck, do you know how hard it is to not be a hypocrite? Pretty hard, man! Maybe I should have just taken the gift card and accepted the free food, but I’ve got some weird sense of journalistic integrity even though I don’t think anybody would ever describe me as a journalist. Fun dickhead, yes. Journalist, no.
Anyway, I’m sure the breakfast tacos were fine. The great news is I ate a bunch of other stuff I liked instead, things that I paid for with my own money. And hey, that’s what this is all about: Honest and insightful food recommendations from a food writer using their own god damn money.
Real quick! Before we continue. Subscribe! Pay if you want. It helps ensure that I can afford to eat and write as much as I do!
The Best Things I Ate Last Week
The Il Mortazza at Ceci’s Gastronomia
If you know me, you know that I love Ceci’s in Silver Lake. Recently, they started selling more focaccia sandwiches, and it is now my mission to eat them all, starting with the Il Mortazza (the mortadella).
The Il Mortazza ($16.50) is a big honkin’ focaccia sandwich that wallops you across the face with salt, fat, and creaminess. Ceci’s is legendary for their Genovese-style bread, which is oily, crispy, and thinner than most. For the mortazza, they use two big discs of dimpled focaccia, and in-between stuff it with savory ribbons of imported mortadella, pickled eggplant, burrata, and a mound of arugula. This sandwich is huge, and it needs to be, because with a tip it’s going to run you close to $20.
The il mortazza is wonderfully decadent due to the mortadella and burrata, but there’s a crucial saltiness to it that comes from the focaccia and pickled eggplant. Francesco (the owner and chef) grills the sliced eggplant and marinates it in olive oil, garlic, parsley, salt, and peperoncino before laying it on the focaccia. It’s similar to how they put eggplant on chickpea pancakes in Livorno. That eggplant is deliciously sweet and salty, augmenting the rich-in-flavor mortadella sando without being too much. It reminds me of adding roasted red peppers (sweets) to a hoagie in Philadelphia. The il mortazza is a nuanced, indulgent, two-hander of a lunch that’s well worth the price tag. In short, this sandwich fuckin’ rocks.
The Move for The Il Mortazza: Pick it up on the weekend, when you’re really splurging. Grab a blood orange soda, too. More citrus to cut through the fatty mortadella.
Ceci’s Gastronomia
2813 W. Sunset Blvd 90026
The Nopales Burrito at Tacos Villa Corona
SoCal burritos are undefeated, and I sorely missed getting incredible ones like the nopales at Tacos Villa Corona in Atwater Village, which costs a measly $6.
Nopales have a rather bitter flavor, and they’re decidedly not for everyone. For me, the tart, lemony notes excite my taste buds, especially when paired with eggs. As far as meatless burritos go, the nopales at Tacos Villa Corona demands your attention. It features scrambled eggs, a handful of spinach, cheese, pinto beans, onion, cilantro, and salsa. It tastes fresh, filling, but also light. I felt like a champion after eating it. Sometimes a breakfast burrito can ruin your morning, sapping you of both physical and mental energy. That’s not a problem here. After a nopales breakfast burrito, you’ll feel satiated and ready to tackle the day.
Also, Tacos Villa Corona deserves a special shoutout for their hot sauce, which is simply made with chile de árbol, water, salt, and garlic. It is extra dark and extra fiery. Big fan.
I’ve also heard great things about the chilaquiles chorizo breakfast burrito, which only costs $7. In the face of such steep food prices these days, Tacos Villa Corona serving nutritious, well-made breakfast burritos is a revelation.
Tacos Villa Corona
3185 Glendale Blvd. 90039
The Ragù at Uovo in Mid-Wilshire
Earlier this week I wrote about Uovo, and it needs to be stated again just how delicious their traditional ragù is. For $18, this pasta dish is a must-cop. The tagliatelle, which is rich, unctuous, and salty, completely stands on its own. It doesn’t need sauce to be tasty, but the simply made ragù (no cheese, milk, or cream) ends up being the perfect partner.
Apparently, the ragù at Uovo follows the same recipe from Antica Trattoria della Gigina in Bologna. Uovo has a huge influence from Bologna (it’s where their pasta is made, actually), and the pasta dishes all reflect the understated, elegant nature of true Italian pasta. There’s a reason actual Italians love this place. Go discover why.
The process for Uovo’s pasta is fascinating. They make the pasta in Bologna, then fly it over in a passenger plane, where “the flight time is part of the resting time.” Per an email from a Uovo representative, they make the pasta in Italy purely because it’s a quality issue. They must be using some excellent ingredients over there, because the pasta rocks.
Uovo Mid-Wilshire
6245 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 103 90048
The Hot Salami at Gioia’s Deli in St. Louis
Gioia’s is a deli that’s been around since 1918, and their hot salami sandwich has also endured over 100 years. The original hot salami sandwich ($12 for a large, $9 for a small) is sliced to order and features pepperoncini, mustard, and sliced onion on an impossibly crusty local French bread. When you think of salami, you’re probably thinking about cold, salty, nitrate-filled deli salami. Don’t do that. This is more more like round-cut sausage or brisket. It falls apart tenderly, and almost kind of reminds me of pâté the way that it’s deeply meaty and soft. This type of salami is wildly popular in St. Louis. Apparently, Gioia’s sell 3,000 pounds of the stuff a week.
The sandwich is simple, mustardy, and meaty, but what really makes this thing croon is the bread. Fazio’s bakery makes one of the best damn french baguettes you’ll ever have. It’s flaky and soft with an awesome crumb, great for toasting or served cold. It squishes and melds together seamlessly with all of the ingredients. Structure aside, it’s also just delicious, man. You’ll remember this bread.
The real move at Gioia’s is asking for the sandwich to be made on garlic cheese bread, which elevates the hot salami from simple and old school to bold and fun.
The only knock on the hot salami sandwich is that it’s a little pricy. $12 is a little steep by St. Louis standards, but still not outrageous. I can also confirm that The Spicy Daggett (hot salami, capicola, giardiniera, and pepperjack) is one of the best hot Italian sandwiches out there. If you’ve been craving a grinder lately, check out the Spicy Daggett. Long live hot Italian sandwiches.
Oh, and if you’re going to Gioia’s, make sure to grab a bag of Old Vienna Red Hot Riplets. These are spicy, cheesy, sweet, salty, and savory barbecue chips. More barbecue chips should have multiple flavors, including cheese!!
Gioia’s Deli “The Hill”
1934 Macklind Ave. 63110
The Matnakash Bread from Glendale Fine Bakery
Matnakash bread is a leavened bread that dates back to 1930’s Soviet Armenia, and this oblong loaf costs a paltry $2.99 at the Jons in Little Armenia. It’s soft, fluffy, chewy, and tender with a golden crust. It’s got a subtle sweet flavor to it that I just adore, too. Apparently the process for Matnakash bread calls for rubbing the dough with sweetened tea essence before baking. This bread is great for ripping and dipping—the type of bread I always keep on hand to sop up olive oil, hummus, or egg yolks at home. It’s good table bread through and through. Bread of this quality is a steal at 3 bucks, and moreover, the Jons in Little Armenia is packed with other great grocery finds and cheap liquor. Hit. It. Up.
Jons in Little Armenia
5315 Santa Monica Blvd 90029
The Tripas Taco from Tacos Tamix
A taco truck with multiple locations run by Rolando Martínez, this Tacos Tamix sits outside of the Jons at 5315 Santa Monica Blvd on most nights, and it’s a great place to indoctrinate yourself to the joys of a crunchy tripas taco.
Though the al pastor is chunky, sweet, and tinged with spices, it’s not my favorite al pastor in the city (I prefer the tanginess of Leo’s or the smokiness and char of Angel’s). I’m more partial to the tripas taco, which is unbeatably crispy and savory. The tripas have a neutral liver flavor (not too strong, I promise), which makes it a great vehicle for all the buckets of fixins outlining the front of the truck. Tripas beg to be topped Tamix’s cilantro and onion, squeezed limes, mild salsa verde, or their much more aggressive salsa roja. Load it the hell up and enjoy. The tacos at Tacos Tamix cost two dollars apiece, and come served with fluffy steamed corn tortillas.
Hey! Everything on this list was pretty damn cheap. That’s a vibe I’d like to keep going moving forward. After all, I’m not accepting $50 gift cards at this time.
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Until next time! Ciao or whatever-the-fuck!
Gioia’s hot salami is actually head cheese.
And yet other Takeout writers have talked about reviewing free stuff companies send them as do writers on the sister sites. What's the difference? Did the policy change?
Am I mis remembering? You can still write an honest review of free food.....