grand opening is still a few days away, but i thought since i m in town i d help advise danny on the new menu. give him the benefits of my tasting notes. and i ve got to be honest, i was thinking, how good could it be? can machete run a good restaurant, and why? anthony: so we re going to see trejo s taco s all across america at some point. danny: that d be awesome. taco truck on every corner. anthony: this is delicious. danny: awesome. anthony: on the menu tonight, jidori chicken with a chipotle cream sauce, some charred branzino with summer squash and sauteed poblanos peppers and crispy pork tacos with black garlic mole and some fat sacks of uni. and lots of healthy greens. anthony: why healthy? danny: because we have such an obese problem in the united states, especially latinos. so we had to find a way to make it tasty, but healthy.
la reyna on east 7th is a late-night thing down the street from where cartoon and estevan used to live. run by abigail and her team, the place serves mulitas not quite a taco, not a quesadilla more of a taco sandwich. first, the tortilla on the grill, then marinated meat, cheese, then another tortilla, flip and serve. la renya is located in the downtown arts district right across the bridge from boyle heights, a working-class, densely packed neighborhood of about 100,000 residents. nearly 95% are mexican or central american. anthony: now how mexican is l.a? i mean, how deep was mr. cartoon: this was mexico, you know what i mean? anthony: yeah. mr. cartoon: all the names, i mean, all the people, i mean, it s you could go into certain parts of east l.a. in the harbor area, hollywood area, and see nothing but latinos. a lot of other areas of l.a. are mixed, you know, but this side