A Tiny Koreatown Restaurant Hides a Bounty of Regional Oaxacan Cooking | Eater LA

"I recommend coming on Sunday, when members of Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte arrive in traditional clothing and the place feels like a little community comedor. Tucked along Vermont Avenue in Koreatown, the compact interior has just a few tables and a steam table with a dozen or so pans of stews, moles, and soups (some of which aren’t even on the old menu board left by the previous owner). Weekends feature special Sierra Norte recipes that Panchita Montellano — the restaurant’s traditional cook and co-owner who learned many dishes from her mother, Alicia Montellano of Comedor Licha in Yalálag — prepares by request, including caldo de costilla oreada (salted, cured, soaked beef ribs cooked in a light stock of dried red chiles and avocado leaves) served with rolled black bean tamales, hand-stirred frothy pozontle (a cacao drink with a bitter molasses finish I like with rice), and simple tacos serranos (a warm rolled corn tortilla brushed with flavorful asientos, sprinkled with cheese, and served with spicy salsa roja). The restaurant is also a house of clayudas: Panchita makes outstanding clayudas using high-quality asientos and artisanal moronga sourced from Poncho Martinez, with imported quesillo, add-ons like tasajo, Oaxacan chorizo, or cecina, a fresh crispy tortilla, herb-scented black bean puree, and a smoked-chile salsa roja; the clayudas are folded, toasted on a gas grill, cut into large wedges, and served hot. I’ve also enjoyed the cocina económica combo plates (sopa aguada, sopa seca, and a guisado) for about $10 — no tax — and daily stews that change regularly, from mole negro to caldo de pollo with chayote and green beans to pig’s feet in salsa verde, which show the depth of Panchita’s cooking. It’s remarkable that such a compact space can be a destination for so much authentic Sierra Norte cooking. " - Bill Esparza