"Lidia Chavarria’s Pico-Union restaurant, founded in 1996, serves Valles Centrales cuisine including thick, wide memelas topped with chorizo, tasajo, or cecina and spicy salsa roja; the dish is rich with asientos, a black bean puree scented with avocado leaf, swirls of quesillo, and complex salsas that make it a meal unto itself." - Bill Esparza