5 Things to Eat, Cook, and Shop for Right Now

"A lot of tortas you get in New York are so comically meaty and overstuffed that should you manage to actually finish one, the tortería should commission a plaque commemorating the occasion and nail it to the wall. By comparison, the Mexico City–style tortas that Chicago superchef Rick Bayless serves at his new Nomad tortería, Tortazo, look svelte. Which is not to say, having eaten a bunch of them, they’re lacking or insubstantial or anything but absolutely delicious. Of the six on offer ($12.75 to $14.50), we especially like the Cubana (smoked pork loin, bacon, avocado, chipotle mustard, crema) and the cochinita pibil: slow-cooked pork shoulder with pickled red onion and a habanero salsa that will light your tongue on fire and cause steam to shoot from your ears. These tortas come on superb telera rolls that get griddle-toasted to order, which makes all the difference."