La Morada
Oaxacan restaurant · Mott Haven ·
Oaxacan cuisine, lending library, community activism, Poet in Residence
Oaxacan cuisine, lending library, community activism, Poet in Residence
"A Bronx restaurant ended a partnership with World Central Kitchen in 2020 after learning that José Andrés had openly praised the Department of Homeland Security and ICE in 2017 for helping WCK distribute food in Puerto Rico." - Jaya Saxena
"La Morada in Mott Haven is in one lavender room with the lighting scheme of a dental office. Plain decor aside, much like Donald Glover, the kitchen is good at pretty much everything. The tamales are like warm little pillows made of chicken and corn, and we’d gladly eat an entire meal of the crunchy gorditas. But the real reason you come here is the mole. Get the mole oaxaqueño. It’s a deep red color, and it’s possibly more complex than any equation currently being worked on by Nobel laureates." - willa moore, bryan kim, will hartman, neha talreja, carlo mantuano, sonal shah
"By design, a visit to La Morada in Mott Haven takes you out of your boring daily routine: the restaurant with an activist heart and a selection of lick-the-plate-clean moles is only open on weekdays, until 5pm. It’s the perfect excuse to play hooky, or take a long lunch break on a work-from-home day. Have a seat in the canteen-like space and rifle through various pamphlets for causes they support, while digging into a hearty meal of Oaxacan classics, like chicken in a clove-heavy mole oaxaqueño, or daily specials, like albondigas stuffed with green olives. If your weeknight dinner routine needs a little shaking up too, take home some fresh tortillas and a container of mole poblano—it’s a great base for any protein you want to add in." - sonal shah, bryan kim, willa moore, will hartman, molly fitzpatrick, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, sonal shah, will hartman, willa moore, bryan kim, will hartman, bryan kim, sonal shah, willa moore, sonal shah, will hartman, neha talreja, neha talreja, sonal shah
"La Morada in Mott Haven looks like a community center, papered with flyers about various activist meetings. It functions more like a community kitchen, though, routinely serving free meals to immigrants, and affordable ones to anyone who walks in (Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm). Hearty Oaxacan classics, like chicken in a clove-heavy mole oaxaqueño, or daily specials, like albondigas stuffed with green olives, pair beautifully with their homemade tortillas. New Yorkers are good neighbors, and this place is the perfect example of that. Guacamole, chicken (dark meat) with mole poblano, molcajete" - molly fitzpatrick, willa moore, will hartman, bryan kim, sonal shah
"An Oaxacan restaurant and mutual-aid hub in the South Bronx, run openly by undocumented immigrants and known for donating hundreds of meals to recently arrived refugees. Carolina Saavedra, whose parents were low-wage agricultural pickers when they first arrived in the U.S., recalls that when her parents first came they “picked strawberries and tomatoes for pennies a bucket.” Though Saavedra and her daughter now have legal status, she says growing up “my parents would make us role-play scenarios of what would happen if they were to get deported, if ICE were to come to the house or the restaurant,” and that by claiming undocumented status the operation has become a hub where others can find community and support. She adds that “Even though there’s been threats from the Trump administration, the community of the South Bronx at least know that no matter what, they are always going to have a safe haven in [the restaurant],” underscoring the place’s dual role as a kitchen and sanctuary." - Jaya Saxena