A Westside restaurant proudly advertised its link to a world famous chef. But was he there cooking? Of course not. So how could this really be his food?
I didn't waste time checking it out. I'd rather eat in a place that doesn't put on such airs, where the owner/chef cooks while you watch, where the food is fresh, original and so exceptional in quality that it could shame the absentee star chef.
In other words, I would rather eat at Mariscos Ruben, a truck parked in a street in Tijuana.
On a recent Sunday morning, Mierta Elena Rogriguez Vega stood behind the counter, arranging jumbo cooked shrimp around the edge of a giant molcajete. Inside, she had put raw shrimp and raw callos de hacho, dense meaty scallops from Sinaloa that have to be hard, she said, or they're no good.
The seafood was swimming in lime juice, salt and brazenly hot chile tepin, a chile so prized that the price has risen to almost 2000 pesos (about $152) a kilo, she complained. Nevertheless, it is the only chile that is right for aguachile, the dish she was making.
Forget about menudo, this fierce, fresh seafood combo is the best eye-opener imaginable on a Sunday morning.
But Mariscos Ruben had much more to offer that day, like caguamanta con aleta de atun, which is manta ray soup with tuna fin.
If you are in really bad shape after a late Saturday night, this is the dish. It's easy to eat and comforting--until you spike it with hot salsa from the bottles lined up along the counter.
Also on hand were raw mangrove cockles--pata de mula--from Baja waters.
Behind the scenes, a little mesquite grill turned out smoked marlin tacos and delicious Pismo clams au gratin--almejas gratinadas--smothered in Jack cheese.
There's fresh crab when available, and raw sea urchin in the summer, when the waters are warm and the urchins rise. "Un manjar para el paladar" (a treat for the palate), Mierta Elena said, almost smacking her lips.
Food trucks are big in Los Angeles, but Mariscos Ruben is one of very few in all of Mexico, according to Bill Esparza of Street Gourmet L.A., who led the Sunday morning trek there.
The business started in Mierta Elena's home town, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, and moved to Tijuana 15 years ago.
The truck appears daily at the same spot. There's a little park just outside; shoe shine boys come by, and an itinerant singer might show up to earn a few pesos with a song or two. That's atmosphere you won't find in the pristine haunts of five-star chefs.
Mariscos Ruben. Open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the corner of Quintana Roo and Hidalgo, Tijuana, B.C., Mexico.
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