Star-winning Taco María is closing this Saturday. ‘It’s not the end,’ chef says
1 year, 5 months ago

Star-winning Taco María is closing this Saturday. ‘It’s not the end,’ chef says

LA Times  

Chef Carlos Salgado at Taco María in Costa Mesa. Chef Carlos Salgado is taking a break, closing his critically acclaimed Taco María restaurant in Costa Mesa with the intent of relocating elsewhere with a bigger dining room that’s a “better fit,” he told The Times Monday. We didn’t deserve you Carlos Salgado opened Taco María in 2013, and changed both what Mexican food in Southern California could be — and what it meant to be a Mexican from Orange County. The chef’s restaurant nixtamalizes and makes all of Taco María’s masa products from heirloom corn grown by small family farms in Mexico. Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold, who died five years ago this month, named Taco María The Times’ Restaurant of the Year in 2018.

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History of this topic

Life after restaurants: Five former owners explain why they left ... some for good
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Life after restaurants: Five former owners explain why they left ... some for good

LA Times  

Making the decision to quit a restaurant that one has poured passion, sweat and money into can be daunting. “It’s a better life,” he says, “better work-life balance, better pay, better pretty much everything.” Does he miss leading a restaurant kitchen? I don’t want to explain things to people, why it costs so much, I don’t want to hear ‘I …

Jonathan Gold’s birthday and Taco María’s next chapter
1 year, 5 months ago

Jonathan Gold’s birthday and Taco María’s next chapter

LA Times  

Carlos Salgado’s influence on Southern California cuisine, plus Bill Addison’s newest shawarma picks, breakfast memelas, “The Lincoln Lawyer” taco crawl, enigmatic doughnuts, a $600,000 wine heist, a hot new Korean-influenced sushi spot and a new Crazy Thai Burger. A birthday wish When word came this week that Carlos Salgado’s Michelin-starred restaurant Taco María would be closing until next year — …

Commentary: Taco María, a restaurant that felt like home
1 year, 5 months ago

Commentary: Taco María, a restaurant that felt like home

LA Times  

I came to Taco María in Costa Mesa at a formative time in life, almost accidentally. One carnitas and one fish taco, served on handmade blue corn tortillas at Taco María. Taco María served the best fish taco I have ever had in my life, and it remains the standard by which all subsequent fish tacos have been measured: beer-battered …

Appreciation: Farewell for now, Taco María. We didn’t deserve you
1 year, 5 months ago

Appreciation: Farewell for now, Taco María. We didn’t deserve you

LA Times  

Carlos Salgado opened Taco María in Costa Mesa in 2013, propelling an exploration of what Mexican food and a Mexican chef could be. Taco María’s Twitter account stated the truck was named after the matriarchs in Salgado’s family and would focus on “Chicano cuisine.” As food editor for OC Weekly at the time, I found Salgado’s proclamation preposterous. My wife …

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