LA Times Food Editor Daniel Hernández on Tacos, Latino Kitchen Labor & LA’s Food Identity

Hosts Fidel Martínez and Suzy Exposito sit down with Daniel Hernández, food editor at the Los Angeles Times and author of Down and Delirious in Mexico City, for a wide-ranging conversation about LA’s culinary identity — who’s cooking it, who’s fighting for it, and what it says about the city’s soul. Daniel traces his path from street culture journalism to food writing, starting with the story that set everything in motion: an investigation into the bacon-wrapped hot dog vendors surviving LAPD crackdowns on the streets of downtown LA. He also talks about what it means to be the first food editor at a major American paper who looks like him — and why he refuses to entertain imposter syndrome. They dig into the taco, including the heated internal debate over how to even define one for the LA Times’ definitive taco list. He also breaks down who is actually cooking all the food in Los Angeles, what the ongoing ICE raids mean for the city’s restaurant industry. And finally: the 2008 street battle between punks and emos in Mexico City, an event that has since become legend on the Latin internet, and the wildly unexpected way it ended. Produced by Los Angeles Times, L.A. Times Studios, and Sonoro. 🎙 De Los Podcast drops new episodes every week on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Subscribe so you never miss a conversation.
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