🌮 It’s all vegan and all Mexican

Piñatta's Mesoamerican-inspired menu takes on Monday Night Foodball [READER]( [Food & Drink]( Before the Spaniards showed up, nobody ate carne asada super burritos in this hemisphere. Nobody celebrated their birthday with a sombrero-topped flan. The Aztecs definitely didn’t start off dinner with queso fundido washed down with “Infamous” margaritas. neither will you, when plant-based, precolonial taqueria Piñatta takes over the kitchen at the Kedzie Inn this November 7 for [Monday Night Foodball]( the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up in Irving Park. In 1967 Emilio and Santiago Guererro’s dad opened Lakeview’s El Jardin, but they didn’t grow up around the killer, high-octane margarita the spot became infamous for either. “We didn’t grow up super close to our dad, so we never were taught ‘This is traditional Mexican,’” says Santiago, who works as a server at Etta. (Emilio is the kitchen manager at the Publican). But during the pandemic the brothers gave themselves an education in the cuisine of precolonial Mesoamerica: “How many things from Spain were brought over here and ingrained in Mexican culture like pork and wheat and dairy–things that just weren’t here before. We found a lot of it leaning towards being plant-based. A lot of the diet was corn, beans, and squash.” They launched Piñatta two Novembers ago, and though their menus evolved beyond a strictly orthodox approach to ancient cuisine, it’s still often vegan or vegetarian, and always uncommon. This Monday, they’re headlining with a cashew cheese-stuffed yellow corn masa tetela with toasted pumpkin seed mole, riffing on the triangle-shaped antojito common to Puebla and Oaxaca. There’s rice and beans, specifically heirloom mayocoba puree with garlic confit, epazote, and lacto-fermented tomato water. (The brothers are also “big fermentation nerds.”) And then there’s a vanilla-scented coconut milk kabocha squash flan to finish. “I grew up Mexican American and I didn’t even know what epazote was until a couple years ago,” says Santiago. “Piñatta is a way to figure out our identity to a degree. We’re still learning about our own culture.” It’s all vegan and all Mexican, friends–and walk-in orders only, starting at 5 PM at 4100 N. Kedzie. No need to preorder. And I’m not saying Jon Pokorny won’t make you a killer margarita, but he will have something special up his sleeve. Meanwhile, gape the full fall Foodball schedule below: - November 14: The [return]( of barbecue ronin [Heffer BBQ]( - November 21: An all-star [Umamicue]( - November 28: Thanksgiving Break - December 5: Spotlight on Lao cuisine with [Laos to Your House]( [Ørkenoy is deserted no more]( Humboldt Park’s two-year-old Nordic-inspired brewery has eased into the multifaceted, community-focused island it was always meant to be. by [Mike Sula]( [A new kind of recipe book]( From Abby Pucker and community venture Gertie comes (A)Part, Chicago’s combination foodie guide, city map, and cultural experiment. by [Courtney Sprewer]( 🎉 Celebrate 50-ish years of Reader! 🎉 We're taking over of the MCA on Nov. 30–get your tickets below! [Looking for a print copy?]( 🗞️ The Chicago Reader is published in print every other week and distributed to nearly 1,200 locations! Find yours on the map here 👇 [Issue of Oct. 27 - Nov. 9, 2022 Vol. 52, No.]( [Download Issue]( [View this e-mail as a web page]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2022 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. You were subscribed to the receive emails from Chicago Reader Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616