GUERILLA TACOS

From one of the most distinctive voices on the food scene today, native Angeleno Wes Avila offers up the definitive word on tacos, from basic building blocks to how to balance flavor and texture.

In a town overrun with taco trucks, Wes Avila's Guerrilla Tacos has managed to win almost every accolade there is, from being crowned Best Taco Truck by LA Weekly to being called one of the best things to eat in Los Angeles by living legend Jonathan Gold. Avila's approach stands out in a crowded field because it's unique; the 50 base recipes in this book are grounded in authenticity but never tied down to tradition. In Guerrilla Tacos, Avila reveals his framework for exploring taste and texture combinations for making the greatest tacos, drawing on his Mexican heritage as well as his time in the kitchens of some of the world's best restaurants.

Before WES AVILA began his life as a taquero, he was a forklift driver at a box factory for seven years. In 2003, he quit his job to go to culinary school full-time. After attending California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, California, he went to work at L'Auberge Carmel with Walter Mansk, followed by Palate, Food + Wine, Marche, and Le Comptoir with Gary Menes. In August of 2012, Wes left the world of fine dining to devote himself to running Guerrilla Tacos--at that time, a two-person street cart.
RICHARD PARKS is a writer and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. He has written for McSweeneys.