The Other Critics

Jonathan Gold Strikes Satisfaction at Corazon Y Miel

A Salvadoran
A Salvadoran “sandwich you can imagine Bluto taking on a picnic with Olive Oyl.” Photo: Javier Cabral

Jonathan Gold hits Corazon y Miel in Bell this week, his crew initially satisfied over the signature serving of chicken hearts in honey. The critic is impressed with the cocktail program under Christian Pulido, with additions like “Mexican tamarind candy and housemade horchata” helping make them just “as well-made as they are at the fancy uptown bars…priced for the Eastside” at eight dollars. “What [chef Eduardo] Ruiz is doing here is pretty much the Latino equivalent of restaurants like Spice Table, Lukshon, Chego, or Bar Ama,” Gold writes, “where chefs classically trained in the European tradition focus their hard-won technique on the cuisines that they grew up eating. It’s the vital edge of Los Angeles cooking at the moment,” later citing the pan con chompipe as “a kind of edible monument to his childhood: a long-cooked 2-pound turkey leg, buried in a spicy, lightly pickled cabbage curtido, smothered in a cooked tomato sauce and jammed into a roll that clings to it like a Speedo on a fat man — a sandwich you can imagine Bluto taking on a picnic with Olive Oyl.”

Through carnitas terrine with Coca Cola gelee, fresh ceviche de pulpo, “a Mexicanized version of A.O.C.’s bacon-wrapped dates,” pickled pigskin topped with chicharrones, and fried chicken feet, Gold seems smitten with the new restaurant, even giving praise to the burgers and “Ron Bull” cocktails.

Jonathan Gold|L.A. restaurant review: Corazón y Miel satisfies heart’s desires [LAT]

Jonathan Gold Strikes Satisfaction at Corazon Y Miel