While taquerias are now as ubiquitous across the US as diners, their tacos, like my favor diner sandwich, the BLT, are easy to get wrong. I mean just as a BLT with no mayo or with untoasted bread does not satisfy, a taco on “meh” tortillas, one dripping with bland sauce or stingy on fillings (two tiny pieces of fish??? Whaaa???) is a mighty fail. But like the BLTs I celebrated here, tacos are a revelation when done right, when each element is as it should be—the tortilla, the meat or veg, the sauce, the garnish—and melds into one united flavor that knocks your socks off (or make that “caigan su calcetines”)! 🌮🌮🥰 🥰Within one week I had the good fortune to be bowled over by taco exemplars at these two venues:

Dirty Taco Grand Central Terminal (GCT)

I think the first duck taco I ever had is Dirty Taco’s duck carnitas taco ($7.00), two nicely puffy, blistered tortillas topped with a mound of succulent duck meat. I had asked for a salsa with “medium” heat and only after tasting realized that it was a pineapple salsa. Pineapple!? Who’da thunk it! Yet, pineapple actually goes even better with duck, which is often cooked with fruit sauces, than it does with pork in the traditional “al pastor” taco. Simple garnishes of cilantro and onion let the dominating flavors of duck and pineapple prevail. I was so pleased I circled back to order a duck skin taco ($6.00), since crispy roasted duck skin is such a treat. I was sorely disappointed, however, to find myself eating deep-fried greasy shards of duck skin! When done wrong…Fail!

Dirty Taco GCT is the creation of Armenian and Korean chefs (hence “Grandma’s Korean steak” taco for $6) that seek to emulate the tradition of the Mexican taco trucks lining LA’s Lincoln Avenue. Yet, while $4.50 pernil and pork carnitas tacos are a deal in an NYC dining concourse, they can’t compare to the real street tacos, which are a dollar a pop. Still when you’re peckish after your Metro North journey, as I was, Dirty Taco offers a welcome respite—I mean “bite!” Tip: You can ask for lime, but instead of giving you a lime slice, which is preferable, they douse your taco with lime juice from a squeeze bottle. Ask them for only a little, “un poco!”

The Tortilla Taco Bar

Meanwhile in the Hudson Valley…My friend Gaynor and I spent a late Sunday afternoon shmying* along Broadway in Kingston, NY’s Rondout, this up-and-coming city’s historic waterfront neighborhood.  I was particularly excited to visit the newish yarn store, Yarn Farm, which stocks local and “small batch” yarns and boasts a bar. What genius! I can picture the Chef drinking local Keegan’s Mother’s Milk stout while I stroke skeins of cowgirlblues kidsilk mohair and feverishly scroll through possible projects for it on Ravelry. The scene at the bar was lively, with children in rainbow-hued hand-knitted sweaters plucking artisanal cheeses and olives from their parents’ plates.

By the time I got out it was time for lunch, so I walked to Gaynor’s car and tapped on the driver side window. My friend loves a good nap, but she was hungry, too. Yet up-and-coming can mean a dearth of reasonably priced dining options. Knowing Kingston has a substantial Mexican population, I had my stomach set on a taco. How serendipitous, then, to happen upon The Tortilla Taco Bar, a “clean well-lighted space” with blond wood floors, black tables spread over two rooms and a small L-shaped bar. As our winter seems more like spring, the front deck is a nice option. The menu was small, simple and reasonably priced for the generous servings, and margaritas, served in pretty turquoise glass tumblers, were expertly mixed ($8). I ordered the fish taco with mango ($6.95) which featured a thick piece of breaded flounder, mango slaw, shredded red cabbage, and a magic lime, cilantro mayo sauce. As you’ll see above, I took a bite before I shot a pic! I wasn’t floundering around. Gaynor and I shared an order of roast pork tacos ($11.95 for 2 tacos). The revelation? Juicy chunks of pork, bbq sauce with more than a hint of smoky chipotle peppers in adobo, cilantro and pretty pink hibiscus pickled onions.

A place that leads with “The Tortilla” in its name is proud of the same, the earthy corn tortillas Oaxacan owner Ruben Lopez turns out twice a week. “Everything is built around the tortilla,” he told chronogram.com where I learned that Lopez bravely opened this venture in June of 2020, between the first Covid-19 lockdown and the Delta strain. It’s a family run venture with brother Alex helping run the kitchen and wife Carolina, a salon owner, taking care of the front of the house. While I was writing up this post, I read that Lopez had opened a more upscale restaurant, Tortilla Uptown in Kingston’s Stockade District  featuring more of what my mum-in-law calls “fine dining,” such as lamb shank braised in garlic adobo sauce and Angus short ribs braised in barbacoa sauce. No, gracias! Lopez’s downscale downtown venue suits me just fine—plus, it’s where the YARN is! 😉🧶🍷

Dirty Taco GCT
Grand Central Dining Concourse
89 E. 42nd Street (between Lexington and Park Avenues)
212-972-8305

The Tortilla Taco Bar
38 Broadway
Kingston, NY
845-481-4569