September 14, 2024 • 23 mins
Nyomie Mendoza of Cuernavaca's Grill. Boars Head / Cinnamon. Watercress nutrition score.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Neil Savedra.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty the four Purport
on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, everybody, Neil Savedra
with the four Report. Happy to be with you on
this cooling off. I mean it's like in the eighties
or something. It's like a normal day to day.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
It's beautiful. After the one hundred degree streak we had,
it was so weird.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
That's the voice of Amy King from wake up call
Monday through Friday.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Find you just said it was so weird. That's the
voice of Amy thinks a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, No, Amy's voice is weird, not as weird as
her face. No, what I met was so weird because
when you would go out in the morning.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
It was hot. It was hot.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, it was over eighty degrees. Yeah, so on the
think what was it Wednesday or Thursday? I walked out
it because I come into work at like three thirty, horny.
I walked down and went, oh, it's cool. I mean
it was just like the nicest, most refreshing thing.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It's normal. I did that today. It's just normal, all right.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Amy King's hanging out with us because we were just
talking about the Union Rescue Mission and they're raising money.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Amy and I are part of that program.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Just help one dot com, nop dot org, just help
one dot org.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Please make a donation.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
The number one, the character one, yes, Ohni, and we're
thrilled to be a part of that and any donation
you give is appreciated. And we'll on the twenty seventh,
we'll be going over the edge of the building and
repelling two hundred and fifty feet or whatever it is
on the Hilton there in Universal right next to Universal Studios.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You know, it's really fun.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
You guys can't see this, but every time we talk
about it, both mine and Neil's eyes get a little
bit bigger and we both kind of look a little
bit scared.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Start tapping our toes.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
So I asked him and I said, hey, you came down,
just hang out and there's gonna be people bringing food
and you can come hang out.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Always good for food.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
So our friend here, miss Kayla, producer extraordinaire. She's starting
a new podcast and she was meeting with people who
are going to help sponsor the podcast. And because she
is a hustler, I mean, she's going after it. She's
not looking for handouts herself. She's looking to make things move,
(02:11):
so she tells us thanks for burying the lead. She goes, yeah,
there's a gin that's going to be sponsoring. And I'm like,
well then we'll have them on but she goes, great,
well we'll have it right here. And I said, well
that's let's a type of glass, So tell us about it,
because we've already amy and I've already tasted it and
it's divine.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
It absolutely is phenomenal. So I met with the owner
and president today. His name is Stefano. He is from
Milan and he's been working on this gin for a
little while now. It's called Rangoni Autogen and it's very
very natural. Their whole thing is organic and biodegradable and recyclable,
so like the glass is recycled, the alcohol itself is
(02:55):
I want to say, fifty five percent water from the.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Out from the Swiss Alps.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Those are the ones, you know, the Alps.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
They have no massy water. Ever, you have to check
it out with day. Yeah, it's some house like in
some part of town the people that own it or
the Alps.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
No, no, it is. It is light, it is bright
and it is refreshing. It has uh uh. The viscosity
is light, kind of rolls off of the tongue. It's
a very botanical, and.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
It's botanical gin.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, absolutely, And again I just I love that it
contains a lot, a lot more water than it does
alcohol to an extent so that I feel it really
dilutes the egg the rough that you get sometimes use
the pung gin, you know, it makes it a lot
more smooth.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
It is super smooth, and it has just a touch
of sweetness, which I didn't expect from gin. I'm not
I'm not usually a big gin drinker. And it also
has almost just a shmidge of an effervescence. Am I right?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Oh, well, you know what that is?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I actually think that that is it's playing on your
tongue's there's not any bubbles in here, right right, But
I think that is the play on some of those
botanicals as they're playing off the water, if you can tell.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And this is easier, we're so tacky. It's in a
wax cup.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
But you know, it's like, oh, what beautiful you know
viscosity this has up against the you know, wax cup. Yeah,
but there is something that is super playful about the water.
I think that water, strangely enough, in my point of view,
is what's giving a little bit of that sweetness, sweetness,
and a little bit of that play up against those
kind of the alcohol as it kind of hits. Your
(04:39):
tongue is softened by that, and I think that's what
feels like. Effervescents are like that little kind of bubbly,
tickley little thing.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Whatever it is. It's actually very very delicious. And I
love their packaging for packaging the bottles.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
The bottles beautiful has this beautiful bird on there. They
have a blue bottle and a pink bottle version.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Are they different inside or is it just it's just
the aesthetics.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
We're going to have the pink one for the podcast
because it's a female podcast, and we're going to tip
our French seventy five. We're going to cheers with our
RAGONI alto Gin at the end of every episode because
this gen is just.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
It really is love, it really is. And I and
I liked Gin quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I didn't when I was younger, but I have really
grown to love Gin, and so I can be very picky,
but I will tell you the expressions of Gin's nowadays,
people you'll taste one gin and you'll go, oh, I
don't like gin. But man, if you sit down and
get a flight and you have somebody talk you through it,
and you really start to get to know those layers
(05:38):
a little bit, you will find a gin that you like.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
And I found one.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, I love Actually.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
It really is quite lovely. I'd love to have them on.
And what's the what's the ABV? What's the ilcohol by
volume on that that beauty? Does it say?
Speaker 4 (05:50):
It does? Say?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
It is?
Speaker 6 (05:52):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (05:52):
That right forty five, they told me at the dinner,
because it's ninety proof. Yeah, yeah, I love a good martini.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Oh yeah, don't light a match around it, but that's uh,
that'll torch.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I gotta remember anything. Well, yeah, it's uh, but that
is lovely. It's soft and it has a delicacy to it,
but it still has those wonderful, you know, flavors that
you expect, Juniper and the like when you're getting into
a good gin.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Definitely worth worth trying and a drinking a bottle with this.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Come in and have them bring bottles that they can leave.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
I got I'm working.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
On everyone involved, and you let me know because I
can come back and hang out with.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
You, come back and she will commemorate them as well.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
We need Amy here.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Thank you, buddy.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
That is really that is really delicious. Please pass that on.
I'd love to have them on. That is really really tasty.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
All right, stick around.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
More to come. We're gonna talk uh uh you. We've
got Hispanic Heritage Month coming up and we will get
into some food as well.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yay food.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
You're listening to the Fork Report with Nils of Adra
on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Hey everybody, it's the four Report on Nil Savedra. Happy
to be with you on this beautiful Saturday for three hours,
just talking and celebrating food. That's what we do here.
Right now, we're gonna do it with Naomi Mendoza. She
is from guer Nevaca.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So away.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Let me carry the one that's not that's like a chain.
It's not Spanish that it means bulls, bullshorn. No, a
place of the tree is placed arounded by trees cows
that like to dance.
Speaker 7 (07:37):
What a beautiful architectural place in Mexico.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Well, it is a location, but it comes from the
but I'm not thinking about the It's a small city,
a small town. Yeah, carry the one. You can bring
that Mike a little closer to you if you will please.
But I know it's a place, but I'm trying to
think of the translation. It's like, uh, a lot of.
Speaker 7 (07:59):
People like because we're also very well known for a casadia.
So vodka's in the name, gotcha? So vodka like horn
so you can.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Have had it, right?
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, something in there?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Okay, but yeah, if I remember correctly, the root isn't
even in Spanish, it's it's in a native Mexican language.
Speaker 7 (08:19):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Oh well, wonderful. Well, thanks and introduce this gentleman here.
Is he going to be speaking as well?
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Very minimal or is he just going to be handsome?
Speaker 7 (08:29):
He's very shy.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Oh it's okay. I am too. You can tell you.
But it's nice to have you both here. So tell
us about Guaranovoca.
Speaker 7 (08:38):
Yeah. So this is my father, Marcos Mendoza and Guernavaca's
Grill was founded by my father nineteen years ago in
the city of Long Beach, California, and we turned twenty
years to Cinco de Mayo. We are now in the
city of Los Angeles, in the downtown La Fashion district.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Your dad doesn't even look twenty years old. I'm not
going to be twenty years old.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Good for you.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
That is fantastic. I mean that is no easy task
in the Southland to keep something going. Family run. So
what was that inspiration twenty years ago?
Speaker 7 (09:20):
Yeah, so, I mean my dad came here to you know,
the States in search of his American dream, and he
came from a family of entrepreneurs and people that were
into politics in Mexico, but he didn't want to pursue that.
He always wanted to go into culinary arts. However, it
was often very frowned upon or like, hey, you know,
(09:41):
you're going to start as well as a dishwasher, and
that was his start, but he easily worked his way
up and he started curating menus and then people were
really connecting with it. He's like, hey, like you know,
at the time, he didn't have, you know, the facility
to go back to Mexico, go back to visit the
(10:01):
native land. But he did love the kitchen. He wanted
to mimic what was the recipes of your mom's you know, cooking,
So that was his reason behind it all.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
I get the pleasure of interviewing chefs here on the
show a lot, and I would say eighty five percent,
no matter their background, where they came from, eighty five
percent of some of the greatest chefs I've met started
washing dishes.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
It blows me away.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I mean, it's almost a cliche at this point because
I think that's where one you pay your dues, but
two where you fall in love with every part of cooking.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
All right, we'll come back.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
We'll talk more with Naomi Mendoza from Guernavaca Grill for
Hispanic Heritage month through gosh through ten fifteen, you're going
to be doing some special dishes. We're going to taste them,
talk about them. Amy King, my friend Amy King's here.
She'll taste them as well as Kayla, and we'll talk
more about the food, the menus, and the history.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Nils Savadra here, your friendly neighborhood Fork reporter with the
Fork Report three hours on a Saturday that we break
you know, the momentum of all the heavy news and
kind of relax and come together and celebrate food, the
people that make it, the culture behind it.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
And that's what we're doing today as well.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Hispanic Heritage Month is honored the fifteenth through December December
October fifteenth and it is massively a part of what
we Although I'm not a fan of the term Hispanic,
that it is part of the heritage and the power
of Southern California and it's important to the culture here
(11:49):
for sure. And so to talk about that today, we
have Naomi Mendoza. She is a business partner and the
daughter of the owner of Gordonavaca in the Fashion District district.
Now you have more than Do you have more than
one location or just this location?
Speaker 7 (12:05):
Yes, so we also have another one in the city of.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Bell, in the city of Bell. That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Now to find out more, you can find out more
on courtnovaka Grill on Facebook and the same on Instagram.
Correct excellent in the location uh here in Los Angeles,
proper is a four to nine East eleventh Street, and
then in Bell it's six three six seven Atlantic Avenue
(12:32):
in Bell.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
So we're gonna taste some of the food. What'd you
bring for us today?
Speaker 7 (12:36):
Yes, so we brought our famous Chiles REOs. We brought
halapeno tacos and morcaheade excellent.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Now explain the beauty and the tradition of the Marca Hitte.
Speaker 7 (12:49):
Yes, so the Marca hite is okay. So we love
the Marca Hitte because we grew up working class and
the Marka Hite it just brings, you know, every kind
of meat, it brings shrimp nopalles, and it brings it
all together and you're eating it with your hands and
(13:09):
you're just sharing it with your family. It's enough for
like a family of four to six people.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Now Neples is the cactus trying to people how you
prepare it prior to putting.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
It in the marcahette. Okay?
Speaker 7 (13:25):
Uh, we started to.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Please bring the make up, thank you.
Speaker 6 (13:29):
Yes, when you start to prep to Marcatte, he's coming
in the restaurant. He served it in a it's tom
and now he cleaned the Uh the cactus cook it out,
coming with a beef chicken, gray streams, bacon, streams, fresh
cheese and the and it's broad.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
It's really bright if you haven't had it's bright. It's fresh,
it's subaceous, that has those green, those great flavors that
come with something bright and green that you get.
Speaker 6 (14:03):
And you know when you got that home meats inside
the marcahette. We put the more cohetta size more more
cohette sauce inside, and that he made that very good
flavor sizzles it on that homemade tortilla there.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, all these tortillas are magical, both the fresh made
corn and the fresh made flower. The flower has one
of the things that I love the most. And a
good homemade tortilla that window painting where you can see
through it because of the fat content in there, which
gives it that flavor and brings it all together. They're
(14:36):
just lovely. And then going on to the corn, you
get that that thick massa and it's just so it
really it's kind of uh puffy and uh cloudy on
the inside, but then it has these great edges, really
really lovely.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And you brought chile reano here.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Soon cheese, yeah, that's nothing else, and that I just
want to make sure.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
M hm, that's exactly what you want.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
And the chili reno, the sweetness from the chili and
that sheese just it the moment you cut into it
oos is out a tiny bit of.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Sweetness there. Wow, that is really lovely.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
I want that tomato and it's not as spices.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
No, No, it's it's it's bright, it's bright and fresh.
But this is lovely and a little bit of the
breading as well. Yeah, that's fine. This reminds me of
my mom would make this quite a bit.
Speaker 7 (15:48):
Yeah. We always joke in our family. We're like the
moment you're able to make a chill, you know, that's
when you're able to get like that determines if you can't,
then you shouldn't get married.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
That's a good standard for all of us. So is
there specials going on right now? How are you celebrating
Hispanic character?
Speaker 7 (16:11):
Yes, so we are collaborating with Latin Restaurants Week and
so the specials start from September thirteenth to the twenty seven.
But we are keeping the Chilerian, know, because it's become
such a staple to our restaurant, to you know, not
only the LA community, but the community.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
As a whole.
Speaker 7 (16:33):
So, you know, we're just collaborating and we have the
marka hit that's a special we have Chilerian Know. We
didn't bring the Kausadia. That one is so interesting and amazing.
It's a little cow shaped casadia and you're able to
get the cheese.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Pull and yeah, Instagram loves that, sure, yeah.
Speaker 7 (16:50):
Absolutely, and so do the kids. So and then the
Jlapeno tacos.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
That's wonderful one. I really appreciate you taking the time
and bringing your food and your story with us. The
good food always starts with a good story. There's always
the desire to cook and to celebrate culture and flavors,
and with that it's just food. You might as well
take a pill to effort, you know, for nutrients. This
(17:19):
screams home, heritage, family, and you can get no higher
praise from me at least than those things for food.
So it's very you know, in the longevity, I hate
the fact that you've been around for twenty years and
that only takes us back to the two thousands, but
because it seems like it should be go way way back,
(17:41):
but that is you should celebrate that and be very proud.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Thank you so much, Thanks again for coming in cler.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Why do I have this?
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Or novaka grill and you can find that on their website.
C U E R N A v A. That does
not look spelled properly to me.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah, so I've got it here spelled incorrectly I apologize,
so ce u E R N A V A c
A sgrill dot com.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Okay, there is, though it was spelled incorrectly. I apologize.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
So check that out and celebrate until the fifteenth of
October and come down and celebrate a local place by
a family owned and operated shop.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Thanks so much for coming in. The food is delicious.
Speaker 7 (18:35):
Thank you for having us on.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
You've been listening to the fork Report. You can always
hear us live on kf I AM six forty two
to five pm on Saturday and anytime on demand on
the iHeartRadio app. Hey, everybody, it's the Forker Port on
neil Sebiedra. Hello, Howdy, howdy, howdy.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
See you, Amy King, Thanks for coming by.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
My very favorite human there, Amy King, swung by just
like old time, right. She used to do the news
here and we would hang out and have food. So
she came and had some food because we were talking
about the Union Rescue Mission and how we're both participating
and raising funds for them. It is the weirdest thing
(19:18):
in the world that this organization, the Union Rescue Mission,
their sole focus is to get people off the streets
and into work and into a home and all of
these things, yet they do not receive gut government funds
because they want you to want to get better, meaning
(19:42):
that it's a dry environment that means no drinking, no
using drugs. They feel that you have to commit to
those things to want to get better. So Amy and
I are very much behind this, and even so much
so we're doing something called over the Edge. On the
twenty seventh of September, Amy King and I will be
(20:04):
going over the edge the Hilton in Universal City. You
can see it right off the freeway there, and we
are going to go over the side and down a
twenty five story building roughly two hundred and fifty feet
or so, and we're gonna repel down. Yikes, and I'm
deathly afraid of heights, but to me, you know, that's
(20:27):
what life's about, kind of pushing through things.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
And so this.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I think the hardest part is going to be getting
up and over the edge. Well, for two reasons, gravity
in my basic size, and then but just the psychology
of all of that. And then once so you're over
the side, you do what you got to do and
you can get down. But we're doing that just to
raise awareness, and the awareness is to get you to
(20:53):
a website just help one dot org. It's the character
one Just help one dot org, and you can see
the event. You can find out more about the event
of us going over the edge, but also you can
donate and you click on donate and say find a
participant or team, and you go and you click on that,
(21:14):
and then you look at the teams and you will
see the iHeartMedia team and oh, wow, you're already donating.
Thank you so much. Wow, that is super cool. That
is super super super cool. I can see that you
folks are donating there. You've gone to that page and
(21:35):
you can see us. We are under You can view
all teams and you look for Team iHeartMedia, Team iHeartMedia,
and you go ahead and you can donate to our team.
And we're just looking to raise as much as we
can for this great cause. And I was so blown
away meeting them and chatting with them, the folks at
(22:00):
the Union Rescue Mission, that they became a part of
my charity offerings. So they were put in my rotation
of giving monthly to them because I was really impressed
on what they do and it's you know, you do
what you can with what you have and I've always
believed that if you find an international charity that you
(22:24):
can donate a little bit too, a local charity that
you can donate to, and then a national charity that
you can donate to, that that is.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Like a really good balance. You can do it your way.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
But I've always found that, and it's not that you
have to give every penny or everything like that or
be shamed into something. But once I put it into
my cycle, it becomes like everything else. It's you know
that you pay for and what have you. And that's
what seems to work for us. And anything you have,
as long as it goes to a place that uses
(22:58):
it well, is going to be powerful. And that's what
the Union Rescue Mission does eighty five cents of every dollar.
And as far as Charity Navigator is concerned, they say
that they are They get a one hundred on their
scale of doing good with the money they receive. So
that is why Amy King and I are part of it,
and we hope that you will join us. If not
by you can repel down the building too if you wish,
(23:22):
If you donate one thousand dollars or at least gather
one thousand dollars and everybody says, yeah, you go.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
You could do that as well.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
If not, you can come by, or you can honk
off the one on one, or you can cheer us
on September twenty seventh.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
All right, more to come, so go nowhere.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty
Hey, it's Neil Savedra.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty the four Purport
on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, everybody, Neil Savedra
with the four Report. Happy to be with you on
this cooling off. I mean it's like in the eighties
or something. It's like a normal day to day.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
It's beautiful. After the one hundred degree streak we had,
it was so weird.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
That's the voice of Amy King from wake up call
Monday through Friday.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Find you just said it was so weird. That's the
voice of Amy thinks a lot.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, No, Amy's voice is weird, not as weird as
her face. No, what I met was so weird because
when you would go out in the morning.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
It was hot. It was hot.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah, it was over eighty degrees. Yeah, so on the
think what was it Wednesday or Thursday? I walked out
it because I come into work at like three thirty, horny.
I walked down and went, oh, it's cool. I mean
it was just like the nicest, most refreshing thing.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
It's normal. I did that today. It's just normal, all right.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Amy King's hanging out with us because we were just
talking about the Union Rescue Mission and they're raising money.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Amy and I are part of that program.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Just help one dot com, nop dot org, just help
one dot org.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
Please make a donation.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
The number one, the character one, yes, Ohni, and we're
thrilled to be a part of that and any donation
you give is appreciated. And we'll on the twenty seventh,
we'll be going over the edge of the building and
repelling two hundred and fifty feet or whatever it is
on the Hilton there in Universal right next to Universal Studios.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
You know, it's really fun.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
You guys can't see this, but every time we talk
about it, both mine and Neil's eyes get a little
bit bigger and we both kind of look a little
bit scared.
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Start tapping our toes.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
So I asked him and I said, hey, you came down,
just hang out and there's gonna be people bringing food
and you can come hang out.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Always good for food.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
So our friend here, miss Kayla, producer extraordinaire. She's starting
a new podcast and she was meeting with people who
are going to help sponsor the podcast. And because she
is a hustler, I mean, she's going after it. She's
not looking for handouts herself. She's looking to make things move,
(02:11):
so she tells us thanks for burying the lead. She goes, yeah,
there's a gin that's going to be sponsoring. And I'm like,
well then we'll have them on but she goes, great,
well we'll have it right here. And I said, well
that's let's a type of glass, So tell us about it,
because we've already amy and I've already tasted it and
it's divine.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
It absolutely is phenomenal. So I met with the owner
and president today. His name is Stefano. He is from
Milan and he's been working on this gin for a
little while now. It's called Rangoni Autogen and it's very
very natural. Their whole thing is organic and biodegradable and recyclable,
so like the glass is recycled, the alcohol itself is
(02:55):
I want to say, fifty five percent water from the.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Out from the Swiss Alps.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
Those are the ones, you know, the Alps.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
They have no massy water. Ever, you have to check
it out with day. Yeah, it's some house like in
some part of town the people that own it or
the Alps.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
No, no, it is. It is light, it is bright
and it is refreshing. It has uh uh. The viscosity
is light, kind of rolls off of the tongue. It's
a very botanical, and.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
It's botanical gin.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, absolutely, And again I just I love that it
contains a lot, a lot more water than it does
alcohol to an extent so that I feel it really
dilutes the egg the rough that you get sometimes use
the pung gin, you know, it makes it a lot
more smooth.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
It is super smooth, and it has just a touch
of sweetness, which I didn't expect from gin. I'm not
I'm not usually a big gin drinker. And it also
has almost just a shmidge of an effervescence. Am I right?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Oh, well, you know what that is?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
I actually think that that is it's playing on your
tongue's there's not any bubbles in here, right right, But
I think that is the play on some of those
botanicals as they're playing off the water, if you can tell.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
And this is easier, we're so tacky. It's in a
wax cup.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
But you know, it's like, oh, what beautiful you know
viscosity this has up against the you know, wax cup. Yeah,
but there is something that is super playful about the water.
I think that water, strangely enough, in my point of view,
is what's giving a little bit of that sweetness, sweetness,
and a little bit of that play up against those
kind of the alcohol as it kind of hits. Your
(04:39):
tongue is softened by that, and I think that's what
feels like. Effervescents are like that little kind of bubbly,
tickley little thing.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Whatever it is. It's actually very very delicious. And I
love their packaging for packaging the bottles.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
The bottles beautiful has this beautiful bird on there. They
have a blue bottle and a pink bottle version.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Are they different inside or is it just it's just
the aesthetics.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
We're going to have the pink one for the podcast
because it's a female podcast, and we're going to tip
our French seventy five. We're going to cheers with our
RAGONI alto Gin at the end of every episode because
this gen is just.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
It really is love, it really is. And I and
I liked Gin quite a bit.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
I didn't when I was younger, but I have really
grown to love Gin, and so I can be very picky,
but I will tell you the expressions of Gin's nowadays,
people you'll taste one gin and you'll go, oh, I
don't like gin. But man, if you sit down and
get a flight and you have somebody talk you through it,
and you really start to get to know those layers
(05:38):
a little bit, you will find a gin that you like.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
And I found one.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Yeah, I love Actually.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
It really is quite lovely. I'd love to have them on.
And what's the what's the ABV? What's the ilcohol by
volume on that that beauty? Does it say?
Speaker 4 (05:50):
It does? Say?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
It is?
Speaker 6 (05:52):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (05:52):
That right forty five, they told me at the dinner,
because it's ninety proof. Yeah, yeah, I love a good martini.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Oh yeah, don't light a match around it, but that's uh,
that'll torch.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
I gotta remember anything. Well, yeah, it's uh, but that
is lovely. It's soft and it has a delicacy to it,
but it still has those wonderful, you know, flavors that
you expect, Juniper and the like when you're getting into
a good gin.
Speaker 4 (06:26):
Definitely worth worth trying and a drinking a bottle with this.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Come in and have them bring bottles that they can leave.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
I got I'm working.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
On everyone involved, and you let me know because I
can come back and hang out with.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
You, come back and she will commemorate them as well.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
We need Amy here.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
Thank you, buddy.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
That is really that is really delicious. Please pass that on.
I'd love to have them on. That is really really tasty.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
All right, stick around.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
More to come. We're gonna talk uh uh you. We've
got Hispanic Heritage Month coming up and we will get
into some food as well.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yay food.
Speaker 5 (06:56):
You're listening to the Fork Report with Nils of Adra
on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Hey everybody, it's the four Report on Nil Savedra. Happy
to be with you on this beautiful Saturday for three hours,
just talking and celebrating food. That's what we do here.
Right now, we're gonna do it with Naomi Mendoza. She
is from guer Nevaca.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
So away.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Let me carry the one that's not that's like a chain.
It's not Spanish that it means bulls, bullshorn. No, a
place of the tree is placed arounded by trees cows
that like to dance.
Speaker 7 (07:37):
What a beautiful architectural place in Mexico.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Well, it is a location, but it comes from the
but I'm not thinking about the It's a small city,
a small town. Yeah, carry the one. You can bring
that Mike a little closer to you if you will please.
But I know it's a place, but I'm trying to
think of the translation. It's like, uh, a lot of.
Speaker 7 (07:59):
People like because we're also very well known for a casadia.
So vodka's in the name, gotcha? So vodka like horn
so you can.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Have had it, right?
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Yeah, something in there?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Okay, but yeah, if I remember correctly, the root isn't
even in Spanish, it's it's in a native Mexican language.
Speaker 7 (08:19):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Oh well, wonderful. Well, thanks and introduce this gentleman here.
Is he going to be speaking as well?
Speaker 1 (08:27):
Very minimal or is he just going to be handsome?
Speaker 7 (08:29):
He's very shy.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Oh it's okay. I am too. You can tell you.
But it's nice to have you both here. So tell
us about Guaranovoca.
Speaker 7 (08:38):
Yeah. So this is my father, Marcos Mendoza and Guernavaca's
Grill was founded by my father nineteen years ago in
the city of Long Beach, California, and we turned twenty
years to Cinco de Mayo. We are now in the
city of Los Angeles, in the downtown La Fashion district.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Your dad doesn't even look twenty years old. I'm not
going to be twenty years old.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Good for you.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
That is fantastic. I mean that is no easy task
in the Southland to keep something going. Family run. So
what was that inspiration twenty years ago?
Speaker 7 (09:20):
Yeah, so, I mean my dad came here to you know,
the States in search of his American dream, and he
came from a family of entrepreneurs and people that were
into politics in Mexico, but he didn't want to pursue that.
He always wanted to go into culinary arts. However, it
was often very frowned upon or like, hey, you know,
(09:41):
you're going to start as well as a dishwasher, and
that was his start, but he easily worked his way
up and he started curating menus and then people were
really connecting with it. He's like, hey, like you know,
at the time, he didn't have, you know, the facility
to go back to Mexico, go back to visit the
(10:01):
native land. But he did love the kitchen. He wanted
to mimic what was the recipes of your mom's you know, cooking,
So that was his reason behind it all.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
I get the pleasure of interviewing chefs here on the
show a lot, and I would say eighty five percent,
no matter their background, where they came from, eighty five
percent of some of the greatest chefs I've met started
washing dishes.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
It blows me away.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
I mean, it's almost a cliche at this point because
I think that's where one you pay your dues, but
two where you fall in love with every part of cooking.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
All right, we'll come back.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
We'll talk more with Naomi Mendoza from Guernavaca Grill for
Hispanic Heritage month through gosh through ten fifteen, you're going
to be doing some special dishes. We're going to taste them,
talk about them. Amy King, my friend Amy King's here.
She'll taste them as well as Kayla, and we'll talk
more about the food, the menus, and the history.
Speaker 5 (11:03):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Nils Savadra here, your friendly neighborhood Fork reporter with the
Fork Report three hours on a Saturday that we break
you know, the momentum of all the heavy news and
kind of relax and come together and celebrate food, the
people that make it, the culture behind it.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
And that's what we're doing today as well.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Hispanic Heritage Month is honored the fifteenth through December December
October fifteenth and it is massively a part of what
we Although I'm not a fan of the term Hispanic,
that it is part of the heritage and the power
of Southern California and it's important to the culture here
(11:49):
for sure. And so to talk about that today, we
have Naomi Mendoza. She is a business partner and the
daughter of the owner of Gordonavaca in the Fashion District district.
Now you have more than Do you have more than
one location or just this location?
Speaker 7 (12:05):
Yes, so we also have another one in the city of.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Bell, in the city of Bell. That's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Now to find out more, you can find out more
on courtnovaka Grill on Facebook and the same on Instagram.
Correct excellent in the location uh here in Los Angeles,
proper is a four to nine East eleventh Street, and
then in Bell it's six three six seven Atlantic Avenue
(12:32):
in Bell.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
So we're gonna taste some of the food. What'd you
bring for us today?
Speaker 7 (12:36):
Yes, so we brought our famous Chiles REOs. We brought
halapeno tacos and morcaheade excellent.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Now explain the beauty and the tradition of the Marca Hitte.
Speaker 7 (12:49):
Yes, so the Marca hite is okay. So we love
the Marca Hitte because we grew up working class and
the Marka Hite it just brings, you know, every kind
of meat, it brings shrimp nopalles, and it brings it
all together and you're eating it with your hands and
(13:09):
you're just sharing it with your family. It's enough for
like a family of four to six people.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
Now Neples is the cactus trying to people how you
prepare it prior to putting.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
It in the marcahette. Okay?
Speaker 7 (13:25):
Uh, we started to.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Please bring the make up, thank you.
Speaker 6 (13:29):
Yes, when you start to prep to Marcatte, he's coming
in the restaurant. He served it in a it's tom
and now he cleaned the Uh the cactus cook it out,
coming with a beef chicken, gray streams, bacon, streams, fresh
cheese and the and it's broad.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
It's really bright if you haven't had it's bright. It's fresh,
it's subaceous, that has those green, those great flavors that
come with something bright and green that you get.
Speaker 6 (14:03):
And you know when you got that home meats inside
the marcahette. We put the more cohetta size more more
cohette sauce inside, and that he made that very good
flavor sizzles it on that homemade tortilla there.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, all these tortillas are magical, both the fresh made
corn and the fresh made flower. The flower has one
of the things that I love the most. And a
good homemade tortilla that window painting where you can see
through it because of the fat content in there, which
gives it that flavor and brings it all together. They're
(14:36):
just lovely. And then going on to the corn, you
get that that thick massa and it's just so it
really it's kind of uh puffy and uh cloudy on
the inside, but then it has these great edges, really
really lovely.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And you brought chile reano here.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Soon cheese, yeah, that's nothing else, and that I just
want to make sure.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
M hm, that's exactly what you want.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
And the chili reno, the sweetness from the chili and
that sheese just it the moment you cut into it
oos is out a tiny bit of.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
Sweetness there. Wow, that is really lovely.
Speaker 6 (15:27):
I want that tomato and it's not as spices.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
No, No, it's it's it's bright, it's bright and fresh.
But this is lovely and a little bit of the
breading as well. Yeah, that's fine. This reminds me of
my mom would make this quite a bit.
Speaker 7 (15:48):
Yeah. We always joke in our family. We're like the
moment you're able to make a chill, you know, that's
when you're able to get like that determines if you can't,
then you shouldn't get married.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (16:02):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
That's a good standard for all of us. So is
there specials going on right now? How are you celebrating
Hispanic character?
Speaker 7 (16:11):
Yes, so we are collaborating with Latin Restaurants Week and
so the specials start from September thirteenth to the twenty seven.
But we are keeping the Chilerian, know, because it's become
such a staple to our restaurant, to you know, not
only the LA community, but the community.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
As a whole.
Speaker 7 (16:33):
So, you know, we're just collaborating and we have the
marka hit that's a special we have Chilerian Know. We
didn't bring the Kausadia. That one is so interesting and amazing.
It's a little cow shaped casadia and you're able to
get the cheese.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
Pull and yeah, Instagram loves that, sure, yeah.
Speaker 7 (16:50):
Absolutely, and so do the kids. So and then the
Jlapeno tacos.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
That's wonderful one. I really appreciate you taking the time
and bringing your food and your story with us. The
good food always starts with a good story. There's always
the desire to cook and to celebrate culture and flavors,
and with that it's just food. You might as well
take a pill to effort, you know, for nutrients. This
(17:19):
screams home, heritage, family, and you can get no higher
praise from me at least than those things for food.
So it's very you know, in the longevity, I hate
the fact that you've been around for twenty years and
that only takes us back to the two thousands, but
because it seems like it should be go way way back,
(17:41):
but that is you should celebrate that and be very proud.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Thank you so much, Thanks again for coming in cler.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
Why do I have this?
Speaker 1 (17:54):
Or novaka grill and you can find that on their website.
C U E R N A v A. That does
not look spelled properly to me.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Yeah, so I've got it here spelled incorrectly I apologize,
so ce u E R N A V A c
A sgrill dot com.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Okay, there is, though it was spelled incorrectly. I apologize.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
So check that out and celebrate until the fifteenth of
October and come down and celebrate a local place by
a family owned and operated shop.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Thanks so much for coming in. The food is delicious.
Speaker 7 (18:35):
Thank you for having us on.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
You've been listening to the fork Report. You can always
hear us live on kf I AM six forty two
to five pm on Saturday and anytime on demand on
the iHeartRadio app. Hey, everybody, it's the Forker Port on
neil Sebiedra. Hello, Howdy, howdy, howdy.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
See you, Amy King, Thanks for coming by.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
My very favorite human there, Amy King, swung by just
like old time, right. She used to do the news
here and we would hang out and have food. So
she came and had some food because we were talking
about the Union Rescue Mission and how we're both participating
and raising funds for them. It is the weirdest thing
(19:18):
in the world that this organization, the Union Rescue Mission,
their sole focus is to get people off the streets
and into work and into a home and all of
these things, yet they do not receive gut government funds
because they want you to want to get better, meaning
(19:42):
that it's a dry environment that means no drinking, no
using drugs. They feel that you have to commit to
those things to want to get better. So Amy and
I are very much behind this, and even so much
so we're doing something called over the Edge. On the
twenty seventh of September, Amy King and I will be
(20:04):
going over the edge the Hilton in Universal City. You
can see it right off the freeway there, and we
are going to go over the side and down a
twenty five story building roughly two hundred and fifty feet
or so, and we're gonna repel down. Yikes, and I'm
deathly afraid of heights, but to me, you know, that's
(20:27):
what life's about, kind of pushing through things.
Speaker 3 (20:30):
And so this.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I think the hardest part is going to be getting
up and over the edge. Well, for two reasons, gravity
in my basic size, and then but just the psychology
of all of that. And then once so you're over
the side, you do what you got to do and
you can get down. But we're doing that just to
raise awareness, and the awareness is to get you to
(20:53):
a website just help one dot org. It's the character
one Just help one dot org, and you can see
the event. You can find out more about the event
of us going over the edge, but also you can
donate and you click on donate and say find a
participant or team, and you go and you click on that,
(21:14):
and then you look at the teams and you will
see the iHeartMedia team and oh, wow, you're already donating.
Thank you so much. Wow, that is super cool. That
is super super super cool. I can see that you
folks are donating there. You've gone to that page and
(21:35):
you can see us. We are under You can view
all teams and you look for Team iHeartMedia, Team iHeartMedia,
and you go ahead and you can donate to our team.
And we're just looking to raise as much as we
can for this great cause. And I was so blown
away meeting them and chatting with them, the folks at
(22:00):
the Union Rescue Mission, that they became a part of
my charity offerings. So they were put in my rotation
of giving monthly to them because I was really impressed
on what they do and it's you know, you do
what you can with what you have and I've always
believed that if you find an international charity that you
(22:24):
can donate a little bit too, a local charity that
you can donate to, and then a national charity that
you can donate to, that that is.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Like a really good balance. You can do it your way.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
But I've always found that, and it's not that you
have to give every penny or everything like that or
be shamed into something. But once I put it into
my cycle, it becomes like everything else. It's you know
that you pay for and what have you. And that's
what seems to work for us. And anything you have,
as long as it goes to a place that uses
(22:58):
it well, is going to be powerful. And that's what
the Union Rescue Mission does eighty five cents of every dollar.
And as far as Charity Navigator is concerned, they say
that they are They get a one hundred on their
scale of doing good with the money they receive. So
that is why Amy King and I are part of it,
and we hope that you will join us. If not
by you can repel down the building too if you wish,
(23:22):
If you donate one thousand dollars or at least gather
one thousand dollars and everybody says, yeah, you go.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
You could do that as well.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
If not, you can come by, or you can honk
off the one on one, or you can cheer us
on September twenty seventh.
Speaker 1 (23:36):
All right, more to come, so go nowhere.
Speaker 5 (23:38):
You're listening to The Fork Report with Nil Savedra on
demand from KFI AM six forty
The Fork Report w Neil Saavedra News
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