Let's all eat at Israel's Delicias de Mexico Gourmet on Saturday, May 19.

Photo credit: Louisville Magazine.

It's already time for the second coming of Taco Walk, and boy, does Develop New Albany have lots of questions to answer (spoiler alert: they're not bothering to try, and Deaf's down with it).

C'mon, DNA: The time has come. A fact's a fact. Taco Walk belongs to her. Why not give it back?

Going into 2018, Develop New Albany has two huge unresolved issues to address pertaining to the Taco Walk last August.

One of these is DNA's encouragement of cultural appropriation during the event, which refers to sombreros, maracas and the Frito Bandito -- or, Mexican, Latina/o, Chicana/o, "Hispanic," Mexican-American, and Latin American stereotyping.

Tacky acts of cultural appropriation simply were not necessary for the success of the Taco Walk, which was intended to be a celebration of the restaurant community and a showcase for downtown. Needless to say, since August, people around the country have lost their jobs for less. I'm not suggesting a purge, but open public dialogue is needed most of all.

The second issue is DNA's blatant expropriation of intellectual property afterward. Simply stated, the idea for the Taco Walk was brought to DNA by Kelly Ott Winslow, a community-minded volunteer outside the organization, and now, in essence, the idea has been stolen from her -- and this is intolerable.

If you're one of the ticket-holders for the second Frito Bandito Walk on May 19, by now a fully annexed and enveloped "signature event" for Develop New Albany, by all means enjoy yourself.

Seriously. No snark. Go out there and have a good time, and don't forget the sunscreen.

Just do me this one favor: Whenever you see a DNA board member shaking maracas, ask him or her where all the money's going.

If you're not planning on Taco Walking and still need to eat at some point on Saturday, May 19, allow me to suggest that while it isn't located in the epicenter of downtown New Albany, Israel's Delicias de Mexico Gourmet (1515 E. Market Street) would be a great place to have a meal.

Anytime, in fact, but especially on Saturday, May 19.

In 2017, it was explained to me that Taco Walk organizers deemed Chef Israel Landin's eatery to be too far away from the historic core to merit inclusion on the walk. When I asked one of them why Israel wasn't participating, I was told something to the effect of "well, because it's a walk."

Okay, fine. I've walked (and biked) miles for a great beer, but given the event's geographical rationale, that's probably irrefutable.

This year's rationale is summarized in a Facebook exchange, which is the first instance in months of a question I've asked actually being answered. Is there a thaw underway?

To summarize: Last year no one asked Chef Israel; this year, someone did, and yet I'm not surprised he didn't answer affirmatively -- especially after the suburban sombrero follies of 2017. He's a skilled, experienced and highly trained food professional, and a proud man to boot.

It seems a shame, and perhaps even an embarrassment, to stage a Taco Walk without a gifted chef and a civic treasure who, in point of actual fact, taught damn near all of us in New Albany just how wonderful Mexican cuisine can really be.

Hence my unsolicited sales pitch on behalf of Chef Israel. If you're on the Taco Walk, wonderful. If not, consider showing Israel some love by dining at Delicias de Mexico Gourmet on May 19. Tell them Roger sent you.  

The Confidentials will be putting their money where my mouth is, circa 6:00 p.m. Please consider doing the same.

Let's all eat at Israel's Delicias de Mexico Gourmet on Saturday, August 12.

Photo credit: Louisville Magazine.

If you're one of the 400 or so ticket-holders for Saturday's inaugural Taco Walk, a "signature event" for Develop New Albany, by all means enjoy yourself. Seriously. Go out there and have a good time, and whenever you see a DNA board member, ask him or her where all the money's going.

If you're not planning on Taco Walking and still need to eat at some point on Saturday, allow me to suggest that while it isn't located in the epicenter of downtown New Albany, Israel's Delicias de Mexico Gourmet (1515 E. Market Street) would be a great place to have a meal.

Anytime, but especially on Saturday.

As it was explained to me, the Taco Walk organizers deemed Chef Israel Landin's eatery to be too far away from the historic core to merit inclusion on the walk. When I asked one of them why Israel wasn't participating, I was told something to the effect of "well, because it's a walk."

Okay, fine. I've walked (and biked) miles for a great beer, but given the event's geographical rationale, that's probably irrefutable.

At the same time, it seems a shame, and perhaps even an embarrassment, to stage a Taco Walk and not include the gifted chef who, in point of actual fact, taught damn near all of us in New Albany just how wonderful Mexican food could really be.

Hence my unsolicited sales pitch on behalf of Chef Israel. If you're on the Taco Walk, wonderful. If not, consider showing Israel some love tomorrow. If DNA can't "send" you there, then NAC will.  

The Confidentials will be putting their money where my mouth is, circa 6:00 p.m.

Please consider doing the same.

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Meat Loaf Is the Answer, Part 1: Local food culture presupposes local culture. Popeyes, anyone?

Meat Loaf Is the Answer, Part 2: Let's come together over meat loaf.

Meat Loaf Is the Answer, Part 3: A brief postscript to yesterday's Taco, Broccoli and Lutefisk Walk reference.

NA dining scene set for a great leap forward, as with Chef Israel's Delicias de Mexico.

Boom.

As the same old politicians caterwaul, things are happening.

New Albany's food and dining scene is about to hit "relaunch," with Israel's comeback, new digs for Habana Blues, the advent of Big Four Burgers and Earth Friends at Bank Street Brewhouse, all occurring between now and Derby.

And: Donum Dei Brewery's ribbon cutting is Tuesday, March 17 ... construction has resumed on the Floyd County Brewing location at the corner of Main and W. 1st ... we've heard about the possibility of Coqui's Cafe in the old Little Chef space ... and once Habana Blues leaves its current site, there'll be remodeling for a future tenant on the ground floor of the former New Albany Inn.

Too bad we can't get those walkable streets to tie these together -- you know, like in places where crane operators don't call the shots.

La Rosita owner under the microscope with new concept, by Caitlin Bowling (Louisville Business First)

Israel Landin, owner of the former La Rosita Mexican Grill, is taking his time in opening his new Mexican concept in New Albany.

After the swift decline of La Rosita, Landin said, he knows he is under the microscope, and former customers will be analyzing everything about the food and service at his new concept, Israel's Delicias de Mexico. He hasn't set an open date — though he said he had hoped to open last week — and said it will be at least three weeks.

"We are going to do our best," he said. "This is a new beginning for me after I lost everything."

Insider Louisville: Israel Landin hoping to open Delicias de Mexico in March.

Waistline alert: Kevin Gibson's got the scoop, and it appears that Israel's new place is coming to fruition more quickly than we thought.

Diet, schmiet.

Former La Rosita owner to open in ex-New Albany location as Israel’s Delicias de Mexico Gourmet, by Kevin Gibson (Insider Louisville)

... And now he’s back, and he’s come full circle. He expects to soft-open as Israel’s Delicias de Mexico Gourmet in early March at 1515 E. Market St. in New Albany, the site of the space where La Rosita first garnered attention from around the area and became a dining destination with its reasonable prices, delicious food and quaint space.

While back in Mexico City, where he grew up and lived until he was a teenager, Landin went to school to learn how to make desserts and pastries, adding yet another weapon to his arsenal of traditional Mexican fare, from tortas to quesadillas to tacos. And he returns with some added humility, quite a bit of experience — the original La Rosita opened in 2005 as a taco stand that was part of a produce store — and the determination to do what he intended to do all along, which is provide good food and service.

Chef Israel's Delicias de Mexico is coming along on Market Street.

Google Translate informs us that "Delicias de Mexico" translates as Mexican Delights (literally, I think it is Delights of Mexico).

Those of us who experienced Israel Landin's cooking during the high points of his original La Rosita's restaurant concept know that "delight" is by no means an exaggeration. The new place will be in the same Uptown building (1515 East Market) as Israel's previous and best known incarnation. The glassed-in porch on the west side appears to be destined for service as an open-air porch. That's a nice touch.

I wish Israel all the best as the build-out progresses, and recommend that you do, too.

Chef Israel's new restaurant will be called A Taste of Mexico.

We got wind of this in late September, and so it's good to see Chef Israel's project advancing, even if my waistline stands to be a major casualty of the reincarnation.

Are we about to witness a reincarnation of La Rosita?

I ran into Israel recently, and he said the target date is early next year, maybe February.

Former La Rosita owner to open another restaurant in New Albany, by Daniel Suddeath (N and T)

NEW ALBANY — The brains behind a once popular New Albany eatery plans to open a new Mexican cuisine restaurant.

Chef Israel Landin, who owned the former La Rosita restaurant, requested permission Tuesday from the New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety to place tables outside his new establishment.
A Taste of Mexico is planned for the former La Rosita location at 1515 E. Market St., though an exact opening date hasn’t been announced.

Drinking Progressively: Let's make it Tuesday evenings, 6 to 8 p.m. at BSB

Are we about to witness a reincarnation of La Rosita?

Could history be repeating itself, eight years later?

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2006

The Market Street (New Albany) location of La Rosita's is open, and you need to go there, now.

The Green Mouse says that Chef Israel Landin is looking to lease his old space at 1515 East Market Street. The building recently was sold to new owners.

Let's hope it works out. When Chef Israel was on this game, it was the best Mexican food I've ever had. However, the fact that food of this caliber might again be available three blocks from our house is a wee bit daunting from a waistline perspective.

Your Israel "La Rosita" Landin update for April.

I unexpectedly ran into Israel Landin earlier in the week. Israel told me he's navigating the bankruptcy waters and trying to get debts and financial affairs in line in the wake of his closing La Rosita in February. For the short term, he said he'd be working at the soon-to-open Cafe 27 on Main Street (it should be getting close), and that possible opportunities in California and Las Vegas failed to materialize.

Israel is not ruling out a return to his small eatery roots at some point in the future, and that's the best news of all. I wish him luck, and we miss his food. Keep your fingers crossed.

Sad but true: La Rosita's is no more.

I'm saddened to announce that La Rosita's is finished, permanently. The space on the corner of Spring and Pearl was being cleared yesterday and today. We wish the best of luck to Chef Israel Landin. There will be no more Burritos Ahogado. It's like a death in the family, but life goes on.

Under renewed management?

It just might make sense to use the word "re-management," but I'll take whatever Chef's offering. It's good to have him back.

ON THE AVENUES: Thoughts about independence.

ON THE AVENUES: Thoughts about independence.

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor.

It’s simply a fact of life that almost every single working day during each calendar year, independent small businesses walk a high wire without a net.

Engorged corporate franchise teats for suckling? We have none.

Massive federal bailouts, available as soothing stress relief? Not exactly.

But hardly a week passes without various levels of government providing subsidies for the very same multinational monoliths best placed to decapitate the independent business segment, as procured by the same lawyers and lobbyists we cannot afford.

On and on it goes. Out there in the soulless exurb, the sheep working at one monolithic chain give each other gift cards redeemable at another, and the money inexorably hemorrhages out of the community, at least until it reaches terminal gravity at whichever offshore tax havens offering the best terms to the coddled white-bread Mitt Romneys of our era.

But you know what?

Digressions, rants and bitterness aside, I’m generally firm in the belief that most indies wouldn’t have it any other way.

The only true bottom line for me is moral justification. Getting out of bed each morning, safe in the knowledge that whether or not I get it right 100% of the time, I can still go back to sleep with my standards and integrity intact … well, that’s always been enough in my world, and enough for many others, too.

We sink, and we swim. We win and we lose. Often we’re too exhausted to know the difference. Bruised and battered, arrogant and triumphant, and every conceivable emotion falling between these extremes; small business people have felt them all, and the adrenalin rush we cherish when all the cylinders are hitting is enough to overwhelm those pesky, nagging problems – a Band-Aid here, another digit in the crumbling dike there.

And while I’m at it, this independent small business roller coaster ride has very little to do with money, at least in my case. We’ve always rolled most of the scant profits back into the business in an ongoing effort, admittedly scattershot, to continue improving it.

In personal terms, whenever I’ve had money, I’ve just gone and spent it, and usually had a whale of a time doing so, because I shan’t be taking it with me when I die, anyway. Personal financial gain is barely relevant, and most of the best things aren’t really that expensive, anyway: Books, music, a bicycle and a BLT when the local tomatoes are in season.

The real point in life is to beat both the bad odds and insufferable bastards stacked against you, and to do so as often as you possibly can before crawling back to the table to spin the wheel yet another time. It’s addictive that way.

---

Now, belatedly, I come to the topic of La Rosita, which is my all-time favorite local Mexican restaurant, and Israel Landin, the restaurant’s owner and mastermind, who is my all-time favorite local Mexican chef.

I might dispense with the adjective “Mexican,” and still be telling the full truth, although I’ll keep it in place as a modifier for those reading from afar. Note that is given the time to learn Russian, Kenyan or Burmese cuisine, Israel would be just as intuitive and creative a chef.

However, it’s no secret to food-loving New Albanians that the past year or so has been somewhat unkind to the La Rosita location on Pearl Street in downtown, which originated as the restaurant’s flagship before the ill-fated opening of a second location in Louisville. Israel spent virtually all of his time tending to the expansion, which now has contracted, and he’s back in New Albany.

This is a very favorable development, but perhaps as befits the personalized nature of independent small businesses, it does not come without a caveat of sorts: It is challenging to laud the impending revitalization of the La Rosita concept in New Albany without conceding, at least to some degree, the restaurateur’s own complicity in the decline preceding it.

Lest there be any misunderstanding, this reasoning applies to any of us, including me – perhaps ESPECIALLY me – and to any small business, including my own. If we spread ourselves so thin that bottom-line essentials go missing, we’ve only ourselves to blame. At the same time, know that we’d never knowingly or intentionally spread ourselves so thin. We do what we do because we think we’re capable of doing it. When we fail, rest assured that we’re the first to agonize over it … and learn.

We sink, and we swim. We win and we lose. There are no engorged corporate franchise teats to suckle, no massive federal bailouts to snuggle, and somewhere out in the exurb, tax abatements were just awarded to a spanking new Outback in gleaming faux-Australian.

Yes, Israel is back in New Albany, and judging from what I’ve seen in two recent visits to La Rosita on Pearl Street, he’s busting his arse like a man possessed to right a listing vessel. I can appreciate his efforts, because I’m engaged in a similar phase at NABC’s Bank Street Brewhouse, albeit under somewhat different circumstances.

There’s no need to wag that finger. I know how many of you have told me that given the inconsistencies, you wouldn’t give La Rosita another chance. I’m here today to ask you to reconsider – not out of charity, but because Israel has proven to us many times over that when he’s on his game, it’s fantastic. He’s earned a do-over, in my opinion.

Give Chef Israel a bit of time to work on the service – the food’s been pretty good lately, and the physical plant is being scrubbed, repaired and upgraded – and dip a toe back into the water. At its inception, La Rosita was a game-changer, and it can be one again.