The Biggest New Las Vegas Restaurant Openings, August 2025
Max Milla
The Cosmopolitan is once again home to a burger joint. A year after Holsteins' closure made way for the moody, fire-lit modern Mexican restaurant Amaya, Naughty Patty's has taken over a stall in the Block 16 Urban Food Hall, near China Poblano. This retro-style spot leans into the smash burger trend, serving a focused menu of burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and loaded hot dogs. The signature burger features a blend of ground chuck and brisket, smashed thin and lacy with crisp caramelized edges. For dessert, thick concretes arrive swirled with nostalgic toppings like Oreo and strawberry shortcake.
Louiie Victa
A space adjacent to Superfrico is just big enough for 50 visitors — plus a handful of dinner party 'guests' who may roll, drop, or swing into the room. Speigelworld's new venture is a supper club-style experience that blends the Italian food from Superfrico with talent from the group behind Absinthe and Atomic Saloon. A three-course dinner includes appetizers like tuna tartare or salad with Calabrian ranch dressing, mains like seared mushroom gnocchi with black truffle or six-ounce prime filet with roasted bone marrow sauce, and dessert of tiramisu or rice pudding. Throughout dinner, expect hijinks from the night's host, acrobats who perilously balance atop one another, and a performer who achieves impossible feats with soap bubbles.
Ai Pazzi
Fabio Viviani, the crowned 'Fan Favorite' of Top Chef, brings his restaurant empire to Las Vegas with Ai Pazzi in Summerlin. Located at the JW Marriott Las Vegas, Vivianni's restaurant is traditional Italian with touches of Vegas glam — like the chef's signature meatball — upgraded with wagyu and rich tomato sugo, orecchiette pasta tossed with spiced duck sausage, and a frutti di mare squid ink pasta in a briny mix of clams, mussels, and shrimp in lobster broth. The restaurant is part of JW Marriott and Rampart Casino's $75 million renovation, which will include a pizza counter adjacent to the restaurant and an Italian-style Oyster Bar later this summer.
Street Food by Weera Thai
Weera Thai already operates four locations where it highlights vibrant dishes originating from the Northeastern region of Thailand. The family first opened in Weera Larb Ped in Chiang Mai more than 40 years ago. But its newest venture is Street Food by Weera Thai. Here, popular dishes make the menu alongside new specialties like khao mok kai with tender spiced chicken and crispy onions, served with a spicy and sweet chutney. It's located in a casual space near Golden Steer — its purple flowers and duck mural are visible from the windows.
Rare Society
In San Diego, Rare Society is known for its dramatic steak boards — dry-aged cuts arranged and accented with bearnaise, horseradish, and buttery bone marrow. The Southern Californian steakhouse from chef Brad Wise and Trust Restaurant Group is now open at Uncommons in Southwest Las Vegas in a swanky dining room. Think with cozy booth seating tucked between wood-slat partitions, soft ambient lighting, and a glossy bar that feels classic Vegas. An eight-ounce cut of Denver-cut wagyu from Snake River Farms is an impossibly marbled shoulder cut. It's — tender and flavorful with a deliciously charred crust courtesy of the Santa Maria ranchero-style grilling over white oak. The sides are each enough to share, but with choices like crunchy pickled onion rings, potatoes au gratin with black truffle, and wood fired broccolini with za'atar, lemon, and sumac yogurt, it's worth double or tripling up.
Golden Boy Market and Deli
This new Henderson deli and specialty market turns out sandwiches on crackly, golden baguettes from French bakery Bridor. The menu features items like a chicken Caesar salad sandwich with chile crisp and breadcrumbs or a stacked deli combo of salami, chorizo, roast pork, and cheddar with Kewpie mayo. The market also stocks tinned fish, semola flour, and olive oils, making it a charming stop for lunch and pantry upgrades alike.
Not a Damn Chance
Not a Damn Chance started in Austin, Texas, as a collaboration between pro skateboarder Neen Williams and chef Phillip Frankland Lee of Scratch Restaurants Group. Now, it's landed at Resorts World as a temporary 24-hour pop-up. The signature burger features a wagyu patty topped with grilled onions, American cheese, pickles, jalapeños, and a house-made secret sauce on a toasted potato roll. Fries come loaded with cheese, pickles, and more sauce, while a Vegas-only breakfast burger adds bacon and a fried egg to the mix.
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Cosmopolitan
38 minutes ago
- Cosmopolitan
22 baby names rising in popularity inspired by old Hollywood celebrities in 2025
When it comes to naming a baby, it's a pretty big deal – and not a decision to be taken lightly. Some parents seek out a popular name (so the child has no issue with people pronouncing or spelling it), while others may want a moniker that evokes images of nature, or that has a literary feel to it. Or perhaps you're in the market for a name that conjures up the vibe of the Golden Age of Hollywood, which spanned from the 1910s to the 1960s: one full of glamour, art and that has a classic air to it. It looks like that could well be the case for more and more families who are welcoming a bundle of joy, as the below names – all of which are associated with a famous face from days gone by – have been steadily creeping up (or in some cases, shooting to the top of!) the rankings in England and Wales, according to the latest baby names data from the Office of National Statistics. Others, we've added for fun as they're rare but remain every inch the Golden Era. Here's a round-up of some old school Hollywood baby names, that would look just perfect in lights daaaaahhling! 1) Ava: Coming in ninth on the list of most popular girl names in England and Wales in 2024, with an adorable 1,774 of them making their way into the world, Ava is also a nod to the American starlet, Ava Gardner. As well as her famed career on the big screen, Gardner was known for her love life: she married Frank Sinatra, composer Artie Shaw and fellow thespian Mickey Rooney. 2) Sophia: Number 13 on the list (behind Sofia at number 12!), this name could pay homage to the Italian firecracker, Sophia Loren, who at 90 is one of the final survivors of Hollywood's Golden Age. 3) Evelyn: Known for playing Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, actress Evelyn Keyes was a major Hollywood player – and a great source of baby name inspiration! The name 'Evelyn' was number 20 on the list in 2024. 4) Grace: Number 25 on the most popular names list, Grace has an elegant and regal feel – just like Grace Kelly, also known as the Princess of Monaco. 5) Elizabeth: Another regal name thanks to the late Queen Elizabeth II and an homage to Elizabeth Taylor, this moniker appears on the list at number 62. 6) Clara: Actress Clara Bow was one of the greats, and the name itself has plenty of fans too coming in at number 84 on the top 100. 7) Lillian: A great springboard name for nicknames like Lily or Lil, it also evokes Lillian Gish; one of the earliest silent movie stars, whose career stretched seven decades in total. Lillian was #309 last year and the chosen baby name for 140 little ones. 8) Audrey: At number 355 on the list and the chosen name for 124 babies, Audrey, meaning 'noble strength', is hanging in there (although it ranked higher in 2019 at number 294, after being used for 165 babies). 9) Mae: A popular choice for double-barrelled first names (e.g. Elsie-Mae and Ivy-Mae), Mae as a standalone is number 443 on the list. It reminds us of Mae West, so expect your little one to be handful! 10) Monroe: The surname of the world's most famous Marilyn, Monroe was chosen as a name for 72 baby girls last year. A unique and sparkly choice (expect this baby to have a penchant for diamonds!). 11) Rita: Although lower down the list at number 625, this name was given to 62 little girls last year. Rita Hayworth, who was actually born Margarita Carmen Cansino herself, would be proud. 12) Loren: Looking for a rare name with a Golden Age feel? Five families welcomed a baby Loren last year. 1) Freddie: A highly popular choice at number 13, Freddie can be shortened to Fred in honour of Fred Astaire, the all-singing, all-dancing, all-acting legend. As a standalone, the name 'Fred' placed #567 2) Henry: One of the biggest Golden Age stars was Henry Fonda – and his name lives on as the 14th most chosen on the list. Last year saw 2,360 Henrys welcomed in England and Wales. 3) Charlie: Like plenty of Charlie Chaplin's movies, this name is a big hit and the 17th most popular choice for baby boys today. 4) James: A good, classic all-rounder of a name (and one associated with many a big actor, such as James Cagney, James Stewart and, of course, James Dean). It's number 40 on the list today. 5) Frank: As in Sinatra, this name is number 194 and never really goes out of style in our humble opinion. 6) Spencer: A less popular choice but still a respectable number 210 on the list, Spencer Tracy (the first actor to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor) would be delighted, we're sure. 7) Orson: Orson Welles' Citizen Kane caused controversy when it was released in 1941 but went on to be thought of as a cinematic masterpiece. The name 'Orson' came in at 374 last year, and was chosen for 115 baby boys. 8) Gregory: Gregory Peck is synonymous with old Hollywood, and was the preferred name for 18 little ones last year. 9) Mickey: A unique choice, Mickey was number 1,595 on the list (with 16 babies receiving the name). Mickey Rooney, star of Babes in Arms (alongside Judy Garland) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (with Audrey Hepburn), could well have been the inspiration! 10) Brando: Chosen for just three baby boys last year, Brando (which is also the name of Barry Keoghan's son, in honour of his favourite actor Marlon Brando) is quintessential old Hollywood. 11) Burt: Chosen for just three baby boys last year, the name Burt was also the nickname of Burton 'Burt' Lancaster – famed for his star turns in From Here to Eternity, The Leopard and Sweet Smell of Success. Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC's Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women's Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
Eater
2 hours ago
- Eater
Rice Cakes Can Do Anything
is a senior reporter at covering restaurant trends, home cooking advice, and all the food you can't escape on your TikTok FYP. Previously, she worked for Bon Appétit and VICE's Munchies. In 2023, the Los Angeles izakaya Budonoki, then just a few weeks old, decided to 'dress up' as a different kind of restaurant for Halloween. For one night, the Japanese restaurant transformed into an Italian trattoria with Negroni slushes, arancini, and checkered tablecloths. Someone on staff offered the pun 'Budo-gnocchi,' recalls co-owner Eric Bedroussian. 'We were like, wait, that's actually really good.' Nobody in the kitchen had expertise in making pasta and no one had much interest in making gnocchi from scratch, so the team reached for something more convenient: Korean rice cakes, also known as tteok. Like gnocchi, rice cakes offer a bouncy chew, especially the long cylindrical rice cakes that the restaurant uses. (Tteok can also be found in flatter rounds that are sliced on the diagonal.) The team steamed the rice cakes to soften them, then seared them to create a crisp outer layer. Sauteed mushrooms, a dashi-butter pan sauce, and Parmigiano-Reggiano rounded out the pasta-like vibe. The Budo-gnocchi was 'so incredibly well-received,' Bedroussian says, that it had to become a part of the permanent menu. It hit the notes the restaurant was going for with every other dish. 'It's comforting and it fills you up if you've been drinking a lot,' he says. Once a happy accident, Budo-gnocchi has since become a signature dish at the restaurant, which was named an Eater Best New Restaurant in 2024. The dish has since evolved into a loose template, changing with the whims of the kitchen. The restaurant might upgrade it by finishing with black truffle shavings, or bringing in corn and tomatoes in the summer. 'It can be whatever we want it to be,' Bedroussian says. As Korean cuisine gains popularity across the United States, rice cakes — a popular street food — have established themselves as a promising ingredient for chefs cooking both inside and outside Korean cuisine. While you'll find them cast as other types of noodles (Sunny Lee's baked ziti-like rice cakes at New York City's Sunn's, for example, or chef Beverly Kim's tteokbokki pad Thai at Chicago's Parachute HiFi), chefs especially like the way their playful, chewy texture makes them a natural substitute for gnocchi. This idea isn't entirely novel; in a 2006 New York Times review of New York's Momofuku Ssäm Bar, Pete Wells recommended the rice cakes topped with Sichuan pork ragu and whipped tofu as 'dead ringers for gnocchi.' Chefs in Korea have been working on a similar culinary track for a little while now too. Traditionally, restaurants and street stalls generally use tteok to make tteokbokki, in which the rice cakes are simmered in sauce that's slightly sweet, spicy, and fiery red from gochujang. In recent years, they've been riffing with rosé tteokbokki, which adds cream to the typical tteokbokki base, inspired by both the Italian rosé sauce and Korean-style carbonara. 'Italian food in general has become more popular in Korea,' says bar owner and forthcoming cookbook author Irene Yoo. Given that Korean-style carbonara is made with cream and served with ham or peas, breaking from Italian tradition, rosé tteokbokki is 'an interpretation of another interpretation,' she says. The rice cakes at Sunn's are topped with mozzarella cheese. Jutharat Pinyodoonyachet/Eater NY Across the U.S., rice cakes have recently transcended pasta dishes altogether. In New York City alone, there's the culinary boundary-blurring rice cake fundido at Haenyeo; the nacho-like chopped cheese rice cakes at Nowon; rice cakes bulking up galbi bourguignon alongside potatoes at Sinsa; and blanketed with mornay sauce until they resemble gratin at Gurume. At Yoo's Orion Bar in Brooklyn, rice cakes also turn sweet, morphing into churros: deep-fried until puffy and crispy on the outside, then tossed in cinnamon sugar and served with cream cheese-makgeolli dip. 'I grew up in LA, so I definitely had a lot of churros growing up,' Yoo says. While testing deep-fried rice cakes, 'I immediately thought of that as a taste memory.' For chef Nick Wong of Houston's new 'modern Asian American diner,' Agnes and Sherman, a dish of rice cakes with beef ragu filled the slot for a 'comforting, saucy starch' on the menu, since there's no pasta. It also represents a 'kind of 'if you know, you know' situation,' he says. Wong spent years cooking at Ssäm Bar, so the dish is in part a reference to the ragu rice cakes there, though with pork in place of beef because 'it's Texas,' Wong says, and to account for Houston's Muslim population. More specific to Houston, the dish has another reference: The Korean braised goat and dumplings, also made with rice cakes, was the signature dish at Chris Shepherd's now-closed Underbelly; the dish was beloved for the way it evoked the foods of many different cultures. With a sauce featuring Korean gochujang and doenjang, West African uda pepper, and Mexican chile de árbol, Wong's rendition is emblematic of Houston, where, he says, 'it's hard to tell where one thing ends and another thing begins.' When it comes to his rice cake dish, Houstonians 'just get it,' he says. With all its iterations, Budo-gnocchi is a 'chameleon' too, Bedroussian says. For a recent collab dinner with Indian sports bar Pijja Palace — an Eater Best New Restaurant that's known for its malai rigatoni (pasta with a creamy tomato masala) — the two restaurants served malai Budo-gnocchi. It's a little bit of everything: Italian, Indian, Korean, all through the lens of an LA riff on a Japanese izakaya. Between all those influences, rice cakes are in the middle, bridging the gap. Sign up for Eater's newsletter The freshest news from the food world every day Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Eater
2 hours ago
- Eater
Mexican Asian Fusion Is One of North America's Signature Cuisines
In early 2009 in Los Angeles, there was no food experience more exciting than Roy Choi's Kogi truck. You'd wait in a long line in a dimly lit parking lot with a menagerie of trendy people, some of them drawn by the truck's latest Twitter post or Jonathan Gold's review in LA Weekly, others stumbling out of a nearby bar. Then you'd order too many tacos and stand next to your car to eat, perching your sagging paper trays of Korean Mexican fusion on the trunk. The truck felt new and surprising, and the big flavors demanded attention. The cheese oozing out the sides of the kimchi quesadilla rounded out the fermentation, while the salsa roja on top amplified the gochugaru. The blend of Korean and Mexican chiles in the salsa coaxed complementary flavors out of the punchy marinade on the kalbi. Funky one-off specials, like pork belly tteokbokki or the Kogi Hogi torta, constantly introduced new combinations. Leaning on the strengths of Mexican and Korean cuisines, Kogi probably would have worked if the food was only a novelty. But it also tasted definitively of Los Angeles. Choi (and his partner, Philippines-born, California-raised chef Mark Manguera) put many facets of his life into Kogi, including his training in fine dining, his rebellious spirit, and his Korean heritage, but most of all his experience growing up in LA, where Koreatown abuts several predominantly Mexican American neighborhoods. Choi's cooking prioritized innovation, but it still smacked of home. 'I think it became a voice for a certain part of Los Angeles and a certain part of immigration and a certain part of life that wasn't really out there in the universe. We all knew it, and we all grew up with it, and it was all around us, but the taco kind of pulled it together,' Choi told Terry Gross in a 2013 interview on Fresh Air. 'It was like a lint roller. It just kind of put everything onto one thing. And then when you ate it, it all of a sudden made sense, you know?' Kogi, parked in Venice, California, in 2010. Ted Soqui / Corbis / Getty Images Choi tapped into culinary histories that run deep in the American Southwest and California, where immigrants coming north from Mexico built lives alongside immigrants crossing the Pacific from Asia. (Kogi wasn't the first in the U.S. to serve food at this cultural intersection; spots like Avatar's, which has been serving Punjabi burritos in the Bay Area since 1989, are notable precursors.) But the truck marked a turning point for Mexican Asian fusion as an enduring cultural passion among interconnected communities. Over the last 16 years, Korean Mexican fusion has spread all over the country; in Portland, Oregon, and Austin, Texas, bulgogi burritos now seem as natural as coffee and chili, respectively. A legion of chefs have also popularized all kinds of Asian Mexican fusion, serving birria ramen, halal carne asada, and furikake esquites. Years before the term 'chaos cooking' entered the conversation, these restaurants created cuisine that was fun and different, blending foods from distinct cultures in ways that make emotional sense, even when they sound far out on paper. And chefs keep finding new ways to capture how Mexican and Asian foods crisscross in the U.S. and in diners' hearts. Asian immigrants have been forming communities in Mexico, from the La Chinesca neighborhood of Mexicali to Mexico City's Pequeño Seúl, for decades or in some cases centuries. Chefs in these areas naturally adapted their cuisines to local ingredients and dishes; in the process, they started unpacking some of the natural affinities across cuisines that would grease the wheels of fusion projects well into the future. To Cesar Hernandez, associate restaurant critic at the San Francisco Chronicle and a street food aficionado, it makes sense that items like tacos and burritos became go-to formats for fusion cooking over the years. 'They truly are blank canvases for whatever. They play well with other flavors,' he says. Hernandez also points to the common ingredients that unite Asian and Mexican cuisines. 'A lot of these cuisines love citrus. A lot of these cuisines love chiles. And when you can coax those flavors out with the other cuisines, that's when it really works.' For Rhea Patel Michel of Mexican Indian fusion restaurant Saucy Chick in Pasadena, California, the connection between these foodways is elemental. Her background is Gujarati Indian, and her husband Marcel Rene Michel is Mexican American. In combining their cuisines, they found a natural synergy in ingredients like cumin, citrus, rice, and legumes, but they also discovered a connectivity of spirit. 'It's generous, it's vibrant, it's dynamic, and we were really energized by what it could look like,' to bring their food together, Patel Michel says. The Picoso Roll at the Sushi-lito food truck in Tucson. Nick Oza/Eater When chefs in historic Asian communities in Mexico couldn't get access to ingredients from back home, they often developed fusion dishes out of necessity. But the clearest progenitor for many contemporary projects might be Sinaloan sushi, created in Culiacán, Mexico, not out of necessity but creative conversation within the restaurant community. Japanese immigrants to the area, in Mexico's Sinaloa state, started opening sushi restaurants around the late 1980s, often hiring Mexican chefs. But it wasn't until those chefs left to open their own spots, bringing their own ideas and style to sushi — and building on recent sushi inventions from the north, like the California roll — that the genre really developed its modern personality. One foundational operation, Sushi-Lo, brought sushi out to the streets in a cart, and introduced the modern classic, deep-fried mar y tierra (surf and turf) roll filled with carne asada and shrimp. Today, Sinaloan spots both in Mexico and the U.S., like Culichi Town, tend towards extravagance, incorporating aguachile, plantain, beans, melted cheese, jalapeños, or Hot Cheeto dust. And the cuisine only went further when it jumped from Sinaloa to neighboring Sonoroa, edging its way toward the U.S. 'Sonoran-style specialists are more like sushi bars attached to a Wingstop,' writes Bill Esparza, 'with menus touting fried chicken wings and fried potatoes covered in melted cheese alongside the calorie-rich sushi.' Alongside Culichi Town — which has 12 locations in the U.S., including in Dallas and Las Vegas — Sonoran sushi can be found all over the American West, but it especially thrives in Tucson, alongside terroir-defying, cross-cultural icons like the bacon-wrapped Sonoran dog. Unlike contemporary fusion restaurants of the '80s and '90s that became reviled for carelessly throwing together half-assed hybrid dishes and wearing culture as costume, the impetus for Sinaloan and Sonoran sushi wasn't colonial. Even as chefs tended toward monchoso, a sort of thrilling overindulgence, their fusion remained rooted in mutual respect and open collaboration. Neither culture was being absorbed or assimilated, trod on or lifted over the other. 'Mexican food is not fucking precious,' Hernandez says. 'People in Mexico are the first to break the rules. It's part of the tradition.' Roy Choi at work at his latest project, Taco Por Vida, in 2024. Rebecca Roland/Eater That spirit has persisted in Kogi and the projects that followed, even as restaurants spread beyond the Southwest, more Asian cuisines entered the conversation, and chefs developed all kinds of fusion. Almost immediately following Choi's success, chef Bo Kwon created Koi Fusion in Portland, Oregon, in 2009, bringing Pacific Northwest style, a lighter touch on sauces, and an eye for local vegetables to the cuisine. In 2010, Señor Sisig launched as a Filipino Mexican food truck with sisig burritos and tacos, citing Kogi as major inspiration. That same year, the Korilla food truck in New York pushed rice bowls alongside tacos and burritos, drawing winding lines and mostly stellar reviews. Along the way through the many mid-2010s pivots at Mission Cantina in New York, chef Danny Bowien served Mexican kimchi, avocado sashimi, and a Chinese burrito special featuring mapo tofu or kung pao pastrami. More recently, Taqueria Azteca in New York rolled out phở birria, Phở Vy in Oakland, California, unveiled bò kho quesabirria tacos, and Baysian in nearby San Leandro whipped up Filipino queso-adobo. Back in LA, Holy Basil offers Thai-style prawn aguachile, while New York-born Baar Baar serves birria-influenced tacos with Kashmiri duck and tostadas with tuna bhel. Hernandez is especially excited about chef Sincere Justice's Tacos Sincero pop-up, born in Oakland in 2022. The chef draws on his experience growing up in LA's San Gabriel Valley (which has large Mexican and Asian American populations) to create eclectic dishes like a konbini-style egg salad tostada, calamansi tinga, and a saag burrito. '[Justice is] a real student of 'I want to try different shit and present it in these formats,' using tortillas and tostadas,' Hernandez says. 'He and a couple other folks are keeping that [multicultural cooking] alive.' All of it is constantly evolving, even within individual restaurants. At Saucy Chick, the Michels are always creating new dishes, like birria de chivo that incorporates masala spices, halal carne asada marinated in amchur and coriander, and esquites amped up with fenugreek and turmeric. Along the way, something surprising has happened during all this R and D. '[I've been] digging deep with my mom and my dad, [asking,] 'How do we make this dal?' or 'How do we make aloo?'' Rhea says. 'I've found myself getting even closer to my culture.' 'Kogi came at that right moment,' Choi told Mashed in 2020. In the midst of the Great Recession, the truck offered accessible, boundary-pushing cooking. 'People couldn't afford to go out all the time. People were struggling, lost their jobs, looking for what their next meal could be. And then this funny little beat-up truck came along, serving this delicious little taco.' The team's creativity and hustle helped them nail the tenor of the early social media era. During Twitter's ascendance, the Kogi team tweeted their locations and specials in real time as the truck rolled around town, drawing mobs of fans wherever they went. 'It felt like a scavenger hunt when we needed some sort of positive direction,' Choi told Mashed. Online appeal has remained an important piece of Mexican Asian fusion, clear in dishes like birria ramen (or 'birriamen'). Generally said to have been invented by chef Antonio de Livier at the Mexico City restaurant Animo, birriamen builds on the internet popularity of the Tijuana-style stewed beef dish. It might be made with instant noodles or higher-grade stuff, ramen broth or consomé, stuffed into tacos or piled onto vampiros — but in almost every case, it's big and bold and attention-grabbing, making it ideal for social media feeds. Aguachile at Holy Basil in LA Wonho Frank Lee/Eater But in other ways, Mexican Asian fusion no longer resembles Kogi's scrappy street food operation, especially when it starts climbing into fine dining territory. At Michelin-starred Los Félix in Miami, the tétela is filled with Japanese sweet potato, the esquites get a hit of basil furikake, there's miso-grilled corn with fish, and corn dumplings come with scallions and trout roe. Anajak Thai Cuisine's Thai Taco Tuesday, a pandemic-born lark, grew into a signature experience; dishes like a carnitas taco and a sashimi-style yellowtail tostada with nam jim-salsa negra marisquera topped with papaya salad powered the restaurant to national acclaim. Today, fusion dishes show up at restaurants that are nominally neither Mexican nor Asian. Birria dumplings appear on the ever-changing menu at San Francisco icon State Bird Provisions, while Chicago restaurant Mfk serves suzuki crudo on a tostada with both guacamole and sambal. This cuisine is everywhere now. It's not uncommon to see culinary combinations at an airport, the Taco Bell Test Kitchen, or floating up beneath the gaze of social media's Eye of Sauron. It has been in the mainstream for more than 20 years, practically forever in the modern food era, fully engrained into the way we eat. Alongside other types of third-culture cooking, Mexican Asian cuisine has largely shed the stigma that fusion picked up in the '90s. Chefs once chafed if their food was labeled fusion. Now, the pendulum has largely swung back. For Hernandez, it's a generational thing; the old distaste has fallen by the wayside as new chefs and new diners have come into maturity. 'Fusion' is just a convenient shorthand for what so many are doing: transforming culinary building blocks, wherever they come from, to create something new — and awesome — from the parts. Hernandez brings it back to a conversation with Justice of Tacos Sincero. As much as the chef's food reflects his upbringing, the specific labels just aren't important anymore. 'Whatever people want to call it, it doesn't matter,' Hernandez says. 'It just has to bang.'
