Lynn Q. Yu

When Michelle Kong learned how to play chess during the pandemic, it was the first board game she had ever been captivated by. Soon, Kong found herself obsessed, spending hours competing in online chess matches after her finance job ended each day. But what Kong craved was a chance to play chess in-person, and when she went searching, what she found were two extremes of the spectrum: chess clubs for the very young or very old.  “I was surprised that there wasn’t a community for this sport that everyone plays. I think [young twenty and thirtysomethings] is the largest demographic that chess has not penetrated into yet. I don’t think people had a chess club that was purely for that age group,” says Kong. “I decided to be my first customer.” In 2023, Kong launched L.A. Chess Club in the basement of Downtown L.A.’s Rhythm Room, welcoming anyone to join her on the bar’s handful of built-in boards. At first, it was just Kong and a friend; here and there, a few others would show up. Kong began streaming games on social media and soon, as the word got out, the community began expanding. Now, L.A. Chess Club is a ticketed event ($60 per person) that averages 200 attendees on a weekly basis at varying locations around Los Angeles. On a recent Thursday night, a DJ pumped techno and electronic beats in a warehouse in the Arts District as over 50 boards of chess games fired off simultaneously, featuring players of all skill levels. Those who weren’t playing waited by the walls, sipping on

When community organizer Jordyn Sun hit her 10-year anniversary of living in Koreatown, she decided to pour her energies into something creative and community-oriented. In early June, a coworker reached out about holding a birthday party at the restaurant Love Hour—one thing led to another, and before Sun knew it, she had a queer pop-up event on her hands.  Hotpot is a monthly LGBTQ+ dance party based in Koreatown. The event rotates amongst K-town establishments, from restaurants to coffee shops, with a DJ playing hip hop music and a pop-up chef serving small bites. Although hot pot is not actually served at the party, the name itself arises from a community-based ethos. While everyone is welcome to attend, the party is geared towards queer people of color.  “I’m seeing now more than ever the absence of a regular ongoing queer space in Koreatown, and how cool it would be if we had a monthly space where queers could go and reflect all the diversity and cultural complexity of this neighborhood,” said Sun. Photograph: Courtesy Kili Ku’uwehilani The first event at Love Hour in June ended up being just Sun and a bunch of her friends, but the party soon expanded organically by word-of-mouth hype. Sun recruited creatives she knew to help with graphic design, photography and merchandising. Brockstar, who has helped host several Hotpot events, first met Jordyn at a Pride event this June and soon jumped on as one of the main MCs. “Koreatown is the most densely populated area in Los A

As the sober curious lifestyle gains traction, mocktails have become an ever-ubiquitous offering on restaurant menus. But in recent years, the prices for non-alcoholic beverages have risen alongside their popularity.  At Kato in the Arts District, for example, an alcohol-free flight that pairs with the tasting menu runs at $85 per person. Whether it’s the Seedlip citrus, Calpico,and raspberry cordial Pink mocktail at Ardor ($14) or a rosewater and bougainvillea drink at Bar Nuda ($13), non-alcoholic beverages are beginning to rival the complexity of their alcoholic counterparts. Whereas a few years ago it might have been typical to pay $7 to $8 for a mocktail, it’s now common to see mocktails priced around the $14 mark. We decided to ask a few bartenders and bar directors from around Los Angeles why prices have gotten higher. One of the big reasons behind the uptick in prices is the use of higher quality ingredients. “In some cases, if you’re making a cocktail, two ounces of a tall drink is liquor, that’s $2 of cost,” says Amy Racine, the beverage director for John Fraser Restaurants, the group behind Ardor in West Hollywood. “If you’re using a premium non-alcoholic ingredient like yuzu juice, that’s a comparable price point, maybe even more so.”  Racine says a greater interest in health-consciousness after the pandemic has driven the demand for mocktails—this past “dry January,” the restaurant group's mocktail sales increased by 23% compared to last year. But beyond the use

ロサンゼルスの街角で、ビリア・デ・レス（煮込み料理の一種）を提供しているタケリア（タコスを売る店）に行くと、タコス、ケサディーヤ、ムリータス（タコスの一種、トルティーヤに肉やチーズを挟んでグリルで焼いたもの）として食べることができる。 しかし近年、ある人には斬新に、またある人には荒唐無稽に思えるような新しい食べ物「ビリアラーメン」がこの街を席巻している。そう、それはビリア・デ・レスのコンソメ（スープ）とインスタントラーメンを融合させたものだ。 Photograph: Courtesy Lynn Q. Yu ビリアラーメンは2010年代後半、今は閉店してしまったメキシコシティのカジュアルレストランチェーン「Animo」で初めて誕生したといわれている。この料理はやがて北上し、2019年ごろにはロサンゼルスの街角に登場。主にフードトラックで、定番のタコスなどとともに提供されるようになった。今ではこの街のどのナイトマーケットでも見かけるようになり、巨大な「ビリア鍋」の横にタパティオ（メキシコで人気のホットソース）味のカップ入りインスタントラーメンが積まれている光景も珍しくない。 ビリア・デ・レスは、メキシコのハリスコ州でよく食べられるシチューのような料理「ビリア」の一種。マリネした牛肉を唐辛子とスパイスと一緒に、何時間も骨から落ちるほど柔らかくなるまで煮込んだものだ。 ビリアラーメンは、肉のうま味がしみ出たビリア・デ・レスのスープをインスタントラーメンに投入し、3分で出来上がり。客は好みでタマネギ、シラントロ（パクチーのこと）、ライムなどを入れて食べる。スープとインスタントラーメンのこの組み合わせは、シンプルで天才的といえる。スープは肉を感じて濃厚で、ベトナムのフォーよりも塩気が強く、トンコツラーメンのようなクリーミーさはない。 Photograph: Courtesy Lynn Q. Yu ロサンゼルスでは、ビリアラーメンが1杯12〜15ドル程度（約1,590〜1,990円）で売られている。高いと思うかもしれないが、スープは何時間も手間をかけて煮込まれてこそおいしくなるもの。一杯のビリアラーメンはシンプルに見えるかもしれないが、何口かで満たされるし、何人かでシェアすることもできる。 アラメダ、エルガト、アベニュー26ファミリーといった、ロサンゼルスのナイトマーケットを訪れれば「Fiesta Birria」や「Birria Red Tacos 2020」などの名前が付いたビリア・デ・レスを売りにした店を、少なくとも2、3軒見つけることができる。こうした店ではタコスが主役であることに変わりはないが、積み上げられているインスタントラーメンのカップやトッピングのセルフサービスステーションを目印にすれば、ビリアラーメンにはすぐにありつけるだろう。 ナイトマーケットで温かいスープと麺を食べるのが、冬のロサンゼルスにはぴったりだ。 関連記事 『This Mexico City birria mash-up is taking over L.A.’s street food scene（原文）』 『東京、ベストタコス5選』 『東京、本場のメキシコ料理店7選』 『駐日メキシコ大使に聞く、女性躍進を国家が優先させるべき理由』 『池ノ上にメキシコの灌木や雑貨を扱う店、ヴィヴェロ トーキョーがオープン』 『名店「ロス タコス アスーレス」が恵比寿におまかせ式のタコスバーをオープン』 東京の最新情報をタイムアウト東京のメールマガジンでチェックしよう。登録はこちら  

Go to any streetside taqueria in Los Angeles serving birria de res, and you’ll find a host of street food classics—tacos, quesadillas, mulitas and the like. But a new kid has crept onto the block in recent years, one that some find novel, others apocryphal. Meet birria ramen: a fusion of birria consommé with instant noodles. Birria ramen first originated in Mexico City in the late 2010s at the now-closed restaurant Animo. The dish eventually migrated north, hitting the streets of Los Angeles around 2019, when food trucks began offering birria ramen alongside more traditional items. Now, birria ramen is ubiquitous at L.A.’s night markets—and it’s not uncommon to see a pyramid of Tapatio-flavored ramen bowls stacked alongside a giant pot of birria. Photograph: Courtesy Lynn Q. YuThe birria ramen set-up at Alameda Night Market’s Fiesta Birria. Birria de res con consome is a slow-cooked stew from the Mexican state of Jalisco; marinated beef is simmered in a hearty broth for hours with chilies and spices, until the meat becomes soft and falls off the bone. The piping hot consommé is then ladled into a bowl of instant ramen, where it sits for the requisite three minutes before being handed over to the customer. The diner then has the option of adding onions, cilantro and lime to the broth before digging in. The combination is genius in its simplicity. The consommé is meaty, dark, and rich—heavier and saltier than, say, Vietnamese pho, but not creamy like tonkotsu. Most vendors in