Amamos el Siete de Mayo

Welcome to The Enthusiast, the newsletter that's todos delicioso, sin asco! Every week I share five(ish) things I'm loving, from iconic cultural cuisine to soul-searing art–all personally vetted and highly recommended by yours truly.

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo atrasado, amigos! Did you know that Cinco de Mayo is a minor holiday at best in Mexico, a commemoration of the Mexican army’s defeat of France at Puebla—and it is NOT Mexican Independence Day (that would be September 16), and barely a national holiday at that?

Well now you do, which means you can mark the day properly here in the United States as a general celebration of Mexican culture and how deeply intertwined it is with our own, and not an excuse for getting messy on tequila and wearing racist mustaches and goofy sombreros. I'm a couple days late, naturally, but I can’t think of a better way to honor our neighbors than sharing five of my personal favorite things that we wouldn’t be able to experience and enjoy without them.

Olla Taqueria Gutierrez - Covington, Ky.

The best authentic Mexican in the Tri-State Area

Mexican food is second only Chinese food in popularity in the US, and even if you live in the tiniest little podunk town, odds are there’s at least one Tex-Mex joint nearby to fulfill your taco cravings quickly and cost-effectively. Add to this the various national Mexican-ish chains, spreading more of the goodness around: Taco Bell, Chipotle, Qdoba, Del Taco, Moe’s, Chuy’s, Tijuana Flats, etc. However, there’s something to be said about finding an “ethnic” restaurant (cringe) that actually caters to people who grew up in the culture, allowing them to enjoy old favorites and introducing the rest of us to real-deal, traditional, and delicious dishes.

Olla Taqueria Gutierrez, a tiny little gem in West Covington, is one prime example  serving some of the best Mexican delights in the area. Not only can you get street tacos, massive burritos, and an actual pound of nachos (or nacho-style fries!), but you can also try traditional apps like Maduras (fried plantains) and Elote (street corn), heartier fare like Carne Asada and Faji-alambre, a range of proteins including Birria (the Mexican equivalent of a French dip) and Lengua (beef tongue), as well as veggie and vegan dishes. And of course, there's the full spectrum of margaritas and Mexican cocktails, made strong and affordably priced, along with weekly specials like Taco Tuesday ($3 tacos or 3 for $7) and Birria Wednesdays (3 for $10).

Olla has quickly become one of my favorite restaurants in the Greater Cincinnati area, and word is getting around, especially for lunch. I recommend getting there by 11:30 AM to order and find a seat before the lunchtime rush hits. Top it off   with a cold glass bottle of Mexican Coke or Topo Chico, and peep their sweets freezer for a cool frozen treat to wrap up. If you haven’t been yet and you’re in the area, hit me up and we will vamanos, mi amor!

Luchadores

Specifically, the Lucha Brothers: Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix

Listen, I knew nothing about about lucha libre-style wrestling until a couple of years ago, but now I can’t get enough of this fast-paced, high-flying and deeply theatrical style. My favorites are the Lucha Brothers, Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fénix, two actual brothers from from a long line of luchadores. They're so much fun to watch effortlessly flip and fly like gravity doesn’t apply to them, and their style is just one part of their legendary status as world tag team champions in five different promotions. In keeping with lucha tradition, their real names are not public knowledge, and much of their personal life is kept separate and secret outside the ring.

Showcasing so many different styles of wrestling (and wrestlers) is one of many reasons I’m an All-Elite Wrestling fan: instead of one or two single Western/American styles, AEW showcases luchadores, Japanese wrestlers, Indian and South Asian wrestlers, among many others, which to me is far more interesting and entertaining. AEW itself is continuing to grow in popularity, and I can’t wait to see where they keep going from here.

The Broken Column

Frida Kalo, 1944

Yes, I am well aware how cliche it is to be a queer Millennial woman and a Frida Kahlo fan, but I don’t care: her art is just as revolutionary as her life, and she led the way for marginalized women in creative fields long after her untimely death. She’s an icon not just because of her style or her color palettes, but because of how deftly she captured herself and her emotional life, returning the viewer’s gaze unflinchingly, defiant in her vulnerability. I was lucky to see many of her pieces at the Dali Museum in Florida years ago, and if you ever get a chance to see her work in person, I cannot express to you how truly powerful it is to behold.

The Broken Column was one of these, and I felt mesmerized by it, pulled in and forced to face her pain there with her, bringing some unexpected emotions up for me: aching empathy, anger at the obstacles she had face, joy that she was able to create such beautiful art while living with so much pain, envy at her strength and her skill, and maybe even a little hope for myself as a creative woman who even now is still searching for my own place in this world where it sometimes feels like I don’t truly belong.

I love many of Kahlo's masterpieces: her vibrant self-portraits, her surrealist dreamscapes, her socially-pointed feminist tableaux, and everything in between. Kahlo feels like a genre of art and artist all her own: embracing her heritage while facing a modern age, telling her story without shame or fear, loving and living her life as she wanted, on her own terms. The Broken Column is just one part of her incredible body of work, and for me it’s one of the most challenging, meaningful, and emotional I've ever experienced.

Mezcal

Tequila's sexy, smoky big sister

Real talk: tequila is my overall spirit of choice, but mezcal has  become my new favorite sippin’ tipple and mix-in that takes the humble margarita or paloma to some next level shit. Tequila is actually a type of mezcal, made with only blue agave, while the broader category of mezcal can be made from dozens of different agave species. It is a protected Appellation of Origin, too, like French Champagne, and its silky smokiness is just as unique and delicious.

Mezcal is a special-occasion drink for me, for relaxed celebrations at home or in a fancy craft cocktail on a night out. Like bourbon, it’s best served neat to get all the flavor nuances, but there’s nothing wrong with adding it to a cocktail every now and then. If you can't deal with the smokiness, try it as an accent for tequila in drinks like Palomas, or a new twist to your favorite mule or Negroni.

Guillermo del Toro

El hombre del renacimiento

Our current culture tends to focus on specific fandoms and subcultures, so it’s a rarity to find a true Renaissance Person these days – someone who is good at many different things, not because they have to be, but because they want to be. For your consideration, I present filmmaker and author Guillermo del Toro as one of the most profilic and successful creative weirdos working today.

Let’s start with his most famous works: del Toro has EIGHT Academy Awards, mostly for Pan’s Labryinth (2006) and The Shape of Water (2017), both of which are chilling, heartbreaking, and ultimately redemptive fairy tales about love triumphing over fascism and fear. His Hellboy movies (2004, 2008) are way better than they have any right to be, and Pacific Rim (2013) remains one of the best modern Kaiju movies of the last several decades.

In 2022 Del Toro won his most recent Oscar for his beautiful stop-motion Pinocchio, and hosted a stylish, diverse anthology horror series, Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Even more recently, he appeared in the third episode of the current final season of Barry; before that, he lent his likeness to video game auteur (and BFF) Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding. He’s also written a horror novel series that became a TV series (The Strain), and owns not one but two separate houses for his collection of books, artwork, and various ephemera.

With no signs of slowing down soon, del Toro's upcoming projects include a stop-motion adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Buried Giants and a long-awaited live action Frankenstein adaptation with Oscar Isaac, Andrew Garfield, and Mia Goth. Truly, del Toro is huge inspiration for all romantic sci-fi nerds and horror fans, demonstrating that even though it can take years, for your creative efforts to find a home and an audience, it’s well worth it to pursue anything and everything that brings you joy.

Un poquito más:

• 🦨 In other first-week-of-May Event news, we had the Met Gala "honoring" known turd Karl Lagerfeld, but Pedro Pascal rolled up with his luscious quads in full effect, Lil Nas X landed in blinding sparkle mode, Brian Tyree Henry turned up in full fairy-tale flounce, and Kristen Stewart came for all your girlfriends' hearts and loins.
• 🥀 The 149th running of the Kentucky Derby was yesterday, and I didn't watch it for the second year in a row. I'm reading a fascinating/horrifying cultural history of "My Old Kentucky Home," and I'm angry at the lies Kentuckians have been made to believe about slavery, class, and identity over the centuries. We can and must do better, y'all.
• 📺 In better news, three fantastic and underrated comedies are back on the ole HBO/max(?): Season 3 of The Other Two continuing to bless us with Molly Shannon and Ken Marino on a regular basis; my runner-up favorite comedy of 2022, Somebody Somewhere is back for a sassy second season; and the manic, multi-layered Black Lady Sketch Show returns for a fourth season with more killer and way less filler.
• 🫂 Here's an extremely helpful guide to self-compassion, if you're someone who finds it extremely challenging to be nice to yourself (like me)!

That wraps it up for this edition of The Enthusiast! Thank you for reading and if you haven't subscribed, you should – it's free! Subscribe using the button below, and opt-in via email to receive each edition directly to your Inbox.

Until next time, consider starting something new, check out the latest drag queen literature, and learn how to blame all your economic anxiety on flappers for a change.

Tuyo para siempre,
LKH