The State of Desebrada Tacos in Austin Texas Part Three: La Flor (scrumptiouschef)

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:48:38 GMT

There are a handful of food writers in the US that are so powerful they can make your restaurant a success overnight with a glowing review.
John T. Edge is on that short list.
A year or so ago he wrote a piece on breakfast tacos in Austin Texas and gave mention to taco doyenne Angela’s cart; La Flor, located on the corner of South First Street and Heartwood.
He missed the mission statement of the cart however. Yes, La Flor serves a pretty good breakfast taco but you come here for the meat.
Particularly the desebrada.
It’s a good 20 minute ride from my home in East Austin but I still make the trip every chance I get to eat the best Mexican pot roast taco I’ve found in Austin proper.
Of course every taco discussion begins with the tortilla and Angela knocks hers’ out of the park utilizing the vanishing, hand-patted style.
With a freezing, May wind blowing in from the west I approach the cart window. Angela’s not on the clock but her blood and talents flow through Christian, her son, who greets me and asks after my needs.
Two big, beautiful tacos are $3.25 although it only takes one to make a meal. The meaty desebrada is topped with chopped white onions and a smidge of cilantro with the whole affair riding on one of Austin’s best corn tortillas. The beef really resonates. Tender hunks of good steer tend to do that.
I take my meal on a big pic nic table tucked away behind the cart. It affords a nice view of the busy quick mart next door as well as the constant stream of vehicles on South First Street.
A testament to the magnitude of deliciousness is that I devour the entire taco before I realize I haven’t applied any of the salsa, perhaps a first.
I’ve noticed a nice little uptick in business at La Flor since the Edge mention in New York Times last year. I mention the article to Christian and he smiles “yeah, a few people have come in and said that’s how they found us”.
While the hordes have yet to descend on this humble little cart, Angela’s cuisine exists in the rarified air that only the most talented Mexican chefs in town breathe.

pic http://chowpapi.com/wordp....8.6/wordpress/?p=1030