A block or two from our apartment is Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos. It started life as a humble family-owned tortilla factory on Starr Street in Bushwick. In the front of the factory, they set up a little kitchen where they'd cook up fresh tacos, tortas, and picadas for the family, friends, factory workers, and passerby. Word got out about the food they were serving. After positive reviews ran in the New York Times and the Village Voice, they suddenly found themselves in the spotlight. People came from all around the five boroughs to partake in this delicious goodness. Anthony Bourdain even came there on his television show, No Reservations.
Lucky for us, they weren't too crowded the other night. So we went on through to the back with some bodega beers and enjoyed a great meal of steak tacos and a vegetable picada. About a third of the way into our tacos, the owner, Marcelo, came up and introduced himself and offered us two Modelo Especials. He was super friendly and had a great sense of humor. His english was pretty limited, and our Spanish was sadly awful, but we shared some good conversation and some hearty laughs.
As he was sippin' on the Modelo, he told us he was getting geared up to go on vacation, back to Mexico with his wife. His eldest daughter is going to hold down the fort while he's gone. She's really cool, and I guess we first made acquaintences with her about a year and a half ago, when we first came to Los Hermanos. She's always at the tortilleria - taking orders, cleaning up, cooking, cleaning, talking with customers, and generally keeping things organized. Marcelo told us he'd been in the tortilla business in Brooklyn for years. Los Hermanos is his third operation. Recently, he started hosting art shows and rock n' roll parties in the factory. He said he loved hosting the shows, but there are too many people coming out for the space they have. Some of the shows turned into wild parties till the wee hours. Too much awesome for one space to handle, Marcelo hinted.
Marcelo told us that we just so happened to be there on his son's 23rd birthday. His family began to gather in the back of the factory, lighting candles on the birthday cake. "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you.." we all began singing. Marcelo's son blew the candles out, and we were offered a piece of cake. We hung out for another hour with the fam, trading stories about growing up, raving about Mexican food, life in Brooklyn, and good times. They are were such a warm and tight-knit family, and it we were so grateful to be included in the awesome evening. As we started to leave, Marcelo's drinking buddy gave us two leather spiky punk bracelets. Fuck yeah.
I love Los Hermanos.
