‘Top Chef’ Alum Marcel Vigneron Is Back to Making Tacos

Top Chef alum Marcel Vigneron shut down his two-year-old restaurant, Beefsteak, in exchange for a new restaurant featuring an LA staple, tacos. It’s a bit of a surprising switch, as LA’s taco competition is fierce, and Tacos Lobos serves what might be the polar opposite of Beefsteak’s Californian menu of mostly vegetarian bowls, porridge, and avocado toast.

Remember that Vigneron started a taco truck called Pico de Gap back in 2011, a collaboration with Gap’s new 1969 clothing line. The chef also hosted a Dinner With Wolves popup with a five-course Mexican tasting menu a few months back. Vigneron’s menu sticks with classic flavors but with his own spin, using handmade tortillas with organic corn. He’ll prepare everything from jack fruit tacos to cochinita pibil that takes 36 hours to complete.

2018 has been an incredible year for tacos and Mexican food, with Wes Avila’s debuting a brick-and-mortar Guerrilla Tacos back in July, and the late Jonathan Gold bestowing Taco Maria with the title of 2018 Restaurant of the Year. At any given moment, there is a steady stream of taco options available in the Southland.

Opened last week, this Tuesday night Vigneron will host a $20 per person popup at 6:30 p.m., and introduce the full Tacos Lobos menu. Tacos Lobos serves daily from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Tacos Lobos. 7661 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

• The Chef at L.A.’s Wolf Showed Off His Most Photogenic Dishes For a Photographer [Eater]
• Inside Top Chef Alum Marcel Vigneron’s Wolf in Los Angeles [ELA]