It looks like a cross between a Day of the Dead fever dream and a heavy metal album cover: skeletons in Mesoamerican garb seated around a dining table, with the one wearing an Aztec headdress in the center, holding up an ear of corn like an offering to the gods.
It’s the poster for Disciples of the Corn, Evil Cooks’ annual dinner honoring Mexico’s regional cuisine. Now in its fourth year, the dinner taking place Sept. 12 at Cal State L.A. puts 32 courses spanning 32 Mexican states on the table, paired with seven drinks, for $250 a ticket.
Organizing the event is Alex Garcia, the chef and co-owner of Evil Cooks, the heavy metal-inspired taqueria and James Beard semifinalist he runs with his wife and business partner, Elvia Huerta, in El Sereno.
The mission
Garcia’s reasoning for the dinner was to push past the idea of Mexican food being simply tacos, burritos and tortas — spotlighting instead a series of dishes from each of Mexico’s 32 states…