Casa Fernandez

You won’t find this enticing Mexican hole-in-the-wall listed anywhere, and getting a taste of the perfectly crisp chicken flautas at Casa Fernandez won’t be as easy as booking a reservation on OpenTable. Instead, you’ll need to gain the trust of the youngest Fernandez, Carlos, by serving as his mentor and math tutor, cultivating a genuine relationship that allows him to slowly open up to you until he eventually invites you to his family’s Westlake apartment for dinner. But be prepared for a long wait, as the only way to acquire Maria Fernandez’s superlative pozole verde is by becoming a real friend and confidante to Carlos, supporting him through the struggles of entering adolescence, sharing your own vulnerabilities in return, developing inside jokes that only the two of you understand, and buying him ice cream whenever he wants. Committed foodies shouldn’t be put off by the location’s exclusivity, as the incomparable cochinita pibil served in Casa Fernandez’s breakfast nook, as well as the joy of truly connecting with a child as sensitive and warmhearted as Carlos, are worth the effort.