Newsletter: A taco and mezcal party

The top food stories from this week at the Los Angeles Times:

Mesamérica, the kickoff event for this year’s monthlong Food Bowl festival, will take place at the Million Dollar Theater downtown.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

TACOS AND MEZCAL

Peter Meehan on what to expect at Mesamérica L.A., chef Enrique Olvera’s food symposium and the kickoff to this year’s Food Bowl. (For a $20 discount, enter Mesamerica2019 or go here.)

A grilled steak and chorizo taco at Sonoratown, a small taqueria in downtown Los Angeles.

(Silvia Razgova / For the Times)

AN ODE TO FLOUR TORTILLAS

Patricia Escárcega sits down at Sonoratown, the terrific downtown taqueria, and finds excellent chivichangas, caramelos and handmade tortillas.

LAPD and tacos

(Raúl Allén / For The Times)

WHERE COPS EAT

Jesse Pearson rides along with LAPD cops, chasing pimps and stolen cars and eating tacos.

BEER POWER RANKINGS

Lucas Kwan Peterson is back with his official power rankings, this time tackling domestic beer. “The $22 Ironfire Outcast Dead Imperial Red Ale you like so much will not be found within this article.”

Meet “the Philippe,” Ronan’s calzone crossed with a French dip sandwich.

(Lauren Lee / Los Angeles Times)

A CALZONE APOLOGIST

Bill Addison reviews Ronan, where he finds excellent calzones to pair with all that pizza.

Food Bowl 2019 is here. Tickets are now on sale for the hundreds of events happening across the city in May. Go to lafoodbowl.com for a calendar, plus links for tickets. What’s coming? Our 5-day Night Market at Grand Park, which includes a Fried Chicken Party and an All-Star BBQ; the premier of Roy Choi’s “Broken Bread” show; and a dumpling tour of the SGV. We hope you’ll join us for #31daysoffood.

Our 101 Restaurants We Love list for 2018 is out. The list incorporates restaurants and trucks from around Los Angeles and Orange County, in alphabetical order (no rankings this time). Plus there’s a bonus list of 10 classic restaurants.

Check us out on Instagram at @latimesfood.

And don’t forget the thousands of recipes in our California Cookbook recipe database.

Feedback? We’d love to hear from you. Email us at food@latimes.com.