LAist Pop-Up Of The Week: Vegatinos, Soulful Plant-Based Latin American Cooking In North Hollywood

We live in a golden age of chef-driven pop-ups, and Los Angeles is at the epicenter. With so many pop-ups happening at farmers' markets, breweries, and everywhere else, we are designating space to highlight some of our favorites that capture our attention and make our stomachs growl.

Welcome to the Pop-Up Of The Week. Do you have any suggestions? Email me at gchabran@scpr.org or reach out via Instagram.

Who: Carol Paniagua of Vegatinos specializes in vegan food based on classic Mexican and Central American recipes. She is Guatemalan, and grew up in the San Fernando Valley.

What: Paniagua is currently popping up at Saticoy Kitchen, a bustling ghost kitchen with afternoon and evening hours in North Hollywood. She’s also bringing her pop-up to the upcoming Vegan Street Fair in North Hollywood happening next weekend, March 22-24.

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The food she serves at Vegatino is “a little bit of everything” from across Latin America. A few menu highlights include tamales Guatemaltecos — made from a gluten-free masa with potatoes, green beans, and housemade recado rojo (red chile spice paste) — and her pane rellenos based on the El Salvadoran dish pan con pollo, a sandwich made with a crusty roll stuffed with seasoned jackfruit as the protein and lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, and watercress.

Paniagua's soulful take on pozole is another winner. It contains a hearty red broth with hominy cooked to par excellence and heaping spoonfuls of jackfruit, sopping up the flavors. You’d swear it wasn’t vegan. Save room for her tacos al pastor, made with perfectly tender soy curls (texturized soy protein), marinated and cooked in fiery spices, and diced pineapple and served atop a handmade corn tortilla.

When + Where:

• Monday, 2:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. for curbside ordering at Saticoy Kitchen, 13346 Saticoy St., North Hollywood. Orders can also be placed via their website. 

• Friday, March 22, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, March 23 and 24, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Vegan Street Fair, 11223 Chandler Blvd. in North Hollywood.

Why: Paniagua grew up in working-class Latino neighborhoods of Panorama City and Pacoima, classifying them as food deserts. She created Vegatinos to give back to the community. and prove you can still enjoy Mexican and Central American food when you give up meat.

She also created a scholarship program for undocumented students in 2018, partnering with Panaderia La Mexicana, a vegan panaderia in La Habra, to sell vegan conchas, raising over $15,000. Paniagua plans to reintroduce the scholarship program this year through an application process via the Vegatinos website.