7 credits
A weekly interview series, printed loud

One chef.
Three dishes.
Zero guessing.

We ask one chef what three things to order at their restaurant. They tell us — on tape, with the stories, the prices, and the recipes in their own words. New chef every Thursday.

1
photo · burrito suizo

Burrito Suizo

"Wednesdays only. Show up Tuesday, that's on you."

Recipe · 1 credit
2
photo · pb y lengua

Peanut Butter y Lengua

"Braised tongue, salsa de cacahuate. Eats like a Thai curry."

Recipe · 1 credit
3
photo · flan de queso

Flan de Queso

"My last meal on earth. Cheesecake and flan, arguing."

Recipe · 1 credit
Read No. 47 — Diana Dávila All 3 + audio · $10

80¢ of every dollar
goes to the chef.

Recipes cost 1 credit. A credit costs a dollar. The full pack — three tested recipes plus the interview audio — is ten. However you pay, the split never moves.

80¢ → chef20¢

Our 20¢ pays the test kitchen: every recipe is re-scaled and cooked on a home stove before we sell one copy.

From the newsletter

What a $19 plate of lengua actually costs

Diana opened her books. The tongue is $4.20. The person at the plancha is $5.60. The house keeps two-thirty — if nothing goes wrong. See the whole breakdown →

The Weekly Fire — free, every Thursday.

46
45
44

No. 46 Tim Flores · Kasama — a Michelin star with a breakfast line
No. 45 Erick Williams · Virtue — the real cost of hospitality
No. 44 Beverly Kim · Parachute HiFi — the bing bread that survived

Interview No. 47 · Recorded at the bar, 3pm

Diana
Dávila

Chef/owner, Mi Tocaya — Logan Square, Chicago. Twenty years in kitchens, nine as owner. One question: what three things should we order here?

1 · The Sleeper

Burrito Suizo

"The burrito suizo is for people who read the fine print. One day a week: Wednesday. Steak, salsa ranchera, Swiss cheese aged in a cave. I will not explain the cheese."
At Mi Tocaya · $18 · Wednesdays only
Cook it at home1 credit
Unlock recipe
2 · The Signature

Peanut Butter y Lengua

"It's an homage to my uncle in San Luis Potosí. Tongue braised until it gives up, seared hard, drowned in salsa de cacahuate. If tongue scares you, order it anyway — it's the whole reason this place exists."
At Mi Tocaya · $19 · ask for extra tortillas

She opened the books

Where the $19 goesCostShare
Beef tongue, braised + trimmed$4.2022%
Salsa de cacahuate, produce, tortillas$2.1011%
Labor — braise + sear$5.6029%
Rent, power, the walk-in$4.8025%
What Mi Tocaya keeps$2.3012%

"$19 of lengua means I make two-thirty if nothing goes wrong."

Cook it at home1 credit
3 · The Last Meal

Flan de Queso

"Flan de queso is cheesecake and flan in an argument, and nobody loses. Converting it for the test kitchen took longer than any dish on my menu. Worth it."
At Mi Tocaya · $9 · save room, it's not optional
Cook it at home1 credit

Take all three.
$8 of your $10 is hers.

Diana's Three: all three recipes tested for home kitchens, the 24-minute interview, and the lengua economics line by line.

Get the pack · $10
Checkout · Order 0047-P

Diana's
Three

The Pack — $10

Burrito suizorecipe + notes
PB y lenguarecipe + economics
Flan de quesocheesecake-flan hybrid
Interview audio24 min
$8 → Diana$2

Kitchen guarantee: recipe fails in your kitchen? Credits back. No interrogation.

Just one recipe?

Singles cost 1 credit. Credits live in your wallet — you never type a card number for a dollar.

10 credits$10
25 credits +3 free$25

80¢ of every credit you spend goes to the chef whose recipe it is. Always.

Tested means tested

Re-scaled from brigade quantities. Cooked on a normal home stove. Signed off by the chef. This pack: 4 test passes · Dávila ✓

The Guide · Chicago, IL

What to order,
per the kitchen.

Every dish named by a chef we interviewed — from their own menu, or from "where do you eat on your night off?" No stars. No reviews.

Mi Tocaya — peanut butter y lengua$19

Logan Square · Diana Dávila's own No. 1 — braised tongue, salsa de cacahuate · No. 47 →

Kasama — longanisa, egg & cheese$12

East Ukrainian Village · Tim Flores's No. 1, seconded by Dávila on her day off: "I get in line like everybody else."

Virtue — blackened catfish$28

Hyde Park · Erick Williams: "the gumbo pays the rent; the catfish is the thesis."

Lula Cafe — pasta yiayia$16

Logan Square · named by three chefs unprompted — on the menu since 1999.

Parachute HiFi — baked potato bing bread$14

Avondale · Beverly Kim's pick — the cult dish that survived the pivot to a listening bar. Wednesdays only. No. 44 →

More cities as we book more chefs.

Next: Milwaukee (No. 52) · Detroit (No. 58). The guide grows one interview at a time — that's the point.