New interview every Thursday

Ask a chef what to order. Then cook it yourself.

Each week, one chef names the three dishes to order at their restaurant — and hands over the recipes in their own words, tested for home kitchens. 80¢ of every dollar goes straight to them.

This week: Diana Dávila Browse the Chicago guide

Interview No. 47Diana Dávila · Mi Tocaya, Chicago

Her three

1burrito suizo

Burrito Suizo

"If you show up Tuesday asking for it, that's on you." Wednesdays only: steak, salsa ranchera, cave-aged Swiss.

2peanut butter y lengua

Peanut Butter y Lengua

"It eats like a Thai curry." The signature: braised tongue, salsa de cacahuate.

3flan de queso

Flan de Queso

"My last meal on earth. Cheesecake and flan in an argument — nobody loses."

How the money works

The chef's cut never moves

Recipes cost 1 credit ($1). The full pack — all three recipes plus the interview audio — is $10. Either way, the split is the same:

80¢ to the chef20¢ platform & test kitchen

Our 20¢ pays for recipe testing — every dish is re-scaled and cooked on a home stove before it's sold.

From the newsletter

What a $19 plate of lengua actually costs

Diana opened her books: tongue $4.20, labor $5.60, the walk-in $4.80… see the breakdown.

The Weekly Fire — free, Thursdays.

Previous interviews

No. 46 · Tim Flores — Kasama

A Michelin star that still makes a breakfast sandwich — and why the line is the point.

3 recipes

No. 45 · Erick Williams — Virtue

Southern food in Hyde Park, and the real cost of hospitality.

3 recipes

No. 44 · Beverly Kim — Parachute HiFi

A Michelin room reborn as a listening bar — and the bing bread that survived.

3 recipes

Interview No. 47 · recorded at the bar, 3pm, pre-service

Diana Dávila — Mi Tocaya

Chef & owner · Logan Square, Chicago · 20 years in kitchens, 9 as owner

1 · The sleeper

Burrito Suizo

"Everyone comes for the lengua because it's on every list. Fine. But the burrito suizo is the secret: one day a week, Wednesday. Steak, salsa ranchera, Swiss cheese aged in a cave. I will not explain the cheese."
Order at Mi Tocaya · $18 · Wednesdays only — that's the point

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 — people say it eats like a Thai curry. If tongue scares you, order it anyway."
Order at Mi Tocaya · $19 · ask for extra tortillas

She opened the books

Where the $19 goes	Cost	Share
Beef tongue, braised + trimmed	$4.20	22%
Salsa de cacahuate, produce, tortillas	$2.10	11%
Labor — braise + sear	$5.60	29%
Rent, power, the walk-in	$4.80	25%
What Mi Tocaya keeps	$2.30	12%

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

3 · The last meal

Flan de Queso

"People treat flan like an afterthought. Flan de queso is cheesecake and flan having an argument, and nobody loses. Converting it for the test kitchen took longer than any dish on my menu — worth it. It's the last thing I'd want to taste, period."
Order at Mi Tocaya · $9 · save room, it's not optional

Checkout

Diana's Three — The Pack

Mi Tocaya · Chicago · Interview No. 47

Order summary

Burrito suizo

Recipe + her notes

included

Peanut butter y lengua

Recipe + full cost breakdown

included

Flan de queso

Cheesecake-flan hybrid, converted & tested

included

▶

Interview audio

24 minutes, unedited

included

Total

$10.00

$8.00 paid to Diana Dávila$2.00 platform

Payouts to chefs settle weekly. You'll see "Paid to D. Dávila" on your receipt.

Prefer à la carte?

Credits

Single recipes cost 1 credit. Credits sit in your wallet so a $1 purchase never asks for your card.

10 credits

$10

25 credits +3 free

$25

Why recipes cost money here

Restaurant recipes are written for a brigade and a 900° plancha. Every recipe we sell was re-scaled, cooked in a normal home kitchen, and signed off by the chef.

4 test passes Chef sign-off: Dávila ✓

The guide · Chicago, IL

What to order in Chicago, per the chefs cooking there

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

Mi Tocaya — Peanut butter y lengua chef's own No. 1

Logan Square · picked by Diana Dávila — braised tongue, salsa de cacahuate · Interview No. 47

$19

Kasama — Longanisa, egg & cheese 2 chef picks

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

$12

Virtue — Blackened catfish

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

$28

Lula Cafe — Pasta Yiayia 3 chef picks

Logan Square · named by three chefs unprompted — brown butter, cinnamon, feta. On the menu since 1999.

$16

Parachute HiFi — Baked potato bing bread

Avondale · Beverly Kim's pick — the cult dish that survived the pivot to a listening bar. Wednesdays only.

$14

More cities as we book more chefs

Next: Milwaukee (No. 52) · Detroit (No. 58). The guide grows one interview at a time.