A year ago today Miles Austin had his first career start as a pro football player, breaking records and the hearts of Chiefs fans with a game winning touchdown reception to give the Cowboys a win in overtime. Since then he has become a bonifide football star, his name uttered alongside bitter curses or ecstatic praise by thousands of fans on any given Sunday.
The same day saw another debut of sorts.
TacOCliff quietly made its way onto the field that is the genre of food blogs with hopes of bringing some attention to somewhat of an undiscovered underdog: the Oak Cliff taqueria. Sure there were a few players on the radar of Dallas food writers (El Si Hay). But much of Oak Cliff went unrecognized. Taking on the role of talent scout, TacOCliff sought to take some farm system talent to the majors (I know I’m mixing the sports metaphors but play along). Really we just wanted to bring some positive attention to our neighborhood and thought food would be a great way to do just that. While far from superstardom, our little blog has found a place on Dallas’ team and has even garnered some media attention (a sincere thank you to Josh Hixson, Rachel Stone, and Courtney Keys for the coverage and support). We are awed by and grateful for each visit to our site.
Now some of those first posts certainly displayed our status as greenhorns. But it has been fun to check out old posts, re-reading and remembering. When we stopped into El Tizoncito a year ago, we talked to owner Leo Spencer who revealed some uncertainty about his taqueria’s future. They’ve recently added a second location to the Metroplex which is good news because we can hardly find a seat on a Sunday afternoon. A string of positive reviews by Oak Cliff Advocate, the Morning News, D Magazine, and the Observer bode well for one of our favorites and we could not be more proud of the success found by this member of team Oak Cliff (some of that pride is also from the fact that we covered it first). So here’s a big congrats to Leo Spencer and everyone at El Tizoncito!
What also comes out in our first posts is certainly a passion for our neighborhood and its cuisine. After living here for 4 years we found ourselves in somewhat of a wilderness. But that was to be expected. Setting up a house is like setting up a base camp. It should be a place where explorations are launched. While it was great to find the quickest way to and from the highway, our taco hunt sent us on scouting missions off the main roads and into uncharted territory. After a year of wandering we’ve mapped out a few oases but still have plenty more exploring to do. We hope that a love for our neighborhood, its food, and the people who create it comes through as long as we do this. And as always we encourage you to go exploring, in Oak Cliff or in your own wilderness.
Now, Comamos!
Leave a comment