Tacos Al Pastor, Original

(2023) It’s been a long time coming, an icon of the food world, waiting in the wings for its moment. I traded my New York apartment and all the New York iconography that hit my pages, for Mexico city, or as the local cabs refer to it, CDMX (Cuidad de Mexico). In fact, I traded the whole US (more correctly put, the US denied my re-entry) for the safer, more welcoming soil of Mexico. Recently, I got married on the southwest coast of Mexico, I’ve spent months living in different areas of the country, and when shit hit’s the fan in the US, I’m not the only one who retreats south. 

Mexico City is vivacious. Mexico as a country and culture is color and taste, and it’s culminated in the capitol. The creativity and culinary pursuits of the city are inspiring to say the least, and it's the food and the hand-painted signage that draw me in the most. The preparation of spit-grilled slices of marinated pork originated in CDMX, the method of preparing and cooking al pastor is based on the lamb shawarma brought by Lebanese immigrants to the region. Another story of immigrants making their mark - do you think I’m trying to make a point yet? It’s the New York Slice for Mexico City.

Tacos, from my experience, are no better in Michelin stared restaurants than they are on the street, served on paper, polystyrene, or, my personal fav, the plastic bag-covered plastic plate (saves on both washing up and plate waste). Tacos are the everyman food, they’re fast, rough, and sloppy, and in CDMX they’re made with passion and pride. I’m in awe. I’m in awe with the taqueros, in awe of their hands, dipped, without protection, straight into the boiling oil, or flipping tortillas directly from the hot plate, fingers stained adobada red (the name of the Al Pastor marinade) playing the hot plates like the piano. It’s a show, a production, an incredibly well-oiled machine (literally and figuratively), on the factory line of live, roadside taco creation, and it’s never tasted so good. Here is my homage.

The auction will run for two days. The highest bidder has 24 hours to pay the outstanding invoice by bank transfer. No credit cards accepted. If after 24 hours the winner does not pay, we'll release the piece to the second highest bidder.

We've enabled popcorn bidding which is a system that will extend the auction time if a bid is made with less than 2 minutes to go. This will allow the other bidders to match the bid fairly and doesn't turn this into a technology game.

In full transparency, we're trying something new here so please be patient if any issues arise. We'll make this happen together. Please reach out to hello@bella.gold if you have any questions, or feel free to DM me on instagram!

Framed within a white shadow box frame with a floated mount and 2-inch reveal. With museum grade UV fitering plexiglass.

This is my favorite way to frame, the white wood is simple and clean and the shadow box/floated mount makes the paper appear floating, not touching the back board nor glass.

Domestic shipping
Ready to ship from New York City via UPS and will be insured for its full value. We'll email you a tracking number once your piece has been dispatched. 

International shipping (non-US)
We can ship all artwork worldwide via various carriers. Note that we do not cover any customs, import, or duty fees. Please make sure to check with local regulations for artwork shipments. We'll work with you to minimize the customs fees. We've got ways to handle this.

Returns
We cannot offer exchanges or returns for original artwork or prints. Due to the custom nature of the work, all purchases are final sale. If for some reason you are unsatisfied with your purchase, please contact hello@bella.gold and we’ll be sure to help you out.