Food – LunaSol: Art, Food, & Nature From Around the World!

Anyone who knows me knows I love food. One of my favorite ways to de-stress is to look back at pictures of meals I’ve eaten and reminisce about how good they were. I love that travel exposes me to so many different types of foods. Many Americans are accustomed to viewing food through a Western lens: as fuel necessary for life. But in my maternal Colombian and Mexican cultures, food is so much more: how we show our love for each other, how we stay connected to our heritage and ancestors, how we celebrate, comfort, and commiserate. My parents raised me vegetarian out of a deeply held belief of not wanting to kill and eat animals, and I took that belief a step further in 2022 by going vegan. Many people think that eating vegan has to mean a life of unseasoned iceberg lettuce salad, but I’m here to show you that you can find delicious vegan food all over the world.

Merida, Mexico January 2025. When Americans think of Mexican food, they think a ton of cheese–but that is a very Americanized version of dishes that date back thousands of years. In fact, cows and their cheese did not even arrive in Mexico until a handful of centuries ago. While there are many meats that are native to the Americas, you might be surprised to learn that many of the most popular vegan ingredients in Western foods today are all native to Latin America: beans, potatoes, quinoa, corn, avocado, tomato, chili peppers, chocolate, cashew, peanut, and more. Here were my favorite things I ate on my first solo international trip:

I went for a mix of traditional vs. familiar when I visited Merida. The top left is a traditional Maya dish from the Yucatán Peninsula called Panuchos–corn tortilla stuffed with black beans and topped with avocado and vegetables. My grandpa was born in Tamaulipas, which is in the central eastern part of Mexico, so I had very little knowledge of food from the South of Mexico prior to this trip; the panuchos were a really cool experience. Top right: Yes, I am an average white girl who loves avocado toast, but I will also say that I resent the idea that avocados are a white girl thing when they’ve grown on trees in Mesoamerica for the last 10,000 years, and gringolandia MAYBE started to think about putting avocado on bread in like, 2014. Bottom left is a loaded veggie pizza. Right is veggie tacos. Both delicious !!!

Merida, Mexico. January 2026.

I came back here because I love this city so much. The food, art, and sights are amazing. The people are so nice. Everyone in Merida is super friendly. I speak Spanish very well, but it is still my second language. But people here won’t judge if your Spanish isn’t perfect–they genuinely appreciate the effort you are making, as opposed to being a tacky American who “thinks everyone should just speak English.”

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE a good sauce or dip. Top left is from Pita, which is a delicious Mediterranean restaurant on Parque Lucia. This is a stuffed pita with hummus, mushrooms, cauliflower, tomato, onion, peppers, and tahini. I could eat this every day from now until the heat death of the universe and never get sick of it. Top right is a vegan version of pan de cazón, which is a traditional Maya dish (found at restaurant La Chaya Maya. Highly recommend that place, especially if you want to explore traditional Maya food that you’re not familiar with). It’s a bunch of corn tortillas with rice, onions, peppers, eggplant, refried beans, and tomato sauce. OMG, the absolute best. Bottom left is also a traditional Maya taco with tomato, red onion, pumpkin seeds, sweet peppers, and chaya: a leafy vegetable from the south of Mexico. It tastes similar to kale. Bottom right is obviously guacamole. Guacamole & chips has to be a top 5 snacks of all time for me, so I was super excited to get this.

More food from Merida, because it was just so amazing. La Bianca genuinely had the best vegan burger I’d ever eaten, super flavorful, and also super greasy (I LOVE oil the way most people love dessert). The potato wedge fries were delicious too. La Bianca also had vegan bruschetta, which most places in the U.S. don’t even have. The perfect blend of seasonings on the tomatoes, garlic, and oregano= chef’s kiss. More avocado toast and chips and guac, because you can never go wrong with avocado.

Bogotá, Colombia. July 2019.

I’m actually kicking myself in the fucking face right now over the fact that these were the only pictures I took of food while I was in Colombia. What you gotta know is I ate a lot of bandeja paisa and arepas with avocado. Bandeja paisa is a super popular dish in Colombia that I also grew up eating. It typically consists of red beans, rice, avocado, an arepa (thick, savory corn cake), sweet plantains, egg, chorizo, and sausage. Cut the meat and the eggs, and you get one of my favorite meals of all time.

The top left pic is an arepa (savory corn cake) with black beans and hogao (tomato-onion sauce). My mom made this for me all the time for breakfast when I was a kid. I absolutely love this dish. Then came the potato and cheese empanadas (back when I was still vegetarian) with some little chips and guac, which was also delish. The fruit on the right. I cannot remember for the life of me what this fruit was called, but I do remember feeling like I was chewing on a spider’s nest when I tried it. The gag is that I was the only one of my cousins who volunteered to try it. I did this to impress my grandma, who is convinced that all 6 of us are too Americanized. The pinnacle of Libra behavior on my part.

Los Angeles, California. Home sweet home. May 2025. Probably the easiest place ever to be vegan.

My mom and I went to Little Tokyo for Ocean Vuong’s book tour of Emperor of Gladness in Summer 2025! We found this ramen place, Daikokuya, that had a TON of vegan options. My mom and I still talk about this white-bean, veggie, & tofu ramen at least twice a month. It became a core memory for both of us. We’ll be on a hike together or out to lunch, and one of us will randomly say, “Remember how good that ramen was at Daikokuya?” It’s our Roman Empire. The avocado rolls were really good, but it was pretty much what you’d expect from avocado rolls. The tofu nuggets were fire, but my mom didn’t like them because she’s healthier than I am. Also, Ocean Vuong talked about what it means to be a citizen of the world, what it means to forgive, how art is the root of all true connection, and the unexpected ways that trauma manifests. So, in other words, my mom and I were in actual tears by the end of what was one of the most profoundly spiritually moving experiences ever.

**March 2025.** This second set of images is mostly from 33 Taps, which is another restaurant I brought my mom to. 33 Taps is a chain sports bar with many locations across L.A., but we went to the downtown one because it was right across the street from the convention center for the AWP writers’ conference. Ultimate staycation! Such a fun trip with my mom. We would take classes on creative writing during the day, and I would sell copies of my first book in the convention center. Then at night, we would go to town on the vegan junk food (banh mi fries w/vegan “chicken,” vegan spicy “mayo,” cilantro, pickled vegetables, and sweet thai chili sauce. We also talk about these fries once a month. I had to inherit my love of food from someone. The other things are a loaded vegan burger and spicy buffalo cauliflower wings), and then yap in the hotel room for hours. The other two pics, bottom left was a surprisingly great option at Universal Studios City Walk (spicy cauliflower, potato, onion, & cilantro tacos with black beans) and vegan miso “sushi,” at a small Japanese place right outside Universal Studios.

Noticing a pattern here: the vast majority of my favorite restaurant meals in the L.A. area are with my mom… she’s the best restaurant companion. There is nothing worse than going to a restaurant with someone who doesn’t care about the experience of cuisine, tasting each other’s dishes, comparing and contrasting the flavors together…lol. Anyways, the top left is at Snooze Eatery. It’s a tofu scramble with vegan “sausage,” spinach, red pepper, mushrooms, avocado, and hashbrowns. This is my mom and I’s go-to brunch spot. Now our go-to dinner spot is either Kaju Soft Tofu for japchae and bibimbap (Korean) or Seabirds (vegan). That leaves the top right, which is my favorite cafe to get work done: Millcross. That beauty is a tahini and avocado toast. This tahini avocado toast was better than entire years of my life (namely 2020 and 2024, you both sucked). Bottom left is a, get ready, chocolate peanut butter Oreo cookie donut (and it’s vegan) from Voodoo Donuts–yes, we have Voodoo in L.A. and not just in Portland! My digestive system was fighting for its life after that sugar bomb, but it was totally worth it.

Portland, Oregon (2018-2023): definitely one of the easiest places to be vegan. West Coast is the best coast for an endless number of reasons, including this one

Portland food is a real memory lane experience because I lived here during college. Top left is my go-to order from Rose City Coffee, where I would work on my first book (Chrysalis) every Saturday morning and afternoon. Every single Saturday, I walked 6 miles (there and back) and got a poppy bagel sandwich with avocado, hummus, tomato, raw onion, and spinach, plus an iced chai with hemp milk. Next one is a vegan cashew “cheese,” mushroom, fried onions, arugula, and red aioli toast–my go-to post-church brunch at Cafe Rowan. Third is what I ate anytime I was homesick, at one of Portland’s only Colombian restaurants, Que Bacano. It’s a stuffed arepa (savory corn cake) with red beans and a secret sauce/vegan aioli. The bottom row is the delicious garbage I ate every Friday and Saturday night after a solid 5 hours of dancing and partying. The sandwich is a vegan BLT (vegan “bacon,” lettuce, tomato, avocado, & garlic aioli) at one of my fav bars, Hungry Tiger. You better believe this sandwich and the vegan corndogs absolutely hit the spot after 4 shots of tequila. (But also, you could not pay me to ever go back to the level of drinking I did in college). Second is the fries my ex and I used to split (after we were broken up), because it’s always a good idea to get drinks with an ex and weirdly touch each other’s arms mid-laughter. In all seriousness, these fries from Bar of the Gods are THE best fries I have ever had in my entire life. The last is a deep-fried peanut butter & jelly sandwich at Quarterworld bar and arcade. I celebrated many friends’ birthday parties here. I have not lived in Portland for 3 years, and I still think about that deep-fried PB&J every time I get my period. My hormones will forever crave it.

Miami, Florida (literally every summer). Definitely not the easiest place to eat plant-based, but also not as horrific as visiting a small town in Texas and being told the vegan option was chicken mac n cheese (this actually happened). Miami is such an amazing cultural hub of Latino and Jewish communities. There is a wide variety of delicious food, from Cuban, Jewish, Greek, Colombian, Thai, and more.