Two Little Trees

The name of the restaurant is Dos Arbolitos, just off the 405 in North Hills, at the corner of Nordhoff and Woodley. Save gas and pick up some spare parts for that '74 Fiat of yours at the salvage yards down the road in Sunland while you're in the hood. Ah, the joys of valley living!

I've been a "Dos" junkie since they opened some 17 years ago, steered that way by the venerable food writer, Max Jacobson, a burrito gourmand if ever there was one. He spoke breathlessly of the legendary Chef Yayo, who has since passed on, but whose Mexico City training still informs the cooking at this clean and reasonable eatery.

They serve three meals a day here, and the lunch hour is brimming with egghead professors from nearby CSUN, who are at least smart enough to know where the best salsa resides. You have to ask for the green, but the red is flecked with fire roasted poblano chiles and packs considerable heat on a given day. The green is always fierce!

Must try dishes: In the morning, make it chilaquiles (ask if they have chicharrones first, an indispensably salty and crispy accompaniment); lunch might mean a couple of tacos al pastor (marinated pork); and at dinner, try the enchiladas suizas, done with juicy white-meat chicken and a delicate, green pumpkin seed sauce. ¡Caramba!

Everything is cooked consciously, and the proprietor, José Abugayda, is about the nicest person you could meet this side of the Rio Grande. His two sons help at the helm, one of whom is late of some culinary training at Le Cordon Bleu. Look for new menu items, but depend on a continuing tradition of quality and top-notch service. And dinner for two might run you twenty bucks, tops! I'm leaving now....