Marcela Valladolid : (6)

" There’s a design book I got years ago that had a statue of a dog with a bunch of hats on it, and I just obsessively fell in love with it. For years I searched for that dog. One day I walked into an antique shop in La Jolla and I found a white dog that I could put hats on! " - Marcela Valladolid

" Tijuana is a baby compared to pre-Hispanic cities like Puebla or Oaxaca, the birthplace of mole. " - Marcela Valladolid

" Growing up in Mexico, I know what real Mexican food is – and isn’t. " - Marcela Valladolid

" People ask me all the time, ‘What do you do for Cinco de Mayo?’ And my honest answer is always, ‘When I was growing up in Mexico, nothing. Really, nothing. It was a school day. It was totally normal.’ But when I grew up and started going to San Diego and started drinking margaritas, that’s when Cinco de Mayo celebrations started for me. " - Marcela Valladolid

" I hate perfect centerpieces and formal tablescapes. " - Marcela Valladolid

" I’m a purist when it comes to certain foods, and al pastor tacos (known as adobada tacos to us in Tijuana) is one of those foods. I lived off them – literally. " - Marcela Valladolid