The Culinary Underground

09/02/2026

A little taste of tropical sunshine before summer slips away. ☀️🌴

Our passion fruit flan brings together velvety flan, bright passion fruit, 🇲🇽 vanilla beans, coconut meringue, sprinkles, mango + Tajin USA fruit roll-up, and garnished with colorful crisp obleas.

A little tropical. A little nostalgic. A perfect

09/01/2026

The Culinary Underground | 🍊C + LA

Trae amigos.

Trae vino.

Trae queso.

Trae alegría.

Vino y queso

🍷🧀🌵🇲🇽♥️

Still thinking about all the beautiful smiles, stories, and connections shared over delicious Ludor wines and melty quesadillas.

It was such a blast meeting you, serving you, and chatting about Los Angeles history, harvest season, and everything in between.

But this one felt especially meaningful—getting to host an event in my father’s hometown, where my grandfather was a carnicero and my dad worked at the Sears building. To return to a place so deeply connected to my family’s story and share food, wine, and joy with all of you was truly special.

Thank you for showing up, sharing your stories, and making the evening one to remember.

We’re already looking forward to breaking bread, sharing more wine together, and sharing plenty of cheese with you next time. 🧀🍷❤️

With love,

Chef + Cheesemonger Andrea Machuca - Kirkland

08/29/2026

If we text you: 🏐, we really mean… vamos a comer quesillo Oaxaca. 🇲🇽🧀

And if your amigos text you: ◻️, that means you’re sharing queso panela tonight, Pata De Perro! 🧀🍷

Mexican cheeses are treasures—each with its own flavor, texture, story, and place in the rich culinary landscape of Mexico.

Cheesemaking in Mexico dates back to the Spanish colonial period, and over generations, regions across the country developed their own distinctive cheeses and traditions. These cheeses aren’t simply toppings; they’re woven into the food itself—folded into fillings, sauces, grilled, melted, crumbled, and enjoyed fresh.

From aged and melty to fresh and delicate, Mexican cheeses bring endless possibilities to the table.

Just some of the treasures we’ll be sharing at Queso + Vino: 🇲🇽✨

🏐 Oaxaca / Quesillo
Also known as Queso Oaxaca or Asadero, this semi-soft, white string cheese is traditionally made from cow’s milk and belongs to the pasta filata family. Its stretched curd is delicately pulled into long ribbons and spun into beautiful balls. Originally from Oaxaca, it’s wonderfully stringy, milky, salty, and made for melting—or simply pulling apart and savoring.

◻️ Queso Panela
A fresh, soft Mexican cheese with a clean, milky, buttery flavor and a delicate, luscious texture. Traditionally made from cow’s milk, its high moisture content gives it a tender bite while allowing it to hold its shape. Enjoy it fresh, sliced, cubed, or grilled, where it becomes beautifully warm and golden brown while staying soft and luscious inside.

Don Froylan Creamery’s panela is a beautiful expression of this tradition, bringing fresh milky character and gentle salinity to the table.

Writing

Tonight, discover the world of artisanal Mexican cheeses—made with soul, brought to the table to be shared and savored, and paired with Ludor selected with mucho amor by elwineprofe. 🍷🧀❤️

Porque el queso sabe mejor cuando se comparte. 🇲🇽

Cheese is for everyone.



Loteria card graphics by The Culinary Underground | 🍊C + LA

08/27/2026

08/25/2026

Find us this Saturday (8/29 at 5PM) as we team up with our friends Pata De Perro elwineprofe for a very special vino + queso night! 🍷🧀✨

We’re bringing together a beautiful lineup of Mexican cheeses from Familia del Norte, Don Froylan Creamery, Mu, and more, paired with wines from Ludor — an artisanal, Latino-owned wine company based in Sonoma Valley AVA.

This winery focuses on crafting limited, single-vineyard estate lots that celebrate the distinct terroir of Sonoma Valley. Winemaker Salvador De La Cruz Jr. will be bringing a collection of his reds, a playful Cab Franc, and Sauvignon Blanc — wines rooted in the beauty, culture, and heritage of the region. 🍇

Expect luminous wines, delicious queso, and a menu made for sharing, snacking, and lingering a little longer. We’re especially excited for you to join us, sip alongside elwineprofe and Salvador, and hear the stories behind the wines they’ll be pouring!

Swipe left to slide #3 for the full menu — prices will range from $12–27 for mains, $12 for dessert, and $2–5 for secret-menu antojitos 👀 (TBA).

For wine tasting see link in bio to snag your ticket. 🎟️

Come hungry, come thirsty, bring your friends, and make a night of it. 💃🏽🍷🧀

08/25/2026

Find us this Saturday (8/29 at 5PM) as we team up with our friends Pata De Perro elwineprofe for a very special vino + queso night! 🍷🧀✨

We’re bringing together a beautiful lineup of Mexican cheeses from Familia del Norte, Don Froylan Creamery, Mu, and more, paired with wines from Ludor — an artisanal, Latino-owned wine company based in Sonoma Valley AVA.

This winery focuses on crafting limited, single-vineyard estate lots that celebrate the distinct terroir of Sonoma Valley. Winemaker Salvador De La Cruz Jr. will be bringing a collection of his reds, a playful Cab Franc, and Sauvignon Blanc — wines rooted in the beauty, culture, and heritage of the region. 🍇

Expect luminous wines, delicious queso, and a menu made for sharing, snacking, and lingering a little longer. We’re especially excited for you to join us, sip alongside elwineprofe and Salvador, and hear the stories behind the wines they’ll be pouring!

Swipe left to slide #7 for the full menu — prices will range from $12–27 for mains, $12 for dessert, and $2–5 for secret-menu antojitos 👀 (TBA!).

For wine tasting see link in bio to snag your ticket. 🎟️

Come hungry, come thirsty, bring your friends, and make a night of it. 💃🏽🍷🧀

08/25/2026

Six months of online modules, two weeks of enriching hands-on cheesemaking, three cheese journals, and two stacks of flashcards later, I’m still high on curds after completing and graduating from the Curd Program last week.

From 🥛 to 🧀, we collectively had a hand in making small batches of Oaxaca, panela, bloomy, halloumi, washed-rind, raclette, blue, paneer, and Gouda throughout these past two weeks, along with educational visits from cheesemakers and industry experts like Kuba Hemmerling of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese, Francisco Ochoa and Lisa Ochoa of Don Froylan Creamery, and Senior Cheese Science Technologist at Rheolution, Olivier Laurin.

One of my favorite parts of the Curd Program journey was getting to work alongside my friends Jake Heller and .sabolise to dream up a new cheese for our cheese innovation project.

Together, we conjured up “Bloom Noir”—a lactic-style, small-format bloomy rind infused with Earl Grey tea and lined with black sesame powder. The idea was to create something delicate, with the tea bringing an aromatic, floral quality and the black sesame adding depth, contrast, and visual allure.

The cheese is intended to be sprayed with an inoculated brine containing butterfly pea powder and tea concentrate, with the hope of imbuing the velvety bloomy rind with a subtle, ethereal purple hue as it develops during affinage. There’s something especially exciting about taking all of the science and technique we’ve been learning and using it as a jumping-off point for experimentation and creativity.

Stay tuned for affinage results.

The whole journey was a dream come true—a chance to learn, grow, experiment, ask a million questions, and knit together like curds with a group of passionate cheese professionals. I’m leaving with a deeper appreciation for the complexity of cheesemaking, a notebook(s) full of new ideas, an even longer list of things I want to learn, and immense gratitude for the people who made this program possible. I can’t wait to continue my studies in dairy science and beyond.

Much gratitude to those who breathed life into the Curd Program: Cal Poly Creamery Carmen Licon DPTC DaphneZepos TeachingEndowment Pacific Coast Coalition- DBII 🧀

08/14/2026

𝕮𝖚𝖗𝖉𝖘 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖘𝖊𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖉 𝖇𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖋𝖆𝖘𝖙. ☁️

07/25/2026

A happy three-tiered hotel pan of corn, lime, local peach, redshift coffee roasters guatemala baja verapaz cubulco ☕️ syrup, and Familia del Norte cotija tiramisu.

🌽🍑🍋‍🟩

Inspired by and adapted from @

07/09/2026

Here’s a polished, social-friendly version with a more energetic flow:
Friends and supporters, we’d love your help! 🧀

Please vote for chef + cheesemonger Andrea Machuca to be the next Favorite Chef while supporting an incredible cause. She’s currently in 4th place, and today all votes count 2x—so every vote makes an even bigger difference!

This opportunity would help grow the mission behind The Culinary Underground | 🍊C + LA: bringing people together through cheese, supporting farmers, and celebrating thoughtful, seasonal cooking.

You can cast a free vote using the link below, or make an even greater impact by voting with a donation to support the James Beard Foundation and its mission to advance excellence, equity, and leadership across the culinary industry.

Thank you so much for your support! ❤️

Link in bio to vote or visit ⬇️

https://favchef.com/2026/andrea-machuca