Four Evening Stars

Last week we dined at Taqueria 27 for the first time. We sampled tacos with shrimp, with mushrooms, with duck confit, and with carnitas. It was all amazing; modest portions with spectacular flavor. But what impressed us most was our drinks came without straws. At so many eateries, out of concern for the environment, we ask not to be given straws and are handed them anyway. Here, they aren’t even offered. T27 is part of a small but growing number of establishments that refuse to distribute plastic straws. Among them are Tsunami, Stein Eriksen, Costa Vida, Hogle Zoo and Disney’s Animal Kingdom. I’ve even heard this fall McDonald’s will do away with plastic straws in all their UK restaurants, because customers there have insisted on it. Yes, a straw is a tiny thing. Straws and plastic stirrers account for only 7% of the plastic we discard. But “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.”