Dinner of Champions

My friends recently brought home a spread from La Palma Mexicatessen (2884 24th St., 415-647-1500), my favorite one-stop shop for taco fixings, from beans to salsa to chile verde to thick, hand-patted, still-warm tortillas that you watch them make right there. But it was little bag of homemade papitas fritas—potato chips that come with hot sauce to douse them with, that was devoured with the most relish. These chips (thick, crunchy, not too greasy) are four-star quality. Perfect with a martini—which was our aperitif.