TAMAL John Rivera Sedlar is obsessed with all things tamale. Actually, he’s obsessed with A Latino food in general, but he has chosen the tamale as the iconic namesake for a planned museum in Southern California dedicated to regional food from Mexico and the American Southwest. Sedlar is seeking a permanent site for Museum Tamal, which will feature multimedia exhibitions exploring Latino culinary arts and history. The museum will include a restaurant to once again provide Sedlar with a platform for his considerable talent in the kitchen: the New Mexico native made his name as a chef in L.A. in the late [980s and early 90s with a series of acclaimed restaurants, including Abiquiu, which fea- tured gourmet tamales. Several of his imaginative recipes are featured in a sumptuous book simply titled Tamales (John Wiley & Sons). For more information visit www.thetamalemuseum.com.