FLAVORS
Paul David O’Hanlon
there 10 or 15 years ago. They use salt
and pepper and serve it with plain rice and
regular beans. So I made it more fancy by
marinating it in fajita spices and serving it
with more-flavorful rice and beans.”
hard it is to execute in our setup. We can
also get feedback from guests and decide
what fits.”
He serves filet mignon tacos at Pampano,
which has locations in New York and two
venues in Mexico. “It’s a traditional taco, but I
changed the protein so that it’s more tender.”
Remington’s offers traditional Mexican buffets
for lunch on Wednesdays and Thursdays. On
Wednesdays, the featured meat is cabrito
(goat) prepared Mexican-style with spices,
then diced and sautéed in a large skillet. “The
original inspiration was from Monterrey, but
this is served everywhere in Mexico,” Marquez
says. On Thursdays, traditional gorditas with
pork skin are featured. “These are like the
ones in Reynosa, and I serve them with a
tomatillo sauce and spices.”
Carnitas Johnny is braised pork cooked
in lard that was inspired from a trip. It is
served with avocado/habañero salsa.
Chicken Milanese tacos are another dish
on the menu as a result of the staff’s
travels, inspired by a chicken cutlet
sandwich. The tacos include crispy chicken,
cabbage, avocado, pico de gallo and
chipotle sauce on soft corn tortillas, served
with a black bean spread, Yucatan-style
pickled onions and tomato/saffron rice.
Also on the menu at his restaurants is a
variety of ceviches. “Ceviche is traditionally
fish prepared with an acid, such as lemon
or lime juice,” Sandoval says. “I do a
variation on this. I get acid from a tomatillo
or jalapeño for a nice green acidic broth.
It’s a take on a traditional ceviche, and is
my interpretation.”
Another authentic twist Marquez brings to
Remington’s is that he frequently cooks to
order in front of guests. “The buffets also
have a taquito station, which was inspired
from the [Rio Grande] Valley right across
the border. I cook the taquitos to order
right in front of people. I also make the
gorditas this way. It’s more authentic, like
they do in Mexico.”
SAVE ROOM FOR DESSERT
Chefs are creating traditional Mexican
desserts from their backgrounds and
travels to Mexico. Fany Gerson, chef/
owner of La Newyorkina in New York,
makes paletas—a Latin American ice
pop typically made from fresh fruit—from
authentic Mexican recipes.
Sandoval likes to take traditional dishes
and make a new interpretation. One
example is his remake of the flavor profile
of a traditional mole sauce for his enchilada
mole. “I don’t like to change the base of
traditional sauces and dishes," he says. “I
just incorporate new ingredients and color.”
At Cantina 1511, Scibelli says they often
run the findings from research trips as
specials, including appetizers and entrées.
“This allows us to play around with how
At Maya, located in New York and Dubai,
he has served pipian de cordero, which
is braised lamb shank with tomatillo/
pumpkin-seed sauce, roasted-corn purée
and pickled onions. “It’s made out of
pumpkin seed. The traditional way is to
make pork braised with pipian sauce, but I
use a lamb shank, instead.”
“I was born and raised in Mexico City,
so I’ve had many paletas, but missed
them while living in the U.S. for 12 years,”
says Gerson. “I spent the last two years
researching and writing my first cookbook
[My Sweet Mexico: Recipes for Authentic
Pastries, Breads, Candies, Beverages,
and Frozen Treats (Ten Speed Press,
2010)], then came back to New York to
