el Restaurante Digital Edition AprMayJun 2023

Just as we were getting ready to put this issue to bed, the weather suddenly transformed into what felt as close to summer as it possibly could be in mid-April in Chicago. It was, of course, momentary — what we sometimes call “fake summer” around these parts. But those three days of almost 80-degree weather brought Chicagoans out in full force. As Publisher Ed Avis and I searched for an outdoor patio where we could sit and satisfy our craving for Mexican food and Margaritas (that happens when you’re writing about and seeing pictures of those things), it seemed that everyone who was out and about had the same idea we did! We nally settled for a table beside an open window at one of our go-to Mexican spots, Fernando’s Tequila Bar & Restaurant, ordered our Margaritas, guacamole, tacos and fajitas, and thoroughly enjoyed what turned out to be the last balmy evening we’ll probably see for quite a while.

Seeing full patios at virtually every restaurant we passed that day made us happy not only for ourselves, but also for the restaurant owners, chefs and staff who have worked so hard to get back to a point where the house is full and customers are happy. We hope the stories in this issue offer ideas that will help you bring in customers to ll your tables throughout the spring and summer months ahead.

You’ll nd information about using dishes with insects to entice customers (yep, I said entice!), boosting overall sales with small plates, freshening up beverage menus with creative aguas frescas, and adding Happy Hour to attract new customers.

Happy reading…and cheers to warm weather and full restaurants!

Antojo Industry Trade Expo May 9-10, Pasadena Convention Center, Los Angeles Booth #327

National Restaurant Show May 20-23, McCormick Place, Chicago Booth #5306

Texas Restaurant Show July 7-10, George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston Booth #1842

Ed Avis

PUBLISHER

Kathleen Furore EDITOR

Ala Ennes ART DIRECTOR

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Published by Maiden Name Press, LLC Volume 26, Number 2 el Restaurante (formerly el Restaurante Mexicano) (ISSN 1091-5885) is published five times a year by Maiden Name Press, LLC 1317 W. Belden Ave., Chicago, IL 60614 el Restaurante is distributed by subscription at the cost of $40. All contents copyright© 2023 Maiden Name Press, LLC. Nothing in this issue

Kathleen Furore, editor

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Latino Restaurant Association: RAISING THE PROFILE OF LATIN CUISINE

EDITOR’S NOTE: Lucy Thompson is the board president of the Latino Restaurant Association (LRA), and co-owner of Pez Cantina in Los Angeles. In this inteview with el Restaurante publisher Ed Avis, she explains the association’s mission and growth plans.

Ed Avis: What is the role of the LRA?

Lucy Thompson: This is an organization that’s really tailored to the Latino needs. I think the goal really is to not only help Latino restaurant owners grow and thrive, but also to encourage people, like street vendors or people who want to share in their culture through food, to step out and become entrepreneurs and know that they have the support of a network and the community of other restaurant owners. And the LRA is really accessible. It’s $99 a year, and all of the programs it entails are part of the membership. They’re free.

EA: What would you like to accomplish this year as board president?

LT: I think more than anything I just want to give the LRA more of a recognized, national presence. There are other restaurant associations that are very dominant and very strong. And that’s great because restaurants need all the help we can get, especially during these times. But the LRA has a focus on Latino restaurants, and we’ve been working to expand beyond LA, first to New York and Houston. Being Mexican and being in LA, I see how Mexican food is a dominant part of the Latino culture here. But learning about the Tex-Mex scene in Houston and all the island cuisines in New York, I feel like [those cuisines can] come up to the same dominant level in those cultures.

EA: So, the LRA has established o Houston and New York?

LT: Yes, there are offices in both locations. That makes it a lot easier to grow in those cities. In fact, Lilly (Rocha, LRA’s executive director) and I were talking about me coming [to New York and Houston] and just really getting to know some of the members there and visiting their restaurants.

EA: What programs are attracting new members in those cities?

LT: The Business Bootcamp is a super successful program that really helps restaurant owners take their business to the next level or grow — or if they’re small street vendors, they can take the leap into a brick and mortar. The Bootcamp provides financial training, it provides marketing skills, it provides access to capital.

EA: Tell me about the ChefMaker program.

LT: The ChefMaker program helps anybody who’s had ambitions or goals to become a chef. We bring them into a kitchen environment with a chef, and together they create a recipe. It’s interesting because I think in some cases it either elevates their interests in pursuing their careers as chefs, and other times they’re like, “Wow, this is way too much work.”

EA: What else would you like to say about your term as president of the LRA?

LT: Well, my parents and my siblings and I came to this country in the early eighties, and our culture revolves so much around food and around celebrating meals. And I just feel that it’s such a great opportunity to be the president of LRA because it is the ultimate celebration of the Latino culture. I’m excited and I look forward to really growing the membership and then including more people into the network, because we can only help each other by locking arms and growing together.

For more information or to join the LRA, visit www.latinorestaurantassociation.org

Hispanic Associations Expand

It’s no secret that Hispanics comprise a large proportion of restaurant owners and staff across the United States, and that they face challenges not always met by traditional restaurant associations. Two years ago, Selene Nestor and John Jaramillo, food industry salespeople based in Denver, decided an association could improve the situation, so they founded the Hispanic Restaurant Association (HRA).

“We saw a huge gap in resources for Hispanic restaureteurs,” says Nestor, the proprietor of Olta Mexican Whiskey who now serves as the HRA’s COO. “The main mission of our organization is to advocate on their behalf.”

Among the group’s programs is the Food and Beverage Language Institute, which helps Spanish-speaking restaurant owners and staff improve their English skills, and helps teach Spanish as a second language to English speakers who want to communicate better with the Hispanic restaurant community. The program is operated through the Community College of Denver.

The HRA also helps restaurant owners create business plans, deal with licensing problems, and myriad other issues that restaurants typically face that can be especially challenging for those who do not speak English as their first language and/or otherwise feel excluded from the business mainstream.

“We’ve helped a lot of restaurants that might have been taken advantage of,” Nestor says. “We make calls on their behalf and help them if they get lost in the bureaucracy.”

Shortly after founding the HRA, Nestor and Jaramillo founded an affiliate group, the Hispanic Chefs Association (HCA), because they felt the Hispanic restaurant community would respond better to someone who had worked in restaurant kitchens.

“We provide a leadership model with the framework and architecture to help them move forward in all areas of their lives,” Jaramillo explains. “We ask them to set up a ‘Path of Progression’ where they work. There is a great network of support and connections that allow for previously unknown job and career opportunities.”

The president of the HCA is Chef Manny Barella, who most recently helmed the kitchen at Bellota in Denver.

“Our motto is to educate and elevate,” Barella says. “We want to help the Hispanic chefs in anything they need — legal, professional, job. Anything related to the restaurant.”

Other projects the HCA and HRA have undertaken include the creation of Hispanic Restaurant Week, which was held in September 2022 in Colorado; and Top Hispanic Chef, a competition held in Denver last October. Both projects will continue this year.

Nestor says the HRA has about 300 restaurant members and the HCA has about 1,000 chef members. An HRA chapter is forming Los Angeles in May, and the organization is planning to add chapters in Chicago and New Mexico in the near future.

Visit www.hispanicrestaurantassociation.org for more information or to join.

MEXICO CITY RESTAURANTS CROSSING THE BORDER:

Grupo Carolo and Grupo Hunan Expand in U.S.

MEXICAN FOOD IS EXCEEDINGLY POPULAR IN THE UNITED STATES , so it’s no surprise that some leading Mexico-based restaurants are coming north to tap into the market. Grupo Carolo, which runs 27 restaurants in Mexico, and Grupo Hunan, which has 26, opened U.S. restaurants in the past 12 months. Both companies are based in Mexico City.

Grupo Carolo’s La Popular, an upscale restaurant led by Chef César de la Parra, opened its first U.S. location on November 21. The U.S. location — in Roseville, California — is a collaboration between Grupo Carolo and the Eureka! Restaurant Group, a chain of casual dining restaurants.

Grupo Carolo has owned a stake in Eureka! Restaurant Group since 2020.

“La Popular is an elevated, energetic destination that brings authentic Mexican cuisine

to the United States,” says Eduardo Gómez, general director of Grupo Carolo and Eureka! Restaurant Group. “For me, Mexican cuisine is much more than food; it encompasses the sense of belonging to a community and a place.”

La Popular plans additional locations this year in California, Las Vegas, and Austin.

You can find the menu and more information about La Popular at lapopularcdmx.com.

Grupo Hunan, a family-owned operation run by the Cuaik family, opened Alma Cocina de Mexico in Los Angeles last July. The two-story restaurant — Grupo Hunan’s first venture outside of Mexico — Alma is inspired by Baja California’s raw, coastal landscape, sun-kissed flora, and vibrant food culture. The space features a taqueria and retail store on the first floor and fine dining restaurant on the second floor. Find menus, pictures and more at alma.mx.

La Popular

Internship Program Honors Culinary Pioneers

Thomas Gilliland, co-founder of Fonda San Miguel restaurant in Austin, enjoyed a long friendship with famed cookbook author Diana Kennedy, who passed away last July at age 99. He is honoring Kennedy and late Chef Miguel Ravago, who co-founded the restaurant, with a scholarship and internship program at Austin Community College.

“Miguel and I opened our first restaurant in 1972,” Gilliland recalls. “One Saturday afternoon two ladies walked up and knocked on the door…One was Diana Kennedy. She said, ‘I know what you’re trying to do, and I would like to lend you a hand.’”

That led to a decades-long relationship that helped establish Fonda San Miguel’s reputation as a leading proponent of

“interior” Mexican cuisine.

The program with Austin Community College provides two $5,000 scholarships that will repeat annually. The internship program will allow culinary students to learn the fundamentals of regional Mexican cuisine in the restaurant’s kitchen under the tutelage of chefs Carlos Monroy and Blanca Zesati. The students will work up to 20 hours per week and be paid about $17 per hour, Gilliland says. In the future, Gilliland says he hopes to take students to Mexico for further instruction. Students submitted applications for the program in April, and Gilliland predicts the first group will begin their internships this spring.

PepsiCo Launches Program for Emerging Hispanic-Owned Food and Beverage Start-Ups

Emerging Hispanic-owned businesses that provide food and beverage innovations, products and services are invited to apply to PepsiCo, Inc.’s Greenhouse Accelerator Program: Juntos Crecemos (Together We Grow) Edition, a mentor-guided program launched in mid-April.

PepsiCo will select ten high-potential brands from the list of applicants to join the program in June. The ten innovators will receive $20,000 in grant funding and participate in a six-month business program designed to accelerate their growth through personalized mentorship. PepsiCo mentors will collaborate with the selected start-ups to solve a range of business challenges, including brand development, scaling technology, business model development, product optimization and go-to-market strategy.

In November, the highest potential business will be awarded an additional $100,000 to continue its expansion and an opportunity to continue working with PepsiCo and Juntos Crecemos to further their growth.

“In line with PepsiCo’s Racial Equality Journey goals to support and uplift diverse suppliers, this year we chose to focus on Hispanic-owned entrepreneurs,” Esperanza Teasdale, vice president and general manager, Hispanic Business Unit, PepsiCo Beverages North America, said in a news release. “We are extremely excited and proud to offer diverse companies an opportunity to grow their businesses with our support, especially emerging food and beverage brands. Through our mentorship program and grants we hope to see these businesses grow and further expand within the food and beverage industry.”

For more information about the program and how to apply, visit greenhouseaccelerator.com/juntos-crecemos.

Stephanie Herrington, Austin Community College District Department Chair of Culinary Pastry, Baking Arts with Fonda San Miguel Owner Tom Gilliland

CHEF ENRIQUE CORTES Mezcal Ambassador & Culinary Consultant

EDITOR’S NOTE : el Restaurante first met Chef Enrique Cortes in 2007 when he won first place in our inaugural Sassiest Salsa Contest for his Salsa Quemada Riques. We learned then that he had a knack not only for turning basic ingredients into an award-winning recipe, but also for turning a chance encounter into a friendship. Ours has lasted 16 years. So, it seemed only natural that we turn to him as the first chef we interviewed for Five Questions, a new feature that will appear in every issue.

Cortes — who once owned his own restaurant and has helmed kitchens at restaurants in cities including Chicago and Palm Springs — has retired his executive chef’s hat to focus his culinary talents on creating food and beverage recipes made with mezcales. “I’m traveling between California, Sonora and Michoacan,” he says. “We are working for the rst time to bring mezcaleros to the north of Mexico…it’s very exciting!”

1Where are you from originally and how did you get interested in cooking?

I’m originally from the state of Sonora, Mexico. At a young age, during high school and prep school, I lived by myself in a small studio in a dorm. [My friends and I] used to cook all the time in my own little apartment, exploring avors and executing easy recipes from our families — things like Mexican rice, guajillo, ancho and pasilla sauces and table salsas.

After prep school, I enrolled in hospitality management school and that is where I really started enjoying cooking. I earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management at the UES University in Sonora, Mexico and an associate’s degree from the Scottsdale Culinary Institute [in Scottsdale, Arizona]. I moved to San Diego right after culinary school because I wanted to start working in the industry and was eager to apply all of my knowledge — and I was aware the only way was to “get my hands dirty in the kitchen” and to be as creative as I could be.

My rst real job was as a saucier in a Spanish restaurant, Tapas Picasso, then as a line cook/cashier in a Mexican restaurant, Chilangos Mexican City Grill, both in San Diego. Becoming a chef was part luck and part [due to] my love for Mexican and Spanish cuisine.

2Is there anything you wish you had known when you started out?

I didn’t know that restaurants take a lot of your time — 12 to 14 hours a day is typical. I didn’t realize that, and I

Chef Enrique Cortes at Venado Azul Mecaleria in Morelia, Mexico

think, looking back, I didn’t manage my time properly.

3What are a few of your favorite ingredients to cook with and why?

I like cooking with guajillos, tomatillos, saffron, olive oils, and almonds to thicken sauces — especially moles. Herbs I like are cilantro, bay leaves, thyme, basil, and rosemary. I think in a lot of ways herbs, vegetables, and peppers don’t just give recipes aromas — they are very important to nding a balance of avor and nutrients when executing a recipe.

“I MOVED TO SAN DIEGO RIGHT AFTER CULINARY SCHOOL BECAUSE I WANTED TO START WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY AND WAS EAGER TO APPLY ALL OF MY KNOWLEDGE AND I WAS AWARE THE ONLY WAY WAS TO ‘GET MY HANDS DIRTY IN THE KITCHEN’ AND TO BE A CREATIVE AS I COULD BE.”

4What is the biggest change you’ve seen in the Mexican restaurant industry in the US over the last several years?

One of the biggest changes I have seen in the Mexican restaurant industry — at least from my point of view — is the demand for spicy dishes. I think people in general are more adventurous than ever to try a variety of peppers. The other thing is that they are enjoying a bigger variety of Margaritas made with mezcal and tequila with different fruit avors with their meals.

5What is the best advice someone has given you related to preparing Mexican food? And what advice you would give to chefs just starting out?

Some of the best advice I’ve been given about cooking Mexican cuisine: Make it look beautiful, be bold on avor, pay attention to balance, know the palate of the market that you are cooking for — who are your patrons? And give soul to each dish — don’t forget its authenticity. Respecting the soul of the recipe helps with boldness and knowing your ingredients helps you balance avor, texture and color. The philosophy of “make it look beautiful” means we use all of our senses to taste a dish: sight rst, the aromas, the taste on your palate… it is presenting a whole experience to your guests.

I would say to new chefs, don’t hesitate to put the time in your restaurant and into your craft. It’s all worth it!! Get involved in your community and always give back.

Cortes shares his recipe for Albondigas con Hierbabuena en Salsa de Chorizo: Meatballs with Mint in Spicy Chorizo Sauce — a recipe that combines his love of cooking with herbs and peppers and the trend toward more spicy flavors — on page 64.

INSECTS ON THE

menu

Wi your cu om s take a chance with chapulín ?

Tostada de Chapulín Corazón de Maguey Mexico City

| BY ANNELISE

KELLY

| Mexican cuisine is a creative, ever-evolving culinary experience. Pre-Hispanic ingredients like corn, tomatoes and peppers have welcomed old-world produce like onions and garlic over the ve centuries since European explorers rst set foot in the Western hemisphere.

Some Mexican restaurants are coming full circle, embracing a deeply traditional ingredient that has seldom appeared on plates in the United States — edible insects. The custom of eating insects has been retained throughout the 31 states of Mexico, as well as in Asia and Africa. It may be that Europe has no tradition of eating insects because its cooler climate limits options.

Today, the thought of eating insects is rather exotic (at best) for most American diners. However, with more Mexican restaurants experimenting with bugs on the menu, diners now have a chance to explore why these enduring indigenous delicacies are embraced by so many.

The Western world is also beginning to recognize their value. Insects offer high nutrition, low environmental impact, and a nutrient-dense pro le, which makes them an ideal food source. With a growing global population and the need for sustainable protein sources in the future, edible insects are a potential solution to attain global food security.

Here’s background on this so-old-it’snew-again ingredient, along with the wisdom of a few chefs who are helping popularize the consumption of the crawling and ying critters popping up on restaurant menus.

WHAT ARE EDIBLE INSECTS?

We’re using “insects” as shorthand for the various invertebrates that end up in

the skillet and on the plate. The invertebrate category includes all animals that don’t have an internal skeleton, so it includes plenty of creatures that are well established in North American and European gastronomy, such as shrimp, lobster, oysters and squid.

In other words, many people who shrink from eating terrestrial invertebrates consider aquatic invertebrates to be delicacies.

Technically insects have six legs— think grasshoppers, crickets and ants, some of the most popular edible bugs. There are also plenty of non-insect invertebrates that have a traditional place in the Mexican kitchen — mealworms, caterpillars, scorpions and tarantulas to name a few. Chapulines (grasshoppers); escamoles (ant larvae); jumiles (stink bugs); ahuatle (water- y eggs); gusanos de maguey (agave worms); and chinicuiles (red maguey worms) are among the most commonly eaten insects in Mexico.

“…te the cu om s that they’re going to be fine aft trying [insects].

Exp iment: make some sauc , s ve them for breakfa , incorporate them in di ent c king applications and I would say be brave, right? Combine them with di ent pepp s, di ent h bs, di ent condiments. Play around with th e flavors. They are so unique.”

CHEF

HUGO

ORTEGA , Hugo’s

Hugo’s pan-sautéed grasshoppers with guacamole, salsa and blue corn tortillas

BUGS DESERVE MORE THAN A MOMENT

The options for adding insects to menus is almost limitless, says Chef Joseph Yoon, a Brooklyn-based, selfproclaimed Edible Insect Ambassador who launched Brooklyn Bugs in 2017 with the idea of trying to normalize edible insects. According to Yoon, there are 500 to 600 species of edible insects in Oaxaca alone. And as far as Yoon is concerned, those edible insects deserve more than a moment. They deserve a movement.

As Yoon points out, edible insects “have incredibly different avor pro les and textures and functionality. The possibilities gastronomically are just so tremendous….I would encourage Latino chefs, Latina chefs, to embrace”

the tradition of cooking with insects

“and really to amplify it. I think there’s something really empowering and beautiful about doing that.

“Food is such a big cultural and status symbol,” Yoon observes. “If you tell me what you eat, I can tell you so much about who you are. And right now, a lot of the cultural norms for Americans and for Europeans are that insects are not a type of food, so that’s also among our challenges. But historically in Mexico and Latin America, they’ve been eating insects for millennia and we’ve actually been eating insects since the beginning of human evolution. I think it’s so important in our education and outreach to recognize the dignity in this food and not to make it seem like

The Black Ant’s Guacamole with Chicatanas

this is some apocalyptic food source at the end of the world or for poor countries.”

He was motivated and inspired by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization report on the topic. “What we found is that this idea of eating insects really sparks people’s curiosity. And once we’re able to capture someone’s curiosity, we have a short window of time to hold onto that.”

About the Cov Photo

The Tostada de Chapulín is a popular dish at Corazón de Maguey, a restaurant in Mexico City that holds the Temporada de Bichos — a festival featuring that tostada plus several other bug dishes during the season when insects are most plentiful. Insects also can be found in one or two dishes — grasshoppers accompanied by guacamole, for example — throughout the year.

“Our chef prepares dishes with maguey worms, escamoles, jumiles, and chicatanas. They are very popular although they are not for everyone,” communication coordinator Hana Aguirre says. “The best advice is to use them without fear, as primary ingredients or as a support ingredient to give interesting tones or notes. The grasshoppers with a good chocolate go very well.”

See recipe for the Tostada de Chapulín on page 63.

“People n d to learn more about the Mexican f d. That’s why I o ants at Chicatana… a lot of people come to ask me, ‘Hey, can you show me your ants, I want to try them,’ or ‘Can you explain why you eat them in your ate?’”

CHEF MARCELINO ZAMUDIO , Chicatana

INSECT INCLUSIVE MENUS

At Chicatana in Washington DC, chef/co-owner Marcelino Zamudio has noticed increased curiosity and courage on the part of his customers when it comes to eating insects. From 2009 to 2014, he worked for Chef José Andrés at Oyamel Cocina Mexicana, where he says many people were scared to try the chapulines taco. “Right now, I’m still working with him. A lot more people buy those tacos [now],” reports Zamudio, who says many of these adventurous diners are encouraged when they learn the protein content of chapulines or ants compares to that of steak.

Mango is an excellent vehicle for a lot of different insect flavor profiles, according to Chef Joseph Yoon of Brooklyn Bugs.

The Black Ant’s Croquetas de Chapulín

Zamudio wants to show customers there’s more to Mexican food than rice and beans and burritos. “People need to learn more about the Mexican food. That’s why I offer ants at Chicatana.” The Washington Post reviewed Chicatana in late March 2023 and dedicated a paragraph to the ants and grasshoppers on the menu. Ever since, “a lot of people come to ask me, ‘Hey, can you show me your ants? I want to try them,’ or ‘Can you explain why you eat them in your state?’”

Zamudio uses insects for both avor and texture. “The ant is very crunchy. That’s why you put it on the esquites,” he explains. The insects he uses are toasted dry on the comal when they’re fresh, so they are shelf stable. His mother collects and toasts ants for him in Mexico, and he can also source ants from Masienda, a distributor of heirloom Mexican ingredients.

Insects have also own onto the menu at Hugo’s in Houston, Texas, where executive chef/co-owner Hugo Ortega offers a very popular appetizer with chapulines.

“We lightly sauté them with onions and serve them with guacamole, salsa de tomatillo, and chipotle sauce with blue corn tortillas,” Ortega says. “It’s very popular for many reasons. Some people know it’s a wonderful source of protein. And [chapulines] are very avorful. We import them from Oaxaca, and they come seasoned to us, with local peppers, salt, and so on.”

Chapulines might be the gateway bug your guests are waiting for. “You can sauté them, or you can toast them on the stove. Toasted, they are just delicious like popcorn,” Ortega says. “You can make chapulines salt to rim a glass, you can cook them with eggs for breakfast, and so on. However, my absolutely favorite are the chapulines that grow on sesame seed

“…it’s rea y so important to celebrate Mexico’s contribution. And I would encourage Latino chefs, Latina chefs, to embrace” the tradition of c king with insects “and rea y to amplify it. I think th e’s something rea y empow ing and beautiful about doing that.”

CHEF JOSEPH YOON , Brooklyn Bugs

elds. Those are considered a delicacy — they don’t make it here because locals love them. When you toast them, you release the oils and minerals and you have a wonderful avor of sesame seed.”

Yes, insects have terroir.

Chicatanas also appear in Hugo’s dishes. “The locals collect them around the time of the rst rains in the spring, when they hatch. We make mole with chicatanas, and we serve it with beef or sh. We make adobos with them, and you can make salt with them,” Ortega says. “They are a truly wonderful source of food and protein. The ant colonies are passed from generation through generation. People know where the ants nest and keep it very secret. They cook it with a little bit of butter and onions and make taquitos, serve it with guacamole. And it’s considered a delicacy” with a “very beefy” avor.

“I don’t have any doubt, since eating insects has happened since pre-Hispanic times, that at some point or other we will catch up and it will probably be the food of the future,” he speculates. “I think people are always curious to experi-

Insects and the Su ainability Connection

Dishes that incorporate edible insects are popping up on more and more Mexican restaurant menus. But the important role these creatures play in the food chain goes beyond just eating the insects.

“An all-insect diet definitely is not the goal,” says Chef Joseph Yoon, a Brooklyn-based, self-proclaimed Edible Insect Ambassador who launched Brooklyn Bugs in 2017 to raise appreciation and awareness for edible insects. “If you think about meatless Monday — if we can substitute a vegetarian meal once a week that has a tremendous impact on the environment.”

It’s not only about ed-

ible insects, he says, but insect agriculture, too.

“The true potential and innovation around insect agriculture is that we’re also able to utilize edible insects for feeding our livestock and our pets, we’re able to utilize the insect frass or excrement as an incredibly efficient organic bio-fertilizer, reducing the chemicals from traditional fertilizers. And yes, we can really emphasize the importance of eating insects to enhance food security, to address larger food systems, and to provide livelihoods in rural and urban areas.”

Insects have a low environmental impact,

ment with these things. And there are foodies and there are people who believe in how healthy they are. It de nitely will catch up eventually.”

Ortega advises chefs who want to serve insects “to tell the customers that they’re going to be ne after trying it. Experiment: make some sauces, serve them for breakfast, incorporate them in different cooking applications and I would say be brave, right? Combine them with different peppers, different herbs, different condiments. Play around with these avors. They are so unique.”

requiring significantly less water, land, and feed to produce the same amount of protein compared to traditional livestock such as cows, pigs, or chickens. Additionally, insects produce fewer greenhouse gases and have a smaller ecological footprint than traditional livestock.

“Insects are an incredibly efficient method for organic waste management,” consuming and transforming it so it doesn’t end up in landfills. Yoon sees insects as a critical element for regenerative and resilient food systems that consume fewer resources and produce more nutrition.

Take a page from the playbook of La Diabla Pozole y Mezcal. The Denver, Colorado, restaurant recently offered a short-term special platter for their Festival de Bichos (Festival of Bugs). The sample platter of four bichos included crickets, ants, ant larvae, and worms, each individually prepared. Their Instagram post went viral, attracting national press.

Maybe bichos’ moment has come.

Annelise Kelly is a Portland, Oregon-based freelance writer and regular contributor to el Restaurante

A mini taco made with sauteed grasshoppers and blue corn tortillas at Hugo’s

TEXAS RESTAURANT SHOW

The Texas Restaurant Show is designed to give restaurateurs access to the tools they need to seat more tables, sell more food, and make more money.

Take a deep dive into a variety of impactful learning opportunities including inspiring education sessions, keynote presentations, and exciting live demos - all providing solutions that you can immediately implement.

Our programming delivers national insights, key-connections, industry trends, new technology, and all-around great ideas to help you and your business succeed.

Exhibit or attend at txrestaurantshow.com.

ONTREND CONCEPTS 3RD ANNUAL

GHOST KITCHEN CONFERENCE & VIRTUAL RESTAURANT SHOW

The Texas Restaurant Show schedule will expand to feature the Ghost Kitchen & Virtual Restaurant Conference (GKC) on Friday, July 7 and Saturday, July 8.

The Texas Restaurant Association will continue to offer an industry deep-dive educational session on Saturday, July 8 and then more than 20 educational sessions during the trade show on Sunday, July 9 and Monday, July 10.

OnTrend Concepts will also manage an OnTrend Ghost Kitchen & Off-Premise Pavilion, featuring more than 30 exhibit booths during the Texas Restaurant Show.

The Texas Restaurant Association is the essential resource providing advocacy, education, and benefts to advance the restaurant and food service industry in the State of Texas.

CULTURE, CENTRAL KITCHEN FUEL CONDADO TACOS’ Success

BY ED AVIS

When people

talk about the “culture” of a restaurant, a negative image often emerges — disrespectful bosses, excessive drinking, low pay for long hours. When Joe Kahn launched Condado Tacos, a casual, full-service taqueria, in 2014, he was aware of that image and did not want his restaurant to be seen that way.

“I started my company because I hated the culture of how people were treated in a restaurant,” says Kahn, who previously co-founded Barrio restaurant in Cleveland. “I mean, there are some companies that are amazing, but it’s just a handful and I said that I want to rede ne this industry.”

An emphasis on healthy culture, a commitment to a commissary model of food quality control, and enticing, art- lled restaurants has powered the company’s success. The company, which started in Columbus, Ohio, today has 39 locations spread across the Midwest and is opening a dozen more this year.

“I kept my promises to my

staff and treated them with respect, and a few years later we end up with the number of successful locations we have now,” Kahn says.

CULTURE PAYS OFF

Setting the pay at well above average was one of the steps Kahn took to launch Condado on the right foot.

“When I rst started, my partners asked, ‘Well, what’s the average wage for a line cook?’ And I said, ‘Well, the average wage is $7.85, but we’re not going to pay $7.85. We’re going to pay a livable wage. So, we started in the kitchen at $20 or $24 an hour.”

Eschewing servers’ uniforms is another way Condado Tacos treats employees differently than many competitors do.

“I give them a lot of

leeway,” Kahn says. “When you come to work, I want you to dress how you want to dress. If you want to come to the restaurant as a ballerina and you can get away with it, then do it!”

The results are impressive: employees tend to stick around thanks to the generous pay and overall atmosphere of respect they enjoy. Eleven of Condado’s original employees are still on staff, including several who now occupy executive positions, Kahn reports.

CENTRAL KITCHEN MODEL

Another factor in Condado’s success is its central kitchen

“When I first started, my partners asked, ‘Well, what’s the average wage for a line cook?’ And I said, ‘Well, the average wage is $7.85, but we’re not going to pay $7.85. We’re going to pay a livable wage. So, we started in the kitchen at $20 or $24 an hour.”

KAHN

model. Kahn doesn’t like to use the word “commissary” because it implies the food is frozen — Condado’s is not, but the concept is the same. Nearly 70 percent of the restaurant’s food is prepared in a central kitchen in Columbus, which Kahn calls a “scratch fresh kitchen.” The company’s eet of a dozen trucks delivers the food to the restaurants less than 15 hours after preparation.

Kahn launched the central kitchen model in 2016 when Condados had only four locations. He says he decided to adopt the concept after he visited one of his locations and discovered that

JOE

the recipes had been changed. He found a 10,000-square-foot space and asked one of his managers, Dan Stewart, to create the kitchen.

“He developed this system, and we ended up with a worldclass facility,” Kahn says. “Now different restaurant concepts come out to look at it and say, ‘How are you guys doing this?’”

About four years ago, Condado’s outgrew the original central kitchen and moved it into a 45,000-square-foot space. Kahn says they estimate they could service 150 Condados locations with that new kitchen, but if the company expands into Florida and Texas — which is the long-range plan — additional central kitchens would be added to serve those markets.

mosphere is also part of the experience. Giant murals, many from local artists, cover the walls in each location.

“We made the decision very early on to do this,” Kahn says, explaining that the company hires 10 to 12 artists to create the murals for each new opening. “So, we’re supporting the art community out there and we’re paying them very well. We have artwork on our walls that is just phenomenal.”

Kahn estimates that the company has invested over $150,000 in the restaurant artwork over the years.

GROWTH PLANS

Speaking of investments, the company’s growth got a boost in 2020 when private equity funders The Beekman Group bought into Condado Tacos. That process began two years earlier when Kahn met Chris Artinian, a Beekman director who had been an executive at Morton’s Steakhouse and several other restaurants.

WALL ART

Customers enjoy Condado Tacos for more than the food — the at-

“I had a huge af nity for Chris,” Kahn remembers. “I actually told him the rst time we met, ‘I think we’re going to end up being partners.’ And it’s true. He’s our partner and corn.orders@clarksongrain.com

Hand-painted murals enhance the Condado experience.

the CEO and president.”

Artinian became president and CEO of Condado in April 2021; Kahn’s title now is chief innovative of cer.

“We have a really good partnership with The Beekman Group,” Kahn says. “I had heard all the horror stories [about working with private equity], but my experience has been amazing. They are very thoughtful partners, and they believe in us.”

Condado was already growing rapidy when The Beekman Group came along, but their investment has accelerated growth, Kahn says. The company is opening a dozen new locations in 2023 — including in new markets such as St. Louis, Louisville, and Buffalo, New York — so should end the year with 51 locations.

“We’ll open another 12 or 13 locations next year,” he says, adding that that seems to be the company’s sweet spot. “We’ve done that number very successfully, so that’s kind of where we’re living right now. Even though we’re growing bigger and bigger, we don’t want the wheels to come off.”

Plans include opening 90 to 100 restaurants by 2026, company information says.

The Menu

While culture and community have helped build Condado’s footprint, it is the unique tacos, margaritas and tequilas that are what keep customers coming back for more.

Guests can build their own tacos by topping a variety of taco shells with their choice of proteins, toppings and sauces (including vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options); choose from a list of signature tacos that anchor a menu featuring innovative ingredients such as tequila lime steak and Korean BBQ made with pulled jackfruit; and order from a full bar with an assortment of 100 percent blue agave tequilas and specialty margaritas. Recent specials have included the Butter Chicken Taco, Stuffed Pepper Queso, and Pear Margarita.

The To Go menu is also an important contributor to the company’s success: It has grown over 145 percent year-overyear since the pandemic began!

With a continued focus on culture, quality food and enticing environments, it seems unlikely that Condado Tacos’ “wheels will come off” anytime soon.

Says Kahn: “We’re really happy with the growth we’re seeing, and we can handle it very well.”

Ed Avis is the publisher of el Restaurante.

SMALL PLATES, BIG BENEFITS: Serving Li le Portions Has Advantages

| BY ED AVIS | Most chefs love to experiment; they get tired of making the same dishes over and over again. And regular customers bene t from that experimenting; they like seeing what new dishes their favorite restaurant can create. Those chefs and those customers bene t from small plate menus.

The small plates concept is not new in Latin cuisine — tapas and pintxos, for example, are versions of small plates that US restaurants have featured for decades — but it continues to gain new fans.

One restaurant that recently adopted the style is Milpa, a Mexican restaurant that opened in Calgary, Alberta in early 2023. The restaurant is the creation of Chef Elia

Herrera, a native of Córdoba in the Mexican state of Veracruz, who previously worked in restaurants across Europe and Canada and competed on Top Chef Canada and Top Chef Mexico.

Why did she choose the small plates concept? “To be honest, it’s because that’s the way I love to eat. I get bored to eat just one main course, per se. I like to explore different avors, different textures, and that’s why I decided to do it that way here at Milpa.”

Small plates, Herrera explains, differ from appetizers in that they are generally more complex and require a higher level of preparation. In essence, they are miniature versions of regular-size entrees, which means each dish requires the same amount of

prep work. But since a small plates menu typically includes more dishes than a regular menu, the overall amount of prep work is greater.

“The preparation time needs long hours, but execution is super quick,” Herrera says. “For example, the Mixiote: in service, I have it in the steamer and basically it takes ve to six minutes to plate, which is amazing. Because it’s a small plate, you

cannot take longer. People are expecting it to arrive faster. So, I have to make sure that the technique that I’m using matches the style of service that I’m doing.”

Two of Milpa’s most popular small plates are Herrera family recipes: Coconut Ceviche from her mother and Rajas Poblanas from her grandmother.

“The original recipe of the ceviche is with shrimp, but I make a vegan version with coconut,” Herrera says. “And my grandmother’s Rajas Poblanas (a stew of poblano strips, onion, corn, chicken and panela cheese) is a dish that comes from Puebla City. She used to cook it for me every Sunday.”

(continued on page 32)

Sharing Menus: The Small Plate Approach That’s Trending

Small plate menus and sharing menus share a common goal: Both encourage diners to order multiple, “mini-size” dishes everyone at the table can try. The Unilever Food Solutions Future Menu Trends Report 2023 calls it The New Sharing.

“A renewed appreciation for sharing food with friends and family is another post-pandemic trend,” the report says. “It is about food that brings people together in body and spirit.”

According to Unielver, 54% of operators believe it is a trend that’s set to grow.

Coconut Ceviche Rajas Poblanas

CHICO - 4OZ | NHS1008

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Carton: 15.25” x 7.75” x 10”

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7” TORTILLA SERVER | NHS1000

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Even though Milpa has only been open a few months, Herrera is already tinkering with the menu. That’s one of the beauties of the small plates concept — change is expected.

“I get bored very easily, and it’s kind of refreshing for all of us to be creative,” she

says. “And we already have regulars, so we need new things for our regulars to try. Obviously, there is stuff that I will never change, like my grandmother’s dish or my mother’s dish. But everything else can be changed.”

QUALITY EXPERIENCE

The small plates concept is more than just a different menu type — it can be considered a different style of dining altogether. Imagine a group or family enjoying a relaxing evening of shared tapas and wine. It’s an experience they savor, not a meal they wolf down in a hurry.

The ow of small dishes from the kitchen fosters that experience. At Milpa, the dishes are served as they’re ready;

not all at once. This encourages sharing, Herrera says. The restaurant’s servers explain that to customers when they order. Furthermore, because dishes are passed, diners are less focused on their own entrees. The shared dishes and the irregular ow of food from the kitchen fosters conversation and a communal experience.

Another trick to stimulate interest: Milpa does not post its menu online. “That was kind of a strategy for people to come to the restaurant to see what we have,” Herrera says.

There is a pro t angle to the small plates experience, as well. While the dishes are priced lower than entrees, when a group orders multiple plates per person, the check easily exceeds the size of an entrée-only one.

HAPPY HOUR SMALL PLATES

Not every restaurant that offers small plates uses them as the focus of the menu. They also work well when a restaurant’s regular menu is not suitable, such as at happy hour. That’s when Chef Pepe Stepensky deploys small plates at Porkyland, his Mexican restaurant with two locations in Southern California.

“The small plates work very well during happy hour and other times when customers just want to have a bite,” he says. “We charge less than half the price of the regular-size menu item, because it’s less food and we want to push the beer.”

Stepensky explains that certain menu items work better as small plates than others — soup in small bowl or a small portion of carne asada, for example, work well. “It’s impossible to do a small version of some items,” he says.

The small plates concept, whether it’s a restaurant’s primary focus or an idea used to serve customers at happy hour, is likely to continue gaining fans.

“For me, personally, I love it,” Herrera says.

Ed

Avis is the publisher of el Restaurante.

“I get bored very easily, and it’s kind of refreshing for all of us to be creative. And we already have regulars, so we need new things for our regulars to try.”

CHEF ELIA HERRERA

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PLATOS PEQUEÑOS, GRANDES BENEFICIOS:

Servir raciones pequeñas tiene sus ventajas

| POR ED AVIS | La mayoría de los chefs adoran experimentar; se cansan de hacer los mismos platos una y otra vez. Y los clientes habituales se bene cian de esa experimentación; les gusta ver qué platos nuevos puede crear su restaurante favorito. Esos chefs y esos clientes se bene cian de los menús de platos pequeños.

El concepto de platos pequeños no es nuevo en la cocina latina (las tapas y los pintxos, por ejemplo, son versiones de platos pequeños que los restaurantes estadounidenses llevan décadas ofreciendo), pero sigue ganando nuevos seguidores.

Un restaurante que ha adoptado recientemente este estilo es Milpa, un restaurante mexicano que abrió sus puertas en Calgary (Alberta) a principios de 2023. El restaurante es la creación de la chef Elia Herrera, natural de Córdoba, en el estado mexicano de Veracruz, que anteriormente trabajó en restaurantes de Europa y Canadá y compitió en Top Chef Canadá y Top Chef México.

¿Por qué eligió el concepto de platos pequeños? “Para ser sincera, porque es la forma en que me gusta comer. Me aburre comer un solo plato principal. Me gusta explorar diferentes sabores, diferentes texturas, y por eso decidí hacerlo así aquí en Milpa”.

Los platos pequeños, explica Herrera, se diferencian de los aperitivos en que suelen ser más complejos y requieren un mayor nivel de preparación. En esencia, son versiones en miniatura de platos principales de tamaño normal, lo que signi ca que cada plato requiere la misma cantidad de trabajo de preparación. Pero como un menú de platos pequeños suele incluir más platos que un menú normal, la cantidad total de

trabajo de preparación es mayor.

“El tiempo de preparación requiere muchas horas, pero la ejecución es súper rápida”, dice Herrera. “Por ejemplo, el Mixiote: en el servicio, lo tengo en la vaporera y básicamente se tarda entre cinco y seis minutos en emplatar, lo cual es increíble. Como es un plato pequeño, no se puede tardar más. La gente espera que llegue más rápido. Así que tengo que asegurarme de que la técnica que utilizo coincide con el estilo de servicio que presto”.

Dos de los platos pequeños más populares de Milpa son recetas de la familia Herrera: Ceviche de Coco de su madre y Rajas Poblanas de su abuela.

“La receta original del ceviche es con camarón, pero yo hago una versión vegana con coco”, dice Herrera. “Y las rajas poblanas de mi abuela (un guiso de rajas poblanas, cebolla, elote, pollo y queso panela) es un platillo que viene de la ciudad de Puebla. Ella me lo preparaba todos los domingos”.

Compartir menús: El enfoque de platos pequeños que está de moda

Los menús de platos pequeños y los menús para compartir comparten un objetivo común: Ambos animan a los comensales a pedir varios platos de “tamaño pequeño” que todos los comensales pueden probar. El informe de Unilever Food Solutions sobre las tendencias futuras de los menús en 2023 lo denomina “El nuevo compartir”.

“El renovado aprecio por compartir la comida con amigos y familiares es otra tendencia pospandémica”, dice el informe. “Se trata de alimentos que unen a las personas en cuerpo y espíritu”.

Según Unielver, el 54 % de los operadores cree que es una tendencia que va a crecer.

Ceviche de Coco Rajas Poblanas

Aunque Milpa solo lleva abierto unos meses, Herrera ya está retocando el menú. Esa es una de las bellezas del concepto de platos pequeños: se espera el cambio.

“Me aburro muy fácilmente, y es refrescante para todos nosotros ser creativos”, dice. “Y ya tenemos clientes habituales, así que necesitamos cosas nuevas para que prueben nuestros clientes habituales. Obviamente, hay cosas que nunca cambiaré, como el plato de mi abuela o el de mi madre. Pero todo lo demás se puede cambiar”.

EXPERIENCIA DE CALIDAD

El concepto de platos pequeños es algo más que un tipo de menú diferente, ya que puede considerarse un estilo gastronómico totalmente distinto. Imagínese a un grupo o una familia disfrutando de una relajante velada de tapas y vino compartidos. Es una experiencia que se saborea, no una comida que se devora deprisa.

El ujo de pequeños platos desde la cocina fomenta esa experiencia. En Milpa, los platos se sirven a medida que están listos, no todos a la vez. Esto anima a compartir, dice Herrera. Los meseros del restaurante se lo explican a los clientes cuando piden. Además, como los platos se pasan, los comensales se centran menos en sus propios entrantes. Los platos compartidos y el ujo irregular de comida desde la cocina fomentan la conversación y la experiencia comunitaria.

Otro truco para estimular el interés: Milpa no publica su menú en Internet. “Es una estrategia para que la gente venga al restaurante a ver lo que tenemos”, dice Herrera.

La experiencia de los platos pequeños también tiene su lado lucrativo. Aunque el precio de los platos es inferior al de los platos fuertes, cuando un grupo pide varios platos por persona, la cuenta supera fácilmente la de un plato principal.

HAPPY HOUR PLATOS PEQUEÑOS

No todos los restaurantes que ofrecen platos pequeños los utilizan como centro del menú. También funcionan bien cuando el menú habitual de un restaurante no es adecuado, como en happy hour. Es entonces cuando el chef Pepe Stepensky utiliza los platos pequeños en Porkyland, su restaurante mexicano con dos locales en el sur de California.

“Los platos pequeños funcionan muy bien en happy hour y en otros momentos en los que los clientes solo quieren picar algo”, dice. “Cobramos menos de la mitad del precio del plato normal, porque es menos comida y queremos promocionar la cerveza”.

Stepensky explica que algunos platos del menú funcionan mejor como platos pequeños que otros; por ejemplo, una sopa en un cuenco pequeño o una pequeña ración de carne asada. “Es imposible hacer una versión pequeña de algunos platos”, dice.

Es probable que el concepto de platos pequeños, ya sea el enfoque principal de un restaurante o una idea utilizada para servir a los clientes en happy hour, siga ganando adeptos.

“A mí, personalmente, me encanta”, dice Herrera.

“Me aburro muy fácilmente, y para todos nosotros es refrescante ser creativos. Y ya tenemos clientes habituales, así que necesitamos cosas nuevas para que prueben nuestros clientes habituales”.

CHEF ELIA HERRERA

Ed Avis es editor de el Restaurante.

A FRESH CASE FOR aguas frescas

| BY KATHLEEN FURORE

| Every morning, the team at Matteo’s Mexican Food gets to work making the creative renditions of aguas frescas the restaurant has become known for. The menu isn’t limited to avors like Horchata, Canteloupe and Watermelon that are staples in Mexico, according to Melody Rios, co-owner of the restaurant whose rst location opened in the University neighborhood of Las Cruces, New Mexico in 2018, in downtown Las Cruces in 2020, and in El Paso, Texas, in 2022.

“We originally started with three everyday avors, then started offering a Flavor of the Day, and now we have a Flavor of the Month based on that month’s holiday or a seasonal fruit,” explains Rios, who notes that all three locations menu the same aguas frescas. April’s avor was Blueberry Coconut, inspired by Easter and the popular Peeps treats; creamy peach is the Mother’s Day-inspired avor for May.

Honeydew Kiwi, Watermelon Agua Fresca mixed with homemade Horchata, Cucumber Chia Limeade, and what the restaurant calls “one of Matteo’s OG avors” — Blue Ocean made fresh daily with pineapple, organic chia seeds, and spirulina — are among other creative renditions. There’s even a dessert-like option: the Arcoíris, this year’s January avor of the month, made with a combination of strawberry and coconut aguas frescas ladled into a cup that’s been drizzled with strawberry syrup, then topped with whipped cream and a marshmallowtopped cookie after which the beverage was named

Besides the number of avors and avor combinations, and the fact they’re made fresh in-house, what makes Matteo’s aguas frescas so special?

“We wanted to add our personal touch, so we’ve added superfoods like chia and spirulina, and they’re made fresh with only pure, natural ingredients and no arti cial colors and avors,” Rios says.

The whipped cream-andcookie topped Arcoíris was January’s Flavor of the Month at Matteo’s Mexican Food.

Jugs of fresh aguas frescas line a counter at Matteo’s Mexican Food.

WHY THE TIME IS RIGHT FOR AGUAS FRESCAS

As consumers pull back from sugar-laden soft drinks and turn toward more fresh and natural beverages, now is a good time to consider adding aguas frescas to your beverage menu.

According to Technomic’s Ignite Menu national food trends data, Agua de Jamaica was among the fastest growing beverages on restaurant menus in Q4 2022. That data coincides with IRI data showing that avored sparkling water sales grew 5% to over $3.72 billion in the 52 weeks ending October 30, 2022, and with numbers from ReporterLink’s Flavored Water Global Market Report 2023 showing the global avored water market is expected to grow to $39.86 billion in 2027 at a compounded annual growth rate of 9.3%. And according to market research group SPINS, noncarbonated avored water is growing at 20 percent year-over-year, making it the fastest growing category (along with sparkling avored water) in the $13 billion shelf-stable water market.

Matteo’s Mexican Restaurants might offer one of the most ex-

tensive and creative aguas frescas menus around — but other Mexican restaurants are nding success with the fresh, avored waters as well.

La Cazuela in Lawrenceville and Buford, Georgia, is one example. Owner Carlos Rodriguez says the restaurants offer three avors — Horchata (the most popular), followed by Agua de Jamaica and Tamarindo.

“They are growing in popularity, but they are high sugar as well,” says Rodriguez, who after experimenting with different recipes settled on using a concentrate to make La Cazuela’s aguas frescas. “One little 16-ounce container makes one gallon. We know how to make all those from scratch, but is too labor intensive,” he explains. “The customers found it very good after we checked it out and started serving it.”

The pro t, he says, is decent, but not as much as what the restaurant makes with bag-in-box Coca Cola products.

Is your restaurant doing anything special with aguas frescas? If so, share the news and send a recipe to Editor Kathleen Furore at kfurore@restmex.com We’ll feature it in a future issue!

Aguas Frescas Defined

The beverages known in Mexico as aguas frescas are an inspired complement to the rich melding of chiles, herbs and spices found in Mexican food. They act to counter-balance strong flavors and are always light, never cloying. Aguas frescas function somewhat like sorbets, in that they refresh the palate.

Huge glass containers of these cooling drinks are found at street stands all over Mexico, their thirst-quenching contents ladled out throughout the day. These drinks, also known as aguas de fruta, include three essential ingredients: fruit (and sometimes flowers or seeds), water and sweetener.

— Karen Hursh Graber, writing at MexConnect.com

“WE WANTED TO ADD OUR PERSONAL TOUCH, SO WE’VE ADDED SUPER FOODS LIKE CHIA AND SPIRULINA, AND THEY’RE MADE FRESH WITH ONLY PURE, NATURAL INGREDI ENTS AND NO ARTIFICIAL COLORS AND FLAVORS.”

MELODY RIOS , Matteo’s Mexican Food

The refreshing Honeydew Kiwi Agua Fresca

Un nuevo caso para aguas frescas

| POR KATHLEEN FURORE | Todas las mañanas, el equipo de Matteo’s Mexican Food se pone a elaborar las creativas versiones de aguas frescas por las que se ha hecho famoso el restaurante. El menú no se limita a sabores como Horchata, Canteloupe y Watermelon que son básicos en México, según Melody Rios, copropietaria del restaurante cuyo primer local abrió en el barrio University de Las Cruces, Nuevo México, en 2018, en el centro de Las Cruces en 2020 y en El Paso, Texas, en 2022.

“Originalmente comenzamos con tres sabores diarios, luego empezamos a ofrecer un sabor del día y ahora tenemos un sabor del mes basado en la festividad de ese mes o en una fruta de temporada”, explica Ríos, quien señala que los tres locales ofrecen el mismo menú de aguas frescas. El sabor de abril fue Blueberry Coconut, inspirado en la Pascua y los populares Peeps; creamy peach es el sabor de mayo inspirado en el día de la madre.

Honeydew kiwi agua fresca, el agua fresca de sandía mezclada con horchata casera, la limonada de pepino y chía, y lo que el restaurante llama “uno de los sabores originales de Matteo”, el océano azul, elaborado a diario con piña, semillas de chía orgánica y espirulina, son otras de las versiones creativas. Incluso hay una opción de postre: el Arcoíris, el sabor del mes de enero de este año, hecho con una combinación de fresa y coco aguas frescas servida en una taza rociada con sirope de fresa y cubierta con nata montada y una galleta cubierta de malvavisco que da nombre a la bebida.

Además de la cantidad de sabores y combinaciones de sabores, y del hecho de que se elaboran en la propia empresa, ¿qué hace que las aguas frescas de Matteo sean tan especiales?

“Queríamos darles nuestro toque personal, así que les hemos añadido súper alimentos como la

El Arcoíris agua fresca

Frascos de aguas frescas en Matteo’s Mexican Food

chía y la espirulina, y se elaboran frescas con ingredientes puros y naturales, sin colorantes ni aromas arti ciales”, dice Ríos.

POR QUÉ HA LLEGADO EL MOMENTO DE AGUAS FRESCAS

A medida que los consumidores se alejan de los refrescos cargados de azúcar y se inclinan por bebidas más frescas y naturales, ahora es un buen momento para considerar la adición de aguas frescas a su menú de bebidas.

Según los datos de tendencias alimentarias nacionales de Ignite Menu de Technomic, el agua de Jamaica fue una de las bebidas de más rápido crecimiento en los menús de los restaurantes en el cuarto trimestre de 2022. Esos datos coinciden con los datos de IRI que muestran que las ventas de agua con gas saborizada crecieron un 5% a más

de $3.72 millones en las 52 semanas que nalizaron el 30 de octubre de 2022, y con los números del informe de mercado global de agua saborizada 2023 de ReporterLink que muestran que se espera que el mercado global de agua saborizada crezca a $39.86 millones en 2027 a una tasa compuesta de crecimiento anual del 9.3%. Y según el grupo de investigación de mercado SPINS, las aguas aromatizadas sin gas crecen un 20% interanual, lo que las convierte en la categoría de más rápido crecimiento (junto con las aguas con gas aromatizadas) en el mercado de agua comercializable de $13 millones de dólares.

Puede que Matteo’s Mexican Restaurants ofrezca uno de los menús de aguas frescas más amplios y creativos, pero otros restaurantes mexicanos también están teniendo éxito con las aguas frescas de sabores. La Cazuela, en Lawrenceville y Buford, Georgia, es un ejemplo. Su propietario, Carlos

Rodríguez, dice que ofrecen tres sabores: Horchata (el más popular), seguido de Agua de Jamaica y Tamarindo.

“Son cada vez más populares, pero también tienen un alto contenido en azúcar”, dice Rodríguez, que, tras experimentar con distintas recetas, optó por utilizar un concentrado para elaborar las aguas frescas de La Cazuela. “Un pequeño envase de 16 onzas rinde un galón. Sabemos hacerlas desde cero, pero requiere mucho trabajo”, explica. “A los clientes les pareció muy bueno cuando lo probamos y empezamos a servirlo”.

El bene cio, dice, es decente, pero no tanto como el que obtiene el restaurante con los productos bag-in-box de Coca Cola.

¿Su restaurante hace algo especial con las aguas frescas? Si es así, comparta la noticia y envíe una receta a la editora Kathleen Furore a kfurore@restmex.com. ¡Lo presentaremos en una edición futura!

Definición de Aguas Frescas

Las bebidas conocidas en México como aguas frescas son un complemento inspirado en la rica mezcla de chiles, hierbas y especias de la comida mexicana. Contrarrestan los sabores fuertes y son siempre ligeras, nunca empalagosas. Las aguas frescas funcionan como sorbetes, ya que refrescan el paladar.

En los puestos callejeros de todo México se pueden encontrar enormes recipientes de cristal de estas bebidas refrescantes, cuyo contenido se reparte a lo largo del día para calmar la sed. Estas bebidas, también conocidas como aguas de fruta, incluyen tres ingredientes esenciales: fruta (y a veces flores o semillas), agua y edulcorante.

- Karen Hursh Graber, escribe en MexConnect.com

“QUERÍAMOS AÑADIR NUESTRO TOQUE PERSONAL, ASÍ QUE HEMOS AÑADIDO SÚPER ALIMENTOS COMO LA CHÍA Y LA ESPIRULINA, Y SE HACEN FRESCAS CON INGREDIENTES PUROS Y NATURALES, SIN COLORANTES NI SABORES ARTIFICIALES.” MELODY RIOS , Matteo’s Mexican Food

La refrescante Honeydew Kiwi agua fresca

Tea Time BEHIND THE BAR

Incorporating tea in Latin-inspired cocktails

“If we’re talking versatility, anything goes with tequila and mezcal. Green tea, for example, makes a great big batch cocktail, such as this green tea lemonade margarita. Other teas that folks might not realize are teas but make the perfect cocktails are Agua de Jamaica (hibiscus tea) and Agua de Tamarindo.”

| BY

ELYSE GLICKMAN

| There are plenty of cocktail ingredients that were around for years before they became “a thing.” Consider the seemingly in nite number of recipes for the sweet tea cocktails of the American South, or the spiked Thai, chai, ginger, and green tea creations featured at Asian and Paci c Rim bars and restaurants. Some of those ingredients, and iterations of those tea-centric cocktails, are nding their way onto menus at bars and restaurants with a variety of themes — including Latin.

“I started working with tea in late 2020,” notes Miami-based Quinn Moore, a regional craft spirits supplier who most recently built the beverage program for Here & Now Hospitality in Fort Lauderdale, a concept dedicated to cocktails and tapas. “As I’m also a chef, I love nding unique ways to incorporate less traditional ingredients to create a unique and exciting bar program. Tea as a whole is an often-overlooked component of any good beverage program, and I wanted to nd a way to seamlessly blend the two when developing programs for clients.”

LATIN IDENTI TEA

According to Yvette MarquezSharpnack, author of Latin Twist and Muy Bueno: Fiestas, not only is tea is a staple in Latin households — it is a versatile ingredient that makes it an ideal ingredient behind the bar.

“If we’re talking versatility, anything goes with tequila and mezcal. Green tea, for example, makes a great big batch cocktail, such as the Green Tea Lemonade Margarita. Other teas that folks might not realize are teas but make the perfect cocktails are Agua de Jamaica (hibiscus tea) and Agua de Tamarindo.”

Roberto Andrada, lead bartender at Maïz64 in Washington, D.C., leads by example when it comes to this teas-in-cocktails trend. His seasonal drink menu includes three tea-centric cocktails inspired by childhood memories of sipping

YVETTE MARQUEZ SHARPNACK, author of Latin Twist and Muy Bueno: Fiestas

Maïz64’s Papalote Margarita

Tito my ‘Rita

A DELICIOUS TWIST ON A FAN - FAVORITE GO AHEAD, SHAKE THINGS UP.

2 OZ TITO’S HANDMADE VODKA

½ OZ ORANGE LIQUEUR

2 OZ LIME JUICE

¼ OZ AGAVE

Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a glass with or without fresh ice. Garnish with a lime slice.

Pro-Tip: If you like it salty, use a glass with a salted rim.

SCAN FOR MORE TITO’S COCKTAIL RECIPES

Did you know . . . that tea cocktails have been having a moment on TikTok?

Last August, The Food Institute called teainfused cocktails “the latest drink trend on TikTok” — so trendy that they had amassed more than a million views!

Good Morning America also reported on the trend in a Summer 2022 post: “From social media to swanky bars, tea-infused cocktails are the latest trendy beverage to make their mark…Videos with the hashtag ‘teacocktail’ have amassed over 1.4 million views on TikTok with no shortage of delicious iterations of the popular drink, including riffs on an el diablo, called the el ‘teablo,’ earl grey martinis and more.”

Are you featuring creative cocktails that include tea?

If so, email one of your favorites, along with a picture, to Editor Kathleen Furore at kfurore@ restmex.com and we’ll feature it online!

“How you infuse the spirit will be informed by the type of cocktail you want to create. For a spirit-forward cocktail, I recommend infusing the tea directly into the liquor. If the cocktail is lighter, you can add the tea at the time of preparation or incorporate it into a syrup.”

ROBERTO ANDRADA, Maïz64

Agua de Jamaica sweetened with a little sugar in Guerrero, Mexico. Agua de Jamaica — a hibiscus tea that Andrada calls “a traditional drink that can be found in taquerias and small restaurants in Guerrero” — boasts a tart, cranberry-like avor, and adds a nice red color to any cocktail.

“Throughout my childhood, I enjoyed teas made by my mother with different plants that we had access to, including chamomile, mint, lemongrass, and some leaves from different trees such as guava, lime and orange, and even corn silk,” Andrada recalls. “All of these avors can be incorporated into cocktails, and when I started working at Maïz64, I realized I could add these avors into our cocktail program since herbal or spiced teas can give cocktails an entirely new dimension.”

Two examples: Andrada’s Cuernavaca Margarita (tea syrup made with guava, orange, green apple, Mexican cinnamon, cloves, star anise and hibiscus owers, combined with mezcal infused with chamomile and jasmine tea bags, honey syrup, dried lavendar and citrus zest), and his Papalote Margarita (tequila, syrup made of bugambilia owers, lemon juice and butter y pea tea) — both nished with a rim of sweet strawberry powder.

Bradley Thomas Stephens, a co-owner of Cereus PDX, a restaurant in Portland, Oregon that features Colombian cuisine and a global beverage program, is also a fan of using tea behind the bar. He teams matcha and whiskey with citrus and soda, and Colombian aguardiente with a piloncillo sweetener avored with a fruity black tea — think strawberries and rhubarb — spun into a breezy daiquiri.

TESTING TO DEVELOP TECHNIQUE

Knowledge is power when it comes to crafting cocktails that incorporate tea. According to Ecuadorian chef and UN Goodwill Ambassador Rodrigo Pacheco, the more you know about different herbs and botanicals, the more original and creative you can be.

“You’ll nd that there are herbs that you would never imagine that can go together, yet they actually do,” Pacheco says, noting there are many ways to extract avor from teas depending on the desired intensity

Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack’s Spicy Green Tea & Lemonade Margaritas

of the nal result. Cold infusion and muddling herbs in a mortar to achieve a more intense, herbaceous avor are examples. “With herbs, it’s very easy to innovate and bring sophistication because when you have them fresh, you can experiment with different techniques to extract their avor, texture, and other properties.”

When Moore pitches cocktail ideas for partner accounts in warmer months, he suggests incorporating hibiscus, green tea and chamomile. In cooler months, he favors rooibos or Earl Grey tea.

“For me, the only way to achieve the best avor is by testing. How you infuse the spirit will be informed by the type of cocktail you want to create,” Andrada says. “For a spirit-forward cocktail, I recommend infusing the tea directly into the liquor. If the cocktail is lighter, you can add the tea at the time of preparation or incorporate it into a syrup. For example, our Cilantro Gimlet is made with gin, cilantro-ginger syrup, lime juice, and jasmine tea.”

Once Andrada matches a tea with a spirit, he infuses the spirit using a sous vide. He prefers that method for all spirits, especially for mezcals, because he feels it produces results that are impossible to achieve any other way.

He starts by simmering the tea-spirit combination at a low temperature for a long time, then lets the infusion cool before straining out the botanicals. Andrada notes that traditional infusion — letting tea sit and steep — works well for bars that don’t have a sous vide in the kitchen and is a method that bartenders at any skill level can employ. One important detail all bartenders should remember: the higher the base spirit’s proof, the more extraction power it will have, Andrada says.

Stephens, on the other hand, applies the standard rules of food and beverage pairing when crafting cocktails made with tea.

“When you start nding those hints of fruit, citrus, or whatever, you start thinking more about what things you like paired with them,” he explains. “Do test batches. Period. Taste after about an hour at room temperature or cold brewing, and again a few hours later. Some teas are best left steeping overnight. However, over-steeping tea can create unwanted avors. Understanding each

tea is important too, so if you need guidance, consult a tea expert.”

According to Stephens, test batches enable a bartender to control how strong or subtle the avors of a nal drink will be.

For those who like to avor with tinctures and syrups, he recommends making the tea rst as it gives one the power to decide ahead of time if the avor will work best in cold or hot brewing. “Once I feel the avor is right, I can remove the tea and heat it up just enough to add the sugar or sweetener and stir it in,” he continues. “For shrubs, I’m a big believer in the slow and cold method. Check it often and remove the tea, then let it sit longer.”

“The best piece of advice I could give when infusing tea with spirits is to not over-estimate the amount of time it takes to infuse,” says Moore, who echoes Andrada when it comes to time spent infusing spirits. “Spirits pull avor from tea incredibly quickly and in order to not take a sip of a glass of tannins, you need to test constantly in the rst 15 to 30 minutes [depending on the type of tea] to ensure you haven’t oversteeped the spirit,” cautions Moore, who also likes to create simple syrups infused with teas.

“With tea, you can take classics and add purposeful depth to them,” Stephens concludes. “You can infuse your sweetener with a wonderful tea blend to control how loud or delicate you want the herbs, fruit, owers, and so on to express themselves. You can make a cold brewed tea concentrate or infuse your spirit and get drastically different drinks with even the same builds otherwise.”

“Spirits pull flavor from tea incredibly quickly and in order to not take a sip of a glass of tannins, you need to test constantly in the first 15 to 30 minutes [depending on the type of tea] to ensure you haven’t over-steeped the spirit.”

QUINN MOORE

See recipes for cocktails made with tea on page 63. Los Angeles-based writer Elyse Glickman is the At the Bar columnist for el Restaurante

Maïz64’s Cuernavaca Margarita

La hora del té TRAS LA BARRA

Incorporar el té a los cocteles de inspiración latina

“Si hablamos de versatilidad, todo vale con tequila y mezcal. El té verde, por ejemplo, sirve para hacer un coctel de fiesta, como la margarita de té verde y limonada. Otros tés que quizá la gente no sepa que son tés, pero que crean cocteles perfectos, son el agua de jamaica (té de hibisco) y el agua de tamarindo”.

– YVETTE MARQUEZ SHARPNACK, autora de Latin Twist and Muy Bueno: Fiestas

| POR

ELYSE

GLICKMAN | Hay muchos ingredientes de cocteles que han estado ahí durante muchos años antes de convertirse en “algo”. Pensemos en el número aparentemente in nito de recetas de cocteles a base de té dulce del sur de Estados Unidos, o en las creaciones con especias tailandesas, chai, jengibre y té verde de los bares y restaurantes asiáticos y de la cuenca del Pací co. Algunos de esos ingredientes, e iteraciones de esos cocteles centrados en el té, están llegando a los menús de bares y restaurantes de temáticas muy diversas, incluida la latina.

“Empecé a trabajar con té anales de 2020”, dice Quinn Moore, radicada en Miami, proveedora regional de bebidas alcohólicas artesanales que recientemente creó el programa de bebidas de Here & Now Hospitality en Fort Lauderdale, un concepto dedicado a los cocteles y las tapas. “Como también soy chef, me encanta encontrar formas únicas de incorporar ingredientes menos tradicionales para crear un programa de bar único y emocionante. El té en su conjunto es un componente que a menudo

se pasa por alto en cualquier buen programa de bebidas, y yo quería encontrar una manera de mezclar a la perfección los dos al desarrollar programas para los clientes”.

IDENTIDAD LATINA

Según Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack, autora de Latin Twist y Muy Bueno: Fiestas, el té no solo es un alimento básico en los hogares latinos, sino que es un ingrediente versátil que lo convierte en un ingrediente ideal detrás de la barra.

“Si hablamos de versatilidad, el tequila y mezcal combinan con todo. El té verde, por ejemplo, sirve para hacer un coctel de esta, como la margarita de limonada y té verde. Otros tés que quizá la gente no sepa que son tés, pero que crean cocteles perfectos, son el agua de jamaica (té de hibisco) y el agua de tamarindo”.

Papalote Margarita de Maïz64

Sabías que...

los cocteles de té han tenido mucho éxito en TikTok?

El pasado agosto, The Food Institute llamó a los cocteles con infusión de té como “la última moda en bebidas de TikTok”, ¡tan de moda que habían acumulado más de un millón de visitas!

Good Morning America también informó sobre esta tendencia en una publicación del verano de 2022: “Desde las redes sociales hasta los bares más ostentosos, los cocteles infusionados con té son lo último en bebidas de moda que dejan huella… Los videos con el hashtag teacocktail (coctel de té) han acumulado más de 1.4 millones de visitas en TikTok, donde se muestran deliciosas versiones de esta popular bebida, incluidas melodías sobre ‘el diablo’, llamado ‘teablo’, martinis de Earl Grey y mucho más”.

¿Tienes cocteles creativos con té?

Si es así, envía por correo electrónico uno de tus favoritos, junto con una foto, a la editora Kathleen Furore a kfurore@restmex.com ¡y lo publicaremos en Internet!

“La forma de infusionar el licor dependerá del tipo de coctel que se desee crear. Para un coctel con alcohol, recomiendo infusionar el té directamente en el licor. Si el coctel es más ligero, puedes añadir el té en el momento de la preparación o agregarlo a un jarabe”.

ROBERTO ANDRADA, Maïz64

Roberto Andrada, barman jefe de Maïz64 en Washington, D.C., predica con el ejemplo en esta tendencia de poner té en los cocteles. Su menú de bebidas de temporada incluye tres cocteles centrados en el té, inspirados en sus recuerdos de la infancia cuando bebía agua de jamaica endulzada con un poco de azúcar en Guerrero, México. El agua de jamaica (un té de hibisco que Andrada llama “bebida tradicional que se puede encontrar en las taquerías y restaurancitos de Guerrero”) tiene un sabor ácido, parecido al arándano, y añade un bonito color rojo a cualquier coctel.

“A lo largo de mi niñez, disfruté de tés hechos por mi madre con diferentes plantas a las que teníamos acceso, como manzanilla, menta, hierba limón y algunas hojas de diferentes árboles como guayaba, lima y naranja, e incluso seda de maíz”, recuerda Andrada.

“Todos estos sabores se pueden incorporar a los cocteles, y cuando empecé a trabajar en

Maïz64, me di cuenta de que podía añadir estos sabores a nuestro programa de cocteles, ya que las infusiones de hierbas o especias pueden dar a los cocteles una dimensión totalmente nueva”.

Dos ejemplos: la margarita Cuernavaca de Andrada (jarabe de té con guayaba, naranja, manzana verde, canela mexicana, clavo, anís estrella y ores de jamaica, combinado con mezcal infusionado con bolsitas de té de manzanilla y jazmín, jarabe de miel, lavanda seca y ralladura de cítricos), y su margarita Papalote (tequila, jarabe de ores de bugambilia, jugo de limón y té de chícharos mariposa), ambas decoradas con un borde de polvo de fresa dulce.

Bradley Thomas Stephens, copropietario de Cereus PDX, un restaurante de Portland (Oregón) que ofrece cocina colombiana y un programa global de bebidas, también le gusta usar el té detrás de la barra. Combina matcha y whisky con cítricos y soda, y aguardiente colombiano con endulzante de piloncillo aromatizado con un té negro afrutado (como fresas y ruibarbo) centrifugado en un daiquiri refrescante

PRUEBAS PARA DESARROLLAR LA TÉCNICA

El conocimiento es poder cuando se trata de preparar cocteles con té.

Según el chef ecuatoriano y Embajador de Buena Voluntad de la ONU Rodrigo Pacheco, entre más conozcas las diferentes hierbas y plantas, más original y creativo podrás ser.

“Descubrirás que hay hierbas que nunca imaginarías que pueden ir bien juntas, pero de hecho, sí”, dice Pacheco, y señala que hay

Spicy Green Tea & Lemonade Margaritas de Yvette MarquezSharpnack

muchas formas de extraer el sabor de los tés según la intensidad deseada del resultado nal. La infusión en frío y la maceración de hierbas en un mortero para conseguir un sabor herbáceo más intenso son algunos ejemplos. “Con las hierbas es muy fácil innovar y aportar so sticación porque cuando las tienes frescas, puedes experimentar con distintas técnicas para extraer su sabor, textura y otras propiedades”. Cuando Moore propone ideas de cocteles para las cuentas de socios en los meses más cálidos, sugiere agregar jamaica, té verde y manzanilla. En los meses más fríos, pre ere el rooibos o el té Earl Grey.

“Para mí, la única forma de conseguir el mejor sabor es probando. La forma de infusionar el licor dependerá del tipo de coctel que se quiera crear”, dice Andrada. “Para un coctel con alcohol, recomiendo infusionar el té directamente en el licor. Si el coctel es más ligero, se puede añadir el té en el momento de la preparación o agregarlo a un jarabe. Por ejemplo, nuestro Cilantro Gimlet se prepara con ginebra, jarabe de cilantro y jengibre, jugo de lima y té de jazmín”.

Una vez que Andrada combina un té con un licor, la infusiona con un sous vide. Pre ere este método para todos los licores, especialmente para los mezcales, porque considera que produce resultados imposibles de conseguir de otro modo.

Para empezar, hierve a fuego lento la combinación de té y alcohol durante un largo tiempo y luego deja que la infusión se enfríe antes de colar los ingredientes botánicos. Andrada dice que la infusión tradicional (dejar asentar y reposar el té) funciona bien en los bares que no tienen un sous vide en la cocina y es un método que pueden usar los bármanes de cualquier nivel. Un detalle importante que todos los bármanes deben recordar

es que, cuanto mayor sea el grado alcohólico de la bebida base, mayor será el poder de extracción, a rma Andrada.

Stephens, por su parte, aplica las reglas habituales del maridaje de alimentos y bebidas cuando prepara cocteles a base de té.

“Cuando empiezas a encontrar esos toques de fruta, cítricos o lo que sea, empiezas a pensar más en qué cosas te gustan maridadas con ellos”, explica. “Haz lotes de prueba y punto. Pruébalos después de una hora a temperatura ambiente o infusionados en frío y de nuevo unas horas más tarde. Para algunos tés, es mejor dejarlos reposar toda la noche. Sin embargo, remojar demasiado el té puede crear sabores no deseados. También es importante entender cada té, así que si necesitas orientación, consulta a un experto en té”.

Según Stephens, haciendo lotes de pruebe permite al barman controlar la intensidad o sutileza de los sabores de la bebida nal. A los que les gusta aromatizar con tinturas y jarabes, les recomienda preparar primero el té, ya que así pueden decidir de antemano si el sabor funcionará mejor en frío o en caliente. “Cuando creo que el sabor es el adecuado, puedo retirar el té y calentarlo lo su ciente para añadir el azúcar o el endulzante y revolverlo”, agrega. “Para los arbustos, creo mucho en el método lento y frío. Revísalo con frecuencia y retira el té, luego déjalo reposar más tiempo”.

“El mejor consejo que puedo dar para infusionar té con licores es no sobrestimar el tiempo de infusión”, dice Moore, que concuerda con Andrada en cuanto al tiempo de infusión de los licores. “Los licores extraen el sabor del té increíblemente rápido y, para no tomar un sorbo de taninos, hay que probar constantemente en los prim-

“Los licores extraen el sabor del té increíblemente rápido y, para no tomar un sorbo de taninos, hay que probar constantemente en los primeros 15 a 30 minutos (según el tipo de té) para asegurarse de no reposar en exceso el licor”.

eros 15 a 30 minutos (según el tipo de té) para asegurarse de no reposar en exceso el licor”, advierte Moore, a quien también le gusta crear jarabes sencillos infusionados con tés.

“Con el té, se pueden tomar los clásicos y añadirles una profundidad intencionada”, concluye Stephens. “Puedes infusionar el endulzante con una maravillosa mezcla de té para controlar la intensidad o la delicadeza con que quieres que se expresen las hierbas, frutas, ores, etcétera. Puedes preparar un concentrado de té en frío o infusionar el licor y obtener bebidas drásticamente diferentes incluso con las mismas cantidades”.

Mira las recetas de cocteles preparados con té en la página 63.

Elyse Glickman, escritora radicada en Los Ángeles, es columnista de At the Bar para el Restaurante

QUINN MOORE

Cuernavaca Margarita de Maïz64

Harness the Power of HAPPY HOUR

As the senior vice president of national accounts on-premise for Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, Lisa Gulick has an inside track on what’s happening on the restaurant and bar scene. The company, after all, is the largest wine, beer and spirits distributor in the United States, with operations in 44 states and Washington, D.C. el Restaurante editor Kathleen Furore asked Gulick to discuss the state of Happy Hour today, and to weigh in on whether offering drink and food specials during typically slow times of day makes sense from a bottom-line perspective.

el Restaurante: It appears that Happy Hours are back in full force post-Covid — at least from what we’re seeing in Chicago. Is this a trend you’re seeing across the country?

Lisa Gulick: While I think Happy Hours have bounced back since 2020 and 2021, what we’re seeing is that Happy Hour and Late Night have not yet fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Consumers are certainly looking for value pricing and deals in the current economic environment. But while so many people have adapted to remote work schedules, we haven’t quite seen a full recovery in traf c during the Happy Hour time slot. It started out strong in 2022, but started plateauing later in the year and continues to be on the softer side as we

begin 2023. We think this can be attributed to in ation and increasing prices — more than ¾ of consumers in a recent Technomic survey indicated concern about their personal nances and spending.

eR: Some restaurants offer a fairly long list of Happy Hour beers, wines and cocktails, while others have very limited ones. How can a restaurant decide what to offer and how to price the beverages?

LG: The choice in Happy Hour assortment, or even to offer a Happy Hour at all, can vary from restaurant to restaurant based on their current operational goals. If they are trying to increase foot traf c during the early evening weekdays, we recommend offering Happy Hour specials and a broad assortment in selection. One thing to keep in mind is that while some guests are searching out lower-priced drink options, more than half of consumers want branded names they know at a value. So, quality and item recognition can be just as important, if not more important, than price. We also recommend creating a Happy Hour menu with a range of price options to give guests the exibility to manage their budget, while also allowing them to trade up on impulse.

(continued on page 56)

The Survey Says…

Happy Hour is a popular offering with el Restaurante readers. In a recent survey, respondents shared information about what they offer during Happy Hour at their establishments.

From the Front Lines: Happy Hour at Barrio Star

Barrio Star in San Diego features Happy Hour Monday through Friday, from 3 to 5 p.m. The drink menu includes specials on margaritas, beer, wine, sangria, and even the Margarita Flight that this Mexican restaurant is well known for. The food deals include a la carte tacos, Barrio Cucumbers, wings, and the Pequeño Bowl made with carnitas, pinto beans, cheese, cilantro lime, and pico de gallo.

“Over the past year, Barrio has been aggressively promoting our Happy Hour discounts, which have included $3 to $4 off margaritas, $8.50 wines instead of $13, $6.50 beers, and $5 tacos,” reports General Manager Michael Simpson, who says that pricing has driven an uptick in business. “This strategy has garnered significant attention and attracted many customers to the restaurant. Barrio’s Happy Hour has been quite popular among patrons seeking a good deal on quality food and drinks.”

The menu, Simpson adds, doesn’t change. “This approach is common among many restaurants, as it allows them to offer discounted prices without the added expense of changing their menu,” he says.

MORE CUSTOMERS VS. MORE PROFIT

As Lisa Gulick, senior vice president of national accounts on-premise for Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, notes, the way establishments handle Happy Hour depends on their operational goals.

For Barrio Star, the primary objective is to increase foot traffic and attract customers during slower periods of the week, Simpson says.

“By offering discounted prices on food and drinks during these times, Barrio Star aims to entice people who may not have done so otherwise to visit our establishment,” he explains. “By leveraging the concept of Happy Hour, restaurants can create a sense of urgency and encourage customers to visit their establishment during a specific timeframe, which can help drive up sales and revenue.”

It also is an effective strategy for introducing new customers to your restaurant — and those customers just might become regulars, he adds.

Profits, however, are another story.

“While Happy Hour can help boost sales and attract new customers to a restaurant, its impact on profits can vary depending on the specifics of the promotion,” continues Simpson, who notes that Barrio Star does see an increase in volume during Happy Hour but not a significant increase in profits. “While the discounted prices may attract more customers, the reduced prices also result in a lower profit margin per item sold. Additionally, the cost of operating during Happy Hour, such as increased staffing and inventory, can offset any profits that may have been gained from increased sales.”

Still, Simpson calls Happy Hour “a valuable marketing tool” for Barrio Star.

“The positive atmosphere and affordable pricing during Happy Hour can help the restaurant generate positive word-of-mouth and social media buzz, which can lead to increased business over time and help maintain a competitive edge in a crowded market.”

eR: What are the pros and cons of Happy Hours? Is there a risk of losing money and not gaining much in return?

LG: In my opinion, the Happy Hour proposition is predominantly an upside for any restaurateur, as it drives incremental traf c during a time period where business would often be slower without the deals that bring the customer in the door. Many people come in for an advertised deal on the food or drinks, but end up staying past the Happy Hour period, driving incremental pro t with customers now buying full-priced drinks and food. There is a Mexican restaurant in downtown Houston that offers a well-balanced Happy Hour focusing on cocktails, wine, beer, and food. With their wonderful selection of premium cocktails and incredible food, people coming in for Happy Hour would have a hard time not staying for dinner or splurging on a higher-end cocktail.

And if priced right, the volume increase during that Happy Hour period can easily offset a margin hit for whatever deal is being advertised. The cons are minimal, but I would say in order for Happy Hour specials to be most effective, a coordinated marketing campaign behind them on the restaurant’s social and digital channels, as well as local media, can make a big difference in how successful the program ends up being.

Larger distributors like Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits will have digital assets created as turn-key solutions for their operators to be able to quickly run programs on the brands they are advertising, so I’d strongly recommend leaning on them to consolidate assets from their top suppliers that can then be customized if need be.

“Many people come in for an advertised deal on the food or drinks, but end up staying past the Happy Hour period, driving incremental profit with customers now buying full-priced drinks and food.”

LISA GULICK

Fundamentos empresariales Aprovechar el poder de la HAPPY HOUR

Como vicepresidenta sénior de cuentas nacionales para los establecimientos de Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, Lisa Gulick está al tanto de lo que ocurre en los restaurantes y bares. La empresa, después de todo, es el mayor distribuidor de vino, cerveza y licores de Estados Unidos, con actividades en 44 estados y Washington, D.C. el Restaurante le pidió a Gulick que hablara sobre el panorama actual de la Happy Hour y que opinara sobre si ofrecer promociones de bebida y comida durante las horas de menor a uencia tiene algún bene cio desde el punto de vista económico.

el Restaurante: Parece que la Happy Hour han vuelto con fuerza después de la pandemia de COVID, al menos por lo que vemos en Chicago. ¿Es ésta una tendencia que se observa en todo el país?

La encuesta dice que...

Lisa Gulick: Aunque creo que la Happy Hour se han recuperado desde 2020 y 2021, lo que estamos viendo es que la Happy Hour y el horario nocturno aún no se han recuperado completamente a los niveles pre-pandémicos. Es cierto que los consumidores buscan precios asequibles y ofertas en el entorno económico actual. Sin embargo, aunque mucha gente se ha adaptado a los horarios de trabajo a distancia, aún no hemos visto una recuperación total del trá co de clientes en la franja horaria de la Happy Hour. Empezó fuerte en 2022, pero se estancó a nales de año y sigue siendo más ojo a principios de 2023. Creemos que esto puede atribuirse a la in ación y al aumento de los precios: más de ¾ de los consumidores encuestados recientemente por Technomic se mostraron preocupados por sus nanzas personales y sus gastos.

La Happy Hour es una oferta muy popular entre los lectores de el Restaurante. En una encuesta reciente, los encuestados compartieron información sobre lo que ofrecen en sus establecimientos durante la Happy Hour.

eR: Algunos restaurantes ofrecen una lista bastante larga de cervezas, vinos y cócteles para la Happy Hour, mientras que otros tienen una lista muy limitada. ¿Cómo puede un restaurante decidir qué ofrecer y cómo fijar el precio de las bebidas?

LG: La elección del menú para la Happy Hour, o incluso el hecho de ofrecerla, puede variar de un restaurante a otro en función de sus objetivos operativos actuales. Si se trata de aumentar la a uencia de clientes durante las primeras horas de la tarde entre semana, recomendamos ofrecer promociones de Happy Hour y una amplia variedad de platos. Una cosa que hay que tener en cuenta es que, si bien algunos invitados buscan opciones de bebidas más baratas, más de la mitad de los consumidores quieren marcas reconocidas a buen precio. Por lo tanto, la calidad y el reconocimiento del producto pueden ser tan importantes o incluso más importantes que el precio. También recomendamos crear un menú de Happy Hour con una gama de opciones de precios para dar a los clientes la exibilidad de gestionar su presupuesto, permitiéndoles al mismo tiempo comprar por impulso.

(mas en la página 58)

Barrio Star en San Diego ofrece Happy Hour de lunes a viernes, desde las 3 hasta las 5 p.m. El menú de bebidas incluye especiales en margaritas, cerveza, vino, sangría, e incluso el Margarita Flight, trago por el que este restaurante mexicano es bien conocido. Las ofertas de comida incluyen tacos a la carta, Barrio Cucumbers, alitas y el Pequeño Bowl a base de carnitas, frijoles pintos, queso, lima, cilantro y pico de gallo.

“A lo largo del último año, Barrio ha promocionado agresivamente nuestros descuentos de la Happy Hour, que han incluido descuentos de $3 a $4 en margaritas, vinos a $8,50 en lugar de $13, cervezas a $6,50 y tacos a $5 “, informa el Director General Michael Simpson, quien afirma que los precios han impulsado un repunte del negocio. “Esta estrategia ha llamado mucho la atención y ha atraído a muchos clientes al restaurante. La Happy Hour de Barrio ha sido bastante popular entre los clientes que buscan una buena oferta en comida y bebida de calidad”.

Simpson agrega que el menú no cambia. “Este planteamiento es común entre muchos restaurantes, ya que les permite ofrecer precios con descuentos sin el gasto añadido de cambiar su menú”, afirma.

MÁS CLIENTES VS. MÁS BENEFICIOS

Como señala Lisa Gulick, vicepresidenta senior de cuentas nacionales en establecimientos de Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, la forma en que los establecimientos gestionan la Happy Hour depende de sus objetivos operativos. Para Barrio Star, el objetivo principal es aumentar el tráfico de personas y atraer clientes durante los periodos más

flojos de la semana, afirma Simpson.

“Al ofrecer precios con descuento en comida y bebida durante estas horas, Barrio Star pretende atraer a nuestro establecimiento a personas que de otro modo no lo habrían hecho”, explica. “Aprovechando el concepto de Happy Hour, los restaurantes pueden crear una sensación de urgencia y animar a los clientes a visitar su establecimiento durante una hora concreta, lo que puede ayudar a aumentar las ventas y los ingresos”.

También es una estrategia eficaz para dar a conocer el restaurante a nuevos clientes, que podrían convertirse en clientes habituales, añade.

Los beneficios, sin embargo, son otra historia.

“Si bien la Happy Hour puede ayudar a impulsar las ventas y atraer nuevos clientes a un restaurante, su impacto en los beneficios puede variar en función de los detalles específicos de la promoción”, continúa Simpson, quien señala que Barrio Star sí registra un aumento del volumen durante la Happy Hour, pero no un incremento significativo de los beneficios”. Aunque los precios con descuento pueden atraer a más clientes, los precios reducidos también se traducen en un menor margen de beneficios por artículo vendido. Además, el coste de funcionamiento durante la Happy Hour, como el aumento de personal y de inventario, puede contrarrestar cualquier beneficio que se haya obtenido por el aumento de las ventas.”

Aun así, Simpson considera la Happy Hour “una herramienta de marketing valiosa” para Barrio Star.

“El entorno agradable y los precios asequibles durante la Happy Hour pueden ayudar al restaurante a generar un efecto boca a boca positivo y a generar revuelo en las redes sociales, lo que puede conducir a un mayor volumen de negocio con el tiempo y ayudar a mantener una ventaja competitiva en un mercado abarrotado.”

eR: ¿Cuáles son los pros y los contras de las Happy Hours? ¿Existe el riesgo de perder dinero y no ganar mucho a cambio?

LG: En mi opinión, la propuesta de la Happy Hour es sobre todo una ventaja para cualquier restaurante, ya que aumenta el trá co durante un periodo de tiempo en el que el negocio sería más lento sin las ofertas que atraen a los clientes. Mucha gente viene por una oferta anunciada de comida o bebida, pero acaba quedándose una vez terminada la Happy Hour, lo que aumenta los bene cios porque los clientes compran bebidas y comida a precio normal. Hay un restaurante mexicano en el centro de Houston que ofrece una Happy Hour bien equilibrada enfocada en cócteles, vino, cerveza y comida. Con su maravillosa selección de cócteles de primera calidad y su increíble comida, a la gente que acude a la Happy Hour le resultaría difícil no quedarse a cenar o derrochar en un cóctel de mayor categoría.

Y si el precio es el adecuado, el aumento de ventas durante ese periodo de Happy Hour puede compensar fácilmente la reducción de márgenes de la oferta anunciada. Los contras son mínimos, pero yo diría que para que los especiales de Happy Hour sean más e caces, es fundamental una campaña de marketing coordinada en los canales sociales y digitales del restaurante, así como en los medios de comunicación locales.

Los grandes distribuidores como Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits cuentan con activos digitales creados como herramientas “listas para usar” que permiten a sus operadores ejecutar rápidamente campañas sobre las marcas que anuncian, por lo que les recomiendo encarecidamente que se apoyen en ellos para consolidar los activos de sus principales proveedores y personalizarlos en caso de que sea necesario.

En primera fila: Happy Hour en Barrio Star

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Cover Photo Recipe: Tostada de Chapulín

Recipe and photo courtesy of Corazón de Maguey, Mexico City

Makes 10 servings

50 gr. chapulín (grasshoppers), small

70 gr. jicama, diced

100 gr. mango, diced

2 gr. jalapeño, finely chopped

2 gr. cilantro, chopped

25 ml. lemon juice

1 gr. freshly ground pepper

25 ml. olive oil

5 gr. purple onion, finely chopped

60 gr. tomato, diced

65 gr. avocado

15 gr. cotija cheese

50 gr. refried beans

10 tostadas

In a bowl place the grasshoppers, diced mango, diced jicama, diced tomato, finely chopped onion, finely chopped jalapeño, lemon juice, olive oil, and pepper and mix, taking care of the integrity of the ingredients. Place the refried beans on a tostada, followed by the bowl mix, then finish with grated cheese and avocado.

Spicy Green Tea & Lemonade Margaritas

Makes 1 Pitcher

Recipe courtesy of Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack, author of Latin Twist and Muy Bueno: Fiestas

For the Green Tea & Lemonade:

8 c. water, divided

4 green tea bags

2 lemons, juiced

3 oz. agave nectar

Boil 4 cups water, remove from heat and add tea bags and cover. Leave the tea bags to infuse for up to 15 minutes. Remove the tea bags and let come to room temperature. Pour green tea plus 4 more cups of water into a pitcher with the fresh lemon juice and agave nectar; stir.

To make one Margarita: Pour green tea in a glass filled with ice, add 1.5 ounces of cristalino or blanco tequila. Garnish with jalapeño slices and lightly stir.

El Ojo

Recipe courtesy of Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack, author of Latin Twist and Muy Bueno: Fiestas

Makes 1 cocktail

2 fl. oz. tequila reposado

½ fl. oz. fresh lemon juice

1 fl. oz. agua de tamarindo

1 egg white

Ice cubes

2 dashes Angostura bitters

1 fresh marigold, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker, combine the tequila, lemon juice, agua de tamarindo, and egg white, then fill the shaker two-thirds full with ice. Cover and shake vigorously until the outside of the shaker is lightly frosted. Strain the mixture into a coupe glass. Add the bitters, garnish with the marigold, and serve.

Papalote Margarita

Recipe courtesy of Roberto Andrada, Maïz64, Washington, DC

1½ oz. tequila

¾ oz. Bugambilia Tea Syrup (recipe below)

¾ oz. lemon juice

1 oz. Butterfly Pea Tea (recipe below)

Crushed strawberry rimming powder (recipe above right)

Cover the rim of a rocks glass with crushed strawberry rimming powder. Add tequila, bugambilia syrup, butterfly pea tea and lemon juice to a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into the glass with the strawberry rim. Carefully top with floral or fruit garnish of choice.

The Bugambilia Tea Syrup:

1 liter water

1 kilogram sugar

10 milligrams dry bugambilia flowers

Simmer all the ingredients. Strain with a sieve. Allow to cool down and store in the fridge.

Bartender’s Note: We turned the Bugambilia tea into a syrup because the sugar helps keep the beautiful pink color of the tea, which makes for a great cocktail.

The Butterfly Pea Tea:

2 c. hot water

1 T. butterfly pea tea flowers

Heat the water. Before it reaches its boiling point, add the flower and remove from heat. Let rest for five minutes and strain.

Bartender’s Note: This tea has a nice blue color but when mixed with citrus, the color will change to purple because you are changing the PH of the mix.

The Strawberry Rimming Powder:

1 c. sugar

1 c. salt

½ c. freeze-dried strawberries

Add the dry frozen strawberries to a blender and blend until you have a nice powder. Add berry powder to the sugar and salt, and mix.

Cuernavaca Margarita

Recipe courtesy of Roberto Andrada, Maïz64, Washington, DC

1 oz. mezcal

¾ oz. infused mezcal (recipe below)

¾ oz. tea & fruit syrup (recipe below)

¾ oz. lemon juice

Strawberry rimming powder (recipe above)

Add first four ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a rocks glass with the strawberry rim.

The Infused Mezcal:

1 liter mezcal

1 liter water

½ liter honey syrup (created with equal parts honey and water)

½ T. dried lavender

1 chamomile tea bag

1 jasmine tea bag

8 to 10 leaves fresh mint (you can swap the mint for 2 rosemary sprigs during the fall and winter season)

Zest of half lemon

Zest of half orange

Add all the ingredients to a sous vide bag and seal it. Set the sous vide to 140°F and let the infusion cook for five hours. Let the mezcal infusion cool down and strain it. Use in cocktails or serve on the rocks.

The Tea & Fruit Syrup:

2 liters water

1 kg. sugar

1 chopped green apple

1 sliced orange

4 oz. guava puree

6 grams Mexican cinnamon

1 star anise

8 cloves

1 c. hibiscus flowers

Bring the mixture to a simmer. Strain with a sieve and allow to cool down. Store it in the fridge.

Chef Enrique Cortes MEZCAL

AMBASSADOR &

CULINARY CONSULTANT

HE’S RUN HIS OWN RESTAURANT, RIQUE’S COCINA , in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, been a menu consultant for several Chicago area restaurants, served as culinary mentor for Chicago’s popular Kie-Gol-Lanee when the Mexican restaurant opened in 2016, and moved to Palm Springs to help open The Thirsty Palms in 2022. Along the way, he has taught culinary arts and participated in food and beverage events including the World of Chocolate, an annual fundraiser for the AIDS Foundation Chicago.

Here, Cortez shares his recipe for Meatballs with Mint in Spicy Chorizo Sauce, a favorite dish that he says can be served with our tortillas and lemon as a shared dish or appetizer, or as an entree with a side of Mexican red rice — and always with a mezcal Margarita.

Says the chef: “¡Delicioso!”

Meatballs with Mint in Spicy Chorizo Sauce

THE MEATBALLS:

1 lb. ground beef

4 T. red table wine

2 eggs lightly beaten

¼ c. finely chopped mint

4 T. bread crumbs

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

½ medium white onion, finely chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl; form into small balls, approximately ¼-inch each (or big, your choice!).

Heat the oil in a skillet and brown them. Add the sauce. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Add a little water (or 2 to 4 tablespoons of chicken or beef broth) for consistency.

THE SPICY CHORIZO SAUCE:

4 T. olive oil

1 small chorizo ( 4-5 oz.), skinned and minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 small tomatoes, skinned and chopped

1 T. crushed coriander seeds

½ t. freshly crushed cumin seeds

½ t. paprika

2 chiles de arbol, toasted and crushed

Heat the oil and sauté the chorizo, stir in all ingredients; cover and let it simmer for 8 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and blend until smooth.