Welcome to the March/April 2024 edition of el Restaurante!
Table of Contents
Editor’s Note: March/April 2024
As anyone who owns or manages a restaurant knows, trying to run a business and your life simultaneously can be a bit tricky at times — especially when big deadlines and big family events share a week on the calendar. Read more
March/April 2024 Hotline: News About Our Industry
Read about the special people at Los Arroyos; Growth at Tortazo, Rubio's, and Villa One Tequila Gardens; Culinary adventure trips with Chef Iliana de la Vega; Spring and summer trade shows; and the strong forecast for the Antojo Industry Expo Read more
Five Questions: Temoc Morfin, Cilantro Taco Grill
In 2013, Temoc Morfin opened the first Cilantro Taco Grill in suburban Chicago. Today, there are 15 locations with franchised concepts starting to open nationwide. Here, Morfin – the company’s founder and CEO — shares the story behind his success wit Read more
The Craft of the Cocktail
Frozen or on the rocks? Rimmer or no rimmer? House or premium liquor? Those are the basic questions guests have to answer when ordering cocktails. The question that the bartenders pouring those cocktails must answer isn’t quite as easy to answer: “Ho Read more
The Sweet Spot: Family-Style Dining Fills the Gap Between Regular Menu and Catering
When some groups of customers visit Lonesome Rose, a TexMex restaurant with locations in Chicago’s hip Logan Square and Andersonville neighborhoods, they don’t order individual menu items. Rather, they enjoy family-style platters of the restaurant’s Read more
New Takes on Tlayudas
Just what is a tlayuda? An Instagram post from Chef Gustavo Romero’s Nixta tortilleria in Minneapolis touting the tlayuda topped with frijoles, quesillo, beef salpicon, avocado, and tatemada salsa at Oro by Nixta, Romero’s full-service restaurant tha Read more
Bar Essentials: Basic vs. Specialty Glassware: How to Decide
“Glassware is an essential part of any successful bar as it represents the first visible impact of the drink being served.” Read more
Shaking up Sangria: How to Update a Bar Classic
Basic wine-based sangrias are popular cocktails in Mexican and Latin-themed restaurants. If you’re looking for ways to put a fresh, creative spin on sangrias you serve, consider how bar pros across the U.S. are shaking up their recipes for sangria. Read more
Marketplace: March/April 2024
Learn about Neil Jones Food Company Old California® Whole Peeled Tomatoes in Juice, Performance Foodservice Contigo® Salsas Taqueras, Simply Agave Lethal Tequila, Inline Plastics Safe-T-Chef Containers and Mexico Lindo Salsa Picante Negra Read more
Recipes: March/April 2024
Enjoy these recipes for Golden Berry Smash, Salmon Tlayuda, Meat and Mole Tlayuda, White Stone Fruit Sangria, Cava Sangria, Rocco's Modern Spanish-Style Red Table Wine Sangria, Maya House Sangria, and Soledad Sangria Read more
Tracey Mauer
My Favorite Recipe: Executive Chef Blanca Zesati, Fonda San Miguel
Fonda San Miguel became the first restaurant in Texas to focus exclusively on true, authentic regional Mexican cuisine from Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and Yucatan when Tom Gilliland and the late Miguel Ravago debuted the concept in Austin in 1975. Read more
