With Sabores San Miguel behind us, in retrospect I can offer just one comment...
Way to go San Miguel!
This
year’s show was a huge success thanks to producers Donnie Masterton and Angela
Lewis Serrano.
I like the model for this show, which originated with Donnie Masterton three years ago. Many food shows cater to a different class of eater; one who can afford to pay hundreds of dollars just to get into the event. I know. I’ve covered many of them back in the states. Sabores San Miguel offered samplings of food and drink for just 25 pesos each and the entry was free. This allowed everyone to participate…and it certainly seemed like everyone was there.
San Miguel’s restaurants really shined. With three days of eating, one of
the best things the restaurants did this year was to change up their menus.
True to the theme, chefs introduced new dishes every day. Let’s just say it was
a one-of-a-kind eating extravaganza. I had difficulty narrowing down what I was
going to eat because everything looked incredible.
The best, all-around
menu goes to the Restaurant where I sampled perfectly cooked sliders on Friday,
amazing pork tacos on Saturday and an outstanding Lamb Shawarma for the street
food theme on Sunday.(more of their photos below)
We loved the addition
of all the guest chefs who brought a whole new menu and vibe to the eating
profile of the show. One of the most eye-catching dishes was Neil Fraser’s
(LA’s Redbird) Grilled Octopus Salad.
Chef Bret Thompson of
Pez Cantina/Milk, Los Angeles gets my vote as the friendliest chef of the show. There
wasn’t a single person who stopped by that he didn’t talk to.
Lily Jones from The
Lily Vanilli Bakery in London attended the Thursday night benefit for Feed the
Hungry and looked like an english flower in the beautifully groomed gardens of picturesque
Casa del Parque.
What chef did his
homework? Local chef Victor Palma of the Rosewood made the rounds, scoping out
the competition and taking mental notes…perhaps for another food show later
this month.
Student provided the
backup to many of San Miguel's best chefs and also supplied a lot of the
laughs.
Some of our local
favorites at the show were Aperi, Tapas sma, La Parada, Cumpanio and Paprika.
Also, aguamiel, one of
our favorite new restaurants in San Miguel, served up their signature Fried
Avocado Taco; a thin layer of black beans on a fresh made tortilla, top it with
spicy kimchi, add a slice of panko-crusted, fried avocado and then spatter it
with spicy mayo. It will make you wonder why you eat avocado any other way.
Mezcal made its way
into the drinks served by both Raspidito Corazon and Los Tres.
We love the
girls at Raspidito who do events all over San Miguel and Queretaro. We enjoyed
their legendary Mojito snow cones at a food truck event last year.
What we liked?
Friday:
Desserts from the
Rosewood…almost too beautiful to eat.
Saturday:
Not just a meal, an
event: a whole pig courtesy of Carlo Mirarchi of Roberta’s in Brooklyn. This was
delightful and ended up in the taco that is featured at the head of this story.
The Steak Sandwich from Buens Aires Bistro was a crowd favorite. The lines were long and we can’t
say enough about Chef Mariano Alvarez who was behind the BBQ between photos
takes with enamored customers.
Sunday:
Sierra Nevada's
Mixotes: Mixiote is a traditional pit-barbecued lamb dish from central Mexico
and this one was ingeniously covered in a variety of beans.
The Restaurant’s Lamb
Shawarma:
Shawarma inspired one
of Mexico’s favorite dishes, Tacos al Pastor. This wonderful Middle Eastern
street dish from Lebanon was attractively prepared and totally worth the wait.
While we waited, we also enjoyed a healthy chicken kabob which was almost as good.
Best Presentation?
Luna de Queso had an eye-catching booth and was a terrific stop for hungry show
goers who wanted something light.
Also Cumpanio had many
long-standing entries including their renowned croissants. These croissants are
better than most of the ones I’ve eaten in Paris.
Who was there? Better
to ask me who was not there.
What was the best
dish of the show? The Pork Taco from Tacolicious. I ate two of them just to be
sure.
Pork is my favorite
meat. I’ve eaten some of the best pork tacos and carnitas all over Mexico. Some
of them I dream about and can’t get out of my head until I have another one.
This is one of them.
Perhaps it was the
flavor of the pork, the paper-thin blue corn tortilla or the neon yellow
habanero sauce. Whatever it was, I had a perfectly good reason for waking up at
3:00 AM the next morning wanting to book a ticket to San Francisco and go down to Valencia Street for another one. Admittedly, this was one of the
best tacos I’ve ever eaten.
Call it a serious addiction
which can only be cured by a salt-rimmed glass of Uno Dos Tres and another pork
taco.
For someone who was not excited about another taco joint, Tacolicious can’t come soon enough.
Buen Apetito!
Next Show: Mark your calendars for the debut of the San Miguel Food Festival, part of the Cumbre Internacional de la GastronomÃa de Guanajuato. It kicks off this coming Friday, June 26 at 1:00 PM. Go to www.smafoodfestival.com for information and tickets.