Chef Oscar Garza of Bruna said that part of the experience at Bruna is that when people come, they always find something different. And different it was with a unique tasting of 10 different types of moles. We were taken by each of them at a slow and thoughtful savoring yesterday. These were distinctive and wonderful flavors. Chefs from all over the world come here to taste this dish.
There was:
Mole Poblano mixing mulato, ancho/pasilla, and guajillo chiles with warm spices, and sweet Mexican chocolate.
Mole Rosa where its hue comes from the hibiscus flower and rose colored chiles and calls for ingredients such as almonds, peanuts, Habanero and güero chiles.
Mole with fresh rather than dried chiles and is thickened with green pumpkin seeds.
Mole Amarillo made with dried chili peppers and a whole lot of spices, garlic, onions, yellow tomatillos, hoja santa leaves and chicken stock with masa harina. Every household in Oaxaca has their own version of this mole.
Mole Negro made of chocolate with dried mulato chiles, pasilla and chilhuacle negro chiles and literally dozens of other ingredients.
Mole Blanco is one of the rarest moles from the Mixteca region of Oaxaca where it’s prepared for holidays: Easter, Christmas and weddings.
Mole de Rosas is characterized by beetroot, which gives it its pink color which is also obtained by other ingredients such as pink pine nuts, pomegranates and rose petals.
Mole de Trufa Negra is Chef Garza’s own creation of black mole with truffles and was my favorite sauce on the plate.
Mole Norteno is made with ingredients from Nuevo León and finally Pipian Verde that hails from the chef’s home state of Jalisco.
Chef Garza draws inspiration from the street-foods in Guadalajara and many of his dishes are cooked on a wood-fired grill. We’re always in when a dish is cooked over wood.
“Bruna sounds very similar in 24 languages. It means 'dark-haired', that's why everything here is black and white” he said. The tables on Bruna’s magnificent black-and-white floors were in high demand, set off by the lush green gardens surrounding its beautiful terrace. Almost every table at Bruna is in the great outdoors.
The other courses included Chamorro covered in black mole with banana puree; one of the sought after dishes that appeared to be as big as the plate. We’d love to see a cook-off between chefs Juan Manuel Galvan Lopez of La Dona in SMA and Oscar Garza, both who have mastered Chamorro.
The Ludic cocktail was made with playful, iced Lego’s and Tequila Patron Silver infused with pineapple, mango, apple, kiwi, with a touch of orange peel colored with safflower. The technique listed is Maceration, which in food preparation is soaking or steeping raw agricultural ingredients in liquid, which softens them and draws out their natural juices. Bruna’s entire Mixology menu is both complex and fascinating. We know our favorite Mixologist in SMA, Mike Espinoza, would give this menu high marks for its creativity.
Our pictures on the Nikon will be published in our final article on Guadalajara; these photos were done on an iPhone.
I passed on desert, a first, but promised the restaurant I would be back. If I could eat here every day I’d be happy because everything on the menu looked like the chefs signature dish but with over 3,448+ restaurants, my schedule in Guadalajara for the next 10 years appears to be booked. Yes, I will be back.
Bruna was my daily dose of restaurant inspiration today. Tomorrow the market in Tonala; street food at its best.
Bruna
Lerdo de Tejada no. 2418, Col. Lafayette Guadalajara, Jal. CP. 44150
T. +52 (33) 20 03 09 04 | wApp 33 18 04 80 51
Sunday, Monday: 2:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Tuesday, Wednesday: 2:00 PM - 12:00 Midnight
Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 2:00 PM - 1:00 AM
Chef Oscar Garza
