I was in a full-blown, Guadalajara state of mind when I returned from my last culinary adventure so when I learned that Chef Juan Carlos Hernandez of Café Aldama 57 had worked at the Guadalajara restaurant Alcalde and had Jalisco flavors solidly down in his playbook, I was ecstatic. I wanted to hang on to everything Guadalajara just a little bit longer..
I ate Birria a lot in Guadalajara and fell in love with Birriería Chololo, which operates out of an old hacienda on the freeway to Lake Chapala. This restaurant serves Birria tatemada, a variation of traditional Mexican birria, made with goat. The meat is marinated in chili peppers and spices then slow-cooked in an old clay oven. Charring the meat adds a distinctive, smoky flavor to the dish. Birriería Chololo is unique; it serves the meat separate from the broth. In all the years I’ve eaten Birria, that was a first. It was also at this moment that I realized that a dish has to have some pretty big flavors to get my attention and this was certainly one of them.
When I saw Birria on the menu at Café Aldama 57, I ordered it. It was so beautifully balanced; Chef Juan Carlos uses beef instead of goat and served it on a tortilla cooked with Guajillo chilli.
One of the best breakfast dishes I had in Guadalajara was at La Postreria – the Huevos Ahogados - so I ordered another Guadalajara dish at Café Aldama the next day, a Torta Ahogada, made with Carnitas. The bun had a fluffy center; the crust robust and perfect for submersion. It was heavily flavored with vinegar; a forever favorite flavor of mine since I was a kid. The torta is now on our growing list of much loved sandwiches in SMA including another Cafe Aldama 57 favorite, the Arrachera Sandwich.
Chef Juan Carlos Hernandez has been with Café Aldama 57 since it opened; his passion for innovative cuisine is the driving force behind their unique menu. I ate at a lot of high end restaurants and street food stalls in Guadalajara and although highly recommended, some were just not as good as what we’ve been getting at Café Aldama 57. Having some of the most flavorful food in SMA, we’ve eaten most of the menu already, where the specials change monthly and the dishes are priced at around $200 pesos each; a bargain for the quality. We also love the ambiance of this small cafe, sitting next to the big open window to greet friends who pass by in the morning on their way to Parque Juárez.
Chef Juan Carlos Hernandez has the freedom to experiment with flavors and push the boundaries of traditional cuisine and he did with his Avocado Toast and Lechon dish. After eating it three times and then convincing some of the other food lovers in town to try it, it’s the best breakfast dish of 2024 with three months to go and counting.
Café Aldama 57
Aldama 57, Centro
Daily 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
Closed Tuesday
Phone: 415 688 2284
Chef: Juan Carlos Hernandez
