My Sit Down with Aaron Sanchez at Mestizo

The thought of getting a chance to have a sit down meeting with Chef Aaron Sanchez is the type of thing that will get even the most even keeled food blogger's heart racing. Not only was my heart racing, but I was as giddy as a school girl, when I got a chance to meet Chef on Thursday afternoon. When I first got the confirmation email for my meeting with Chef Aaron, I couldn't believe it, I even questioned if it was real. It was in fact real and he could not have been any more personable!



Therealjohnleach with the real Chef Aaron Sanchez
(not the winner of the Mestizo anniversary look-alike contest)



When Chef walked into his Leawood restaurant, Mestizo, he exchanged pleasantries with every person that he passed. Before he came and sat down at the table with me, he even complimented a waiter's new shoes (granted they were MOZO shoes, but the point is that Aaron noticed such a small detail). I believe that is just the way that Chef Aaron is, a nice genuine guy that cares about others.

I had completely geeked out and typed out all of the questions that I wanted to ask Chef Aaron, but when he came over and sat down with me at the table we began to have a conversation like old friends just shooting the breeze. After I thanked him for taking the time to sit down with me and apologized for being slightly (okay, maybe a little more than slightly) star struck, he thanked ME for coming in and asked me about my blog.

My biggest question for Aaron: Having multiple restaurants in New York City, what brought him to KC? It turns out that one of his business partners is from Wichita and told him that KC's culinary scene was where it was at. They put together a "kickass" team, and now they are celebrating their first anniversary at Mestizo. We then went on to talk about everything from our favorite places in Mexico (check out Chef Aaron's new show, that he just finished taping, where he visits multiple destinations in Mexico) to the awesomeness of the tongue tacos at Mestizo.

Chef Aaron is far from an absent owner that simply puts his name on a sign and cashes a check. He is in KC for about a week each month. The menu is comprised of many items that will be familiar to anyone who has read his most recent cookbook. He even went on to say that he enjoys the Food Network shows that he is on, but that he is a chef and restaurateur first and a Food Network star second. If you met him on the street, and did not know who he was, you would never guess that he is a celebrity (or even a professional chef with his apparent lack of stereotypical chef ego).

It was such an awesome experience getting to sit down and talk with Chef Aaron, although I had much more that I wanted to ask him, I am very thankful that he took time out of his busy day for me (just some schmuck with a keyboard and internet access). And to be fair, I could probably spend a whole day with the man and still not have time to ask all of the questions that I would like to ask. All of that being said, here is the reason for the meeting, the food.

The Food:

Everything I have had from Mestizo has been awesome!

The chips and salsa are fresh (and as you know, I don't judge Mexican restaurants on chips and salsa, but will make note of it if it is really good). The table salsa has a very distinct (but not at all overpowering) taste of garlic that is undoubtedly cooked as described in the Garlic-Chipotle Love recipe in Aaron's book Simple Food, Big Flavor. Mestizo serves 6 different salsas, that can all be purchased in to-go containers (if you just can't get enough), ranging from mild to sweet to spicy.

The Corn Chowder is perfect on a cold fall day, it warms your insides and is like Mexican comfort food. The sopa (yes, we are doing Spanglish for this post) is creamy (but not too thick) with crunchy corn, small chunks of potato, and poblano chiles, garnished with ultra fresh cilantro. As you can tell from the before and after pictures, I didn't really like it.

After

Before

As I mentioned earlier in this post, the tongue tacos are awesome (and a subject of conversation between Aaron and I). Beef tongue, when done correctly, is one of the most tender meats you will ever eat. However, when done incorrectly, it can be very chewy. Aaron says that the tenderness of the beef tongue is directly related to the time taken in the braising process, a slow braising (in water or lard) is the best method Chef says that a perfectly done beef tongue is the definition of the word "unctuous", a word that those in the biz often misuse. When the time is taken to do it right, the end result is magnificent (like the tongue tacos at Mestizo). The tacos are served on made to order corn tortillas with tomatillo-avacado salsa (which is like a very thin guacamole with the deliciousness of roasted tomatillo), cilantro, a fresh lime wedge, and what I believe to be radish pieces (instead of the onions that you would typically find with the cilantro). You can even watch the corn tortillas be made at the cold station while you wait for your food. The tacos also come with Drunken Beans, which are delightful smokey flavored beans cooked in Dos XX. (Please pardon the scatterbrainedness of this paragraph, I just get so excited about tongue tacos)

I was also able to preview three new menu items, that are being unveiled this week. The first of which was the citrus salad. The citrus salad features in-season citrus (today was tangerine, but blood orange is also in the future plans), lightly pickled onions, and bleu cheese that has been aged with figs. This bleu cheese would make even the realist of bleu cheeses say "THAT is some real bleu cheese!". This is not the cheese form the Cheezit commercial that thinks trick candles are funny. I love strong blue cheese, so this salad is perfect for someone like me, but if you do not like bleu cheese, then this salad may not be for you.

Then came the pork cheeks. The pork cheeks come served on a bed of rich creamy pozole. Pozole is sort of a ground hominy soup, if you will, that can be tomato based or cream based (this one happens to be very creamy, insert smiley face emoticon here). This dish is amazing! The tender pork cheek meat and the creamy pozole are a match made in culinary heaven.

Last, but certainly not least, the roasted quail stuffed with chorizo cornbread (yes, that is right, chorizo cornbread). When I first read Simple Food, Big Flavor, the recipe for chorizo cornbread was one that I pointed out to my wife that we had to try. And let me tell you what, it is just as good as it sounds! Awesome compliment to the quail meat! It is served on a bed of wilted spinach and roasted cherry tomatoes.

If you are like my friend Adrian and love the flavor of the food at Mestizo, but need some more heat, tell your waitperson that you want your meal made "En Fuego".

You still have a couple days to get out and partake in the anniversary festivities at Mestizo. Do yourself a favor and go do that, you will have a great food and an awesome time! (Also noteworthy, the wait staff could not be more awesome!)

Ethnic Lunch Spots on Quivira

Anyone who lives or works in the South KC/Overland Park area knows all too well that it very difficult to find good authentic ethnic eats in the area (no, Jose Pepper's and Pei Wei do not count!). As someone who works in South KC, I am always eager to try new authentic ethnic eateries when someone tells me about them. I have done a blog post on the Caspian Bistro already, and am always looking for good (reasonably priced, if possible) ethnic food in the Southland.

All of that being said, this post is about two awesome ethnic eateries in the Southland: El Fogon (Mexican Deli & Taqueria) and Choga (Korean).

First, we will visit Choga, an authentic Korean restaurant. I have never been to Korea, but the food is just like the food that the grandmother of one of my childhood friends always made for us. It also came highly recommended by a Malaysian coworker of mine, and when we got there we ran into a number of Korean co-workers. All of that being said, I am fairly confident in labeling it authentic without ever stepping foot on the continent of Asia.

The lunch menu at Choga offers smaller portions than their dinner menu, at more lunch friendly prices. I went with the Yang Nyum Kalbi (grilled beef short ribs marinated in Kalbi sauce), as it came highly recommended. The short ribs came off of the bone (as shown in the photo in the lower right) and they were quite tender and very tasty. It may not appear that there is much meat on the tray, but the serving size is actually quite satisfying. I would definitely recommend this to someone going to Choga.

Every lunch comes with: Kimchi, steamed white rice, house salad, Japchae, fresh fruit, and two pan fried beef dumplings. The Kimchi (traditional Korean, fermented cabage) was not quite as spicy as I am used to, but still had very good flavour. It was also slightly different that all sides came on your tray, except the Kimchi, that came on one dish for the whole table (but sharing is the Korean way). The steamed rice was perfectly sticky-icky. The house salad was made with fresh greens and a nicely flavoured vinaigrette. The Japchae (stir fried sweet potato noodles) was new to me and did not taste anything like sweet potato, as I had expected, but was more like a traditional rice noodle that had some added pigment. The fresh fruit that came with my lunch was watermelon, as it was in season at the time. The two pan fried beef dumplings were fantastic.

My coworker had been to Choga for dinner and was telling us about the newly installed in-table grills and vent hoods, the concept of this is somewhat lost on me, I believe it is something you have to experience to fully understand. It sounds like a Korean hybrid of hibachi and fondue, I will have to go sometime for dinner to get a better understanding of it. I will surely post pictures after I do, but as you can see, they are brand spanking new.

Secondly, El Fogon, a self titled "Mexican Deli and Taqueria". El Fogon has authentic Mexican fare, I can attest to the authenticity of El Fogon. They serve street tacos, burritos, tortas, authentic Mexican desserts, and authentic Mexican bebidas (drinks, such as jamaica and horchata). We all know that I have an unhealthy love affair with authentic Mexican street food.

El Fogon is a deli style restaurant, in that you walk in and walk up to the counter to place your order. I loved the Mexican decor, Spanish music playing over the speakers, and soccer on the TV. It seems like it is a family operation and the whole menu looked great! I went with the tacos, they offered 5 different varieties (Carne, Pollo, Chorizo, Barbacoa, and Al Pastor), and at only $1.50 each I figured I could afford to try them all. The tacos were very good, not the best I ever had, but that is not at all an indictment on the tacos and more of a statement of the amazing tacos that I have had in my life.

The tacos came bare, they have a table of condiments that allows you can put what you want on them, I went with the traditional Mexican fixins (cilantro, onion, and squeezed lime, as if there were any other way to eat a taco). The corn tortillas (the only tortillas to have, in my opinion) were hand pressed and delicious. You can always tell if a tortilla is hand-pressed or made on an assembly line by the markings on the tortilla itself, not to mention the difference in taste (those who don't like corn tortillas are probably just forming their opinions after trying store bought corn tortillas). Anyways, on to the taco meats; all of the meats were solid options, but the Chorizo had to be my favorite. This is odd, because Chorizo is not usually my favorite street taco meat, but El Fogon's Chorizo is delightful! I do love salsa verde on my tacos, El Fogon's salsa verde had good taste (however, if you are a major heat seeker, you may want to try another salsa on your tacos, but the verde is good for me).

I had the Jamaica, a traditional Mexican drink made from the leaves of the Hibiscus flower, to go with my tacos. It was a tad sweet for my taste, but was the closest to the Jamaica that I had in Mexico that I have been able to find this side of the border. This is most certainly not the last lunch I will have at El Fogon!