Cosme
Perhaps the biggest sign of NYC’s Mexican food moment is the arrival of hailed chef Enrique Olvera. His DF flagship Pujol has been endlessly celebrated in foodie circles as “a simultaneously trailblazing and unfussy” approach to food. Opening any day now, his first New York venture will be in Flatiron (not far from new Mexican food emporium Cafe el Presidente), in a space that was a strip club in a former life. According to interviews, Cosme will be serving up a few surprise dishes, including a mushroom-and-potato barbacoa, a “burrata and weeds” dish, and a mezcal-spiked, cactus-studded rendition of Manhattan clam chowder. Olvera will probably also serve guacamole to appease gringo tastebuds, on the advice of Empellón’s Alex Stupak, who was quoted telling the NY Times “For better or worse, at a Mexican restaurant in the United States, people order guacamole and a margarita before they even look at the menu.” Despite all the hype, patrons can expect reasonable prices, with most dishes priced under $20. And word on the street is Cosme will have a Celorio, the most state of the art tortilla machine, because, as he recently told Grub Street “Without a good tortilla, you can’t have a good restaurant. It’s everything.”