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| The TCT Writer Entering Empellon Cocina |
In NYC to have fun and discover more great restaurants to write about.
Empellon Cocina in the East Village is another of the
James Beard Semifinalist restaurants in 2013. This is my new go to food guide so far 7 great finds this year and no disappointments. Coming from San Diego and Santa Fe we understand Mexican Cuisine. Many people look at Mexican Food as Tacos and Nachos, it is not. On the contrary it is very complex and uses a variety ingredients to create these spectacular tastes.
Alex Stupak owner of this restaurant is a master of this and has created some very exiting tastes. To appreciate the craft watch some of these
videos especially the
Roasted Carrot Demo.
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| Pistacio Guacamole |
This restaurant was buzzing when we arrived there was never an empty seat the entire night, Our server Ivan was great he advised us well, he knew the menu and the component. If you want to be in the action stay in the front of the restaurant if you want a little more privacy go to the back. The trick here is to order the right amount and although everything was delicious I would focus on eating Tapas style.
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| Spicy Cucumber Margarita |
We started with the Pistachio Salsa
Guacamole, Holy Mole this was tasty, it is accompanied by a
Masa Crisp which is a relief from corn chips. The crisp is a flat bread that has a healthy crunch and texture and what ever you dip it in provides a much better platform than corn chips. The Guac with the Pistachios was terrific we had it without the onions (Imagine that a Star Chef that allows you to Edit, refreshing). I recommend that if you are going to partake in the Guacamole you get one of their tasty
Margaritas we had the Spicy Cucumber not to sweet and Chili Salt on half the rim.
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| Carrots Poblano Mole |
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| Scallop Taco with Rasin Caper Emulsion |
There were several dishes we had researched before coming one was the Roasted Carrots. I recommend that you watch the video first to really get the thought and creativity of the dish. Step 1 create a
Poblano Mole, Step 2 Roast Baby Carrots, Step 3 make real tasty. It really is not that simple but it is delicious it comes with a dollop of Yogurt, a snip of Watercress and toasted Sesame Seeds. This is a great Sweet and Savory Dish and a have to order.
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| Short Rib Pastrami Taco Deli Style |
Next we ordered a series of Tacos the 2 best tastes were the Maine Scallop Tacos with Cauliflower and Caper-Raisin Emulsion and the Short Rib Pastrami with Pickled Cabbage and Mustard Seed Salsa. The Scallops were perfectly cooked and the Cauliflower with the
Emulsion was fabulous, the Short Rib Pastrami Taco was just creative who ever thought of a Deli Taco the taste of Carnegie Deli in a taco.
For Dessert we had a
Mexican Chocolate Flauta see the video on how it is made you will see there is a lot of attention to detail to make a very tasty dessert.
Mexican Chocolate has a little cinnamon and which gives it a tiny bite.
I wanted to thank Paige and Ivan for taking good care of us