Mouth of the Border

Midnight Brunch: Mexico Edition got everyone on the dance floor on Cinco de Mayo Eve. This event was produced in partnership with Tafari Travel and Mexico Tourism, and ticketing was handled by the fine folks at UrbanDaddy.

Mad you missed it? Request an invitation by filling out this form. We welcomed 50 guests for a celebration of the cuisine of Mexico’s Puebla region. Mr. Hal Wolin shook up hundreds of cocktails with help from guest bartender Pamela Wiznitzer. In the kitchen, we drew our inspiration from guest chef Roberto Santibanez of NYC’s Fonda restaurants. Santibanez not only helped me create the menu, he also provided delicious guacamole, salsa, fresh tortillas and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, he provided us with the traditional mole negra sauce for our  main course.

Our sponsor, Tafari Travel, went above and beyond to make this event authentic and so special for our guests. They even somehow got us access to mole from Puebla in Mexico – every guest took home a sachet of mole! Tafari was also responsible for the bangin’ venue and are even giving away a trip to Mexico in the fall (similar to this trip, which you can customize and book yourself)!

Here’s Leah Smith, President of Tafari Travel, sharing about the rich culinary history of Mexico with our guests.

The event took place in one of the coolest lofts we’ve ever seen. Deep, comfy couches, a full bar and a pool table were just some of the features in this slick private space in NoHo. As the bartenders served up drinks with Fidencio Mezcal,  Milagro Tequila and Kahlua, servers passed around plates laden with spinach and mushroom quesadillas with a poblano dipping sauce.

We got the party started with a cool, creamy starter of cucumber-avocado soup garnished with plain yogurt, pico de gallo and parsley. It was a love/hate dish that drew raves from people who “never like soup” and “mehs” from others. Not to worry: Everyone was wowed by the main course of local Mangalitsa pork (a heritage breed that is as juicy and fat-marbled as beef) from Mosefund Farm, accompanied by red rice and black beans, and garnished with the mole sauce from Chef Santibanez. We had a number of vegetarians with us that evening, and they were treated to a spicy take on chiles relleno, stuffed with spinach and mushrooms.

For dessert, we visited the Tres Leches cake from Midnight Brunch: NYC Neighborhoods edition (#2) but this time, we added a twist suggested by Chef Santibanez: We garnished our cake with tequila-spiked whipped cream and topped it off with a little citrus zest.

Near the end of the night, our sponsors arranged a special surprise. A Mariachi band showed up at 2 a.m., as guests were finishing their desserts!

Check out the full menu from the meal, including the cocktail list here. Enjoy a few highlights from the evening below. All photos by Donny Tsang. [click to continue…]

Tagged as: cincodemayo, ethnicfood, fonda, mexico, midnightbrunch, robertosantibanez, tafaritravel

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