Toloache Tacos

I had the pleasure of taking part in the Tacos & Tequila event during the Food Network's Food & Wine Festival in October. It was an experience like no other. I have frequented 82 Mercer on a few occasions for media events and it is always a great space for a party. Tables lined up and down the rooms with chefs from all over the city in action cooking up all varieties of taco treats. I was told to take a bite of one and throw the rest out or I will be full before I get to the 3rd table. What a crazy concept, but it had to be done since there were an incredible amounts of options to try.  One of the locations that I took note of was Toloache. They had served a veal cheek taco that I remembered being one of my favorites of the night. 

Last week when the restaurant week menus were published I saw that Toloache was included for 2012. I viewed about 25 menus to see if any were better than others regarding what options were included for the pre-fixed price. I ended up going with Toloache. Now that I have returned from dinner I didn't even bother ordering off the restaurant week menu! Not even sure why I looked because I knew I would end up ordering whatever I wanted anyway. Being that I was quite fond of the veal taco from the event a few months prior I couldn't steer clear of that. Since they were small portions the waiter recommended ordering another as well. When I asked the waiter if he recommended the De Cabeza, I think he was nervous that I wouldn't want to eat veal head, little did he know I could care less where it came from! The meat literally melted in your mouth with each bite and tasted incredible. The other taco I went with was the Carne Asada, which was fine however it didn't come close to the veal. My sig other ended up with the  Shrimp dish that had an awesome flavor as well.

De Cabeza braised veal cheeks, onion, cilantro, chile de arbol salsa

 Carne Asada chile-rubbed skirt steak, pulque salsa borracha

This place was a great find and I can't wait to tell my work cronies about it. Doesn't look like much from the outside, especially with the neon sign. However, once you enter the door, the lack of the exterior is forgotten as you feel that you have landed in a lovely Mexican cantina. Bravo Chef Medina!