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Middle Eastern-inspired Mexican food is becoming a pretty serious trend from coast to coast and in between, with Middle Eastern restaurants such as Zatar in Brooklyn, N.Y., serving tacos salsa verde and harissa, El Halal Amigos in San José, Calif., serving nachos with pomegranate molasses, and Evette’s Chicago, in that city’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, which combines Lebanese and Mexican cuisines with dishes such as this one, for which owner Mitchell AbouJamra combines grilled chicken with red onion, radish, tabbouleh, whipped feta cheese, cucumber yogurt and Aleppo chile oil and serves it in a flour tortilla.
This traditional Burmese dish is also appearing on more menus. Bangkok Degree, a Thai restaurant in Brooklyn, N.Y., expands beyond its borders to offer its interpretation of it, and The Dutchess, a Burmese restaurant that just opened in Ojai, Calif., is offering the one pictured here, although chef and partner Saw Naing ultimately decided to serve it with all the ingredients mixed together to make it easier for his customers to it.
Naing starts by importing tea leaves from Myanmar and preserving them in a blend of canola oil, ginger, garlic, salt and “lots and lots of lime juice.” He cures them for 2-3 weeks, a process that removes the leaves’ bitterness and gives them a flavor he says is similar to cured olives.
Along with the tea leaves, pictured in the center, are tomatoes, sesame seeds, peanuts, fried shallots, fried garlic, lime and mint, which are part of the traditional preparation, along with cilantro, which is not normally used, but Naing said he loves it.
“My mom actually keeps scolding me that I use cilantro because she feels it overpowers the tea leaves, but I just love this herb so much and I see it as putting my own California take on the dish,” he said.
He also adds nontraditional radishes and turnips to the dish for crunchiness.
This $35 drink at Pigtail by José Andrés, a cocktail bar underneath the Chicago location of his tapas concept Jaléo, is a collaboration between Andrés himself and Ron Cooper, founder of the mezcal company Del Maguey, although the drink itself was created by Miguel Lancha, who holds the title of “cocktail innovator” at Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup of restaurants.
It starts with ¾ ounce of Del Maguey Ibérico Mezcal, which is made by hanging a leg of Ibérico ham inside the still during the third distillation of the spirit — that’s a variation of the process for making pechuga mezcal, which involves hanging a raw chicken breast in the still. Lancha said the mezcal was an idea proposed by Andrés when he visited Cooper in the Mexican state of Oaxaca.
Next comes ¾ ounce of Yzaguirre 1884 Gran Reserva sweet vermouth from Reus in Spain, an area in Catalonia known for its vermouth.
Those are both added to a mixing glass with ice along with ¾ ounce of Hidalgo Napoleón amontillado sherry, ½ ounce of Cynar and a pinch of kosher salt.
That’s stirred together for around 30 spins and then strained into a rocks glass. A 2-by-2-inch ice cube is added, and the drink is garnished with a cocktail pick skewering two Kalamata olives and three slices of Ibérico ham. It’s finished with a squeeze of orange zest.
“It’s a very warm, kind of savory take on a Mezcal Negroni — if you will,” Lancha said.
This menu item, on the menu at The Habit Burger Grill, a fast-casual chain of around 270 restaurants that was bought by Yum Brands in 2020 is on the menu through April and, if it has a successful run, will show the marketability of tasty vegetables — in this case Brussels sprouts chargrilled in garlic butter and tossed in balsamic vinaigrette.
Noodles & Company, a fast-casual chain with around 450 restaurants, has added new salads to its menu, including this one made of spring lettuce and kale mix tossed in a ginger citrus dressing with grilled chicken, diced apple, cucumber, and slaw made from broccoli, carrots, and red cabbage all topped with avocado, crispy chow mein noodles and black sesame seeds. It’s a permanent addition to the menu.
For this trend-forward dish at Hearth and Hill in Park City, Utah, which uses local produce for a hearty but meatless sandwich, executive chef Jordan Harvey seasons local oyster mushrooms from Intermountain Gourmet with a pastrami-inspired spice blend of black pepper, caraway seeds, coriander and mustard and then sears them until crispy.
He also sears house-made sauerkraut to cook off excess moisture and add more “roasted flavor” and puts them on the mushrooms, followed by Swiss cheese which is steamed to melt it. That all goes on toasted marble rye and is finished with “patty sauce,” which is a mayonnaise-based sauce with minced onions and pickles, mustard and a little cayenne pepper.
