San Diego Mexican Restaurant & Taqueria

The Austin Chef Behind Taco Food Truck Con Todo Is Back With New Pop-Up Sana Sana | Eater Austin

"A multi-course dinner pop-up run by Chef Joseph Gomez that appears on weekdays when the host sushi restaurant is closed, continuing to tell the story of Gomez’s roots in the Rio Grande Valley and Northeastern Mexico. The menu re-imagines food traditions—making mole using South Texas pecans, sourcing native corn from family farms in Mexico and nixtamalizing it in-house (a process that requires the maize to be soaked in a solution to improve its nutritional value and digestibility). A preview dinner on March 11 included dishes like tamal de conejo with wild rabbit, mole amarillo, and fermented carrot; a spicy guiso de res with dry-aged wagyu beef, salsa morita, Mexican rice, and tortillas made with mesquite pods; and aguachile with dry-aged hamachi and mango from Gomez’s abuela’s house in South Texas. The pop-up has two seatings at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., tickets cost $150 and were available for March on Tock (the pop-up may continue into April). Cocktails from the host restaurant’s forthcoming bar are featured, including the No Mames Whey, with tequila, sake, and edamame syrup. Gomez says the project is part of larger work: “As of right now, I am focusing [on] all these pop-ups and trying to get the word out there about what I do, the stories I like to tell, and my mission’s work — to continue advocating for immigrants and migrant workers because they are the backbone of our industry.”" - Erin Russell