The following article appeared in SLM’s August 2022 issue.
Aaron Martinez, executive chef and partner with Take Root Hospitality—the company behind Vicia, Winslow’s Table, and Bistro La Floraison (the renamed Bar Les Frères)—is taking tacos for a spin, like a NASCAR driver does post-race donuts.
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Located in Vicia’s new garden-side pavilion, the no-reservations Taqueria Morita offers tacos, antojitos, and bebidas Thursday through Saturday nights. One of the standout specialties is the huarache, a taco cousin that takes its name from its oval, sandal-like appearance.
The base layer (the “vehicle,” in kitchen parlance) is a quarter-inch cake made from masa that’s sourced from Sureste (the Yucatecan kitchen at City Foundry STL). Next comes a layer of beans from heirloom variety producer Rancho Gordo; a coarse chorizo made from chopped chicken thighs, dark spices, and dried chiles; a squizzle of roasted garlic Mexican crema; a matchstick salad of batonnet-cut kohlrabi, lime, pickled red onions, and cilantro; and a salsa macha (meaning spicy), an oil-based chile crisp of sorts. A handful of cotija cheese finishes the dish.
Martinez suggests pairing it with a watermelon and radish salad described as “simple but complex,” a fitting metaphor for the fare at the new CWE taqueria.
