New York's Top Tacos: The New School List
Cosme's $40 lobster al pastor, Claro's beef and bacon tacos, Ensenada's super crispy fish tacos, and other Modern Mexican snacks on warm tortillas
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On New York’s changing taco scene…
Maybe you’re in the mood for something a little bit fancy this weekend? Let me recommed the following:
Blowtorched tripe, dripping with lard. Lobster spiced like al pastor, next to a swoosh of pineapple butter. Minimalist blocks of short rib, enrobed in bone marrow. Barbacoa meatballs, perched atop a puree of garbanzos. And skirt steak shaved off the trompo, next to a quenelle of piña-habanero gel.
What do these dishes have in common?
They’re all tacos.
Mexican food in New York has been evolving in some pretty cool ways as of late. Last month, NY Magazine’s Chris Crowley documented the boom in whole pig carnitas, a phenomenon that Eater’s Luke Fortney also touched upon when he reported on snout-stuffed tacos last fall. And just last week, I wrote about the city’s growing class of Modern Mexican restaurants, and how they’ve ascended to the innovative vanguard of ambitious dining.
But here’s a part of the story I haven’t fleshed out yet: This wave of Mexican restaurants is fueling a new class of creative and often pricey tacos.
These tacos might boast posh flourishes, like tableside pours of lamb consommé. In other cases, they might come across as neo-rustic, like campechano tacos reimagined for a fine dining setting — without any obnoxious refinements, thank goodness.
These tacos often rely on a growing class of small tortillerías and molinos (or in-house nixtamalization programs), ensuring that drippy cubes of beef tongue get sopped up by aromatic heirloom corn. And yes, these dishes are spendy by (historically underpriced) taco standards, easily $9 or more apiece. That is to say, they’re not really expensive, not by $21 martini standards.
In quite a few instances, these aren’t plated tacos, but rather mains with a stack of tortillas on the side. I like that we’re seeing more of this. It means that chefs are making tacos an optional delivery mechanism for edgy composed plates — rather than a de rigueur menu item that pigeonholes a chef’s creativity, or that keeps down prices. This also means we’re seeing more and more pescado alla talla — DIY fish tacos — an adobo-spiced Guerrero dish that gained worldwide fame thanks to a certain CDMX restaurant.
But enough Taco Theory for now. Here’s my list of 15 new-school restaurant tacos, with a bonus review of some great carnitas at a cool Bushwick spot. Let’s eat!
The $49 al pastor branzino at Ensenada
As I was saying, you can find quite a few fish alla talla preparations in New York these days, but this one is my favorite!
Chef Luis Herrera, late of Cosme, drenches branzino in ancho and guajillo chiles, roasts it, and tops it with a dense canopy of cilantro, serranos, and pineapple relish. The rampant hues of red and gold make it look a little bit like a…Hawaiian pizza. Tear off the supple flesh, load it into a tortilla, and appreciate all the spicy, fruity, grassy flavors. Then make another taco, but throw a spoonful of pineapple butter on top. It’s sweet, but it balances out the fish nicely, not unlike the way a good milkshake acts as a cooling counterpoint to a proper chili dog.
Behind the Paywall: 15 Amazing New-School Tacos
Cosme’s (outstanding) $40 lobster al pastor
Claro’s short rib and mole negro tacos
The avant-garde al pastor at Aldama
Atla’s thrilling fish alla talla with kosho aioli
Bonus: a review of the supremely porky carnitas at Sobre Masa
New York’s best fried fish tacos?
If you’re hitting up Ensenada for the large format al pastor, you should kick off the meal with fiery seafood aguachile, preferably the black variety vibrating with habanero heat. And you should also order the golden fish tacos.
Let’s talk about those tacos…