From Mexico City and Oaxaca to Lima and Buenos Aires, street food fuels millions of hardworking citizens every day across Latin America. Vendors might serve just one item, perfected through generations, true masters of their craft.
“Street food is an integral part of Mexican culture, prevalent in every corner, from metro stations to busy streets,” says chef Roberto Alcocer of Valle in Oceanside, California. “It’s a reflection of our daily life — a livelihood for many and a way to connect with our heritage.” Leche quemada burnt milk candy and tascalate hot chocolate with roasted corn are just a couple of cherished taste memories from Alcocer’s childhood that you’ll find on his menu today.
In recent years, Latin American street food has inspired fine dining chefs across the United States who are paying homage to these humble culinary traditions with a refined contemporary perspective, often garnering Michelin stars and international accolades along the way. Here are five favorites from Chicago to Oceanside worth their weight in epazote powder.
Photography by Grupo Xcaret
Ha’ Restaurant
Chef Carlos Gaytan shot to fame as the first Mexican-born chef to earn a Michelin star in 2013 for his Mexican-French fusion restaurant Mexique in Chicago. More than a decade later, he oversees a mini-empire with restaurants in Chicago, Downtown Disney and Riviera Maya.
“For me, it’s so important to open a restaurant in Mexico and go back to my country,” Gaytan says. “It’s a dream come true.” His soigné tasting menu at Hotel Xcaret México earned a Michelin star in Mexico’s inaugural guide last year. The first course playfully nods to street food, with a meticulous quenelle of wagyu beef tartare served alongside a crunchy savory buñuelo dusted with epazote powder, proffered by a wooden mannequin hand. “Buñuelo is a traditional Mexican dessert normally coated with sugar and cinnamon,” he says. “It reminds me of when I was a kid.”
Photography provided by Valle
Valle
From birria and barbacoa to ceviche and aguachile, many dishes on Valle’s Michelin-starred tasting menu have street food roots. “Our ceviche is inspired by the seafood carts of Ensenada, where I grew up,” Alcocer says. “Street food was crucial to my childhood and culinary development. Near my parents’ auto parts shop, a seafood cart run by chef Simon introduced me to ceviche and seafood preparation. He taught me how to shuck oysters and clams, which fueled my love for food.”
Alcocer tops local rock cod aguachile with an elegant chayote rose and he uses two different types of masa to make a bi-color tetela, stuffed with chicharrón prensado (pressed pork cracklings) and garnished with edible flowers. Tetela is Oaxacan street food akin to a triangular quesadilla, traditionally stuffed with cheese and refried beans. Try the Mexican wine pairing featuring pours from Alcocer’s own winery across the border in Valle de Guadalupe.
Photography by Kelly Sandos
Cariño
A nine-month road trip winding through Mexico City, Oaxaca, Michoacan and Monterrey, followed by a stint cooking in Tulum inspired chef Norman Fenton’s playful modern Mexican tasting menu in Chicago. The classic hangover cure michelada is deconstructed with tomato dashi mignonette and beer foam garnishing a raw oyster, rimmed with hot sauce and tajin. Precisely plated empanadas, tostadas and quesadillas all make appearances, and a dainty riff on chamoyada serves as a palate cleanser before dessert. “I’m trying to replicate the emotions from my journey through Mexico,” Fenton says.
There’s even a late-night taco omakase at the seven-seat chef’s counter that highlights Cariño’s on-premise masa program, featuring varieties of corn from the Midwest and Mexico, with tacos, tetelas, tostadas and more. More experimental than the traditional dinner menu, the late-night menu helps curb food waste associated with fine dining by repurposing food-prep scraps into salsas, toppings and tortilla flavorings.
Photography by Rey Lopez
Causa
Chef Carlos Delgado considers himself an ambassador of Peruvian cuisine and culture and has fond memories of street food as a kid in Callao on the northern side of Lima. “As soon as the sun goes down, the charcoal grills come out and the smell of anticuchos cooking always brings me back to childhood,” he says. “Getting a late-night plate of this with friends while enjoying an overly sweet chicha and some choclo — while fighting over which vendor has the best sauces — is one of my fondest memories from growing up.” Anticuchos are Peru’s most famous street food, consisting of various skewers basted in ají, a pepper-based sauce.
At Causa, Delgado takes this street food inspiration to a more complex level with salmon belly and wagyu beef anticuchos, ceviche made with liquid nitrogen–frozen leche de tigre and seafood choripan on housemade squash milk bread bun with ají amarillo seafood sausage.
Photography provided by Casa Vigil
Casa Vigil Miami
“Argentinean food is all about sharing and spending time with family and friends,” says Executive Chef Mikel Goikolea, who combines Argentine and Basque influences at this Miami hotspot. Meat is an integral part of every Argentine meal, often cooked over fire. “There are more than 20 types of Argentinean empanadas, but every region has their own recipe for the classic beef empanada,” he says. At Casa Vigil, Goikolea uses ossubuco or skirt steak to pay homage to Argentina’s Italian heritage, first grilling and smoking the meat in the Josper oven, then slowly cooking it with a malbec reduction for a rich, juicy twist on an everyday staple.
The restaurant’s Josper charcoal grill emulates the primitive but powerful grilling of outdoor street food, lending a smoky char to dry-aged steaks, whole branzino, octopus and vegetables. Dine on the outdoor terrace or rooftop overlooking Upper Buena Vista’s cheerful open air market.
