At Acamaya in New Orleans, sisters Ana and Lydia Castro discover their Oaxcan heritage by means of delicacies. James Beard-nominated chef Ana places a menu of cold and warm Mexican mariscos. Diners will discover oysters, ceviche, crab sopes, octopus, tuna tostadas, and much more seafood. “This restaurant is an ideal New Orleans restaurant. I might say it’s like a really modern, like trendy tackle Mexican fare that’s knowledgeable by like bounty of the Gulf of Mexico,” says Ana. Right here, she goes by means of a few of the dishes along with her employees.
A day at Acamaya begins at 10 a.m. to prep for the night’s service. Chef de delicacies Daniel Levy could be discovered within the kitchen breaking down a scamp grouper for pescado del dia. Levy studied with chef Josh Nilad, referred to as “the fish butcher,” at Saint Peter in Sydney. Ana put Levy accountable for this menu merchandise for his data and fervour for seafood.
First up is the blackened flounder “Veracruz-style,” which has been on the menu for the reason that restaurant’s opening day. “We promote a bunch of it. Like a bunch, of bunch, of bunch,” says Ana. She begins the dish by sautéing tomatoes, olives, capers, pepperoncini, and onions in a single pan and searing the fish in one other. The blackened seasoning is a well-recognized taste to locals. She then tops the completed dish with a “tremendous good” olive and a sprinkle of lemon zest. “We haven’t been capable of take it off the menu,” she says.
Though Ana calls passionfruit ceviche “so 2000 and late,” she nonetheless thinks it belongs on the Acamaya menu. The fish is topped with jicama, shallots, and shio koji for further umami. “Ceviches are my favourite as a result of they’re scrumptious and easy,” says Ana.
Transferring on to one of many few non-seafood dishes on the menu, Ana explains: “If I had my manner, we wouldn’t have a carne asada on the menu, proper? The menu has to have an excellent stability of issues which might be like difficult to individuals and issues which might be comforting to individuals. If I’m gonna have a tartare dish that has a French dressing product of crickets, I’m additionally going to serve. A superbly seasoned steak, that it’s grilled, that it’s served with tortillas and a really good salsa.” Levy demonstrates how they put together the steaks to be used in each dishes, separating the sinew from the meat and utilizing the smaller components to cut up for tartare.
Ana introduces Ronnie Rodriguez, who’s the director of masa manufacturing for Acamaya. “He cooks each single tortilla that’s served on this restaurant,” she says. After urgent the dough right into a tortilla, Rodriguez heats them on a griddle till they puff up, after which he shops them on a rack to chill.
“I would really like any visitor to stroll away with was a brand new discovered sense of empathy and the belief that Mexico is a neighboring nation, and we’ve got far more issues in frequent, and like that, we’ve got variations,” says Ana.
Watch the most recent episode of Mise en Place to see how Ana and her group at Acamaya mix Mexican and Cajun flavors to create what she calls “the right New Orleans restaurant.”
