| French Twist - Chef Fabrice finds a new home |
Wibke Langhorst
Superb.
There was no better description for the deliciously moist and flaky piece of pepper- and herb crusted mahi-mahi that I had just tasted. A welcome departure from the usual red snapper “al mojo de ajo” that – although generally quite tasty – eventually loses its appeal for the local diner because of its sheer omnipresence on the town’s menus. Blessed with a great variety of fresh fish and seafood, Zihuatanejo has nevertheless been lacking a great restaurant to serve its ocean-fresh abundance in some more exciting ways. Until now, that is. If you – like me – have been looking for a restaurant that knows how to use all those beautiful, fresh local ingredients to their fullest potential, then “Bistro Taboga” has a table waiting for you.
After seven years of being in charge of the extensive food operation at the prestigious Hotel Villa del Sol as Chef de Cuisine, Fabrice Lavacry, a Frenchman from Normandy, France, decided to give up his overseeing functions and administrative responsibilities at the Villa del Sol kitchen and return to a more creative and hands-on position at his own stove. One year ago, Chef Fabrice’s wife Gabriela took over the “Taboga Restaurant”, a commonly recognized Zihuatanejo landmark just steps away from the bustling “Paseo del Pescador”, Zihuatanejo’s colorful Fisherman’s Walk that twice a day teems with fishermen bringing in their still writhing catch. When Fabrice left his Executive Chef position at the Villa del Sol last month to dedicate himself full-time to the family’s restaurant, he decided to design his menu around the availability and high quality of the local products.
An experienced professional chef, Fabrice applies his classical French training and culinary techniques to the chronically under-appreciated Mexican cuisine. The results are astonishing Mexican dishes with a certain French twist. - Which is why my mahi-mahi was perfectly accompanied with roasted squash drizzled with fruity extra virgin olive oil.
Luckily for all of us who would readily skip dinner to get to dessert, Fabrice not only does magic with fish and vegetables but also has an amazing knack for whipping up the sweeter things in life. His cakes melt in your mouth, his croissants are deliciously light and flaky and his baguette is so authentically French that it will actually make you speak with an accent. True to his philosophy of utilizing only the best products and promoting local growers, Fabrice recently joined forces with Juanita Sanchez, the owner of Café Zihuatanejo and proud producer of arguably one of the best coffees of Mexico. Juanita and her husband Dario grow their certified organic beans in their family’s plantation in the mountains high above Zihuatanejo and roast them to perfection in their own roastery. Juanita has been selling her delicious coffee by the pound in her little store for years but has always dreamt of opening a small café where aficionados could sample her freshly brewed gourmet coffee. When Fabrice Lavacry offered to set up a space for Juanita’s coffee bar in the “Bistro Taboga” she knew that this alliance could turn out to be a marriage made in Heaven. “I know how to grow, roast and prepare excellent coffee, but I do not know anything about pastries,” she admits. “Combining a cup of our freshly roasted coffee with Fabrice’s pain au chocolat in the morning seems like a sure recipe for success to me.”
Bistro Taboga opens Monday through Saturday for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and no matter whether you only stop by to get your morning fix of homemade waffles and cappuccino, or top off your dinner of seared yellowfin tuna and epazote-infused tortillas with a fragrant cup of sugarcane and cinnamon flavored “café de olla”, you can be sure that you are indulging in the best of what Zihuatanejo has to offer.
Bistro Taboga
Juan N. Alvarez, corner of 5 de Mayo
Col. Centro, Zihuatanejo, Gro.
Tel.: (755) 554-4719
Monday to Saturday 8 am 11 pm
November 2002
Contents | Previous | Next |
|
|
|
