Sanchez - Mexican cuisine with a Danish twist
in short…
Noma's cool Rosio Sanchez shows us how stunning Mexican cuisine can be
corn tortillas and cloudberries - here in Vesterbro, Mexico gets a Nordic touch
what we can hardly get enough of - the Spicy Mezcal Margarita
Have you tried our tip for Hija de Sanchez, Rosio Sanchez's fantastic taco stands in Torvehallerne or Broens Gadekøkken?
If you like it here, you'll definitely be just as enthusiastic as we are about Rosio's fine dining restaurant Sanchez in Vesterbro.
So far, it has mainly been rustic American Tex-Mex cuisine that has made its way to Europe. But it has never quite won our hearts.
At Sanchez, we learn how finely tuned Mexican food can be.
Not only that - they also add a fabulous Danish twist to the whole thing.
Copenhagen meets Jalisco! What could be more exciting?
Rosio Sanchez grew up in "La Villita", Chicago's Little Village, as daughter of Mexican immigrants.
Perhaps my own childhood in the Ruhr Area in the 1980s does not necessarily qualify me to assess what it is like to grow up on the South Side of Chicago.
Nevertheless, I think I understand what it means to persevere in life when you're not born with a silver spoon in your mouth.
Rosio Sanchez is doubly a cool cat in my eyes.
From Illinois to Denmark, she went on to become head pastry chef at Copenhagen's Noma.
And as if it weren't cool enough to make it to the top in the male-dominated world of Michelin-starred cuisine, she eventually opened her own super-cool taquería, Hija de Sanchez.
At the risk of sounding like a fangirl - Rosio Sanchez inspires me not only as a chef, but also as a person.
The atmosphere in her elegant restaurant, near Kødbyen, is casual and incredibly friendly, while at the same time everyone is perfectly professional.
The whole team, from the dining room to the open kitchen, gives us the impression that they are all enjoying what they do.
It's fine to just drop in and have a bite to eat at the bar with a Spicy Mezcal Margarita (definitely try it!).
However, for the Sanchez menu it is smart to book in advance.
The five "Favourite Servings" are small, refined dishes to share.
Enjoying them to the full with friends and adding specials and snacks, such as the incredible guacamole, makes for a very special evening.
Rosio swears on a traditional Mexican corn variety, which she has specially imported and uses to make the dough for her tortillas.
But what also makes her Mexican interpretation so extraordinary are the Scandinavian influences she brings - very locally connected - to her cuisine.
The delicious tostada, for which a delicate tortilla is fried until crisp and served open-faced, comes here with a sweet old Danish tomato variety from the Toftegaard nursery.
And Rosio does not use lime to add acidity in the typical Mexican way, but in this case local white currants – ultimately, everyone knows that berries are nowhere as good as here in the north.
The pork for the tacos de carnitas also comes from Danish farms where the animals are kept in a species-appropriate husbandry.
The traditional Tacos al Pastor, for which pork is marinated in spices and grilled on a skewer with a pineapple, are available at Hija de Sanchez in a delicious Gringa variation.
Here at Sanchez, monkfish cheeks are prepared al pastor style and served on a roasted savoy cabbage leaf.
It's exactly the kind of refined nuance we expect in the sophisticated restaurant.
When it comes to dessert, Rosio Sanchez never disappoints.
After all, she was responsible for this at Noma. And she herself says that dessert is her favourite course.
The chocolate mousse with cocoa from Mexico’s Chiapas, north of Guatemala, is incredibly intense and wonderful.
The open churro sandwich is not only Rosio's signature dish, based on her family's churro recipe, but also our own absolute must-have.
Crispy and rolled in cinnamon sugar, it is topped with a cream made from Mexican vanilla and mescal that melts in our mouths.
How could an evening with friends end any better?
