#David Suro Piñera

[judgingbooksbycovers]

Agave Spirits: The Past, Present, and Future of Mezcals

By David Suro Piñera and Gary Paul Nabhan.

[oysterchalk72-blog]

A Mezcal Bar With Mexican Street Food Is About to Open in Rittenhouse

After two years of operating as a tiki-themed watering hole, the space upstairs from Rittenhouse’s speakeasy-style Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company is transforming into a mezcal bar with a Mexican menu. Like the tiki bar, Encima (“above” in Spanish) is from the same owners as the Franklin, who plan to debut the new bar on July 5 with a limited food menu and a whole lot of mezcal. Later this summer, they’ll build out a bigger kitchen and expand the food offerings both upstairs and down.

“We’ve been stocking up all the booze — I have $17,000 worth of mezcal,” says Jason Elliot, formerly the GM at the Franklin (112 S. 18th Street) and now the operating partner. “We’re going to serve food you’d find in Mexican cantinas.”

Elliott says he first got the idea when restaurateur David Suro-Piñera took him on a trip to Mexico. Originally from Guadalajara, Suro-Piñera owns Tequilas, one of Philly’s oldest Mexican restaurants, and a company that imports Mexican-made spirits like mezcal. His son Dan Suro is leaving Tequilas to take on the role of manager at Encima.

During his Guadalajara travels, Elliot met chef Fabian Delgado of the western Mexican city’s celebrated PalReal cafe and the two decided to collaborate on restaurants in each others’ hometowns.

A collection of mezcals ready for use at Encima, opening near Rittenhouse Square in July

Ed Newton

This summer, Delgado is coming to Philly to help develop Encima’s food menu. By the fall, the partners plan to open a 150-seat tiki bar with an outdoor patio in Guadalajara named Bla Bla Cha Cha Cha (“there’s a drunken story behind that,” Elliott says). Next, Elliott says, they’ll open a Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company in Guadalajara.

In the Philly tiki bar, “we couldn’t do what we wanted to do in a small space with no windows or outside seating,” he says. “We’re taking what we learned to Mexico.”

As for Encima, the initial food menu will include tacos, bacon-wrapped hotdogs, snacks like elote, and several types of guacamole, including one with fried pork rinds. Elliot says cheese will be made in-house using raw milk, as is common in Mexico.

Along with about 70 mezcals and tequilas, look for beer, wine, cocktails, and two low-proof fermented drinks: tejuino, made from masa, and tepache, made from pineapple peels.

The decor includes art and antiques Elliot picked up at flea markets in Guadalajara. To serve the mezcal, he bought traditional jícaras — cups made for sipping the smoky spirit.

Mezcal at Encima will be served in handmade jícaras, a type of cup used in Mexico for drinking the agave spirit.

The Franklin [official photo]

The tiki bar will pour its final cocktail on June 29, ahead of Encima’s opening the following week. The hours will be Wednesday to Sunday from 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.

Downstairs, the Franklin (called at different times Franklin Mortgage & Investment Company, Franklin Bar, or The Franklin) has always only served drinks, but starting in the fall there will be a food menu with charcuterie, hummus, bread with spreads, and other fare that’s good for snacking on while you drink.

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Source: https://philly.eater.com/2019/6/27/18760577/encima-mexican-bar-restaurant-franklin-mortgage-philadelphia-menu-hours

[tupanoramavirtual-blog]

Rescate de los sabores históricos de México

Rescate de los sabores históricos de México

David Suro Piñera es uno de los defensores más feroces y amables de la cultura mexicana; su lucha se libra en torno a lo que llama los sabores históricos de México: es nada menos que el rescate de una parte del alma y sabiduría ancestrales del país.

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