Akin | Guest chef nights at Cavita
Akin is a word with two meanings: similar in, or related by blood.
They’re closely akin to one another…
It’s a word that’s also shaped Cavita’s new guest chef collaboration series Akin, which will be starting at the end of this month…
Chef-owner Adriana Cavita is, obviously, a big fan of Mexican food and, also obviously, knows a good Mexican restaurant when she sees one. If you’re heading over there for a holiday, she’d be a pretty decent person to ask for recommendations. For everyone that’s not Mexico-bound, though, she’s taking it upon herself to bring her recommendations directly to London. How can she manage this without superpowers, you ask? Simple – by inviting a few of the Mexican chefs she admires to man her kitchen at Cavita for a series of guest chef takeovers.
First up will be Hugo Soto. He’s in charge of Cosecha Taller de Cocina (one of Adriana’s favourite restaurants in Zacatecas, a city in central Mexico) and his menu will showcase the region via wild sea bass-cured ceviche with chile de árbol (a very hot Mexican chilli pepper) sauce and dry prawns; chargrilled octopus served with a pipián sauce (a green mole made from roasted pumpkin seeds); and tres leche cake (a type of milk sponge cake) with blood orange and goat’s cheese ice cream.
Up next (well, a week or so later…) is Thalia Barrios Garcia, who’ll be in for two nights from 4th-5th of March. She’s the boss behind Levadura de Olla, another of Adriana’s faves (this time in Oaxaca), and for her Akin shifts she’s going to be dishing out the likes of talitos packed with smoked courgettes, duck fat, goats curd and a hoja santa sauce; a black mole with pork ribs and green beans; and a brownie infused with chilli anchos and backed by mezcal and sour vanilla ice cream.
If that mezcal piques your interest, you could always make your way to the secret mezcaleria in the basement downstairs, Mayahuel. It’s named after the Aztec goddess and one of the best places to drink mezcal and tequila in London (and, not unrelatedly, was one of our top 10 new bars of 2022). The signature cocktails and tasting flights are a lesson in agave.
Or at least akin to one…
NOTE: Akin has now finished.
Has reading this given you a sudden, impulsive urge to go and demolish a round of tacos? Here are the best Mexican restaurants in London…