He could employ masa harina - a dried, instant version of masa that's mixed by adding a little water - and still rightfully claim he serves fresh, hand-made tortillas. Meso Maya's chef, Nico Sanchez, doesn't have to devote so much of his staff's time and effort to tortilla making. They're the staple starch of working people. For all that work, it's ironic that the tortillas arrive at the restaurant's tables wrapped in simple, unbleached parchment paper. Even on slow days they're fashioned by the hundreds, shaped one at a time with a hand press and cooked lightly on a flat grill until they become soft, pliable and aromatic. They're the kind of tortillas that turn heads.Īt any given time, up to three employees can be working to turn out these tortillas at Meso Maya, as many as 1,000 on busy weekends. They prove a robust counterpoint for fillings like stewed chicken and grilled meat, but unlike most tortillas, they can stand alone. Simultaneously delicate and sturdy, tortillas made this way smell richly of roasted corn. It's a delicate balance, but when it's struck, when all the components play nicely together, the results can be transcendent. Too little pressure and the mixture will be too coarse. If the stones in the grinder are set with too much pressure, excessive friction will cook the masa as it's ground. Later in the morning, another worker removes yesterday's batch of corn from the walk-in, strains and rinses the mixture and feeds it through the kitchen's molino mill. Too much lime and things discolor and turn bitter, too little and the membrane that surrounds each kernel won't completely dissolve, leaving traces of the thin, papery skin in the finished product, now called nixtamal. Too much time in the hot water and the corn cooks away to mush, robbing the masa of its flavor. The procedure is straightforward but hardly easy. The Fox and Hound English Pub & Grille occupied the building’s street level most recently.Every morning around 9, a large pot of water containing dried white corn and lime comes to a boil inside the kitchen of Meso Maya - the first step of a two-day process that yields fresh hand-made tortillas for hundreds of diners each day. In 2006, the upper three floors reopened as 24 upscale loft apartments. Continental National Bank used the upper three floors for offices until the early 1980s. Sibbert, who designed about 50 of the more than 250 five and dime department stores for New York retailer S.H. ![]() Once part of an entire block of Art Deco buildings, the Kress Building, at 604 Main St., was built in 1936 by Edward F. The new restaurant has one-of-a-kind features like its large private dining space and original elements from the historic Kress Building are integrated into the décor, including the original floors and Kress signage. Thrillist named Meso Maya one of the 21 Best Mexican Restaurants in America and Zagat called Meso Maya one of the 13 Most Romantic Restaurants in DFW. D Magazine readers voted Meso Maya’s brunch the Best of Big D in 2016. In 2015, Nico was voted by D Magazine readers as “Best Chef” in the Best of Big D Awards, while Meso Maya took top honors in the “Best Regional Mexican Cuisine” category. Guests of the new restaurant will find Central and Southern Mexican dishes as Pollo Con Mole, Cochinita Pibíl, Carne Asada and Budin Azteca featuring scratch-made corn tortillas, along with a wide array of craft cocktails and specialty margaritas, like the Avocado Margarita. Every sip and every bite should be special, and the entire experience should be memorable.” When you dine at Meso Maya, I want you to feel like you are enjoying a meal in my own home. “Our menu features original dishes made from fresh, authentic ingredients using the scratch cooking practices that I first learned while growing up in central Mexico. “Our first Fort Worth Meso Maya in Tanglewood has experienced great success, so we are looking forward to bringing the same elevated experience to downtown Fort Worth,” said Nico. All Meso Maya restaurants are open for lunch and dinner and serve brunch on Saturday and Sunday, and are owned by Dallas-based Firebird Restaurant Group LLC. Meso Maya currently has five locations – in downtown Dallas, at Preston and Forest, in the Lakewood neighborhood, Plano and on Hulen Street in Fort Worth. ![]() ![]() Led by Executive Chef Nico Sanchez, the menu is an homage to Mexican and Mayan food, techniques and methods. The historic Kress Building in downtown will be buzzing with activity soon with Meso Maya opening its second Fort Worth location on Monday, Nov.
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