Aarón Sanchez, celebrity chef from Food Network and one of the coolest people I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting, made me lunch earlier this week.
You see, I created my own local magazine (based out of Kansas City) for which I write nearly every article. I focus my articles upon local restaurants and the people behind them all, which is really a killer concept for my city. Kansas City is slowly becoming recognized as a culinary destination, and I am SO lucky to have such an exquisite, worldly cuisine available in my backyard.
So where does Aarón Sanchez come into this? Well, he recently opened a restaurant in one of the suburbs of Kansas City: Leawood, Kansas. His restaurant, Mestizo, of course has Mexican influences … but the primary focus is: FRESH INGREDIENTS. Everything from the chips to the guacamole is made in house, and Aarón really strives to make sure all of his ingredients are as local as possible. When I was contacted by his PR rep, I instantly jumped at the opportunity to feature such an awesome concept and chef in our magazine.
Myself and my photographer, Lauren, showed up at Mestizo around noon on Monday, August 13. We sat with Aarón for about 30 minutes as he described his concepts, his past, and his passion for cooking to us. After the interview, he excitedly told us we would be receiving “the ultimate VIP treatment”. I think passed out for a minute after that happened.
Luckily, I pushed back through to consciousness as he started bringing dishes out for us, delivering each one by hand and explaining every ingredient. One of my favorites (but I actually think they were all favorites) was a small tortilla topped with avacado, crab meat, pickled onion, and a thin slice of serrano pepper.
Tortilla, avacado, crab meat, chili flakes, pickled onion, serrano pepper…I could eat 25 of these, no problem.
(Excuse the photo quality; I took these on my iPhone.)
I also thoroughly enjoyed the crisp pork belly tacos, which are available everyday on the menu.
Crispy pork belly tacos … piping hot, handmade tortillas came on the side.
Grilled Octopus Salad
The grilled octopus salad was also delectable, and I eagerly gobbled up all of the extra octopus left on Lauren’s plate (she’s vegetarian). Sadly, I cannot divulge much more about my experience, as this will be an article in the next issue of our magazine: concrete city magazine. But I WILL say, if you are a Kansas Citian and have not yet ventured out to Mestizo, I highly suggest you do so immediately. The atmosphere, food and cocktail selections are top-notch, and the staff is phenomenal. Maybe if you’re lucky, you will also have Aarón take care of you, too.
Much love!
sara rose. 