At chef Erasmo Casiano’s newest restaurant, guests will be able to peer through a window and watch corn tortillas and tamales made fresh to order.
“I want to help people appreciate why the tortilla and tamale are so important in Mexican cuisine,” Casiano said about the restaurant’s Mexico City-inspired menu.
Casiano, along with business partners Diego Coconati and Michelle Nguyen, want to explore the indigenous flavors of Mexico with their newest restaurant, Xiquita, which they plan to open at 500 E. 19th Ave. in Uptown this late spring or early summer.
The trio already owns Create Kitchen & Bar, which hosts European-inspired cooking classes, in Stanley Marketplace and Lucina Eatery & Bar, a Latin American, Caribbean and coastal Spanish restaurant, that opened in Park Hill in 2022. Casiano and Lucina’s chef, Diego Coconati, are both 2024 James Beard Award semifinalists for Best Chef in the Mountain region.
“I did a deep dive into my Mexican culture and all the etymology of food and how it’s evolved, and I started to explore that at Lucina,” Casiano said. “But I have this deep urge to go full-out Mexican and create some foods we’re not used to seeing in the U.S.”
Xiquita will take over the former Manzo Lobster & Oyster Bar, which closed last summer after three years.
“This area draws foodie crowds, and it’s a great way to expose and educate our guests to what Mexican cuisine can be outside of a taco,” Casiano said. “I didn’t want to just copy and paste another Lucina.”
Xiquita means “little one” in Spanish, and Casiano named the restaurant after his father’s term of endearment for his mother: “xiquita linda,” or little beauty. The upscale Mexican restaurant’s menu will be centered around nixtamalization, the process used to make masa, or corn dough. Nixtamalization is the preparation of maize, where dried corn kernels are cooked and soaked in alkaline solution.
“Not everything will have corn, but it definitely will be inspired by it, whether we smoke it using corn husks, wrap something in corn or dust it with crunchy corn,” Casiano said.
Casiano has recruited Rene Gonzalez Mendez as Xiquita’s executive chef. Mendez owned Pato’s Tacos with his wife Hazel Macias on East Colfax Avenue, and joined Lucina’s kitchen team after Pato’s closed over the summer. “After I tried his frijoles charros, I was thoroughly impressed,” Casiano said.
Xiquita’s kitchen will use indigenous ingredients, like Hoja Santa (Mexican pepperleaf), epazote herbs and “every variation of masa you can think of,” Casiano said. He wants to leave some mystery to the upcoming menu, but did say he plans to add the Yucatan dish “Tikin Xic” with kanpachi fish grilled over charcoal in a banana leaf and a side of corn tortillas.
“I’m sorry if I ruin other tortillas for you,” Casiano joked to customers at his previous Xiquita pop-ups at Lucina.
