Photo from left to right: Victor Cabrera, Israel Montero, Carlos Udelman, Daniel Ovadía, Salvador Orozco

Starting June 30, four Mexico City chefs will cook dishes that showcase Mexican cuisine at three Houston restaurants. The three-night dinner series, called Sabores de CDMX (Flavors of Mexico City), brings a little taste of Mexico City to Houston as a way to encourage travel between the two cities.

“It’s a commitment to highlighting new flavors and sharing the wide range of products and recipes from Mexico that have made its cuisine a cultural heritage of humanity,” said chef Victor Cabrera, a culinary consultant and academic director at the Culinary Institute of Mexico. Cabrera will be cooking a menu of traditional Mexico City dishes at Robert del Grande’s Café Annie.

Chefs Daniel Ovadía and Salvador Orozco of The Bull and The Tank Restaurant Group, whose restaurants include Nudo Negro, Avira and DAO, will bring their mix of Mexican and international flavors to David Cordúa’s Américas. And chef Israel Montero of Raíz, a restaurant he says focuses on highlighting local Mexican ingredients, will be cooking at Arnaldo Richards at Picos.

We had a chance to try some of the chef’s dishes, albeit none that they’ll serve as part of their three-course menus. Dishes we sampled included Mexican falafel, made with alberjón (like a yellow split pea); mushroom tacos with atákapua, a sauce prepared with sunflower seeds, hoja santa, onion, garlic and epazote; and an oxtail bao. If they’re any indication of how the chefs cook, we think you’ll be in for a treat.

The full menus for each restaurant are below but some dishes that caught our eye include Ovadía and Orozco’s duck dumplings with kaffir lime, almond milk, hazelnut oil, green beans, mushrooms and smoked chili, Cabrera’s broad bean soup, and Montero’s rib-eye with vaquita beans, onion, pasilla chili, guajillo chili and “salsa martajada.”

Sabores CDMX runs from June 30 to July 2. Prices for the three-course meals range from $45 to $49.99 before tax and gratuity. 

Américas – Chef Daniel Ovadía + Chef Salvador Orozco

Duck dumplings 
Kaffir lime, almond milk, hazelnut oil, green beans, mushrooms and smoked chili
Short beef rib
Cured in brown sugar and meco chili, persian lime powder, black Chichilo, fried potatoes "noodles" and Brussels sprouts
Coconut Cake
Mango, pineapple, cilantro, coconut rum, tapioca

Café Annie – Chef Victor Cabrera

Broad bean soup
with nopales served with Oaxaca cheese and chili oil
Peanut sauce enchiladas
chicken enchiladas topped with peanut-chili sauce, sour cream and cheese
Cornbread
with chocolate ice cream and eggnog

Picos – Chef Israel Montero

Green Aguachile (catch of the day fish & shrimp)
Serrano chili, cilantro, orange, lemon, persian cucumber, jicama, strong root and spearmint.
Rib-eye
vaquita beans, onion, pasilla chili, guajillo chili and “salsa martajada”
Cornbread 
with cajeta ice cream