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With Corima, Fidel Caballero’s progressive look on Mexican food has certainly made an impact. Just shy of the two-year mark, the restaurant has been recognized as a semifinalist from the James Beard Foundation, was listed as one of Bon Appétit’s best new restaurants and received a Michelin star. A dish that’s received much of the buzz? Caballero’s flour and sourdough-tinged tortillas. Now, the same team is opening a day-to-night concept with Caballero's griddled and chewy tortillas at the forefront.
This Thursday, the Corima team will unveil Vato at 226 7th Avenue in Park Slope. The name, which translates to “homie,” is quite fitting as the venture is an effort from four lifelong friends: Caballero and his wife, Sofia Ostos, alongside his childhood friends, Paco and Erica Alonso. Leaning on their shared upbringing straddling the border of El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Vato will function as a tortilleria and bakery by day, and a full-service restaurant by night.
Caballero’s tortillas will be on full display, cooked fresh and sold by the pack. But if you visit in the morning, you will find them fashioned into Chihuahua-style burritos that are available in three different types: the pollo en mole, the verde with braised pork shoulder and the burnt ends egg and cheese, a nod to their Texas roots with hickory-mesquite smoked barbecued and soft scrambled eggs.
Pastry chef Erick Rocha will also create some daytime goodies, including with pecan tarts, hazelnut-studded cookies and conchas filled with totomoxtle cream (made of corn husks) and yuzu cream. Patrons will also find single-origin pours from Oaxaca and specialty drinks like the Cafe de Olla, a traditional coffee spiced with cinnamon.
In the evening, the space will turn into a casual affair. Influenced by Fidel’s time working in the Basque Country and his Mexican roots, the opening menu will feature tuna crudos, a tostada with smashed avocados, fried beef tripe and two types of yuzu. Tapas continue with beer-battered smelts, cider-steamed cockles on toast and tortilla de bacalao, a Spanish-style cod and potato omelette. The drinks will hail from Spain and Mexico, with a line-up of vermouths, amaros, wines and more.
Vato, set to open this Thursday at 7am, will first launch breakfast and lunch. The restaurant will introduce dinner service in December.