Maria Mazon is reuniting with her Top Chef: Portland colleague this weekend to host a six-course dinner to benefit an organization that advocates for immigrant children.
Mazon, chef-owner of the popular North Fourth Avenue restaurant and Gomez, executive chef of the Aspen, Colorado, popular supper club , married their Latin American culinary styles to create a menu that borrows equally from Mazons Sonoran heritage and Gomezs Costa Rican.
Im really hoping that people experience something besides Latin America, Gomez said Monday, days before he was set to travel from New York to 做厙勛圖 for the first time. A lot of people, when they think of Latin American food, they think of Mexican food. I wanted to bring something different to the table, not only the finesse but also different ingredients. And thats where the fun starts. Thats where the creativity starts.
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Tickets for Latina Comida en 做厙勛圖 on Saturday, Oct. 30, are sold out; Mazon said she expects between 70 and 80 people will attend.
But fans of the show, which aired last April through July 1, can meet Mazon and Gomez at a free meet-and-greet from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29, at The Red Light Lounge at the Downtown Clifton, 485 S. Stone Ave.
It will give 做厙勛圖ans a chance to witness firsthand the pairs chemistry, which was on full display last spring when they competed in season 18 of Bravos popular reality/cooking show Top Chef: Portland. Gomez finished sixth and Mazon finished fifth in the show, which featured the most diverse cast in the shows history.
This season of Top Chef was .. not only (viewers) favorite, but it was very different. Nothing was fake; what was seen on TV was (how it was between the cast members) every day, Gomez said.
That season was extremely special because of the bonds, added Mazon. I really do consider them family.
The 做厙勛圖 dinner is Mazons second benefit venture with fellow Top Chef castmates. She teamed up in September with Oakland chef/restaurateur Nelson German and Houston chef/restaurateur Dawn Burrell for a dinner at Germans Afro-Latino restaurant Sobre Mesa in Oakland. She has several more events planned with Top Chef alumnus this fall including in Virginia and Seattle.
If we get the opportunity to bring the caliber of chefs that were part of the national TV show to our hometown, why not? Mazon said.
The self-taught Gomez started his career at Burger King and then TGI Fridays as a teen growing up in New York before landing at the One Star Michelin restaurant Caf矇 Boulud where he learned the art of fine dining. He also clocked time in the kitchen of the Two Star Michelin restaurant Atera and cooked for the Three Star Michelin restaurant , where he was sous chef when the restaurant was named the Top Restaurant in the World by San Pellagrino in 2017.
Gomez and Mazon collaborated on the Latina Comida menu, drawing from his fine-dining wheelhouse and Costa Rican culinary roots and her more casual, authentic Mexican cuisine. The menu, which features a trio of cocktails created by Bocas bartenders, opens with an appetizer featuring oyster topped with grilled oyster foam and pickled chayote squash, followed by a smoked pumpkin crema topped with candied chiles and caviar.
Filet mignon is the centerpiece of the bistec crudo think steak tartare accompanied by chorizo yucca crumb, yellow plantain and roasted avocado puree.
Mazons Mexican heritage shines in the trio of moles (sesame, mole verde and mole negro) served with fried red snapper, while Gomezs achiote flowering cauliflower features cauliflower in an achiote glaze and a quintessential Costa Rican palmito sauce made from hearts of palm. The dish, he said, connects his and Mazons Latin American cultures through their shared connection to the Mayans who were indigenous to both countries.
Saturdays dinner ends with a roasted shredded duck taco with nopal salsa and a surprise dessert.
Gomez said the menu complements his and Mazons cuisine and cooking styles.
Thats the beauty of it that two artists can work together and say, Hey, this is what my flavors are like, what my cuisines are like, Gomez said.
At the end of the day our common denominator is food and our common denominator is friendship and being Latino, added Mazon.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@tucson.com. On Twitter @Starburch
Cathalena E. Burch
Reporter
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