Sancho, a Restaurant Showcasing the Flavours of New Mexico, 17 Years in the Making, Opens in Stafford

Amanda and John Scott are used to being told they’re wrong.

“I even had a delivery driver tell me three weeks before we opened, ‘You’re making a mistake. You should be doing Thai food, that’s what Australians want,’” Amanda says.

But over their respective 30-year careers in hospitality, the couple behind Farmhouse Kedron and Oh Boy Bok Choy has developed a sharp sense of what Brisbane diners want. And they reckon the time is ripe to introduce the city to food from the US state of New Mexico.

“I tried to do this 17 years ago, but it was just going to be straight Mexican because I didn’t think Brisbane was ready for New Mexican food,” says Amanda. The wave of contemporary, high-quality Mexican restaurants like Baja, Cartel del Taco and La Bodega helped clear the way for Sancho, which opened on June 18.

Named after Sancho Panza from Don Quixote, the restaurant aims to showcase the state’s eclectic and idiosyncratic cuisine. Don’t expect US-style tacos smothered in plastic cheese – New Mexican food owes as much to the region’s 23 Native American tribes as it does to Spanish or US influence. “New Mexico is a bit like Australia. It’s a melting pot,” she says.

Sancho calls itself a taqueria and tequileria, but the menu is both more varied and more personal than that subtitle suggests. Amanda’s father grew up in New Mexico and her Australian mother fell in love with the region and its food, ensuring it was part of Amanda’s childhood.

The first item on the menu is New Mexican sopaipillas (puffy fried pastry dough) made from Amanda’s mother’s recipe. Typically served as a starter with chilli honey for dipping, here they’re accompanied by red and green salsa. “We weren’t sure people would want to start the meal with honey, but we have dessert sopaipillas that come with the chilli honey.”

The two colours of salsa are a key part of New Mexican dining, too. “Just about every eatery you go into, they’ll ask you, ‘Red or green?’” Amanda says. Made with native New Mexican chillies, red salsa is smoky and charred, while green is lighter and more herbaceous. Those who can’t decide ask for “Christmas”, meaning serves of both red and green. Not long after opening, she “was delighted to see [that] Christmas was the most popular choice.”

Pinto beans, corn and butternut pumpkin – all crucial to Native American agriculture in New Mexico – are present across the menu. But the full trio comes together in a dish developed by head chef Julius Villamor (ex-Baja) called the Three Sisters, featuring roasted pumpkin mole, bean hummus and chilli crisp, served with tortilla chips. Sancho’s tortillas, sourced from Victoria’s La Tortilleria, were recently awarded the Mexican Government’s Sello M seal of authenticity, making them the only brand of Australian tortillas to receive the certification.

There are some concessions to local tastes, too. “I didn’t want to do fish tacos – New Mexico is inland, fish tacos are not really a big thing. Julius was like, ‘This is Australia. You still have to have fish tacos.’” The solution was to play to Brisbane’s strengths and use the local catch of the day, paired with New Mexican flavours.

Despite the delivery driver’s warning, Amanda says locals are embracing the unfamiliar. “We’ve been brave [with Sancho] because it’s our fourth or fifth venue in this area, so we are quite well known by the locals … They trust that we’ll do something that’s an adventure.” And Amanda and John can trust their regulars to give honest feedback. “We’ll suggest what to order and afterwards they’ll tell us what they liked and what they weren’t sure about.”

Sitting right beside Oh Boy Bok Choy on Stafford Road, Sancho’s U-shaped space houses 84 seats across a verandah, a laneway and two small shopfronts on either side of the Little Birdie hairdresser. “It’s convenient if you want to get your hair done before dinner,” Amanda says. “You can order a drink. We’re already serving Margaritas in there.”

Sancho

1/240 Stafford Road, Stafford

(07) 3916 3009

Hours:

Mon to Wed 5pm–9pm

Thu to Sun midday–9pm

sancho.com.au

@sanchotaqueria