It’s been six years since taqueria Taqiza opened, bringing breezy Mexican-inspired dining and drinking to the heart of Bondi. To mark its anniversary, it’s moved down the road to the former La Palma space, and has refocused on highlighting premium and rare mezcal and tequila. Like at operator Milpa Collective’s other venues (including Santa Catarina, Londres 126 and Carbon), those agave spirits are served neat, or in an array of cocktails that go beyond Margaritas.

Jorge Alcala has been Milpa Collective’s executive chef for the past year. He has taken over the Taqiza kitchen and designed a menu of tacos, taquitos and ceviches to match both the agave spirits, and the party spirits the group intends to create at the venue with regular DJs, bottomless brunches and live music. Here’s what he has in store.

Why did you want to join Milpa Collective?
As a Mexican, I am very proud of my culture and roots, and of Mexico’s gastronomy. I firmly believe that Mexican gastronomy is one of the richest worldwide. Mexican cuisine is a living cultural manifestation, representative of humanity with its old age, historical continuity, and the originality of its products, techniques and procedures that represent the soul and the history of individual villages in each dish.

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Mexico’s traditional cuisine is on Unesco’s Representative List of the [Intangible] Cultural Heritage of Humanity; I want to represent Mexican gastronomy around the world. Milpa Collective is the company that best represents Mexican culture and gastronomy in Australia.

Do you have any fun plans or ideas for Taqiza?
I would like to run the venue with the best food, best drinks, best service, and the best music to generate the best Mexican party atmosphere.

Will you bring along any dishes you’re excited for people to try?
We recently added birria tacos to the menu. That is a dish representative of the state of Jalisco. It is one of the most famous dishes in Mexico and around the world.

Any other cool dishes you reckon will thrill diners?
We have created the al pastor bagel as part of a collab with Best Bagel Co. It’s filled with pork loin, al pastor adobo, Oaxaca cheese, salsa, avocado and caramelised pineapple. We will be donating 10 per cent of sales to not-for-profit Mission Mexico.

taqiza.com.au
@taqiza