Leonard St, London, is a funny little sliver of a street. It’s a couple of steps away from Old Street, and all the ensuing high-rise buildings of corporate techy acclaim (Amazon, Google, Microsoft, the likes). But it’s also nestled against the very different conglomerate that is Shoreditch, with its constellation of overpriced vintage stores, fashionably made-up Gen Z, and a revolving door of pop-ups (as I write this, a queue of hundreds is wrapping around Bethnal Green buildings to enter Harry Styles’ merch pop-up).
“We get a varied clientele,” says Chef Yahir Gonzalez, co-founder of contemporary Mexican restaurant and bar, Zapote. The business crowd, he confirms, is good for business – big tables where food and drink orders flow at a quick pace. With its 65-seater space, there is plenty of incentive for big crowds; but when I had my dinner on a quiet Tuesday night, just me and my plus one, the large room seemed to metamorphose into an intimate space. Next to us, a couple was meeting the boyfriend’s father for the first time, if that helps paint a picture of all the kinds of dates Zapote can help oil. For us, it was dinner and a show.
When we first arrive, we are greeted at the door by co-founder Tony Geary, who introduces us to the space. On one side of the room, you’ll find one bar and three open-plan kitchens. The concept behind the kitchens was to honour the variety of Mexican cuisine and the different areas of the country that staple dishes come from. First, in an ode to the Mexican coast, is the ceviche and aguachile section. Then there’s the open grill, burning charcoal and different woods in a style harkening to the methods of northern Mexico and Oaxaca. Finally, the kitchen, where the tortillas are attentively made each day.
Later, in conversation with Chef Gonzalez, he tells me about the minute process of tortilla-making. “The corn – blue corn, red corn, white corn, yellow corn – comes from Mexico. The hardest part of opening was getting the tortillas right. You might think, oh, it’s just a tortilla, but it’s the hardest work.” He tells me how each morning, someone comes in at 5:00 am to begin grinding the corn on the molino. Whilst I’m not an expert on tortillas, I can confirm they were delicious – but one thing at a time.
Before we begin eating, our lovely waitress Magdalena guides us through Zapote’s drinks menu. We tell her we’re at her mercy, really, and that we trust any and all recommendations she has. “I think we have really similar tastes,” she grins in response. I have the Zapote 70, their signature cocktail, a Tequila-based, citrusy drink that thrilled me for what was to come. A few totopos (corn tortilla chips with sauce) are brought to the table to keep any premature tipsiness at bay and, quickly thereafter, the main show begins.
We start with fish – the yellowfin tuna and spicy crab tostada, specifically. It’s a beautiful presentation, with a blanket of crab covering the crispy tostada and, like a cherry on top, the smoothest cut of red tuna crowning the dish. The textures balance perfectly, and it’s at just-the-right-amount of spice. We soon learn that all dishes will be as invitingly pretty, with their dashes of colours and blends of textures. Next up, the sea bream aguachile doesn’t disappoint, with slices of fennel placed delicately on top. We admire the plate quickly, before we’re told the trick of the game is to taste the zingy sauce before mixing everything up with our spoons. It’s worth the destruction.
Magdalena approaches us with, as she calls it, “the standout seafood dish.” It’s the chargrilled scallops, five of them nestled inside a shell in a red clamato sauce. I’d never tried scallops that carried an undertone of tomato before, but I was thrilled to add that flavour profile to my repertoire. They were accompanied by charred cassava, a starchy root vegetable native to South America (they looked like bulky french fries) to really soak up that sauce. This entire first portion of the meal was accompanied by a glass of Galician Albariño Pazo Senorans white wine, a crisp, aromatic pairing.
Then, the meat. I must admit, I have a biased preference for all kinds of seafood, so believe me when I say it’s a testament to the following dishes that they were my favourite of the meal. This is specifically true of the ox tongue taco, our agreed standout of the evening. When Chef Gonzalez comes by to introduce himself during the meal, I take the opportunity to steal a couple minutes from his kitchen duties with a question. “Do you have a favourite?” I ask. “They’re like my children,” he responds, “but… it’s the ox tongue taco.”
Order it and you’ll have yourself a tortilla draped with a velvety cashew mole sauce, holding the circular tongue. Cashews are sprinkled atop it, adding a hint of crunch to what is a perfect, delicious bite. Eat it with your hands! It’s the better and only way.
“When I was young,” Chef Gonzalez tells me in a later meeting, “my dad would be like, you want to go for tacos? We need to go early, because the ones that always finish first are the tongue tacos. So you need to go at opening, otherwise they’re gone. One cow only has one tongue, you know?” Knowing that Zapote operates on a seasonal basis, moving with the changing produce, I ask him if future diners can still expect to find the ox tongue taco on the menu. “For sure,” he reassures me, “there are some things we cannot change.”
Back to our meal, we are still riding the high of that taco when the suckling pig is brought to the table. Three perfect slices of crispy pork sit next to an ancho chilli sauce and red cabbage – already a great pairing, but made to be spread over the accompanying homemade tortillas. On the side, we also ordered the charred corn. Their vegetable dishes seemed varied and equally delicious; we just went for a more carnivorous selection. The corn did very well, shining brightly in representation of all the other veggie options we discarded. For this meaty portion of the meal, we were treated to the 2021 Shiraz from Morocco.
Almost completely full and, at this point, a little tipsy, we thought we were going to struggle through dessert. How wrong we were! If you’re ever at Zapote, you must have the black sesame doughnut, another staple of the menu. It’s another beautiful sight – glossy and grey, with Seville orange marmalade accumulating in the centre. It’s not exactly a dessert for sweet-tooths; the flavour instead leans into the bitterness of the sesame and orange, tasting almost burnt at first before subsiding. It was a real delight, and another highlight of the evening for me (a sweet-tooth!).
What to expect, instead, as we come into spring? Chef Gonzalez is still experimenting with the coming menu. “It takes two or three weeks to finalise a dish. You start with an idea and, when you put it together, it’s all about the taste. It can look great, or beautiful, but the most important thing is the flavour, is it memorable? Is something missing?” He works with his head chef and local producers to ensure consistency and a perfect balance in each dish. “We don’t change something just for the sake of it. It’s a very important part of the process. If it’s not better than what came before it, why change?”
If Zapote doesn’t change a single dish I’d be happy to recommend it. But with the promise of a carefully curated, varying menu, I’ll be enthusiastic to return. Finish the meal with a shot of Tequila if, after a hearty meal, you want to giggle your way back home as we did.