Wahaca, celebrated for its fresh, social, Mexican market food, is confirmed to open a 130-cover restaurant at 160-161 North St, Brighton, BN1 1EZ, this April.
Thomasina Miers comments, “We cannot wait to dish out proper tacos and tequila to the good people of Brighton. It’s a city with an amazing sense of culture, sustainable living and importantly, knowing how to enjoy itself. My siblings both live here and have been pestering us about how Brighton needs a Wahaca – we look forward to getting stuck in.”
Wahaca was born in 2007, inspired by co-founder Thomasina Miers’ travels to Mexico, time spent running bars there and falling in love with the country and cuisine. After winning Masterchef in 2005 and cooking in a Michelin-starred restaurant, she teamed up with fellow Mexico enthusiast Mark Selby to open a UK restaurant that would reflect the vibrant colours, flavours and buzz of the country’s markets.
The vision was to overturn the prevailing ‘Tex-Mex’ stereotype of tequila girls and greasy tortilla chips, and instead serve freshly prepared seasonal dishes, designed for sharing. The result went down a storm and almost immediately Londoners were queuing up for guacamole with lime juice, coriander and ripe Hass avocadoes; signature pork pibil tacos made with outdoor-reared British pork and corn tortillas; and MSC certified fish tacos – not to mention the range of 100% agave tequila.
For Wahaca, as important as delicious food is a commitment to sustainability, and all ingredients are sourced as locally as possible to home, or transported with care for the environment. Fish is of the highest sustainability accreditation and all meat is British, sourced from producers with high welfare standards. Where specialist ingredients have to be delivered from Mexico, the approach is to buy direct from local co-operatives that support local farming communities.
Since the inaugural Covent Garden site, Wahaca has won numerous awards for quality, sustainability and design; including the Observer Food Monthly Award for Best Cheap Eat in the UK, Sustainable Restaurant Group of the Year 2012 and 2013, The SRA Innovation award for championing the sustainability of Entomophagy in 2015, Best Pop-up from the Restaurant Bar and Design Awards, and the title of one of the ‘UK’s coolest brands’.
Wahaca Brighton – Opening April 2016
T: @wahaca
I: @wahaca
About Wahaca: Mexican Market Eating
Wahaca was born in 2007 from a love of fresh, honest Mexican Market food. First inspired by Thomasina Miers’ travels, running bars there and exploring the cuisine, she and co-founder Mark Selby later set about recreating Mexico’s vibrant flavours and social dining culture at home in the UK. Serving dishes conducive to sharing, such as freshly made guacamole with lime juice, coriander and ripe Hass avocados or signature pork pibil tacos made with outdoor-reared British pork and locally made tortillas, the pair have an equal commitment to sustainability. All ingredients are sourced as locally as possible or grown and transported with care for the environment, fish is of the highest sustainability accreditation and each Wahaca restaurant is ever more eco-friendly. With site-specific design that references the environmental and street art of the country’s districts, Wahaca transports diners on a journey of discovery, straight to the streets of Mexico.
About Thomasina Miers
Tommi arrived in Mexico aged 18, and the country and its food had such an impact that she went back to live there. After returning to London and winning BBC2’s MasterChef in 2005, she worked with Skye Gyngell at Petersham Nurseries in Richmond before bringing authentic Mexican food to the UK with street food cantina, Wahaca. Thomasina is the co-editor of Soup Kitchen and the author of Cook, Wild Gourmets, Mexican Food Made Simple and Wahaca: Mexican Food at Home. Her latest cookbook Chilli Notes; Recipes to warm the heart (not burn the tongue) by Thomasina Miers was published by Hodder & Stoughton in May 2014.
