From Nuba to Chancho to the forthcoming Alimentaria Mexicana, Vancouver chef Ernesto Gomez stirs things up at the Polygon
The Mexican-Canadian restaurateur kicks off the gallery’s new cooking series, will soon open a tortilleria, cantina, and shop on Granville Island
Ernesto Gomez uses fair-trade, traceable ingredients from Canada and Mexico in his restaurant kitchens. Photo by Stasia Garraway
YOU MIGHT NOT yet know his name, but chances are you’ve heard of Mexican-Canadian chef Ernesto Gomez’s restaurants. He founded Nuba, the former Fayuca, and Chancho Tortilleria. This summer, the local culinary leader and entrepreneur will be opening Alimentaria Mexicana, a restaurant, tortilla factory, and retail shop on Granville Island.
And now, he’s joining the Polygon with its new cooking series in conjunction with its current food-focused exhibitions, Feast for the Eyes: The Story of Food in Photography and Derya Akay: Meydan.
The Lower Lonsdale public gallery has asked local chefs to prepare a comfort food dish. Gomez is kicking things off with a Mexican chicken-and-dumpling soup.
Having trained at places such as L’Espadon, a Paris restaurant with two Michelin stars, and three-star Martín Berasategui in Basque Country, Gomez divides his time between Mexico and Canada. He works directly with farmers and families in several remote communities in Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Tabasco to source Indigenous ingredients, from chillies and spices to beans and cacao.
The forthcoming Alimentaria Mexicana, meanwhile, is described as a cultural and culinary experience, part of Gomez’s social mission to support and celebrate farmers and suppliers from Canada and small south-of-the-border communities across Mexico.
Situated in the former home of Edible Canada, Alimentaria Mexicana will have a licensed dine-in cantina and patio, take-out window, tortilleria, educational space, and retail shop. It will carry artisanal products and provisions, including the fair-trade and traceable ingredients Gomez uses in his kitchens. His partners are executive chef Martin Vargas (Fayuca) and Darragh McFeely (Nuba, Chancho Tortilleria, and Fayuca.
“Behind every chile, kernel of corn and native grain we source from Mexico are stories with thousands of years of heritage, genetics and biodiversity attached to them, “ Gomez said in a release. “These are stories of hardworking farmers that planted the crops, tended and harvested them with care and are now able to reap the rewards and improve the lives of the people who live and work in those communities.“
More information is at Alimentaria Mexicana.
Alimentaria Mexicana will bring a tortilleria to Granville Island.
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