Chef Norman Fenton is gearing up to open doors on his debut venture Cariño as chef-owner in partnership with restaurateur and owner of Wild Tulum Karen Young on Thursday, December 28th in the Uptown neighborhood.
The 1,700 sq. ft. fine dining restaurant housed in the former Brass Heart space at 4662 N. Broadway and features a 12-16 course Latin American-inspired tasting menu showcasing regional cuisines, ingredients, and flavors throughout Mexico and Central and South America. Guests will be offered a late-night taco omakase on select nights to debut in the coming months, featuring tortillas made via Cariño’s in-house masa program, as well as a Latin wine menu curated by sommelier Richie Ribando and cocktails by Denisse Soto.
Beginning with an aguachile course, Cariño’s iteration presents a base of white soy-cured Ora King salmon and kanpachi from Baja California, served in a cloud of jalapeño and serrano chili vapor. Moving into the ravioli course, Fenton takes the opportunity to celebrate the importance of corn in Latin America using huitlacoche, a fungus specific to corn plants. T
Although the order of dishes is akin to a traditional tasting menu, Fenton makes an interlude just before moving from savory to sweet by incorporating an after-dinner coffee and cookies. Fenton serves a freshly brewed coffee made from a house blend of Latin American coffee beans alongside a fried churro coated in sherry sugar and surrounded by Oaxacan mole negro and raisin puree, with dots of foie gras mousse on top.
“It’s a two-handed, tactile experience that bridges your palette from savory courses into dessert. While you’re eating the churro, the fat from the foie gras washes in your mouth, and the residual texture silkens the acid of the coffee,” explains Fenton.
Starting in late January or early February, Cariño’slate-night taco omakase will be available Wednesday - Saturday nights at 9:30pm at the seven-seat chef’s counter. In true omakase fashion, there is no set menu, but guests can expect eight to twelve courses with the same technique and sensory experience Fenton fosters in the tasting menu. Inclusive in the $125/person experience is the guest’s choice of three half pours of wine or three half cocktails. With tortillas hand-shaped and cooked over a traditional comal for each course,
To pair with Fenton’s menu, Cariño’s beverage program will present a collection of Latin wines in addition to craft cocktails, and beers. Spearheading the wine program is sommelier Richie Ribando. Selections include labels from smaller farmers such as La Casa Viejo out of the Valle de Guadalupe to estates like “Las Notas de Jean-Claude" from Bodega Tapiz out of Mendoza, Argentina, where the consulting winemaker happens to be Jean-Claude Berroet who made wine at Petrus in Pomerol for over 40 years. Denisse Soto draws inspiration from her upbringing in Mexico City to helm cocktail creation at Cariño. Guests can expect takes on classic cocktails like a truffle Manhattan made with Mexican whiskey and huitlacoche-infused Argentinian red vermouth, served tableside from a hickory smoke-filled decanter as well as a pisco sour-inspired drink made with the herbal Patagonian spirit, Trikal, and chicha morada, a fruity purple corn-based Peruvian beverage. On the non-alcoholic side, Cariño will have housemade agua frescas, Mexican sodas, and Sparrow coffee and tea.
Reservations are required and are now open on TOCK.
Chef Norman Fenton is gearing up to open doors on his debut venture Cariño as chef-owner in partnership with restaurateur and owner of Wild Tulum Karen Young on Thursday, December 28th in the Uptown neighborhood.
The 1,700 sq. ft. fine dining restaurant housed in the former Brass Heart space at 4662 N. Broadway and features a 12-16 course Latin American-inspired tasting menu showcasing regional cuisines, ingredients, and flavors throughout Mexico and Central and South America. Guests will be offered a late-night taco omakase on select nights to debut in the coming months, featuring tortillas made via Cariño’s in-house masa program, as well as a Latin wine menu curated by sommelier Richie Ribando and cocktails by Denisse Soto.
Beginning with an aguachile course, Cariño’s iteration presents a base of white soy-cured Ora King salmon and kanpachi from Baja California, served in a cloud of jalapeño and serrano chili vapor. Moving into the ravioli course, Fenton takes the opportunity to celebrate the importance of corn in Latin America using huitlacoche, a fungus specific to corn plants. T
Although the order of dishes is akin to a traditional tasting menu, Fenton makes an interlude just before moving from savory to sweet by incorporating an after-dinner coffee and cookies. Fenton serves a freshly brewed coffee made from a house blend of Latin American coffee beans alongside a fried churro coated in sherry sugar and surrounded by Oaxacan mole negro and raisin puree, with dots of foie gras mousse on top.
“It’s a two-handed, tactile experience that bridges your palette from savory courses into dessert. While you’re eating the churro, the fat from the foie gras washes in your mouth, and the residual texture silkens the acid of the coffee,” explains Fenton.
Starting in late January or early February, Cariño’s late-night taco omakase will be available Wednesday - Saturday nights at 9:30pm at the seven-seat chef’s counter. In true omakase fashion, there is no set menu, but guests can expect eight to twelve courses with the same technique and sensory experience Fenton fosters in the tasting menu. Inclusive in the $125/person experience is the guest’s choice of three half pours of wine or three half cocktails. With tortillas hand-shaped and cooked over a traditional comal for each course,
To pair with Fenton’s menu, Cariño’s beverage program will present a collection of Latin wines in addition to craft cocktails, and beers. Spearheading the wine program is sommelier Richie Ribando. Selections include labels from smaller farmers such as La Casa Viejo out of the Valle de Guadalupe to estates like “Las Notas de Jean-Claude" from Bodega Tapiz out of Mendoza, Argentina, where the consulting winemaker happens to be Jean-Claude Berroet who made wine at Petrus in Pomerol for over 40 years. Denisse Soto draws inspiration from her upbringing in Mexico City to helm cocktail creation at Cariño. Guests can expect takes on classic cocktails like a truffle Manhattan made with Mexican whiskey and huitlacoche-infused Argentinian red vermouth, served tableside from a hickory smoke-filled decanter as well as a pisco sour-inspired drink made with the herbal Patagonian spirit, Trikal, and chicha morada, a fruity purple corn-based Peruvian beverage. On the non-alcoholic side, Cariño will have housemade agua frescas, Mexican sodas, and Sparrow coffee and tea.
Reservations are required and are now open on TOCK.
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