Xochitl, Aztec goddess of flowers, gives the new restaurant its name.
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Xochitl, Aztec goddess of flowers, gives the new restaurant its name.
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Oaxacan street tlayudas, spread with lard, beans and tangy string cheese, are cooked over charcoal grills. At Xochi, they’re blistered in the wood-fired oven and served with a choice of proteins including beef, pork and mushroom.
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Oaxacan street tlayudas, spread with lard, beans and tangy string cheese, are cooked over charcoal grills. At Xochi, they’re blistered in the wood-fired oven and served with a choice of proteins including beef, pork and mushroom.
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Oaxacan tamales are typically wrapped in banana leaves, not corn husks. This chicken one is topped in mole negro.
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Oaxacan tamales are typically wrapped in banana leaves, not corn husks. This chicken one is topped in mole negro.
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Barbacoa de Res de Zaachila is rolled with hoja santa leaves and served with guajillo and costeño pepper broth. We wrote about a pork version we tried in Zaachila here: https://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2016/8/26/where-do-chefs-eat-in-oaxaca-el-mangalito
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Barbacoa de Res de Zaachila is rolled with hoja santa leaves and served with guajillo and costeño pepper broth. We wrote about a pork version we tried in Zaachila here: https://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2016/8/26/where-do-chefs-eat-in-oaxaca-el-mangalito
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Carnitas are covered in highly seasoned chicharrones.
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Carnitas are covered in highly seasoned chicharrones.
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Executive pastry chef Ruben Ortega is working with former Kuu phenom Karla Espinosa on desserts like pastel de mole y tamarindo.
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Executive pastry chef Ruben Ortega is working with former Kuu phenom Karla Espinosa on desserts like pastel de mole y tamarindo.
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Corn plays a significant role in the desserts, including this plating of polvorones made from elote.
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Corn plays a significant role in the desserts, including this plating of polvorones made from elote.
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However, the grain is most central in this helado de elote. We’re predicting this may be as popular as Ortega’s playful El Coco at Caracol.
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However, the grain is most central in this helado de elote. We’re predicting this may be as popular as Ortega’s playful El Coco at Caracol.
At the time, Castellanos mentioned consulting on the menu at Xochi, Ortega and Vaught’s latest Houston restaurant. “We have known Chef Rodolfo professionally for several years and have also formed a wonderful friendship with him, and it was a great opportunity to partner with him at Origen in Oaxaca,” the couple said via email to Houstonia. “It is nice to have the support of a chef that shares your same level of passion for cooking and to be able to bounce ideas off of each other and help each other.”
Xochi will open in early January on the ground floor of the new Marriott Marquis Houston Downtown. And now that we’re just weeks away from the debut of Houston’s first upscale Oaxacan restaurant, there are some exciting menu details to share.
Readers will recognize tlayudas from our article about key Oaxacan foods to try, as well as the sope-like memelas that I enjoyed at coastal Oaxacan restaurant La Teca, and the tetelas, tortillas folded into a triangular shape around their fillings, a signature at Slow Food palace Itanoní. At Xochi, the memelas will be topped with pork ribs, while the tetelas will be made with blue corn tortillas filled with cheese.
An entire section of the menu will be dedicated to moles (including mole de chicatanas, made from flying ants), with a mole flight available for diners who can’t stop at just one. In the meantime, why not try making your own mole negro or amarillo with the recipes provided to us by Castellanos? They’ll be a fair preview of what’s to come at Xochi.
Alice joined Houstonia in November 2015 and has been relishing exploring the city’s vibrant food scene ever since.
She began her journalism career at age 13 with a cult film criticism ’zine. As an adult, stints with WWE Magazine and EatingWell led to her job as senior food writer at Vermont’s alternative newsweekly, Seven Days, in 2008. In that capacity, she became one of the state’s most well-known TV and radio personalities. Her first book, Vermont: An Explorer’s Guide, was published in 2015. Alice has won an AltWeekly Award for Best Food Writing, two Daysies for Best Print/Online Journalist, and two "Top Social Foodie" awards from Burlington Social Media Day.
