In October 2014, Chef Enrique Olvera opened his much-anticipated New York restaurant Cosme, which offers an inventive dining experience in the Flatiron District. The spacious restaurant is a short walk from Langham Place, Fifth Avenue, and features modern Mexican dishes with locally sourced ingredients and housemade tortillas. But guests should not come expecting standard chips and guacamole, Chef Olvera is known for utilizing creative and sometimes surprising ingredients in his dishes. Menu items include burrata, salsa verde and weeds, and occidental purple corn pozole, pork jowl, lettuce, radish, Mexican oregano. The eclectic menu items are meant to be shared, and certain Mexican specialties, like dried chiles, beans and heirloom corn are imported from Mexico. Chef Olvera’s Mexico City restaurant Pujol has gained world fame for his fresh take Mexican food, and Cosme offers more stellar options. The bar also pours a wide variety of mezcals and tequilas. Photo by T.Tseng/Flickr.
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A taste of high-end Mexican cuisine in NYC
After experiencing the wonderful culinary treats in Mexico City I knew that I needed to check out Cosme as soon as a trip to NYC came to fruition. This experience did not disappoint! As you enter the space, the first thing you feel is a blast of warmth. The moment you walk in you feel like you’re walking into someone’s living room with an open floor plan exposing the bar, kitchen, and dining room. The design coupled with the the low hum of voices from diners, you just feel comfort. I visited the restaurant with three other girlfriends who I knew would appreciate the experience. We started light with the cobia al pastor. The pineapple puree made that dish. We followed that with the Tlayuda (pictured) - a large tostada layered with black beans, avocado, chorizo, and more. It was more than enough to share between the four of us. Finally, we ended with the star of the evening, the duck carnitas. At $89 for the dish (meant to be shared), we were impressed with the portion size. Even between the four of us we were not able to finish the dish and ended up packing up the leftovers. Each dish we ordered was full of deep, hearty Mexican flavors that packed a punch. A great way to get a taste of the richness of Mexican cuisine that is unlike what you can elsewhere. While this is not a restaurant I would recommend to everyone - I would definitely encourage the more adventurous diners to experience at least once.
