Local chef Alex Tellez is bringing a taste of authenticity to Kensington with a new masa program.
Aimed at connecting Philadelphians to the rich history and flavors of heirloom maìze sourced from Mexican farms, Sor Ynéz in Kensington recently rolled out its masa retail program, Masa de Sor Ynéz. Masa is a maìze dough that used for making corn tortillas, tamales and many other Latin American dishes, and Tellez has a very personal, nostalgic connection to the craft.
A native of Estado de Mexico, Tellez joins additional chefs who also grew up in Mexico in an effort to bring the tradition of masa to Sor Ynéz. Tellez’s team sources the maize from independent agriculturalists in Mexico and spearheads the nixtamalization and milling processes.
Tellez explains that, “everything was just coming out pretty dry,” so about a year ago, they decided to make their own masa, grinding it in-house.
“We wanted a better-quality product, better varied ingredients,” said Tellez. “We had the opportunity during the winter because we were a little slower last year, so we started experimenting with it. We liked the end product and just decided to go with it.”
Sor Ynéz sells 12 packs of white corn six-inch tortillas and the masa by the kilo. They are sold from the restaurant Tuesdays through Saturdays from noon to 9 p.m.
“With the masa, you can make tortillas, you can make tamales,” he said, adding that Sor Ynéz has a partnership with Small World Seafood, a nearby restaurant.
“They give us some seafood that’s seasonal or what they want,” explains Tellez. “And then we make tamales with their seafood. So right now, they offer seafood tamales and that’s just through them.”
Tellez said his crew was thrilled with the final product, and with the community having access to fresh masa. “We wanted to provide that to the community and sell mainly locally,” he said. “We would like to do some farmer’s markets, but as of now, we just want to sell it through the restaurant.”
Sor Ynéz closed briefly to develop the masa program and recently reopened after its launch. Tellez currently has about 10 part time staffers in the kitchen and 10 in front of the house.
He says the city’s culinary scene went through a slow process of understanding Mexican food—restaurant patrons had “culinary knowledge in a way where everything was just Tex-Mex or tacos and burritos.”
Over the past three years, however, the culinary scene across Philadelphia has leveled up with food from Mexico, according to Tellez, who has witnessed it firsthand: “Especially with us—we have the classic street food, but we also have more family style dishes.”
Sor Ynéz is located at 1800 N. American Street. The restaurant is open Tuesday to Saturday, with happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday to Friday. For more information, visit sorynez.com
