There’s a new concept coming to the city of Philadelphia, and it’s meant to resemble something similar to world-renowned Mexico City restaurants like Pujol and Quintonil. Mesona is a new fine-dining experience set to open later this year, but a preview of it all is coming to Bella Vista for an 8-week residency this week.
Mesona comes from Chef Alejandro Martín Sánchez, who most recently held a position at Center City’s Mission Taqueria. And while shopping for a space for the new venue (which will hold one single 12-seat table, along with a few seats at a chef’s counter overlooking the kitchen) 27-year-old Sánchez has decided to give Philadelphians a chance to sample what can be expected at Nano Wheedan’s Taco Heart.
Beginning Feb. 29, and serving the community through April 20, the Tex-Mex taco shop located at 1001 East Passyunk Avenue will host Sánchez’s dinner-only residency every Thursday through Saturday night. There will only be a 6:30 seating for the first weekend, before moving to 6 and 8:30 p.m. seatings for the remainder of the preview.
As a release notes, the six-course, $110 (tax included) BYOB experience will feature upscale, elevated cuisine resembling the fine dining approach, plating, and style of some of the finest restaurants located in Mexico City and Oaxaca, Mexico.
“Mesona is a word that is used for one single table, and for me, it’s about having one table bringing the community together. It’s about making a space work that people can get together and share food with one another, which is so important,” says Sánchez in a statement. “I want to do this while bringing something like Pujol to Philadelphia. Chef Enrique Olvera is an inspiration of mine, and I hope to bring a truly unique concept to this incredible food city.”
The residency’s opening menu will feature squash chochoyote (masa dumplings) with uni, frijol, and blanco; a tostada of mussels, adobados, tangerine chutney and roe; smoked eggplant with chichilo negro, and kefir; lobster with carrot tatemado, and turmeric; mole anisado with shiso, plantain and café; and a dessert of guava, hibiscus, au jus and rose. After a month, the menu will change, and some ingredients will come from Riverwards Produce.
Mesona will open later this year in Philadelphia as a BYOB, but the space will also incorporate an extensive non-alcoholic beverage program with pairing options. The chef will also be personally involved in every dinner service, explaining every course including ingredient descriptions as well as stories about the inspiration for the dishes
Sánchez left Tamaulipas, Mexico in 2017 out of his fear for his own life, with kidnapping being a serious issue for him personally, the release also notes. Growing up around food, and with an older brother who is also a chef, Sánchez got his training in Texas working under Michelin star chef Graham Campbell and James Beard semifinalist Larry Delgado before arriving in Philadelphia in 2021 as part of the opening team at LMNO. He then went on to work at Mission Taqueria and has been able to use his fusion of Mexican and American cultures in the past, with Mesona following suit in the near future.
And the partnership with this residency will give locals their first glimpse into it all.
“I couldn’t believe when I heard someone was making Tex-Mex tacos in Philadelphia with their own flour tortillas,” says Sánchez. “I went in with not-so-great expectations about it, but then I tried the tortillas and I got incredibly emotional because it reminded me of my childhood taco order that I ate with my father. It was refried beans with cheese and flour tortillas, and it made me want to talk to Nano. I left with love. That’s how we became friends.”
Philadelphians can visit exploretock.com/mesona-
