For Diana Gomez, setting up a Mexican restaurant in Toronto is a dream come true. “I’ve spent all my life in restaurants,” she says. “Everybody’s been telling me to start my own restaurant here.” Simply Mexican, which is set to open near Yonge and St. Clair in the next few weeks, will serve the same traditional fare that Gomez’s family in Mexico has eaten for generations.
Gomez previously owned a restaurant in Veracruz, and she’s partnered up with sisters Lulu Torres and Maria Elena Torres, owners of Amaranto Food Trading, which imports specialty food items like dried chilies, moles and tortillas from Mexico. Amaranto’s Toronto clients include Perola Supermarket in Kensington, Milagro and other restaurants in the city – this is a team that knows its Mexican food.
By day, the restaurant will serve lunch as well as take-out and delivery, by night, the menu gets more sophisticated; delivery and take-out stops, candles come out and the space becomes a romantic dinner spot. Mexican standards will be on offer, but “this isn’t just burritos and tacos,” Gomez says. A rotating specials menu will highlight dishes that are difficult to find elsewhere in the city. Such items could include the “huachinango empapelado” (wrapped red snapper with vegetables in a guajillo sauce), “costilla de cerdo” (pork ribs marinated in an ancho chili sauce) and a variety of ceviches. Tortillas are to be made “as they were during Aztec times.”
In the kitchen is Erik Juseppe, who has been working on the menu (with help from the Simply Mexican ladies) from his home in Mexico City. He’s worked at a slew of restaurants there (El Tributo, Le Petit Lion) and will be moving here shortly, bringing a taste of Mexico with him. Expect mains to range from $15-$30; and if all goes well, the place should be open before April.
Simply Mexican, 1392 Yonge Street, 647-344-1187