Al Mercato’s luchadores

In less than four years Eugenio Roncoroni and Beniamino Nespor, chefs and patrons at Al Mercato, have become a pillar in the Milanese restaurant scene. They started with a "two-faced" restaurant, like Janus, with two entrance doors in Via Sant'Eufemia: one leads to the Burger Bar, where possibly the best hamburger in town is served, while the other to the real restaurant, where you can taste the more sophisticated and creative cuisine of the two chefs.

The success of this first location led to the opening of a second place, the Noodle Bar in Viale Bligny, where Beniamino and Eugenio focused on Asian street food, from Yakitori, Noodles and Bahn Mi to complex and very craveable Hot-dogs.

And now, during the summer, the third creature was born, the Taco Bar in Via Casale. When speaking with Eugenio Roncoroni about this new opening, he immediately points out that what happened during these years was not planned in advance, step after step: «we simply followed and supported our ideas and our passions, without an articulated project».

So where did the idea of a Taco Bar come from? «It was simply given by the fact that we have both lived in California, where the influence arriving from Mexico is very strong – Eugenio explains – and I, in particular, have worked for a long time with many Mexicans. Besides, in Italy, Mexican gastronomy is perceived as a big meat hash, with undefined sauces and flavours, while it was important to us to prove how fresh, delicious it is, with a very prices style that has nothing to envy the great world’s cuisines».

The place where Al Mercato’s Taco Bar is located, on the Navigli, in the heart of the Milanese movida, once hosted a pizzeria. It is from this previous restaurant that Eugenio and Beniamino inherited a wood oven that turned out to be essential for their new dishes: «We only learnt afterwards that the Neapolitan pizzeria of which we took the location some time ago was featured in Cucine da incubo [Kitchen Nightmares] before going bankrupt. When we arrived we had to redo basically everything, but we decided to keep the oven because we understood that cooking whole pieces of meat in there would be a great added value, something of which even very few restaurants in Mexico can be proud of. It’s a very high quality artisanal oven. Besides it is lined with gold, something that we would have normally not kept, but in the Mexican context it has its raison d'être».

The menu at the Taco Bar is simple and rich at the same time. Tacos (with or without cheese), Burritos, Quesadilla and Super Torta: all these preparations are based on different tortillas that are filled with the chosen meat, which changes daily (mostly meat, lamb and chicken, with different cuts and cooking times), with guacamole, crème fraîche, pico de gallo, radish and other details that change in every dish. Among the Tacos, every night there are some special versions too, with fish, shellfish or special meats. Ordering is very fun – thanks to a service that is always very quick and also smiling and informal – and eating is even more so, what with the strong flavours that are always balanced, and with the high quality raw materials.

«The idea is to use whole cuts, mostly poor ones, keeping the Mexican traditions. These meats require long cooking times – Eugenio explains – which thus absorb the scents and the flavours of the wood. For crowded tables we can even serve the whole piece, to be put in the middle of the table so guests can then play with sauces and tortillas».

Even the drinks are fun and researched, with a bar built specially for this restaurant by the two owners of the 1930 Cocktail Bar, who have been collaborating for quite some time with Al Mercato and who, in this case «have perfectly put to use their knowledge of mezcal and tequila».

The desserts in the menu are currently only two, namely Churros and Tapioca: some more will soon arrive, studied by Luca De Santi, who’s been working on Al Mercato’s desserts for some time.

Al Mercato Taco & Cocktail Bar
Via Casale 5
Milan
+39.02.36767328
Tacos 4-5€, Burrito, Cake and Quesadilla 12-15€, Cocktails 8€