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Sydney goes mad for Mexican

Scott Bolles
Scott Bolles

Recent opening ... El Topo bar at The Eastern Hotel at Bondi Junction.
Recent opening ... El Topo bar at The Eastern Hotel at Bondi Junction.Steve Lunam

Philanthropic and food savvy medico Dr Sam Prince opens Mejico restaurant in early 2013, at 105 Pitt Street in the CBD, next door to Jamie’s Italian. With a rash of new Mexican launches, it begs the question: after many years of not enough decent Mexican, is Sydney about to overcook a good movement?

Mexican is certainly Sydney’s new black. Merivale’s success with a cantina at the Excelsior pub in Surry Hills prompted it to take a bet on a Latin American restaurant that opens at Ivy next year.

Earlier this month El Topo opened in the tricky site at the Eastern Hotel in Bondi Junction that has claimed its share of restaurant scalps.

Taco time ... Mexican cuisine has taken Sydney by storm this year.
Taco time ... Mexican cuisine has taken Sydney by storm this year.William Meppem
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Prince might appear late to the Mexican party at Mejico but he points out that he worked at a Mexican restaurant in Melbourne and ‘‘I’ve travelled extensively through Mexico’’.

Prince, who is also behind street-food-chain Zambrero, which supports third-world hunger programs, says the upmarket Mejico will sidestep Mexican street food.

Prince says David Lee, a chef who has Pier and Balzac on his CV, nailed the brief when he cooked an ‘audition’ dish of scallop ceviche with pomegranate and lime juice.

‘‘It’ll go straight on the menu when we open in January.’’

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Scott BollesScott Bolles writes the weekly Short Black column in Good Food.

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