The duo behind Ripponlea’s Mission District, Jenna and Tom Davies, have teamed up with Tom Dalton (ex-Mamasita, Hotel Jesus) to launch Mexico City-inspired taqueria Santito.
Head Chef Sandra Martinez is fronting the kitchen, having joined off the back of three years at Mission District. Working alongside her is a team of Mexican women: Ellie Merino, Paloma Yáñez, and Amelia Serrano.
The venue is set in the old Collingwood Post Office site, which formerly hosted Hotel Jesus. The Davies and Dalton honoured the original Mash Design fitout where possible, retaining the distinctive colour, tiles, and retro Mexican style, but they updated one side of the venue into a dedicated takeaway area. The main dining room has seating for 56, with an additional 16 alfresco seats.
Mexico City taqueria staples take centre stage on the menu, including tacos al pastor shaved from the trompo (spit), slow-braised suadero (brisket confi ted in lard) and house-made longaniza (an uncured Mexican sausage made from pork, guajillo chillies, garlic, vinegar, and smoked paprika).
Emphasising the importance of the tortilla, Martinez and her team nixtamalise Australian-grown white corn (meaning they soak it overnight in alkalised solution) before grinding it in a molino (Mexican stone mill) and hand-pressing tortillas in-house daily.
“The tortilla is everything,” says Martinez. “It’s the plate, the utensil, your faithful companion to every meal. It’s flavour and quality is so much more important than we realise, which is why we’re making it a focus at Santitio.”
Santito is located at 174 Smith Street, Collingwood. It is open Tues – Fri 5pm-late, Sat 12pm-late, Sun 12pm-4pm.
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