Au menu de ce catalogue : 6 marques et surtout 6 belles rencontres. La première s’appelle Niki Nakazawa, alias la« mezcal queen », une Américano-Japonaise cofondatrice de la marque Neta.
Nous avons passé beaucoup de temps à rencontrer des familles productrices du village de Lachiguizo, et à comprendre ce qui implique la fabrication de ce spiritueux : le sol, les agaves, la cuisson, la fermentation et la distillation. De ça est né Neta.
Read More“I'm just standing in an alleyway right now,” says Dimayuga, laughing, over a crackling call from Mexico City. She’s on a last-minute research excursion with the Spanish chef Peter Sanchez-Iglesias — his Bristol restaurants Casamia and Paco Tapas have earned Michelin stars — whom she brought on to launch a rooftop restaurant at The Standard’s King’s Cross outpost in London. The pair is on an intimate tour guided by local mezcal expert Niki Nakazawa, the similarly fanciful foodie with an art and publishing background who cofounded Neta, a mezcal brand dedicated to supporting small producers. “The restaurant is going to be Spanish, but also inspired by Mexican cuisine,” she explains. “In my last few years at Mission Chinese, I was really interested in working collaboratively with a lot of different types of creatives: scientists, activists, farmers. Once I left, I just continued to do a lot of weird projects.”
Read MoreSanchez-Iglesias and Green—who will be at the helm of the rooftop restaurant at The Standard, London, which opens this spring in King’s Cross—have traveled to Mexico City from Bristol, where they work at Sanchez-Iglesias’s two restaurants Casamia and Paco Tapas, which have a Michelin Star apiece. Angela Dimayuga, food and culture director of The Standard and formerly executive chef at Mission Chinese, joined the duo from New York for the research trip, which was guided by Niki Nakazawa, an expert in Mexican cuisine who among many things, has worked as a caterer; producer for the Acid episode of the Netflix series Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat; and co-founder of a new mezcal called Neta.
Read MoreFor seven years now, Niki has been a culinary “fixer” and interpreter to clients around the globe and was a consultant for the mezcal program for Noma Mexico. From curating the mezcal program along with head sommelier of Noma, Mads Kleppe, Niki takes us through the R&D it took to create the mezcal experience for the highly anticipated pop-up.
Read MoreDuring service hours Thursday, November 8, 2018, the founders of NETA will be at CALA in San Francisco, working the floor and presenting a flight of three specially selected expressions from three mezcaleros from the district of Miahuatlán, in the Sierra Sur region of Oaxaca, an area renowned for its continuity of culture and traditional agave spirits production. Bar and kitchen service will be in full-swing, so come by for a snack or dinner and the chance to talk all things agave. No cover charge!
149 Fell Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
Niki Nakazawa’s path took her from the northeastern US to Mexico City to Oaxaca, from art to food and now to Neta, a mezcal brand devoted to supporting small producers. This week on The Trip, she talks with host Nathan Thornburgh about the future of mezcal and why Mexico is a great place for hustlers.
Read MoreMax Rosenstock is from New Mexico, lives in the Bay, and knows the Oaxacan countryside so well I’m surprised when he hits a tope too fast. His project, Neta Mezcal, is soon to officially launch in the U.S.— and in the meantime he’s been traveling Oaxaca for years finding good mezcal.
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