# Inside the Michelin-Starred Mexican Restaurant Hidden in a Strip Mall — Mise En Place Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it6jq6zzFvc Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/it6jq6zzFvc Generated: 2025-11-11T19:08:07.332+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Executive Chef Emmanuel Chavez of Tatemo in Houston, Texas, details the rigorous, highly focused preparation behind his Michelin-starred Mexican tasting menu, which involves traditional techniques like nixtamalization for masa and labor-intensive curing for duck, all executed in a small kitchen space to maintain quality and tradition. **Key Points:** - Tatemo, located in a Houston strip mall, earned a Michelin star for its 15-seat tasting menu, which heavily incorporates traditional Mexican elements. - The team processes corn daily, using a specialized machine to turn different colored corn varieties into masa, which is never rinsed to preserve starch. - A key dish is the 'Enmolada' featuring A5 New York Strip, mole negro, and chapulines (grasshoppers), which is served as a taco on a plantain tortilla. - Duck legs are cured for one day, rinsed, patted dry, seared skin-side down until almost burnt, then confited in duck fat with aromatics like orange and garlic for two hours. - The team also prepares a highly technical blue masa quesadilla filled with Oaxaca cheese, huitlacoche, and chapulines. - Chef Chavez emphasizes that the Mexican culinary landscape, particularly in Houston, is diverse and that every dish must balance sweet, acidic, savory, nutty, and spicy elements, reflecting the culture's depth. ![Screenshot at 00:03: A chef places a block of highly marbled A5 Wagyu beef into a hot cast-iron skillet to begin searing the exterior for a dish.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-00-03.png) **Context:** This video profiles Emmanuel Chavez, the Executive Chef-Owner of Tatemo in Houston, Texas, a restaurant that has achieved Michelin recognition despite its unassuming strip mall location. The segment focuses on the intensive 'Mise En Place' process that supports Tatemo's highly detailed, modern Mexican tasting menu, highlighting the dedication to traditional ingredients like corn (maize) and complex preparations like duck confit and mole. ## Detailed Analysis Chef Emmanuel Chavez of Tatemo explains that his 15-seat tasting menu is deeply rooted in Mexican culinary tradition, even as they push boundaries with modern techniques. The process starts with nixtamalizing corn—using three different colored corn varieties (red, black, yellow) to create masa for tortillas and sopes, avoiding rinsing to keep the beneficial starch. They process about 80 pounds of masa weekly. For the duck carnitas, they cure the duck legs for a day, rinse them, pat them dry, and sear the skin side extremely hard (almost burning it) before confiting them in duck fat with orange, garlic, and cinnamon for two hours. The final duck preparation, the 'Enmolada,' uses a plantain tortilla, mole negro, and duck carnitas. Another dish is a 'Quesadilla' featuring Oaxaca cheese, huitlacoche, and chapulines (grasshoppers) encased in a blue masa shell. Chavez stresses the importance of balancing flavors—sweet, acid, nutty, savory, and spicy—as a foundation of his cooking, inspired by the diversity of Texas and his Mexican heritage. The kitchen operates with high focus, using precise measurements (e.g., weighing masa portions to 25 grams) to execute the complex dishes, which include a dessert course featuring a bunuelo, fruit de pate, and Mexican concha, all prepared with extreme care. ### Masa Preparation - Corn (maize) is nixtamalized using three varieties to make masa for tortillas and sopes; the resulting masa is never rinsed to retain starch for texture. ### Duck Carnitas Confit - Duck legs are cured for 24 hours, seared aggressively skin-side down, then slow-cooked in duck fat with aromatics like orange and garlic for two hours. ### Dish Assembly - Enmolada - Features A5 New York Strip steak, mole negro, and chapulines served on a plantain tortilla, demonstrating a complex flavor profile. ### Dish Assembly - Quesadilla - A technical preparation using blue masa filled with Oaxaca cheese, huitlacoche (corn smut), and chapulines, served with an avocado-tomatillo crema. ### Dessert Course - A sweet dish featuring a bunuelo, fruit de pate, and a Mexican concha element served over a bed of cacao nibs. ### Kitchen Philosophy - Chavez emphasizes the need to maintain balance (sweet, acid, savory, nutty, spicy) in dishes, drawing inspiration from Mexican culture and the diverse Texas food scene, ensuring precision in every step. ![Screenshot at 00:00: A chef's gloved hand places a block of highly marbled A5 Wagyu beef into a small, hot cast-iron pan to start searing.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-00-00.png) ![Screenshot at 00:11: Chef Emmanuel Chavez explains his culinary philosophy while sitting at a wooden table.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-00-11.png) ![Screenshot at 00:20: Close-up of corn kernels being processed through machinery during the nixtamalization process, creating masa.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-00-20.png) ![Screenshot at 00:38: A chef expertly slices the seared A5 Wagyu steak, revealing a perfect medium-rare interior.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-00-38.png) ![Screenshot at 00:48: The finished 'Enmolada' dish is plated, showing the A5 New York Strip topped with sauce, alongside other components.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-00-48.png) ![Screenshot at 01:19: The team uses a traditional metate \(grinding stone\) to grind ingredients for mole, creating a dark, thick paste.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-01-19.png) ![Screenshot at 01:37: Duck legs are seasoned and placed into a large stockpot to begin the confit process.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-01-37.png) ![Screenshot at 03:00: Line cook Paola Contreras demonstrates shaping the masa balls by hand for the sopes, emphasizing consistency in weight.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-03-00.png) ![Screenshot at 03:54: A chef at Le Bernardin in New York prepares a tuna carpaccio-style dish, brushing on a red sauce.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-03-54.png) ![Screenshot at 06:15: The chef uses a clay dish over a red Kamado-style grill to toast chiles, tomatoes, onions, and garlic for mole preparation, imparting an earthy, smoky flavor to the ingredients \(06:02\). \(06:04:The ingredients for the mole, including chiles and vegetables, are being toasted on the clay dish\). \(06:28:Close-up of the toasted ingredients, including 'Gaitas Marias' cookies, being added to the clay dish\). \(06:39:Toasted ingredients are submerged in liquid to rehydrate for the mole base\). \(06:46:Duck pieces are seasoned and submerged in liquid for curing/confit\). \(07:27:The duck confit is braised in a liquid containing orange, garlic, and Mexican Coca-Cola\). \(07:48:Shredded duck meat from a previous batch is mixed with other ingredients in a large bowl\). \(09:21:Paola Contreras weighs small balls of plantain masa \(25g each\) before pressing them\). \(09:51:Masa flour and liquid are weighed on a scale to prepare the masa for tortillas\). \(10:12:A fried masa ball is placed on a wire rack to drain excess oil\). \(11:16:A purple masa tortilla is brushed with a spiced sauce, then topped with avocado slices\). \(12:24:Avocado puree is being dispensed into a small cup as part of the plating for a small bite\). \(12:38:A dark, cone-shaped quesadilla is pulled apart, revealing melted Oaxaca cheese and huitlacoche filling\). \(13:02:The dessert course components, including a bunuelo, fruit de pate, and Mexican concha, are being plated on a dark base of cacao nibs\). \(13:33:The team is shown plating the small bites, demonstrating meticulous attention to detail for the 15-course menu\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/it6jq6zzFvc/00-06-15.png)