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Cocktail & Mezcal Bar – Opening Canary Wharf

Opening today! Wahaca is proud to open its first Cocktail & Mezcal Bar serving a list of delicious Wahaca cocktails as well as our favourite Mezcals & Tequila, Mexican beers, wines, refreshing Aqua Frescas and snacks such as our Tortilla chips with freshly made Guacamole. Come visit us soon!

With views out over Canada Square Park, the cocktail & Mezcal bar is located on the second floor of the Park Pavilion – just above the wahaca restaurant. With a Mexican table football, swing chairs and a living plant wall that creates a vibrant, buzzy and unique spot for after work drinks.

A little information on Mezcal
Heralded as the “elixir of the Gods” Mezcal is the best kept secret to be smuggled out of the Americas in the last 20 years.  Mezcal comes from the maguey or agave plant which is grown mainly in Oaxaca.  There is a saying in Oaxaca “para todo mal, mezcal…y para todo bien tambien” (for everything bad there is Mezcal…and also for everything good).  Mezcal has a wonderful smoky/ peaty texture to rival the best Scottish Malts. The flavour comes from the agave plant being baked in huge pits in the ground.  The plants are then crushed to extract their rich, sugary juices.  Tequila is a form of Mezcal and comes from the Blue Agave plant (there are hundreds of different varieties of Agave plant) and has a smoother, less smoky taste. Wahaca’s tequilas are all 100% Blue agave and taste of vanilla, caramel and peppers.  Both plants need to sunbathe for up to 12 years before they have soaked up enough solar energy to produce the sugars to make the alcohol….so drinking them is like drinking sunshine in a bottle!

For all those that have ever had a bad night out on Tequila, we challenge you to discover the real thing at Wahaca.  With no impurities and made from 100% agave they are 100% delicious. Wahaca’s cocktails blend the best of our mezcals and tequilas with other Mexican flavours like tamarind, lime, hibiscus, grapefruit and mint.

For wahaca recipes – click here and here to visit some blog posts with some of our favourite recipes from Sammi.

Do you have any suggestions for Sammi? Let us know any ideas for some of your favourite cocktails and you may have your very own cocktail on our menu soon!

Photos taken by Amy Murrell

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Mira! Mexico at the Barbican: 21-27 January 2010

This month sees a season of recent critically acclaimed Mexican film screening at the Barbican Centre from the 21st to 27th January.

“From civil war and revolution in the Silent era, through the Golden Age of the 30s and 40s to the Nuevo Cine Mexicano, establishing global big-hitters Alfonso Arau (Like Water for Chocolate), Alejandro González Iñárritu (Amores Perros) Carlos Reygadas (Silent Light), Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mama Tambien) and Guillermo del Toro (The Devil’s Backbone) to name a few, Mexican cinema continues to go from strength to strength. 

With debut works, new features and acclaimed shorts, this season spotlights the producers of Mexico’s international hits and festival favourites.” says the Barbican Website.

Click here to find out more information on screenings.

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Little Chilli Give Away – The Results!

We hope your little chilli pots have survived the cold Christmas and you have a nice little chilli plant growing! Its time to come and show us how you’re doing, perhaps get some advice or share notes with the team at Canary Wharf Wahaca, who have been growing their own plants too.

Visit us this January with your pot and enjoy a free Guacamole & Tortilla Chips from us. If you missed out on the chilli pots do not worry! Pop into Wahaca and we will give you some of our Serrano chilli seeds and some tips on how to grow them.

Bring some heat and spice into your life over the cold months at Wahaca!

(This is only available to those who received a Little Chilli Give Away Pot, the free Guacamole & Tortilla chips are to be enjoyed in the restaurant alongside a meal and only at the Canary Wharf Wahaca restaurant).

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Feliz Navidad, My Christmas memories

I think sometimes we forget our roots and we just immerse ourselves in our lives and take everything for granted.

After living in London for more than 9 years now, I think this is the first Christmas when I have really missed the festive season in Mexico.

I wanted to tell you about a few of the things I love about Christmas at home in Mexico.

To start with we have the “posadas” witch means “shelter” that are held in neighbourhoods around Mexico. This celebration recreates Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem and are held from 16th of December to the 24th of December.

The celebration consists of a procession with candles, sometimes with individuals selected to play the parts of Mary and Joseph, or sometimes images are carried. The procession will make its way to a particular home (a different one each night), where a special song is sung. In this song those outside the house sing the part of Joseph asking for shelter and the family inside responds singing the part of the innkeeper saying that there is no room. The song switches back and forth a few times until finally the innkeeper decides to let them in. The door is opened and everyone goes inside.

Then the hosts give the guests food, usually tamales and a hot drink – like ponche or atole. Then there are piñatas and the children are given candy.

I remember doing this for many years in my grandparents house, we were a big family at that time living all close to each other plus we would have different posadas every day with a different neighbour! A never ending celebration, with so much food and drinks… just imagine how we would end up like for New Year…!

I remember my favourite Christmas were always with my grandparents, we all used to get together on the 24th from lunch time, my grandma would cook for all of us (around 20 of us!), then at night we will go to the church with my granpa, then come back drink some ponche and dance some salsa, I used to hate dancing but now I actually like it. We would then have a feast of my grandma’s cooking romeritos, mole, chicken achiote and spaghetti (Mexican style!). At that point we drank, we ate, we went to the church… but the most exciting part were the presents! We all used to exchange presents and I used to get full of clothes… not very exciting but still very nice. I think my best Christmas was when I got an electric guitar, I never knew how to use it though.

All the family used to stay overnight and Santa would come overnight. So you can imagine all my cousins at 5am waking up everybody showing off our new toys!

People say that good memories stay forever and that these are the treasures of human kind, I hope you enjoy this treasure!

Feliz Navidad y prospero año nuevo.

Julio

Food & Drink > Food Topics & Trends > News > Our News

Today in Trafalgar Square, Feeding the 5000

Tommi & Tristram - thrilled with the turnout today despite the cold and snow!

Tommi and I just got back from the freezing conditions and snow in (of all places) Trafalgar Square, where Tommi was giving a cooking demonstration as part of the feed the 5000 event.

Please click here for link to an article in the Daily Mail.

Tommi in action

Tommi handing out some of Wahaca's chilli seeds to those who came along to watch.

It was a great event and an amazing cause – we were so thrilled to be involved. We look forward to doing more on this in the future.

Food & Drink > Food & Drink > Food Topics & Trends > News > News > Our News

Feeding the 5000, Trafalgar Square December 16th

Pop by Trafalgar Square on Wednesday 16th December to witness the Feeding of 5000 between 12-2pm for some lunch. Tristram Stuart has organised with a partnership of campaigners, charities and other supporters to serve lunch to 5000 members of the public to highlight the problem of food waste, and the many practical ways to solve it. Wahaca’s Tommi Miers will be doing a live cooking masterclass between 12-2pm to show everyone how to best use their leftovers or food that would otherwise be thrown away.

Rich countries like the UK currently waste up to half of their food supplies therefore all the food handed out on the day to passers-by will be made from fresh and nutritious ingredients that otherwise would have been wasted.

The menu will include a winter-busting curry made from vegetables cast out because they are not cosmetically perfect and freshly-made fruit smoothies, pressed on the day by customised bicycles.

Organised by the author and food waste campaigner Tristram Stuart, Feeding the 5000 will highlight the work of the partner organisations, Save the Children; ActionAid; This is Rubbish; and FareShare.

The organiser Tristram Stuart explains:

“Feeding the 5000 is a wonderful partnership including food companies, farmers and charities. The aim of our lunchtime feast is to highlight how food waste can be avoided by putting food to good use i.e. feeding people.”

A few facts:

There are 4 million people in the UK who are unable to afford a healthy diet. Food is a basic human need.  There is plenty of it in this country and FareShare works with the food and drink industry to ensure quality surplus food – that would otherwise go to landfill or be recycled – is given to the vulnerable people who need it most.

UK households waste 25% of all the food they buy. This is Rubbish works to raise awareness of how individuals, as well as retailers, can reduce the amount of food waste they produce.

According to Save the Children, 3.1 million children die from hunger every year while billions of pounds of food are wasted. The average UK family wastes around £480 worth of food a year. For that price three children could be saved from malnutrition. Rich governments should be encouraged to make combating hunger a priority and ensure that resources saved by reducing food waste are put into feeding hungry people around the world.

Hope to see you there! For more information click here. Also worth checking out Tristram’s book on the subject called Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal by clicking here.

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Ice skating in Canary Wharf

It is that great time of year December, when everything is all festive and Christmas is getting close. London is my favourite place at this time of the year as there are so many exciting and festive things to do. Ice skating is such a great outing out with family & friends and with this one in the heart of the Wharf… it is perfectly close to the new Wahaca for a pre or post skating meal!

Click here to book your tickets. Its up until February as well so plenty of time to get down there.

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Blaggers’ Auction

Blaggers' Goodie Bags by Food by Mark

Cecilia and Mark had a fantastic time at the Blaggers’ Banquet. By all accounts it was a sensational success, with over £6,000 being raised for Action Against Hunger. If you want to read more about the event from a variety of perspectives then have a look at…

The early stages…

and this post by Gin and Crumpets about the initial get together at the Draft House

The frantic preparations… by Princess and the Pea and Scandilicious

The view from the pass… by Gourmet Chick and Kavey Eats

The wine experts’ perspective… by Fiona Beckett and The Wine Sleuth

A photographer’s snapshot by Food by Mark whose image is at the top of this post

And most importantly devour Niamh’s amazingly moving post…

But the fun hasn’t stopped. And neither has the fund-raising. If you visit the Blaggers’ Banquet eBay store you can bid on the first batch of lots including:

An Interflora “Hamper for Him”
An awesome Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer
A visit for two to Artisan du Chocolat Atelier
Afternoon Tea for Two at the Ritz
A White Christmas Tea Collection from the White Tea Company

And look out for your chance to bid on Mexican cookery lessons from none other than our very own Tommi!

Thanks to Food by Mark for the image – have a look at the rest of his fantastic images here.

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The little chilli growing competition…

To all those lucky people in Canary Wharf who received one of these lovely little pots…

We want you to put together a special guide on how to grow your chillies – whether your secret trick is dancing, singing, hugging or that special concoction of vitamins that you’ve been giving your plant.

Please send through photos (to loswahacos@wahaca.co.uk) along with your commentary showing the whole development of your chilli growing and your advice for everyone else out there wanting to grow chillies. The winner will get a free dinner at Wahaca for up to 6 people. It can be funny, very serious or slightly bizarre, we don’t mind as long as it gets a mighty fine chilli plant to hold up as an example to all the fellow Wharf chilli growers! All entries (within reason) will be put on our blog.

Send your entries through by the end of January and we’ll get judging. Can’t wait to see what the Wharfers have been up to!

In the meantime, remember to bring your chilli pot in this January (with the pink “Little chilli give away” sign) and show us how your going for that free pot of guacamole & chips.

(Don’t worry you may not have any chillies by the end of January but you won’t be far off and will have done very well looking after your plant through its early days).

Either send us pictures of your chilli plants via email to loswahacos@wahaca.co.uk or add them to our Flickr group

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Mariah Carey to turn on the Christmas lights at Westfield

On Thursday (19th), global superstar Mariah Carey will be coming to Westfield to switch on the Christmas lights. As if that’s not enough to entice you down to Westfield, there’s going to be pyrotechnics, VIP carpets, and butterfly confetti, all on the Southern Terrace!

Mariah’s due to arrive at 6pm, and will later be holding a special signing of her new album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel.

It may be quite cold on Thursday night, so remember to wrap up and of course pop into Wahaca for some warming food before or after the fun!

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