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Competition time! Win tickets to come and see us at The Big Feastival

It’s less than a month until we’ll be popping up at Clapham Common’s Big Feastival – A festival that’s raising money for charity, whilst you stuff your face with delicious food and dance around to a seriously sweet summer soundtrack.

We’re going to be serving up our festival sized pork and summer vegetable tacos to keep you revelling and judging by their appearance at last September’s Harvest at Jimmy’s festival, they will go down a storm.

The event is set to be a total blinder with acts such as Athlete, The Charlatans, Soul II Soul and The Cuban Brothers all playing throughout the weekend. The Wahaca Taco Stall will be amongst good company with great chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Giorgio Locatelli and Peter Gordon all whipping up their own treats. In fact it was these guys, along with our very own Tommi Miers who have been heading up the committee for this Feastival and helping to get all of the brilliant foodie partners signed up *Pats on the back for Tommi*.

And whilst you are having a good old time, you can be safe in the knowledge that the cash you’ve paid for your ticket and food is going to a good cause. The money raised will go to two very like-minded charities: The Princes Trust (a charity that we’ve worked with many times over the years) and The Jamie Oliver Foundation. They are going to be sharing the wealth, both using the money to maximum effect, meaning you can have an even bigger smile on your face, all weekend long.

If you fancy picking yourself up some tickets, then head over to the website www.bigfeastival.com where you’ll see that you can go for day tickets, or for the whole weekend, and include tokens to buy your food when you’re at the festival. Fun times.

Even more fun times – Competition time! We’ve got 1 pair of day tickets to give away! To enter, simply tell us which of the acts on the line up famously sang (and you know it’s going to be in your head for the rest of the day) “Back to life (However do you want me)” in 1989?

Just post the answer, in a random fashion, on our facebook wall and we’ll put you in the big prize draw. Feel free to include any descriptions of how hearing the song makes you feel, although this will purely be for our own enjoyment and will have little-to-no sway on the final winner. The tickets are for the day of your choice and include 5 tokens to eat at the various restaurnts on site. The competition closes on Wednesday 22nd June.

Good luck!

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Apparently there’s a wedding on

We’re always hot on the heels of current affairs and it’s become apparent that there’s a bit of a wedding on this Friday.

Now in Mexico, we don’t have such strict rules about guest lists, we say the more the merrier – It’s a fiesta after all. So we’ve decided that everyone who hasn’t had an invitation to the shindig at Buckingham Palace can come and celebrate round at ours. The margaritas will be flowing and there will be street food a-plenty – It’s not a street party without some street food now is it?

But it’s the special bond of marriage that we’re really celebrating, so exclusively on Friday we’re also offering free food and a round of margaritas to anyone who comes in with their loved one wearing their wedding dress or wedding suit! You heard it, free food and drinks on us – You just have to come wearing what you got hitched in.

To avoid any confusion with people who’ve just got a bit glammed up and are looking for a freebie, we are insisting that you bring along a photo of you and your loved one on your big day, to prove to our managers that it is actually your wedding attire.

As a special note to Wills and Kate – We’ll also happily pick up your bill for your lunch or dinner on Friday. Let’s face it, our Covent Garden restaurant is only at the other end of The Mall and it’s the perfect way to avoid all of those scary relatives. Come on down. We’re open til 11pm.

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Tequila tasting at Wahaca Soho

On Wednesday night we hosted the second of our tequila tastings in Soho, with the aim of selecting a new range of special guest tequilas to put on our bar list over the next year.

Since opening Wahaca, we knew we had a job to do when it came to tequila in the UK. It is such a misunderstood drink here, and there’s good reason for that – The prominence of low quality tequilas that leave you with a burning throat and a lingering feeling of regret has done huge damage to its reputation as a quality spirit. So we pledged to only stock tequilas that were of superior quality, 100% agave, and that had passed our own taste test. Move forward 4 years and we’ve got a list of tequilas that we’re really happy with, and we are developing this pledge further. We have been working with the Mexican Tequila Board to search out tequilas that are not available outside of North America. Tequilas that have been made with quality in mind, rather than mass production. The kind of tequilas that are sipped by those that really know what they are talking about. Our aim is to not only be able to offer these tequilas to you, but also to give these smaller suppliers the opportunity to give their products international recognition for the first time.

The Mexican Tequila Board very kindly sent us an early Christmas present of around 35 bottles of just such tequilas. None of which are available outside Mexico, none of which we had tasted before, and all of which sounded like they would be welcome additions to our bar list. But we don’t want to just add any product to our list, so they needed tasting. You don’t get this opportunity every day, so we thought that we’d share them around with our most deserving friends. 

We invited our facebook fans to write in and tell us why they should be chosen to join us and we had a great response. We narrowed the field down and selected our panel of experts, who would be lending us their taste buds for the evening.

The evening was masterfully compered by Henry Besant, of the World Wide Cocktail Club, and who is about the most knowledgeable tequila aficionado in the country. He introduced us to a mixed selection of 9 tequilas that he had picked from our consignment and we diligently set to work tasting.

We ended the night having sniffed, slurped and swilled our way through 3 blancos, 3 reposados, 2 añejos and 1 extra añejo. There was debate, an exchange of words such as vegetal, herbal, woody and even bacon, and a pleasant feeling of having been involved in something that signified another small step in the right direction for tequila in the UK. Our voting system led to 4 winners, but there was a general consensus that in fact 3 of these had something extra special which made them stand out: A blanco named Tequila Gran Orendain, an Añejo named La Fortaleza (or Los Abuelos) and an Extra Añejo named Tequila Campo Azul.

Now, we should say here that the funny thing about tasting tequilas that you’ve never heard of before and which aren’t available outside of Mexico, is that occasionally you realise why that’s the case!  We did taste some slight duds on the night, especially in the Reposado category. We happily supplemented them with a comparative tasting of our current house pour, El Tesoro Reposado, and were all agreed that there wasn’t any need to force the issue, none of the Reposados could measure up on the night, so they’d stay in Mexico for the time being.

Thank you so much to Kate, Ed, James, Yashoda, Jesús and Paul for responding to our request and coming along and lending us their taste buds and opinions. Thanks also to the Mexican Tequila Board for supplying us with tequilas that wowed, challenged, delighted and surprised us in near equal measure. And finally thank you to Henry for leading the way once more.

You will be able to see the final results from all of our tastings up on our blog soon, and most importantly taste them for yourself as they each take up their monthly guest spots over the coming year. We really hope you’ll enjoy our choices.  If you have any thoughts on our tequila list, or general musing about this magical drink, please feel free to let us know in a comment below.

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Win a trip to the Guelaguetza festival in Mexico!

We’re hugely excited to say that we have 2 tickets up for grabs for 1 lucky reader and a friend to travel to Mexico as our roving reporter at the Guelaguetza festival in Oaxaca, Mexico this July.

Guelaguetza is one of Mexico’s biggest cultural festivals, and is a real feast for the senses. This annual celebration includes fantastic costumed parades, bands, amazing food markets and traditional dancing and we’re looking for our most eloquent reader to tell us all what’s it’s like to get in amongst the sights, sounds and smells of this incredibly vibrant celebration of all things Oaxacan.

To be in with a chance of winning, simply email Ola@wahaca.co.uk and tell us, in no more than 500 words about your best festival experience. The closing date for entries is the 31st May.

It could be the tale of your last trip to a literary fair, or how you found yourself in a field in Suffolk, or the amazing flavours you discovered at a local food festival. You’ll need to be pretty handy with a pen though as the winners’ Guelaguetza report will be featured in the next winter edition of our newspaper ‘Ola London for us all to ogle at.

We’re really excited to be able to offer such a brilliant prize and are hugely grateful to the amazing people at the Mexican Tourist Board, British Airways, The Oaxacan Tourist Board and Hostal de la Noria for making this trip a possibility.

So what are you waiting for? Get your pens out and get writing…

Terms and Conditions

This competition is open to all persons resident in the UK or Republic of Ireland, aged 18 Years or over except employees of the promoter and its subsidiaries, anyone professionally connected with this prize draw and immediate family members of any of the above persons.  BA reserves the right to verify the eligibility of Eligible Participants.  By taking part in this promotion, Eligible Participants confirm that they accept the terms and conditions set out below.

Entries must be submitted via email to Ola@wahaca.co.uk no later than May 31st and must be no longer than 500 words.

The prize: Two flights with British Airways travelling World Traveller class return from London Heathrow to Mexico City and connecting flights to Oaxaca, Double occupancy accommodation in Hostal de la Noria, Oaxaca, Airport to hotel transfers in Oaxaca and entrance for two to the Guelaguetza celebrations.

Flights depart from London Heathrow on 18th July and return to London on 25th July.

The prize is not transferable and no cash or credit alternatives will be offered.  The prize-winner will be responsible for all transfers to and from the airports, insurance, visa if necessary and spending money.

BA reserves the right to provide a substitute prize of similar value should the specified prize become unavailable for any reasons beyond its reasonable control. 

BA reserves the right to cancel or amend without notice these terms and any tickets or vouchers issued free in the event of major catastrophe, war, earthquake or any actual, anticipated or alleged breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other circumstances beyond the reasonable control of BA.

This prize draw is governed by English law and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

The winner will be selected by Thomasina Miers and Mark Selby on the basis of style, creativity and relevance by May 1st and the winner will be notified by email soon after. The winner has 10 working days to respond to the notification. In the event that no contact has been made within this time the promoter reserves the right to award the prize to a second favourite entry.

The winner must agree to submit a short report of around 500 words about the trip, which will be published in the ‘Ola Wahaca newspaper and on our blog. The report must be submitted no later than 10 days after returning from the trip.

The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

The promoter of two prize tickets is British Airways plc (BA), Waterside, PO Box 365, Harmondsworth, UB7 0GB.  Registered Number  1777777 England.

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Do you want to be on our tequila tasting panel?

Following a flurry of excitement amongst our facebook fans, we are now looking for an exclusive panel of 5 tequila experts from amongst you lot, the followers of our facebook, blog and twitter pages, to join us for a tequila tasting with a difference, to be held at Wahaca Soho on Wednesday 23rd February 2011 at 6.30pm.

Do you know your agave from your auto-clave, your piña from your pot still? What on earth would you do with a Tahona Stone?

If you would like to join this tasting, send an email to ola@wahaca.co.uk explaining in no more than 100 words why you are qualified to help us select the next top tequilas that will be featured on our bar list. The deadline for entries is the end of Monday 20th February, so get cracking.

On the night, we’ll taste a range of tequilas which have been sent to us by the Mexican Tequila Board that aren’t available outside of North America. They’ve kindly searched out 30 top quality tequilas from Mexico’s smaller distilleries just for us. It’s not just for fun though, at the end of the tasting, we’ll pick out 4 favourites, which will be appearing as guest tequilas in our bar over the next year. We’re hoping that by putting them on our list, we’ll help to introduce these brands to the international market, and their amazing products can start to be shared with the world.

The tasting will start at 6.30 with a cocktail to get us in the mood, then it’s down to the serious business of choosing our top tequilas. The tasting will be led by the all-knowing tequila aficionado Henry Besant, who will help guide us through a range of platas, reposados and añejos and will finish at about 8pm.

Don’t get confused, this is not the same event that is being organised by QYPE (That’s one’s going to be just as good though!) This one is just for all you Wahaca fans out there in the world-wide-webernet. (If you’re looking for the Qype event, head over to their page for details).

We’ll look forward to hearing why you think you’ve got what it takes to help choose our next favourite tequilas. Those still looking for a worm in the bottom of their bottle need not apply.

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Wahaca at the Sustainable City Awards

Last week, we went along to meet the Lord Mayor at the Sustainable City Awards, and were delighted to come away with an award in the Sustainable Food category, and be shortlisted in the slightly less glamorous (but no less important) Sustainable Waste Management category.

Thank you very much to all of the judges who thought that our work to refurbish our new Wardour Street restaurant was worthy of a mention amongst all of the top companies who were also shortlisted.

Since joining the Sustainable Restaurant Association we have become more and more committed to running a sustainable restaurant, which as Lucy Siegle says in the latest edition of OLA London, isn’t so easy. It’s recognition like this that keeps us motivated to make sure our business is minimising the impact it has on the environment around us – A bit like the market stalls that originally inspired us. Which we think is kindda nice.

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Celebrate Dia de La Candelaria at Wahaca with free Tamales

Tomorrow, February 2nd, the Dia de la Candelaria festival will be celebrated across Mexico. The tradition goes that whoever is lucky enough to find the small baby Jesus figurine in their Rosca De Reyes cake on the 6th of January should treat all of their friends and family to a meal of tamales on February 2nd. Anyone eagle eyed enough to have read about this year’s winter menu will have spotted that Tommi was hugely excited to be able to put two types of tamales on our menu for the first time. And very delicious they are too!

So, never one to let up the chance to have a bit of a party, tomorrow, we’ll be giving free tamales to anyone who comes in with a small baby Jesus figurine. OK, that might be a bit tricky. We’ll be giving free tamales to anyone who comes in with a picture of a baby Jesus figurine, and funnily enough, we’ve put one just here:

So, if you feel like getting into the Mexican party spirit, print out this picture, and head over to Wahaca any time tomorrow and get your tamales on!

Here’s some Ts and Cs:
One free tamale dish offered per printed picture, and no more than one per customer.
Offer only valid during restaurant opening times on Februrary 2nd 2011.
Anyone found not having fun may be evicted from the restaurant at any time, or asked to stand in the corner with a bag on their head, it’s a party after all.

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Congratulations to Action Against Hunger!

Towards the end of last year we were delighted to be asked to help out with sponsorship of the Action Against Hunger Twin Peaks Challenge – A double tower run that had people running to the top of 2 of London’s highest buildings to raise money for charity.

Whilst our prize of a meal for 8 was offered in Wahaca Canary Wharf to keep to the tower theme, the winners were glad to hear the restaurant is only on the first floor of 1 Canada Square (and there’s a lift if the legs still haven’t fully recovered).

In total the event raised over £21,000 which will be going towards helping to ease the suffering of those caught up in the crisis in Haiti. You can check out the fun and games that were had on the day in their rather exhausting looking video below.

The FT London Twin Peak Challenge, starring Amy Williams! from Action Against Hunger on Vimeo.

If that looked like your cup of tea and you’re up for a challenge, The London Twin Peak Challenge 2011 will be taking place in June and that people can register their interest now by emailing: c.cavalier@aahuk.org or phoning: 0208 293 6138.

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Watch out for our Facebook fans table, coming soon

We love the friendly bunch we’ve managed to gather together on Facebook, and we think that they need rewarding every now and again for helping us sleep well at night, safe in the knowledge that there are a few people out there that love us dearly.

So, we came up with the idea of the facebook fans table. “But how does it work?” we hear you ask. Well, every now and again we are going to offer up a table in our Covent Garden restaurant for our facebook fans to use as their own – to host a dinner for their friends who haven’t been to Wahaca before. They simply tell us what they want to eat and drink from our menu, who they want to bring with them and why (all in 420 characters). After a scientific selection process we choose which group we like best, and we give them exactly what they’ve asked for at 7.30pm that very evening. Free!

 
Here’s an example of what we’d go for to whet your appetite:
4 hibiscus margaritas with Scratchings & Guac. Then a selection of street food: Pork &steak tacos (mmm), savoy &pasilla taquito, 2 pork tortas, MSC mackerel tostada & huitlacoche quesadilla. With a round of Pacificos. Churros with cajeta to finish (why not)! We’d invite our pals @diego luna, @salma hayek, @benicio del toro & @gabriel orozco because we’d like to show them what Mexican food in London is all about.

 
If you put an @ immediately before your friends names, clever old facebook will notify them that they’ve been tagged in your post and they’ll know to keep their eyes peeled to see if they’ve won and to cancel all other dinner plans that evening.

 
So, if you’re not a fan already, you better head over to www.facebook.com/wahaca immediately and click ‘like’. Then you’ve got all weekend to dream up your perfect menu and think which 4 friends would most appreciate joining you as your guests for the evening, and then you never know we might just be offering up our first facebook table on Monday evening at 7.30pm. (That’s a big hint… In fact… What the hell? We are going to be offering up our first facebook table on Monday evening at 7.30pm, so make sure you look out for our post to announce it at some point on Monday morning).

Good luck!

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Not just great Mexican food, sort your Christmas shopping too!

Last night saw Tommi hosting our first ‘in-house’ cooking demo in our brand spanking new Soho bar, to celebrate the launch of The Observer Food Monthly’s brand new book “Cook: A Year in the Kitchen with Britain’s Favourite Chefs”. 

We were delighted to welcome the editor, Rebecca Seal to introduce the book.  She gave an eye-opening peek behind the scenes of what it’s like to put together a cookbook with contributions from over 80 of Britain’s best loved chefs. No easy task by the sound of it!

Tommi made child’s play of our brand new demo equipment, elegantly splicing together an amazing range of salsas – Chipotles in Adobo, Roast Chipotle Salsa and Chipotle Mayonaise – Who knew Chiptole could create such amazing flavour?! They were all delicious and can be found throughout our menu if you look closely.

But we’re not just telling you this to make you jealous, you can join in the fun too. The Observer & Guardian Book Store  have very kindly offered you, the good readers of our blog, a chance to buy the book for half the normal price. All you have to do is visit their website and pop the code “Wahaca” into the field marked ‘promotional code’, then start impressing your pals with a whole range of seasonal treats throughout the year.

Whilst we’re on the subject of books, if you did fancy cooking up your own version of Tommi’s salsas, then you can learn all about them in her book, Mexican Food Made Simple, which you can find nestled nicely here. It’s really rather good.

So that’s this year’s Christmas shopping sorted then.  Inspired by the markets of Mexico you could say.

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