The GOODS from El Santo

New Westminster, BC | el Santo has launched a new brunch menu that gives diners a Mexican take on this popular weekend tradition. The menu features authentic breakfast favourites from south of the Rio Grande like chilaquiles, chamorro and molletes along with brunch staples like french toast and eggs benedict that have been given a Mexican twist.

“Mexico has such a rich diversity of breakfast foods that we wanted to bring back some of them to share with our diners in the Lower Mainland,” says Sam Fabbro, executive chef at el Santo. “Our goal with this menu is to introduce diners to something new and to give them another way to experience some of their favourite brunch items.”

Frequent travellers to Mexico may be familiar with chilaquiles. The popular breakfast dish is made with pieces of fried tortilla that are drenched in salsa verde and – in el Santo’s version – topped with either confit pork belly or smoked mushrooms.

More ravenous diners might opt for the chamorro – an entire chili-braised ham hock – served with tortillas and rice. “This was the first dish that I tried on my last trip to Mexico and it just blew me away,” says Chef Sam. “The meat is tender and juicy and has just the right amount of fat to make it the perfect hangover cure”.

The huevos con crema features eggs baked in cream with a side serving of molletes – a traditional Mexican breakfast item consisting of sliced bread covered in refried beans, melted cheese and fresh pico de gallo.

A feature in a number of past el Santo dishes, their smoked mushrooms have been given a starring role in the frittata de hongos. “Even people who generally don’t like mushrooms have tried them in our frittata and become converts,” says Chef Sam.

As for brunch classics like eggs benedict and french toast, they have been given a Mexican makeover. In el Santo’s version of eggs benny, the poached eggs are paired with ancho-braised shortrib, skillet cornbread and a chipotle hollandaise sauce. As for the french toast, it comes drizzled with homemade ancho molasses – an accidental invention of Chef Sam’s that came about when he was trying to make chili syrup.

Well-known Mexican favourites like huevos rancheros and huevos divorciados are also on offer.

To wash it all down, el Santo offers some authentically Mexican beverages like horchata (house-made rice milk with cinnamon) and micheladas (beer mixed with lime, salt and habanero sauce) in addition to freshly squeezed orange juice.

The brunch menu is available every weekend from 11:30 am to 3 pm.

About el Santo | Named after the legendary lucha libre wrestler and Mexican cultural icon, el Santo has been sharing the best of contemporary Mexican cuisine with diners since 2015. Its emphasis on fresh, locally sourced ingredients and making everything from salsas to ice cream from scratch, has earned el Santo multiple awards including silver in the Best Latin category at the 2018 Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards.

El Santo

 680 Columbia Street, New Westminster, BC

604-553-1849

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