Discover the Flavours of Mexico at Cantina in Newcastle
After six years of pop-up events, contemporary Mexican food vendor Cantina has finally put down permanent roots in Heaton
Their menu was simple, delicious and plant-based (think tacos filled with beer-battered banana blossom, tempura cauliflower and confit oyster mushrooms) and as their increasingly popular pop-ups continued, the pair decided to set down roots permanently in Heaton. We caught up with them to find out more about their move.
Was the transition to a permanent location daunting?
Mark: We’ve both worked in hospitality for years and just wanted to have our own place because it’s not solely about the food, it’s about the full experience. The drinks as well as the food, the music, how the restaurant looks. This is the first time we can put everything together into one finished space.
James: It’s the first next step isn’t it? We started with a gazebo, then we moved into pop-ups and that’s when we really started to find our feet. We started expanding the menu rather than just doing small street food dishes, and now we’ve got this.
‘We’ve got a lot of regulars already which we didn’t expect in the first few months – people have been back three or four times which is just amazing. They must like it!’
How has your offering developed?
James: Initially we went to a lot of markets [and] took dishes where you couldn’t pronounce the name. You don’t really have time at those markets to stop and explain to people what the dishes are – they just want to get something they’re comfortable with so we changed to selling tacos. The recipes that we have now have been in our repertoire for a long time but we needed an environment to get them across. Obviously, the tacos in Mexico are fantastic, but it’s such a broad cuisine. There’ll always be a taco in some way, shape or form, but we’ve developed the other side of the menu with a lot more sharing plates.
Is being plant-based challenging for customers?
Mark: We made a decision quite early on to take plant-based as a slogan off the menu because we found that it was quite polarising. When people didn’t realise it was plant based they really loved it. We’re not using meat substitutes or anything like that, we’re just doing vegetables really well. It hasn’t really been a conversation since we opened.
James: It’s been really lovely this time because you’ve got 30 seconds to talk to a customer and then pass a dish over in the market. But [when] people come here they’re going to get a nice welcome, they’re going to get a nice drink, and they’re going to be people that want to eat.
What has the response been like?
James: Amazing. We’ve both lived in Heaton for the past 10 years, so we know the people that live here and hopefully what sort of food they’re into. We’ve got a lot of regulars already which we didn’t expect in the first few months – people have been back three or four times which is just amazing. They must like it!
Tell us something diners have been loving from the menu.
James: The tacos that we’ve had on from the get-go, they’re so popular!
Mark: The cabbage we’ve got on at the moment is incredibly popular and the side we’ve just done with this lovely corn is super popular, and the tacos – they’ve been on the menu for the best part of five years and people have an emotional connection, as much as you can get an emotional connection to tacos!
It’s still early days for Cantina, but do you have any upcoming plans for the restaurant?
James: We’ve got a plan to go do a big research trip to Mexico in January, and then when we get back there’ll be another big development push. We do want to have multiple sites and we do want to take it as far as it will allow us. We want to get as much out of it as we can.
