Guitarist Ron Murray is performing at Los Charros Cantina in Centerbrook for a celebration of Cinco de Mayo planned by Chef Colt Taylor.
The popular restaurant, which Taylor describes as an “homage to authentic Mexican street food,” is fully reopening, after suffering a burst pipe and devastating flooding in January 2021, with a new game room featuring foosball, darts and shuffleboard, and an ages 21-and-over bar area called Coco X.
Bar Manager Nancy Wood mixed up for us a Jalisco-style punch of tequila, Prosecco, squeezed lime, orange and pineapple, and Jarritos Mandarin soda, that she describes as a “sangria, but with a baseline of tequila.”
Guadalajara Punch
Ingredients
1 liter Tequila Blanco
1 bottle Rosé or Prosecco
6 limes, juiced
12 oranges, juiced (or 1.5 liters fresh)
1 large can pineapple juice
1-2 liters Jarritos Mandarin Soda (or other orange soda)
1 fresh pineapple, cubed
4 oranges, cut into wedges
1 watermelon, cut into chunks
3 lemons cut into wedges
6 limes, quartered
3 kiwis, cut into wedges
2 star fruit, sliced
Directions
Mix the tequila, wine, lime, orange, pineapple juice and Jarritos soda into a large pitcher. Add all the fresh fruit. Let sit it for an hour, and chill before serving.
Taylor told CT Examiner that the main dining room and regionally-inspired menus will remain unchanged and feature an informal mix of tacos, Yucatecan-style chicken Pibil, and Birria Quesadilla, among other dishes.
A pineapple salsa drawn from Puebla cooking — Taylor provides the recipe below — is what he describes as “magic” with seafood and simple grilled fish.
Puebla-style Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients
1 pineapple, peeled
1 Tbs salt
1 Tbs sugar
2 Serrano peppers, seeded and diced
10 tomatillos, diced
1/4 white onion, diced
1/4 red onion, diced
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c olive oil
Directions
Toss pineapple in salt and sugar. Roast for 20 minutes in a 400° oven, or on the grill. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in a bowl for one hour.
Dice the pineapple, place in a bowl, and add remaining ingredients.