From Tacos to Tahdig

Owners of famous Austin taquería announce Mexican-Persian cookbook

The cookbook promises to upend culinary tradition in multiple cultures.

The power couple behind one of Austin's most lauded Mexican restaurants are putting their unique cultural fusion flavors out there in a whole new way. Edgar Rico and Sara Mardanbigi, the husband-and-wife duo behind Nixta Taqueria, have announced a new cookbook out October 6: Nixta Taqueria Presents: From Tacos to Tahdig: Recipes and Stories from Mexico, Iran, and the In-Between.

Although the taquería is known for Mexican cuisine stemming from James Beard Award-winning chef Edgar Rico's nixtamalization obsession, regular pop-ups make space for Persian recipes from Mardanbigi's heritage. An introductory video ties everything back to corn and rice — and tells us this is going to be an epic period of book promotion at Nixta.

Rico and Mardanbigi are co-authors, with help from JJ Goode, who co-wrote Pok Pok with Andy Ricker, State Bird Provisions with Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, and Eat a Little Better with Sam Kass, former senior policy advisor for nutrition policy during President Barack Obama's administration.

The book takes a similar format to the restaurant, showing off each Nixta owner's recipes in turns. First it goes back to Rico's childhood in California, then Mardanbigi's in the Ozarks and trips to Iran. Recipes listed in a preview on the Nixta website include tortas de Milanesa de pollo, Maman's Fish with kuku sabzi, smashburgers al pastor, saffron tres leches, duck carnitas tacos, fesenjoon, and more. (For those who don't know, the titular "tahdig" is a saffron rice dish with a crispy top.)

Where authenticity is concerned, this book's loyalties are to immigrants and their descendants, as the authors consider themselves "proud hyphenated Americans." That does mean the recipes will "bastardize the hell out of Mexican, Iranian, and American classics."

"If you've ever felt caught between worlds, welcome to our table," says Mardanbigi in the teaser video.

Readers can preorder From Tacos to Tahdig ($38) via Amazon or Penguin Random House.

cookbook books mexican cuisine persian cuisine

Black Fox, Flat Whites

New York coffee shop brings rare varieties to Austin in first expansion

Photo courtesy of Black Fox Coffee

Since the Black Fox Coffee founders were born in Australia, the Austin shop is giving away flat whites on its first two days in business.

A New York coffee shop is venturing out of the Big Apple for the first time and landing in Austin. Black Fox Coffee will open at the ATX Tower at 321 W. 6th Street on Friday, May 15. The first 200 guests on Friday and Saturday will receive a complimentary flat white.

Black Fox is a specialty coffee shop that serves its own roasts as well as others from "small communities around the world," according to a press release. Guests will also be able to pick up French-style pastries, seasonal and specialty bakes from local bakery Swedish Hill (the popular everything croissant with cream cheese is on the menu), and merchandise from local vendors.

The shop has a special interest in custom ceramics; pieces by the Danish company MK Studio Ceramics will be used to serve coffee and pastries, and Austin's Hey Moon Ceramics supplies pieces customers can buy.

Black Fox was founded in 2016 by Australians Daniel Murphy and Gary Hardwick, and the brand now exists in four locations around NYC. The Austin space was designed by architecture studio Mitchell & Eades with interior accents by sculpture studio White Dirt Studios. The release emphasizes that the space will be warm, with a neighborhood feel.

“Since the beginning, our mission has always been to make remarkably good coffee experiences accessible to all,” says Murphy. “Austin is a city that shares our values of quality and craftsmanship, and we’re excited to bring the Black Fox experience here.”

When Black Fox opens in Austin, the brand will also introduce the Editions Program, offering pour-over selection of "rare and exceptional coffees." Each selection will be hand-sorted, rested, and frozen when its at its best condition. Then it'll be brewed on the Tone Touch, a fancy single-serve coffee machine from Sweden. The first selections on deck include geshas (a variety that originated in the Gori Gesha forest in Ethiopia) and rare varietals that push the limits of processing and fermentation.

The shop hasn't posted regular hours of operation yet, but it does share hours for its first two days: Friday from 7 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 8 am to 4 pm.

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