TACO TIME: Taco de Cecina/Longaniza @ Lalo & Ceci

CLOSED, JUNE 2017

Lalo & Ceci inaugurated a  taquería in the up and coming Colonia Escandon a few months ago and I'm sorry it took me so long to get there. The trip below the Viaducto was well worth the effort. The space is cheerful and airy, white walls offset by market/floral covered tables.  The simple menu features cecina and chorizo from a place called Puente de Ixtla in the state of Morelos and not too much else.

Lalo & Ceci know what they are up to, but they are in fact fictitious - the masterminds behind the operation are chef and entrepreneur Paulina Fong and her partner Fernando Zorilla. Lalo stands for longaniza--less greasy chorizo-- and Ceci is cecina--salted dried beef. Together they make for a happy marriage as a campechano taco, or stand alone, accompanied by an array of carefully rendered salsas. Tortillas, yellow and meaty, are pressed to order. Fong, who presides over her spartan kitchen explains that the better-known cecina from Yecapixtla, in  the state of Mexico, is drier and saltier; hers is succulent and tastes of concentrated beef. The rubescent chorizo is almost fat free, a fact that doesn't diminish its deliciousness.

Tacos are served with shards of crispy chicharrón and a side of black beans that would make a Cuban proud. A menu del día offered at comida time includes a soup, agua del día and a refreshing paleta. I'm happy to choose the lalo & ceci  i.e. campechano taco as GFMC's first taco of the week.

Lalo & Ceci Taquitos de Cecina
Av. José Martí 154 (between Patriotismo and Comercio)
Open daily 11 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Tel. 55 5035 8658