This traditional wood-fired stove is the centerpiece at Antojería Beto Chef Michoacán. The "Beto" is Alberto Ávila Espinoza; in 2016, he and his partner, Luis Eduardo (Lalo) Santiago opened this tiny restaurant in Morelia, Michoacán. With three or four tables for hungry customers and a huge take-out business, the restaurant is also changing the face of its community.
A bit more than a year ago, Chef Beto sent me a friend request on Facebook. We have a lot of mutual friends here in Morelia, and little by little I got to know more about Chef Beto: born in La Piedad, in north-central Michoacán, Chef Beto has lived for many years in Morelia and has worked in several local restaurants before opening his eponymous spot. He knows standard Mexican food preparation, typical and traditional Michoacán cooking, as well as Mexican seafood dishes and Argentine cuisine. Chef Beto and Lalo, partners in life as well as in business, have made a great success of their work together.
Over the course of several months, Chef Beto frequently messaged me to urge me to come to his restaurant, to see what he was doing there. He told me about some of his dishes, and everything sounded terrific. His place is on the western outskirts of Morelia, I don't have a car, and public transportation to get there isn't simple. I am ashamed to admit that I put off going, telling him yes yes I want to go to your place--and then putting it off again. About two weeks ago, after not hearing from Chef Beto for several months, there he was in my Messenger again, asking if I could come soon. Luisa's work schedule was such that she had time to go one day last week, and I told Beto we'd be there for a meal and some conversation.
Lalo seated us and I asked Chef Beto for a recommendation of what was delicious on the menu. His suggestion was to order his famous mole de guayaba (guava mole). He generously brought us a taste of it before we chose our meals: the 'taste' was a corunda (a Michoacán-specific traditional triangular tamal--if you look at the photo, to the left of the spoon you can see a tiny white corner of the corunda), covered with the mole de guayaba (above). Both the corunda and the mole were sensational, truly sensational. Between us, Luisa and I gobbled them down.
The "after" shot--what I really wanted to do was pick up the plate and lick it, but I restrained myself.
Here's a link to a recent video about Chef Beto's fantastic mole de guayaba:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V4WCdIAqek&feature=youtu.be
The menu at Antojería Beto Chef Michoacán is lengthy and making a choice of what to eat was difficult. People at the table next to us were eating another Michoacán specialty, a chavindeka, and it looked so good that we ordered one to share, along with a bowl of sopa tarasca (yet another Michoacán traditional dish) to split.
Chef Beto's sopa tarasca, accompanied by a large pitcher of agua fresca de hierbabuena (a refreshing "fresh water" made with natural mint). Sopa tarasca is a bean-based soup served with fried tortilla strips, fried chile ancho, cheese, and a big dollop of Mexican table cream.
Our huge order of chavindeka (on the right), accompanied by refried beans and made-to-order guacamole. The chavindeka is a street food specialty from Michoacán's Tierra Caliente (hot lowlands). Chef Beto and Lalo prepare it with two large house-made corn tortillas, slightly crisped (in a bit of lard) on the griddle; the filling is grilled strips of tender beef and melting Oaxaca cheese. After toasting on the griddle, the chavindeka is cut into four large triangles for serving.
Antojería Beto Chef Michoacán is a delightful restaurant with really delicious food--AND has a huge community-oriented focus that makes the owners, their staff, and their friends genuine heroes, working to better the terribly difficult times their neighbors are living. Economic trouble is rife in the area; due to Covid-19, many who live in the large fraccionamiento (housing development) where the restaurant is located have lost their jobs. There are many, many needy elderly and incapacitated residents as well.
About four months ago, Chef Beto and Lalo and their group decided to share a comedor comunitario (a community-based dining room) serving the most needy people in Villas del Pedregal and other colonias (neighborhoods). The decision was based on the restaurant's own struggle to survive during the Covid-19 lockdown here in Michoacán. The restaurant team decided, "We don't have business in the restaurant right now, but we have food available. Small business owners and private individuals will help us help others." For the last four months, Antojería Beto Chef Michoacán has depended on donations from individuals, stores, and businesses to prepare free meals for anyone who needed them. During that time, open Monday through Friday for food delivery and pick-up by the needy, the minuscule restaurant served 300 free meals PER DAY to anyone who showed up or who asked for delivery. No proof of need was requested; this was the philosophy put into action at the restaurant.
Today, the restaurant is still providing free meals to "abuelitos" (literally, grandparents--but it's a generalized term that includes all elderly). In addition, donations of mattresses, blankets, unused unexpired medicines, and foods (cooking oil, raw rice, dried beans, lentils, bread, crackers, boxed juices, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables) are given to anyone in need. The day that Luisa and I were there, a big (I mean big) donation of freshly made doughnuts arrived. Chef Beto immediately put out the word that they were available and people started showing up. Ten or more people arrived with plastic bags, with plates and bowls, with whatever they could use to take doughnuts home, and everyone went away happy.
An elderly woman is choosing what she needs for preparing a meal from staple goods donated to the Comedor Comunitario. Chef Beto also gives away fresh produce donated by local sources.
Pan bolillo (freshly baked small white bread loaves), donated to the Comedor Comunitario. One of these small breads (half of the two baked together) costs literally 3 or 4 pesos--but that amount, multiplied by the number of loaves in those two crates, adds up and becomes meaningful to Beto and to the recipients.
On the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, Chef Beto fills a woman's bucket with tamales, hot out of the tamalera (tamales steamer). Her family ate well that day.
Chef Beto gave me permission to use this logo, which he has posted on his Facebook page. Above the logo, Chef Beto wrote, "¿Tienes cosas en tu casa que no ocupas y quieres donar? Colchones en buen estado, ropa, abarrotes, trastes, estufas, etc. Nosotros los recibimos para donar a abuelitos." (Do you have things in your home that you don't use and would like to donate? Mattresses in good condition, clothing, groceries, dishes, stoves, etc. We will receive them to donate to the elderly.) Chef Beto also gave me permission to request money donations to help support his tremendously important charitable work. He doesn't have a PayPal account, but I told him I'd ask all of my beloved readers to donate to MY PayPal account (in any country's currency) and I'll personally take the money to him (in Mexican pesos).
No amount is too small; every peso goes a long way toward feeding the needy. My personal preference is ALWAYS to make charitable donations in Mexico directly into the hand of the person doing the charitable work, and I commit to all of you that any donations to Beto will be immediately turned over to him to use as needed for the benefit of the elderly and needy. Your donations will be received with joy and gratitude. Please help support this truly selfless effort.
The bottom line about Antojería Beto Chef Michoacán: the food is delicious, the atmosphere is strictly casual, the love is palpable, and the charitable work they do is beyond reproach. If you can't come to Michoacán right now, send money to my PayPal (it's listed below) to help Antojería Beto Chef Michoacán support those who have next to nothing. If you're IN Michoacán right now, let me know when you'd like to go to the restaurant and we'll make sure you get there. And if your heart simply goes out to those in dire need, any donation will be used with other donations to alleviate that need. Be part of this seed of selfless love from Chef Beto, his partner Lalo Santiago, and the rest of the crew to the elderly and poor in Villas del Pedregal, Morelia, Michoacán--Michoacán, the soul of México.
Left to right: Carlos Alberto Guerra (aka "the other Beto", because his nickname is the same as the chef's), Luisa Ruiz Montiel, Sra. Eloisa Serrata Martínez, who untiringly helps cook and clean up and who is known with great affection as doña Licha), Chef Beto, and Mexico Cooks!.
Antojitería Beto Chef Michoacán
To make a donation to the Comedor Comunitario: PayPal account [email protected]
Calle Cinco #30, near the corner of Calle Murano
Fraccionamiento Villas del Pedregal
Hours: 2:00PM - 6:00PM Wednesdays
2:00PM - 10:00PM Thursdays thru Sundays
Phone: 443-360-5037
Go to the restaurant to eat or for takeout, or call to request delivery.
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I WANT SOME CHAVINDEKA!
Posted by: Bruce Taylor | July 26, 2020 at 10:32 PM
Definitivamente, su comida exquisita, 100 % recomendable.
Posted by: Felipe Ch | July 25, 2020 at 12:15 PM