SANDWICHES are out and tacos are in at Chiefly East's revamped eatery which has been rebranded as cosy taqueria Chiefly de Gallo in Newcastle's East End.
Owner Ali Downer (who launched a second sandwich shop, Chiefly West, in Newcastle West earlier this year with his wife Gem) is still running the show, along with chefs Jimmy Stewart and Julio Veres who collectively came up with the idea to trade sandwiches for tacos.
They hit the ground running eight weeks ago, launching Chiefly de Gallo with a new fit-out and a new style of food serving lunch and dinner.
After testing the waters for a few weeks with a selection of tacos and tortas (Mexican-style sandwiches), a new menu was launched last week.
The tortas are gone but the tacos live on and there's plenty more on offer, along with snacks.
"We have figured out what people are looking for now and basically there is a bigger option of tacos and a bigger selection of veggo options," Downer tells Weekender.
"We are trying different styles of tacos."
It might be Mexican in spirit but the flavours are unconventional and, Downer explains, that is deliberately so.
"We are trying to do something a little different to what everyone else is doing," he says.
"We are putting our little 'gringo' vibe on it, you know, keeping it not too authentic.
"We have done a beautiful wood-smoked salmon, a miso chipotle mushroom one, we are doing a traditional carnita one, one with pickled pineapple.
"We have also got a really nice vegan one as well with hibiscus flowers. It's so delicious."
Even the taco breads are created with their own spin.
The breads are hand-pressed in-house using masa flour (made from corn) which, according to Downer, produces a lighter taco.
The kitchen team has developed a variety of ways to serve them - some with a cheese crust, others are folded, some are served open-style and others are build-it-yourself.
As well as six varieties of tacos, the menu includes two burrito options (beef with pintos, pico, spiced rice, cheese and chipotle cream; or pinto with potato, verde, spiced rice and chipotle cream) and a Chiefly Con Carne bowl combining chilli beef over rice with guacamole, salad, pico and chipotle crema.
Snacks include a "build your own share plate" with tortilla chips served with a choice of pico de gallo, salsa de Jamaica, escabeche, pinto and guacamole.
And, expect lots of pickled veggies - everything from fennel to jalapeos - to add bursts of flavour to the menu.
Chiefly de Gallo is also open for breakfast as Casa De Huey after officially launching a brekky menu last weekend with bowls, burritos and tacos.
A weekly bowl special with a Colombian influence will be on offer from chef Julio, with plans to include dinner specials each week.
"We always try to get fresh seafood in, so we will be doing specials like ceviche, smoked mussels, fresh little tapas-style plates," he says.
"Nothing too heavy."
The drinks list includes a range of cocktails, including their take on a margarita made with tequila and mescal, and a Bloody Maria made with mescal rather than vodka and their house-made spicy tomato juice, pickled celery and a chipotle salt rim.
The evenings are an offering that Downer had tried to tackle at Chiefly East but he felt that sandwiches never quite fit as a dinner option.
"We always wanted to use this space more for a dine-in bar," he says.
"We got our liquor license here ages ago, well before [Covid-19] lockdown, and people like being inside this place.
"It's really a beautiful little building, and we tried to do the sandwiches at night but it just doesn't translate to the evening very well."
With chef Jimmy skilled in working with Mexican flavours and Colombia-born Julio on board in the kitchen at Chiefly West, it made sense to switch it up and create Chiefly de Gallo.
"Whenever we ran specials, Jimmy would always lean to the Mexican vibe," he says.
"When Julio came on board and he started making really cool Colombian food and people seemed to love it, it made so much sense."
