A new modern Mexican restaurant and tequila bar is to launch in Chelsea this September, bringing the flavours of Tulum to the King’s Road.
Ixchel, from the Mexican chef Ximena Gayosso Gonzalez, promises to “transport” diners “to the exotic Yucatan peninsula” with an all-day menu of ceviches, tacos and tostadas. It will open as an all day operation, from 9am till midnight, seven days a week.
Gonzalez has also created sharing dishes such as fried fish and corn quesadillas, tuna sashimi with toreada sauce, and cheese and herb-stuffed pasilla chilis with slow-cooked salsa roja and toasted peanuts.
Larger plates, she said, will include tomato and cactus salad, black tiger prawns with squid skewers, and pork ribs wrapped in a banana leaf, cooked over charcoal in dark beer.
Gonzalez, who has worked at the likes of Brat and Ella Canta in London, and at Dulce Patria in Mexico City under the highly acclaimed Martha Ortiz, said the restaurant will only be “authentic.”
“I am really happy to be working on this project,” she told the Standard.
“Authentic Mexican cuisine is such a passion of mine and I am very excited to be able to work with such fantastic ingredients, cooking with fire and creating the fresh coastal flavours that I love.
“I am really looking forward to having people in the restaurant.”
Founder Fraser Carruthers said there will be no hint of “Tex Mex” cooking at Ixchel, and that the restaurant has been two years in the making.
“Our ethos for Ixchel was to have fantastic authentic food, delicious cocktails alongside a beautiful design,” he told the Standard.
“Ixchel has been a project really close to my heart as I have always loved Mexico as a country. We have been conceptually building Ixchel for over two years now… As a lover of Mexican cuisine I had become disenchanted and underwhelmed with what London had to offer and felt there was a massive gap in the market. You will not find any hint of Tex Mex at Ixchel.”
In the bar, meanwhile, there will be one of the largest collections of agave-based liquor in Europe, with an extensive list of tequilas, mezcals and cocktails.
The restaurant, named after the Mayan goddess of the moon and textiles, has been designed with bespoke tiling, a reeded ceiling, and a “huge contemporary macrame paying homage to her weaving.”
There will also be a mural by the Mexican artist Rafael Uriegas, whose style blends ancient mythology with modern art.
