The wife and-husband team of Lizzeth Martínez and Francisco Estrada will open their latest concept, Santonia Cantina, on Nov. 19 in the former home of Full Goods Diner at Pearl. The two have achieved multiple accolades for their Naco Mexican concept, which has had multiple incarnations across the city, including a James Beard Awards nomination for Best Chef: Texas and appearances on Netflix’s show “Taco Chronicles.” Martínez has also served as a global voice for the city through its UNESCO City of Gastronomy Chef Ambassador program.
The new restaurant marks a departure from Naco’s two existing locations: a food trailer on Nacogdoches Road and a small space at the SA Yacht Club on Grayson Street. Santonia Cantina will be full-service restaurant blending flavors from South Texas and North Mexico.
“The space that we’re hosting this time, it’s a bigger, brighter, newer kind of space,” Martínez said. “We have indoor dining, to start with. Definitely the menu is different. You will see some traces of Naco in some plates, but the full concept is more shareable. Sit down, eat it here, enjoy it with a drink.”
Naco, by comparison, is geared more toward food on the go, Martínez said.
The Santonia team spent Thursday afternoon fine-tuning cocktails, menu plating and last-minute design and decor elements, with Martínez and Estrada zooming from the front to the back of the 3,300-square-foot house eyeing the progress. The kitchen staff, working from a very open space where guests have a clear view of the action, plated dishes such as the hulking Chamorro Pork Shank braised for 12 hours in a peppery adobo sauce and a jumbo-size crispy flauta filled with grilled shrimp, cheese and poblano chiles over a creamy chipotle sauce.
The full bar’s cocktail program will hone in on agave-based spirits such as tequila and mezcal, augmented with flavors such as prickly pear, mesquite and avocado leaves. Dessert options include a sweet corn cake topped with grated piloncillo and a comically large pat of butter molded to look like an ear of corn and the Mezcal Cafe De Olla & Animal Cracker Tiramisu, giving that Italian classic a distinctively Mexican passport.
“Having this bigger platform will allow us to make dreams come true not only for us but for many other chefs around the world that we know and actually have a space to host them, host events for the Food Bank. Those things, what we’ve been dreaming of doing, this is a place where that can happen,” Martínez said.
Santonia Cantina, 200 E. Grayson St., Suite 120, 210-236-4232, santoniacantinatx.com. Hours (starting Nov. 19): 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Dining and Cooking