Mercado Sin Nombre is Making a Name for Itself
Words Abby l. Johnson | Photos Baptiste Despois
Mercado Sin Nombre (Unnamed Market in English) focuses its sharp culinary vision on two core ingredients: corn and coffee. The Holly neighborhood walk-up window honors the staples with the key ingredients in Mexico’s agricultural landscape, by integrating them into drinks and pastry familiar to Austinites: masa milk for coffee, masa flour for pastries—and a healthy spoonful of wit.
Over the sharp sounds of the masa making process, the hiss of steaming milk, and work place chatter, Daniel Alejandro Martinez Faccio, back-of-house manager, and Aurora Torrado, pastry chef and creative director, give a behind the scenes look at their humble, but deliciously, inventive coffee shop.
The process to bring a new specialty drink (or pastry) to customers is iterative. “By the time a new creation on the drink menu makes it to a customer’s tastebuds, the recipe, usually at least three months in the making, has gone through nine to fifteen people,” explains Aurora.
Sourcing is important, including who they buy from and who they don’t. The Nada Coke, a nonalcoholic take on a Cuba Libre, purposely eschews the corporate behemoth in favor of a house-made syrup. The complex dupe, more vibrant and alive than any ordinary canned soda, is mixed into their classic cold brew and finished with lime juice and a supreme lime leaf crème anglaise. It’s the perfect culinary-minded answer to the ubiquitous (and often disappointing) seasonal cold creams that overly-sweeten cold brews across town in the summer months.
The flagship drink is the Atole Cortado– a.k.a, Masa Milk Shorty. A classic cortado made with their masa milk is served with a side car of atole. The two drinks are meant to be sipped in rotation; the atole allows the masa to shine on its own while the cortado flexes masa’s versatility. The candied orange slice (made in-house) sits on top as a sweet punctuation.
The Tomate ‘Pache is Aurora’s current obsession. The fermented drink has a bit of an agua-fresca-meets-gazpacho vibe. The chilled tomato-base is cooling and surprising. The sweetness of the fruit lulls tastebuds with its familiarity before allowing the savory aftertaste of the coriander syrup to spring to the front.
Aurora doesn’t design her menu with everyone in mind. Her ethos is to make everything special, while not entirely reinventing the wheel. Yet, she comfortably admits, “I love to try to remove people from what they’re used to.”
Don’t Skip the Biscuit: Mercado Sin Nombre’s take on a classic southern biscuit is made with hours of labor, and of course, masa. Aurora has taken on the challenge of baking with masa with gusto. “I really enjoy it. It’s just about as unpredictable as pastry. You can easily screw it up or make it really yummy. But it goes back to all the attention that you put into it.”
Contact:
408 N Pleasant Valley Rd.
mercadosinnombre.com
@mercadosinnombre
