Sisters make everything fresh, including sauces, to give their dishes an authentic taste
Mia Stainsby
Sun
Manager Katie Pierce offers a taco bowl at the Lonsdale Quay Cilantro & Jalapeno. PHOTO BY RICHARD LAM/ VANCOUVER SUN
They’re a brave and spunky 24- and 26-year-old sister set, earning their way through school for five years, first as caterers and now they run two Mexican places. I have the feeling Annie and Liz Novoa are just getting started.
One of their shops, Cilantro & Jalapeno, at Lonsdale Quay, is a takeout and Mexican grocery store. You can sit and eat in the food court area if you need to eat immediately. The newer spot is on West Broadway and is more of a sit-down cafe.
The menus are identical. There’s the usual Mexican fare (burritos, enchiladas, nachos, quesadillas, taquitos, tacos, tostados) but they’re increasingly straying from the same-old, same-old and offering dishes like sweet tamales (chocolate chip; goat’s milk caramel spread; rum and raisin) which Annie says is like an equivalent to our muffin.
Also on offer is a Yucatan chicken marinated in a spice mix which includes annato seed. The savoury tamales have an ever-changing filling but they all come with a cilantro and creamy jalapeno sauce or dip.
“We make everything fresh every day; all our sauces, guacamole, salsas, and chop all our vegetables fresh,” says Annie, a graduate of Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts who has worked at Salmon House on the Hill. Liz just graduated from SFU with an arts degree in English and political science.
The tortillas, Annie says, are imported from Mexico. “They have to be good,” she says. Asked what “good” is, she explains she wants tortillas which can be reheated without cracking, have no artificial ingredients and are flavourful. “Ours tastes like they’re fresh out of the factory in Mexico,” she says.
The Lonsdale Quay location is open seven days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and it’s handy to the SeaBus for a take-home meal. The West Broadway location is open to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, to 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. It’s closed on Sunday.
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CILANTRO & JALAPENO
Lonsdale Quay, North Vancouver, 604-986-6344 and 736 West Broadway, 604-872-7161.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007