Linguine with clams is a classic Italian dish, but chef Frank Pullara gives it a kick at Bestia Mare in Franklin, Tenn., with the addition of the spiciest of the classic Mexican chiles, chile de arbol.
Speaking of Mexico, at elNico, a trendy Mexican restaurant in Brooklyn, N.Y., executive chef Fernanda Serrano takes the classic Yucatán dish cochinita pibil and swaps the pork out for octopus, or pulpo in Spanish, allowing her to use the fun name of pulpo pibil.
In Manhattan, at Smith & Mills Rockefeller Center, a cocktail based, sort of, on the Corpse Reviver #2, gets the Spanish name of El Segundo (“the second”).
Thai flavors get their due at John’s Food & Wine in Chicago, where they dress up a roasted pork shoulder sandwich, and in Los Angeles, at Camphor, chefs Max Boonthanakit and Lijo George developed a dessert with many kiwi elements that has proven to be a hit with its customers.
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