A Taste of Oaxaca

When El Jardin opened in the Mercer Warehouse in 2023, it was billed as a pan-Latin American restaurant. It felt apt for the space formerly home to Rostizado, Edmonton’s first refined Mexican restaurant, which enjoyed a celebrated run and would be greatly missed. El Jardin (“The Garden” in Spanish) was also having a good run, so I was surprised to learn that it recently changed ownership. The partners have redirected its focus toward a single, deep-rooted culinary tradition: Oaxaca.

The state in southern Mexico is often called the country’s culinary heart, a place where Zapotec and Mixtec traditions remain strong. Some Oaxacan recipes predate Spanish colonization and the cuisine overall has had minimal European influence. It’s also where the vast majority of Mezcal is distilled, making the smoky agave spirit as symbolic to the state as scotch is to Scotland.

The concept is largely that of co-owner Flavius Iulian Joita, who built a hospitality career in Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta before moving to Edmonton. Together with chef Luis Barocio and his other business partner, they’ve replaced El Jardin’s multinational menu and clubby evenings (when tables were cleared out for a dance floor) with a dining room of historic brick and mirrors that keeps the spotlight firmly on the complexity of Oaxacan flavours.

My guest and I started with the tasajo asado, an authentic market staple. It arrived on a crisp corn tortilla with black bean paste, lettuce, avocado, tomato and quesillo, a Oaxacan string cheese. The wood-grilled salted beef was tender with a gentle chew, its salinity softened by the creamy cheese and beans.

We then turned to the ahi tuna tostada, a structurally similar dish, albeit with a more coastal, New World influence thanks to its wheat flour tortilla, cut into four pizza-style slices. The tortilla was crisped to a cracker-like texture and topped with seared ahi tuna, smoky avocado purée, pickled onions and a drizzle of creamy chipotle sauce.

But the standout was the chicken with mole negro — one of Oaxaca’s seven moles traditionally served for different occasions. This one is reserved for weddings and other major celebrations because it’s so labour intensive. With 20-some ingredients, including Oaxacan chocolate, the sauce was smoky, spicy and balanced — neither overly sweet nor bitter. The bone-in chicken was juicy, accompanied by local mushrooms standing in for Oaxaca’s wild varieties.

When we visited in August, El Jardin’s ambitious Mezcal Passport program hadn’t yet launched. It’s now available, taking patrons on a journey through Oaxaca’s agave biodiversity, from the versatile Espadín to rare wild varietals like Tobalá and Tepeztate. The idea is to give guests a guided, story-rich tasting of mezcal’s breadth and depth.

In the meantime, we sampled cocktails from the mezcal- based list — all named with a wink. La Tóxica takes its name from Spanish slang for “the toxic one” in a relationship (meant as a playful tease between friends or partners). Made with Mezcal Solmano, watermelon, lemon and a Tajín rim, the drink is colourful and fruity, smoky on the nose but light on the palate. El Tocayo is a smooth Mezcal mix with Ruby Port, Martini Dry Vermouth, syrup and habanero bitters. Smooth and velvety under a creamy foam, it’s balanced between sweet and herbal notes, with a hint of habanero.

While it’s a long way from Oaxaca, and authenticity is limited by the ingredients it can source, El Jardin’s new direction
is closing the distance between Edmonton and Mexico’s culinary capital.

El Jardin
Downtown | 10359 104 St NW #102, Edmonton | 780.540.9312 | eljardinyeg.com