Fine dining Michelin-starred Chinatown restaurant Corima already has a perfect flour tortilla, and that became the basis of chef and owner Fidel Caballero’s new casual daytime bakery, Vato. The soft tortillas are highlighted in Northern Mexican-style burritos, which are thinner and open-ended (embrace the mess). The bakery, which opened this fall, boasts a short-but-strong list of Mexican pastries. Coming soon: Basque-meets-Northern Mexican food and drinks at night in the same narrow space. Tips are collected in a molcajete next to the register.
It’s a counter-service joint, so place your order at the front (there might be a line, especially around early breakfast and lunchtime), where you can see an open display of the day’s pastries, and get your number. You’ll wait near the register if you ordered a coffee or pastries, and then move to the back of the counter to pick up your burritos. It’s a little confusing.
The small dining room in the back fills up fast. There’s a back patio, though, for nice-weather days.
You can bring home the tortillas in packs of 10.