{"id":385575,"date":"2025-11-17T16:27:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T16:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/385575\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T16:27:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T16:27:30","slug":"nyc-restaurant-corima-opens-new-bakery-and-restaurant-vato","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/385575\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC Restaurant Corima Opens New Bakery and Restaurant Vato"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt started with the hype of a tortilla,\u201d Fidel Caballero explains. He had already perfected flour tortillas<\/a> at his Michelin-starred Mexican fine dining restaurant Corima<\/a> on the Lower East Side.<\/p>\n

The chef and owner, who grew up in El Paso, knew the importance of making the superb tortilla \u2014 in this case, a sourdough flour version made with butter. But why limit them to just one restaurant? \u201cI think that the flour tortilla deserves the same respect as baguettes and sourdough loaves,\u201d Caballero says.<\/p>\n

Enter Vato<\/a>, the team\u2019s new daytime tortilleria and bakery and nighttime neighborhood restaurant<\/a> with Basque and Northern Mexican leanings, opening in Park Slope at 226 Seventh Avenue, between Third and Fourth streets on Thursday, November 20. The name is the Chicano slang term for \u201chomie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

The pecan tart, chocolate chip-hazelnut-praline cookies, and cinnamon bun at Vato. Paco Alonso\/Vato<\/p>\n

Vato fits about 30 people in a space with wood and concrete details. There\u2019s the five-seat bar from which people will order daytime food and drinks, an open kitchen, and a back patio with room for 25 people. The walls will feature street photography of Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez and El Paso shot by Paco Alonso. \u201cWe want to be a neighborhood spot,\u201d Caballero tells Eater of his wishes for Vato. He wants people to stop in for coffee, to pick up tortillas for home, sit around for dinner, or just grab a quick bite. \u201cI want them to feel like our homies.\u201d The restaurant comes from his wife, Sof\u00eda Ostos, along with Paco Alonso and Erica Alonso, his friends growing up along the Mexican-American border in Ciudad Ju\u00e1rez and El Paso.<\/p>\n

During the daytime, Vato will work as a counter-service spot, serving those sourdough flour tortillas in packs of 10. Though Caballero notes that Vato\u2019s tortilla is \u201ca little bit different\u201d from the Corima one, \u201cit has the same ethos.\u201d The tortillas are also used for Chihuahua-style burritos, long and slender concoctions filled with stews (it\u2019s a style also featured at new burrito hotspot Los Burritos Juarez<\/a> in Fort Greene). Expect fillings like hickory and mesquite-smoked burnt ends, soft-scrambled eggs, and cheddar cheese (an ode to Texas barbecue and a take on the classic bacon-egg-cheese sandwiches); pollo en mole; braised pork shoulder with salsa verde and potatoes; and the chile relleno, where fried poblano peppers are stuffed with asadero cheese and beans. Look out for barbacoa tortas too.<\/p>\n

\"Someone<\/a><\/p>\n

A Chihuahua-style burrito at Vato. Paco Alonso\/Vato<\/p>\n

Corima pastry chef Erick Richa is overseeing the pastries, which will include filled conchas (think yuzu and corn husk curds), hazelnut-praline-chocolate chip cookies, brioche with cajetas, and marranitos, the pig-shaped Mexican gingerbread cookies.<\/p>\n

For a.m. drinks, Vato will serve Oaxacan coffee made with single-origin beans sourced from Sobre Masa<\/a>, plus matcha, aguas frescas like horchatas and Jamaicas (hibiscus).<\/p>\n

Vato\u2019s nighttime shift turns the space into a casual table-service restaurant and wine bar serving Basque and Northern Mexican dishes. Caballero describes it as \u201cBasque techniques with Northern Mexican flavors. He\u2019s drawing from his background, as well as when he cooked at Spain restaurant Martin Berasategui<\/a>. \u201cNorthern Mexican and Basque cultures have this thing that they both grill everything,\u201d he says. \u201cSo we make that connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

That will lead to dishes and tapas like thin short ribs; grilled shrimp; avocado and yuzu with fried beef tripe and tostadas; beer-battered smelt with fried egg mayonnaise; cider-steamed cockles; tortilla de bacalao, a Spanish-style omelet with cod, potatoes, cod machaca (where the fish is shredded into a floss-like texture), and pil pil sauce; mollete de txangurro, an open-faced sandwich with a donostiarra-style crab and butter beans; and chistorra talo, where a warm corn-flour tortilla will wrap a griddled Basque sausage.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

The barbacoa torta at Vato. Paco Alonso\/Vato<\/p>\n

Corima wine director Mariano Caray\u2019s evening beverage list leans heavily on natural wines from Mexico and Spain, think cavas, albari\u00f1os, and garnacha, alongside rieslings and Champagnes. Also from Spain and Mexico will be ciders, vermouth, and amari, plus drinks made with fino sherries and vin jaune, and nonalcoholic options like an oat horchata.<\/p>\n

Initially, Vato will open with daytime hours only from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Monday. Dinner will start sometime in mid-December from 5 to 10 p.m. Harkening to its homie vibes, it\u2019ll be open for walk-ins only (no reservations).<\/p>\n