Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/760410
w i n t e r 2 0 1 7 | 7 5 IT'S EARLY EVENING DURING a Sonoran summer and Talavera, the signature restaurant at Four Seasons Scottsdale, is picturesque with a warming luminosity. Although the sun casts its rays, Chef Mel Mecinas, 46, with his two younger brothers, Honorio, 43, and Juan, 40, are radiating welcomes to each dining guest. After all, it's the reason the restaurant is sold out. For the first time in over two decades, the siblings have come together under one kitchen's roof to cook as a family. Tonight, as a team, they showcase their birthplace- inspired menu. For nearly 20 years, the Arizona prop- erty has been home to the elder Mecinas, Mel, who was recently inducted into Arizona's Culinary Hall of Fame, and where he's been the Executive Chef of the luxury resort. Honorio and Juan flew in from their re- spective cities of Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Honorio is Executive Chef of Voodoo Steakhouse & Nightclub, located in The Rio, and formerly of Gordon Ramsey's; at one time he was the youngest Chef de Cuisine on Sin City's Strip. Juan is head Pastry Chef at La Patisserie, a Los Angeles–based bakery that provides desserts for airlines. It's probably safe to say that all the desserts and pastries eaten on first-class interna- tional flights are his confections. On this auspicious night, diners ate four courses inspired by family and familiar from regional recipes. Oaxaca, for example, is known as "the land of the seven moles," and the trio executed a rojo (red), amarillo (yellow) and the best-known, a mole negro. Making delectable appearances on the plates were indigenous items such as squash blossoms, huitalaco- che, lamb barbacoa, memolita and hoja santa. To eat this way again, eaters would need to travel south of the border. The brothers are self-taught but were trained by legendary Chef Joachim Splichal at his famous res- taurant Patina, one of the few Michelin-starred res- taurants in Los Angeles. It was Mel who first joined the fabled kitchen master, followed by Macario, then Honorio and lastly Juan. Mel tells the story of the Mecinas brothers' culinary journey: "Our father was working very hard to give us more education. He was living in California already . . . . I was 16 when I left our small village, Yalalag, and called my brother Macario, who sent me money and airfare." Immediately, Mel began working with his father at The Good Earth, a now-shuttered health restaurant chain located in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley. For his first eight months in the United States, he was a teen- age dishwasher learning the ways of the kitchen be- fore he moved on to the pantry line. "Our father was the prep guy, creating the mise-en-place for soups, vegetables, burgers. Everything that was made in the restaurant, he was prepping. Our father, Armando, was amazing. He was a machine," states Mel. By the nineties, Mel was quickly climbing Patina's culinary ladder, becoming the chef of Pinot Bistro in Studio City. "Mel started as a dishwasher in the early days of Patina," Chef Splichal says about his former apprentice. "Right away, I recognized his ambition and drive to become a strong leader in the culinary world." By 1995, all four Mecinas were working with The Patina Group. Downtown L.A.'s Café Pinot was over- seen by Mel, and the other two were working there with him. Meanwhile the oldest brother, Macario, is overseeing Patinette, a casual eatery near the Mu- seum of Contemporary Art. As time moved on, Macario headed back to Mexico, and Mel, ever the driven one, took a position with Four Seasons Santa Barbara in 1997, leading him to Beverly Hills, then eventually to metro Phoenix's award-winning Four Seasons property. Says Chef Splichal, "Honorio, Mel and Juan are very hard workers with a strong culinary drive. They should be congratulated on their success."' A round of applause indeed, for all of the Mecinas men. Chefs Juan, Honorio and Mel Mecinas. A reunion of sorts: Chef Honorio, their mentor Chef Joachim Splichal from Patina Group and Chef Mel. PHOTO COURTESY OF FOUR SEASONS SCOTTSDALE PHOTO COURTESY OF FOUR SEASONS SCOTTSDALE Like old times, all three brothers participated in one dish. The appetizer for the Brothers Dinner con- sisted of potato and chorizo moletto (Juan), lamb barbacoa taco (Mel) and shrimp ceviche (Honorio). PHOTO: ISABEL BYFIELD PHOTO COURTESY OF MEL MECINAS A co-worker with Juan, Macario, Honorio and Mel in the former Patina kitchen on Melrose Avenue in 1993. Beef tenderloin and shrimp with traditional Oaxacan mole negro. The Brothers Mecinas: All in The Family Q MEET THE CHEFS ■cr by Brian Garrido