An ode to New Mexico: Inside Sancho, Stafford’s colourful new taqueria
Sancho Taqueria & Tequileria has arrived in Stafford, bringing the vibrant flavours, colours and traditions of New Mexico to Brisbane’s northside. The 90-seat restaurant and bar serves a menu shaped by centuries of cultural exchange, alongside a thoughtful selection of tequila, mezcal and margaritas. For owner Amanda Scott, however, Sancho is also a heartfelt tribute to family and the meals that inspired it. Here’s the first look inside …
For Farmhouse Kedron and Oh Boy, Bok Choy! co-owner Amanda Scott, her love of New Mexican food isn’t a byproduct of mere culinary curiosity. It’s an affinity with deep familial roots. In fact, the flavours of New Mexico are likely as familiar to Amanda as pizza or chicken schnitzel.
“I very much associate it with family food – because it was the food of my father’s childhood and there was a nostalgia for it,” says Amanda, who tells us that her father David moved to Albuquerque when he was ten. “We have eaten New Mexican food our whole lives. It was great sharing food.”
For more than 15 years, Amanda and her husband and business partner John have wanted to open a venue dedicated to New Mexican cuisine, but – thanks, in part, to the city’s preconceived and outdated notions regarding Mexican cuisine – a concept could never get off the ground.
“I think it’s just because we haven’t had much good Mexican in Brisbane until recently,” says Amanda. “For us, the idea has been hovering for 16 years.”
But now, with Mexican cuisine enjoying a renaissance across Southeast Queensland, conditions are finally perfect for Amanda and John to make good on their long-held dream of introducing Brisbane diners to New Mexican cuisine, the history that shaped it and her personal connection to it.
Introducing Sancho Taqueria & Tequileria – a colourful new 90-seat eatery and bar nestled on Stafford Road in the space previously occupied by King of the Wings, just next to Oh Boy, Bok Choy! Named after Sancho Panza – the faithful sidekick to Don Quixote – the restaurant is an ode to the language, music, people, landscape and flavours of New Mexico.
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The venue is loosely divided into two sections, with its two halves bracketing hair salon Little Birdie. On one side sits the kitchen (with its own intimate dining space), while the bar, main dining room and alfresco deck area sit on the other side. Colour is a key aspect of Sancho’s aesthetic, with Amanda drawing influence from New Mexico’s natural splendour for her restaurant’s vibrant hues.
“The colour scheme I’m going with – the pinks and oranges – reflects the colours of the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico,” says Amanda. “The sunsets there are spectacular.”
For the uninitiated, New Mexican culture is a richly textured blend of Native American, Spanish, Mexican and American history. The state’s culinary roots are traced back to the 23 tribes (19 Pueblo nations including two Apache tribes, and the Eastern part of the Navajo Nation) that call New Mexico home.
It was these tribes that first established the ‘three sisters’ system – the companion planting of corn, beans and squash that formed the cornerstone of the Indigenous American agricultural system. The ‘three sisters’ still act as an anchor of contemporary New Mexican cuisine, even as the region endured Spanish colonisation and periods of Mexican and American rule. What results is a cuisine unlike any other, a bubbling brew of influences that Amanda believes makes New Mexican cuisine unique.
“I think Mexican cuisine is like Italian cuisine in that there are so many regions, and there are so many regional specialties,” says Amanda. “New Mexican cuisine isn’t necessarily regional – it’s a melting pot, the way Australia is a melting pot. We’re saluting the really original flavours of New Mexico.”
Helping Amanda and John wrangle New Mexico’s disparate culinary influences is consultant chef Julius Villamor (ex-Baja), who skillfully weaves these threads throughout Sancho’s debut menu.
The offering kicks off with sopaipillas, Sancho’s signature New Mexican-style puffed bread. Here, guests are asked New Mexico’s official state question, ‘Red or green?’ – the customary choice between red or green salsa served with a meal. With appetites whetted, guests can dive into entradas like charred elotes with lime crema, tequila honey-glazed wings, black-bean tostadas and Sancho’s own roasted-pumpkin mole and bean hummus.
The centrepiece of Sancho’s menu is its taco selection, with preservative-free tortillas loaded with pork shoulder carnitas, 14-hour brisket, braised pulled chicken, charred achiote carrot and battered market fish. Not in a taco mood? Sancho’s Pueblo rice bowl with new Mexican red rice, frijoles, charred corn, al pastor carrot, guac and slaw is a hunger-busting alternative.
Those feeding a few should look at Sancho’s platos selection, which features lamb barbacoa with smoked date mole, grilled agave-glazed chicken with aji verde and grilled sugarloaf cabbage with wildflower-smoked chilli honey. For dessert? Amanda says the flan with chamoy granita is a must-try, as are the sweet sopaipillas if you didn’t opt for them as a savoury starter.
“We hope that people recognise that Mexican food can be really good,” says Amanda of Sancho’s fare. “It doesn’t have to taste cheap, it doesn’t have to be lukewarm and it doesn’t have to come out of a can. Everything that Julius and his team are making in-house, they’re doing from scratch.”
At Sancho, agave spirits are taken seriously. Amanda has worked with distiller and tequila expert Sean Bevan on assembling a diverse range of tequilas and mezcals, with the menu offering insight into the origins and production methods of each inclusion. On the menu you’ll spy icons indicating whether a drop has been aged in barrel, distilled in copper pot stills and had its roasted agave crushed by hand or by tahona (a volcanic-stone wheel).
“If you’re going to call yourself a tequileria, you better learn about it – you can’t just have three tequilas,” says Amanda. “A lot of time has been spent thinking about what’s in there.”
Approximately 17 tequilas feature alongside 13 mezcals. Many of the selected spirits feature in Sancho’s six-strong selection of margaritas, which are backed by an additional ten classic cocktails. A tight wine list spotlights Spanish and New Zealand wines, while the beer selection includes Tecate, Modelo and a cerveza from Balter. As for non-alcoholic options, there’s Mexican Coca-Cola, agua fresca and a yuzu blossom mocktail.
Ask Amanda, and she’ll tell you that Sancho’s opening marks a special moment in her hospitality career. For all of the research, recipe development and attention paid to the venue’s food and beverage offering, the seasoned operator says the venue is ultimately driven by something far more personal. At its heart, Sancho is both a celebration of New Mexican culture and a tribute to the people who introduced her to it.
“This would be the most special for me because it’s for my father,” says Amanda. “Setting up something that pays homage to him and to Sancho Panza – this amazing character we grew up with in our lives and our house – is special.”
“I love Farmhouse and Oh Boy, Bok Choy! was the adventure that I wanted after living in Asia, but Sancho is definitely the one that has most of my heart in it.”
Sancho Taqueria & Tequileria officially opens to the public tonight, Thursday June 18. Head to The Directory for operating hours and contact info.
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