The Pitch’s secret menu - Taco Naco KC
Excerpt from The Pitch’s Secret Menu: Taco Naco KC
Words by Michael Mackie
Spanish carajillo cocktail
From the minute Fernanda Reyes opened her pop-up stand at the Overland Park Farmers’ Market a few years ago, guests started clamoring for her gourmet street tacos. Each week, lines grew exponentially longer. That’s when Reyes and partner Brian knew they were on to something, ultimately opening Taco Naco KC Market & Taqueria in Downtown Overland Park.
Not only has Reyes’ menu evolved extensively over the years, but Team Taco Naco has also wildly expanded their boozy cocktail offerings.
There are a couple of super-secret items Reyes only serves her staff or for special occasions. “If I have friends here, or a private event, I’ll serve them up,” she says. “But, until now, these two items have never been available to the public.”
First up is Reyes’s famous soft shell crab taco, which she says was inspired by her summers on the beaches of La Paz, Baja California. “Every day I would wake up to the noise of the kitchen and the smell of flour tortillas made fresh by my grandmother,” she says. “Fishermen would bring freshly caught blue crab right to the door of your house. My grandmother and I would spend the morning chatting and meticulously separating the blue crab meat from the shell.”
Secret soft shell crab taco
Nostalgia aside, she’s excited to unveil it now if guests ask for it. “It’s one of Taco Naco KC’s best-kept secrets,” she says. “I fry a crab and put it on a Yoli flour tortilla with chipotle aioli, garlic mayo, purple cabbage, and loads of salsa.”
While you’re there, she says you might as well try another hush-hush item—her Spanish Carajillo cocktail.
“It’s a delicious digestif made from espresso coffee and Liquor 43, which contains 43 sweet spices and is served on ice. I crave it all the time,” she says. “It represents the importance of the after-dinner ritual in Mexico. I will never understand why Americans pay their bill and go home. In Mexico, we’ll stay another hour and order dessert, drinking and talking. The Carajillo is perfect while enjoying each other’s company. Oh, and with our churros, too.”