Nothing to do this weekend? Well it’s Cinco De Mayo in St. Jacobs from May 5 to 7. You’ll be able to find margaritas, Mexican beer, tacos, and music in the village all weekend.
An award-winning authentic mariachi band, Mariachi Mexico Amigo, will be making appearances at the Eco Café on Saturday from 12-2 p.m. and from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Charcuterie Bar. The trio, including Yuri Pedraza, Jorge López and Juan Pablo Domínguez, was awarded the Spanish Heritage award by the City of Toronto and has appeared on CBC Radio, City TV’s Breakfast Television and Global TV.
The Eco Café is also hosting a Taco Tuesday Launch party, to showcase its new taco menu, on Saturday May 6 from 12-2 p.m. along with the trio.
Jessica Rutter, the manager of the café, says the team had been working on launching Taco Tuesdays at the café for some time, and when the Cinco De Mayo weekend came up, they jumped at the perfect opportunity to showcase their tacos.
The tacos they’ll be serving are developed by Claudia Huerta, who does administration for the café.
“We have our admin person, Claudia who makes a really wicked taco. I just wanted to share that with the rest of the community,” said Rutter. “And so when she made them for me, I was like, these are amazing. So how can we get them at the café? And that’s how the conversation started about the tacos. It’s just to share the really delicious tastes with the community.”
The tacos feature slow cooked pork marinated in orange juice and spices, beef- or portobello-based. The green sauce to go on the tacos will be made with local-sourced tomatillos from Lafinquita Feliz farm.
The café staff will also be selling their Eco Café “puppy lattes” to support the fenced dog park planned for St. Jacobs. Half of the funds from the latte sales will go toward the park. The lattes are made with pumpkin, coconut milk and a little bit of whipped cream especially for dogs. Rutter says they would taste too bland for people, but dogs love them.
The St. Jacobs Business Improvement Area (BIA) funded the Eco Cafe to launch their taco Tuesdays, and the Fat Sparrow staff wanted to do an event for Cinco de Mayo, said the BIA’s Erin Schmidt, noting they were able to make a whole weekend of it.
“This weekend is a great opportunity to rediscover the village of St. Jacobs as there are many new businesses in the village. There will be fabulous music, food, drinks and shopping all weekend.”
