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On a regular day, head to Mission Taqueria, the bright, plant-filled Mexican restaurant in Rittenhouse, and you’ll be dining on plantain empanadas, braised lamb or fried mahi mahi tacos, coconut-hazelnut salsa, and maybe a ceviche sampler. But make a reservation during Mission’s monthly TacoLab and the menu gets much more inventive, with guest chefs like Marc Vetri, Sate Kampar’s Ange Branca, and Laser Wolf’s Andrew Henshaw bringing their restaurants’ flavors — Italian, Malaysian, Israeli, and more. Next up: American barbecue meets masa tortillas.
On Monday, February 24, Michael Strauss and Fred Muser from smoked meat hot spot Mike’s BBQ in South Philly are cooking a six-course family-style feast at Mission (1516 Sansom Street). For $45 a person, get bacon-pickled eggs with potato ranch yolk and chicharrones, taquitos stuffed with chorizo stuffed with mac and cheese, puffed masa tortillas filled with smoked chicken, and a dish they’re dubbing “meat sweats”: lamb rib, beef brisket, and pulled pork tacos. On the side, there’s smoked gouda mac and cheese, heirloom bean salad, jicama slaw, and grape escabeche. Virtual sweets shop 1-900-Ice-Cream is providing plantain pudding with Nilla wafers for dessert.
Reservations open Tuesday, February 18, at 2 p.m. TacoLab usually gets booked up.