The 2nd Annual Cemita Festival is Taking Place at the Newly Opened La Placita Fishtown Featuring 7 Guest Chefs
La Placita Fishtown recently opened this summer in the trolley located in the community park at 2217 Frankford Avenuein Fishtown. La Placita is the newest venture from the husband and wife duo Mariangeli Alicea Saez (of Puerto Rican decent) and Mexican chef Dionicio Jiménez who also was a James Beard Award finalist.
La Placita which offers Puerto Rican street food will be hosting this festival which centers around a classic Mexican dish. The duo are behind the popular Cantina la Martina and hosted their inaugural Cemita Festival at their location at 2800 D St. Now the Cemita Festival is back and will take place August 11th from 11 am to 4 pm and will feature 7 talented Philly chefs.
Each chef will serve their own interpretations of cemitas for guests to try. Along with the food guests will also get to enjoy live music as well. The guest chefs will include:
- Jason Okdeh of @farinadivita & Reuben R. Asaram (@chefreubenphilly) of REUBY
- Alejandro Gonzalez Duarte of @senor_slices
- Jake Loeffler, Sam Kalkut, & Danny Griffiths of @paffutophilly
- Karla Torres & Ernesto Ventura of @laingratacamden
- Brian Mattera of @gildaphilly
- Elvia Zavala of @mija.mexicantable
- Mariangeli Alicea Saez of @laplacitafishtown
For those not familiar, a cemita is a gastronomic treasure of Puebla. Its traditional ingredients are quesillo, cemita bread and papalo. The bread that is used for the cemita has a very ancient origin since it was introduced by the conquerors and over time they were enriched in their shapes, flavors and techniques by the French. A particular characteristic of the bread used for the cemita is the sourdough taste and sesame seeds. You cannot ignore the papalo in a traditional cemita. Papalo is an aromatic pre-Hispanic herb with leaves shaped like the wings of a butterfly. It is the traditional herb in cemitas. The name comes from the Nahuatl papalotl which means butterfly.
The festival is pay as you go and cash is strongly encouraged.
