Casa de Cobre brings authentic Mexican flavours to Yellowknife

A new café in Yellowknife is offering up tasty Mexican fare, adding to the culinary options in the northern capital.

Casa de Cobre – Spanish for “Copperhouse” – recently opened in the Legislative Assembly. There, chefs have been making tacos, burritos, salad bowls and Chicharrones de Harina, a popular Mexican snack made of fried wheat flour.

The new eatery is the brainchild of Guillermo Acosta, executive chef at Casa de Cobre and Copperhouse, who hails from Mexico City.

“In this territory, people were asking for Mexican food,” he said.

“I said, ‘why not?’ We can do something simple, different.”

Acosta said the café’s menu features classic Mexican street foods. The chefs make the salsa, sauces and proteins that go in their dishes in-house.

Acosta said he imports ingredients from Mexico through a supplier in Calgary. Casa de Cobre chef Bogar Rosales and supervisor Jorge Vital are also from Mexico.

“This is the extra ingredient to help us to keep the most authentic,” Acosta said.

So far Acosta said the café, which is currently open from 11am to 2pm, has been popular with locals. He plans to keep the café open until 3pm next week and will soon have food available for order online through DoorDash.

“Everybody was excited to get this kind of food already,” he said.

“Our goal is to keep doing the best for the territory and bring more of these back-home flavours.”

Acosta has been a chef for more than a decade. He said he has worked in Mexico, the United States, on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, and in several Canadian cities.

“It’s funny, because nobody in my family is in this industry,” he said. “I feel like I have a talent.”