ORLANDO, Fla. — A husband and wife duo have opened a new Mexican restaurant concept on International Drive in Orlando, Kavas Tacos + Tequila.
The new spot at Pointe Orlando gets its name from them.
“Katerina, my wife’s name, and Vas, my name. So we combine our two together,” owner Vassilis Coumbaros said.
The family also owns Taverna Opa Orlando.
Coumbaros, who is also the chef, has his own twists on two traditional Mexican dishes.
To start the Mexican street corn, he heats water, milk and chipotle until it bubbles gently.
“We let it simmer, slowly, slowly, for 10 minutes,” Coumbaros said.
Then cut the corn cob in half, and roll it in the street corn mixture.
Next, he shows off one of his restaurant's favorites — shrimp tacos.
He chops onions and tomatoes for about 2 minutes.
“We went to Mexico many times and tried a lot of different foods,” Coumbaros said.
Chef, though, is from Greece.
“Actually, I have a grandmother from Mexico, and I was always in love with the Mexican cuisine since I was born,” he said.
Then he adds a kavas seasoning you won’t get anywhere else.
“It’s a lot of Mexican spices," Coumbaros said.
He adds onion, tomato and garlic powder.
“This is all the flavors,” Coumbaros said.
He adds steamed shrimp to the mixture and a dollop of chipotle butter.
“What it does is it combines the ingredients together and doesn’t make it soupy,” Coumbaros said.
He’s obsessed about details, he admits, in everything.
“I go to Plant City, and I get all my vegetables by myself,” he said.
Then he grills tortillas to put the mixture in.
Spoon the shrimp and spice mixture into the tortillas, and serve.