Cesar Hervert opened Tmaz Taqueria in the former Zamaan Cafe and Bakery space on Packard near Platt in late September. Not that you’d have noticed–as of mid-November he still didn’t have a sign out front. “The first day I was open, I had one customer,” he says, shaking his head. Lack of a sign wasn’t his only visibility problem. From the outside you can barely tell it’s a restaurant. The space is tiny, and the first third looks like an office because that’s what it is: Hervert wasn’t sure how successful his restaurant would be, so he invited a couple of friends to share the space, splitting the rent, and they run a money transfer business out of the front. He admits it’s an unusual arrangement but says you have to come up with inventive ways of doing things in a bad economy.
Hervert, thirty-five, came to the States from his native Mexico ten years ago. Back home in Veracruz he was a teacher, not a restaurateur. “I miss working with kids,” he says, but he never considered going back to teaching once he got stateside. “No, I found my career. I like what I do here.” His wife, Anna, helps out with the cooking when she’s not busy taking care of their three kids.
He’s worked at a few local restaurants but spent most of the last ten years at the Arbor Brewing Company, working his way up from dishwasher to line cook to kitchen manager, learning how to run a restaurant along the way. The name Tmaz is his abbreviation of the word temazcal, a traditional Mexican sweat lodge used to purify the body, heal the sick, and help women give birth. Hervert loves the spiritual aspect and wanted to bring that connotation to his restaurant. “I liked the way it touched me,” he says.
All the food is homemade, and he tries to use organic ingredients whenever possible. He calls the place a taqueria, which in Mexico means a simple taco stand, and, true to the name, tacos make up most of the menu. He offers ten different varieties, including asada (grilled steak), al pastor (marinated pork), and chorizo (Mexican sausage). They’re $1.50 each and come with two corn tortillas, fresh cilantro, onions, and lime, with salsa on the side. Eventually Hervert hopes to have a total of thirty-two types of tacos–one for each of Mexico’s thirty-two states.
Tmaz Taqueria, 3118 Packard. 973-9095. Daily 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
