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The chipotle en adobo that dresses these sandwiches is the linchpin, smoky with a slow burn, made in-house with morita peppers, a smaller fruitier chipotle, and Grandma Esperanza’s pineapple vinegar. The cemita Milanesa is one of the draws: a crisp, light sesame-seed bun made to order at a local bakery, a layer of avocado, a schmear of chipotle en adobo, a crisp-fried butterflied pork chop topped with a shower of Oaxacan cheese, and, in summer months, papalo–like cilantro on steroids–which Tony’s mother grows for the restaurant. Swoonworthy as this may be, go with an Atomica, a belly-bursting combo of Milanesa, carne enchilada, and ham finished with Oaxacan cheese. Or a cemita pata, made with long-simmered cow’s foot mixed with vinegar and carrot then chilled and sliced in the fashion of headcheese.
Along with the cemita, tacos Arabes are a signature of Puebla: juicy strips of marinated spit-roasted pork shoulder sheared off a rotating spit, given a healthy dose of chipotle en adobo, griddled, and wrapped in a thick pitalike flour tortilla reflecting the Lebanese influence on Puebla. (Middle Eastern flatbread is Tony’s first choice, but the local product has a tendency to split when rolled.) Orientales are the same succulent spit-roasted pork sans chipotle sauce wrapped Mexican-style in a pair of tortillas.
