Stacked enchiladas. Fry bread tacos. Hatch chile. Lots of Hatch chile. Panxa Cocina is a rarity in and of itself: It is one of but two restaurants dedicated to the food of the great state of New Mexico between L.A. and Phoenix. Celebrating 10 years serving the community of Long Beach, it has had its ups and downs. Immense loss. Great heights. A constant look at the future.
But owner Vanessa Auclair is neither naïve nor soft when it comes to the walls that hold up Panxa—hence her nickname of “Mama Bear” amongst staff and patrons alike—and she is not the one to take 10 years of service lightly. For her, it holds a deep sense of gravity that is interwoven with respect for the past, loving and letting go, and the hope for another ten years.
Come Saturday, Dec. 14, the space will host a formal birthday party from 5PM to 10PM. That means all-night happy hour. A few throwbacks (including a $10 Roadrunner Special that once defined the space and gives you a taco, a shot, and a Modelo). Tequila specials (including $10 Tequila Ocho reposado—IYKYK). Flash tattoos for $40 to $80. A live DJ.
In other words: Bring it.
How Vanessa took Panxa’s biggest loss and made it her own for its 10th anniversary.
As a writer, it is always a difficult hurdle when something is nearly impossible to mention without the other. And for Panxa, that is its immense loss: Chef Arthur Gonzalez, its patriarch and co-founder, died in 2022 at his second home in Colorado. However, I consistently want to push the story past that because, in all frankness, it is his widow, Vanessa, who truly is the heart and soul of Panxa as we see it today.
Boldly and fearlessly taking on a space where she is constantly reminded of her and the community’s loss, Vanessa has somehow not just kept the spirit of Panxa alive in alignment with Art’s essence but somehow expanded it. They are consistently doing events thanks to events organizer Nikki Floyd—the most recent of which was an unlimited agave spirits tasting event co-hosted by yours truly. They continue their annual Hatch chile roasting event, handing out bags
Chef Ryan Morrison roasts Hatch chiles at the 2024 roasting event hosted by Panxa Cocina. Photos by Brian Addison.
The ultimate hurdle? Keeping it contemporary while trying to update the menu—and that means finding a chef who grasps Southwestern cuisine in all its complexity.
“Keeping it fresh is difficult,” Vanessa said. “We’ve had some amazing help from Chef Ryan [Morrison, a former right-hand cook for Chef Art] but we really need someone full-time to bring in some new ideas. Once that comes, Panxa will really reach the next level… Until then, we’re so honored and privileged to have a patronage with such loyalty and respect for what we do.”
How Vanessa introduced Chef Art to the world of New Mexico, the mighty Hatch chile, and Southwestern culture.
For those who knew Chef Art, the first things he would mention are Vanessa and New Mexico, especially its Hatch chile. And for good reason: Upon moving to Santa Fe, he began work at the James Beard award-winning Geronimo. (Geronimo is still a defining part of Santa Fe’s food scene under the tutelage of Chef Sllin Cruz following the passing of its defining leader, Chef Eric DiStefano, in 2016.)
But it was ultimately Vanessa—whose love and deep connection to the spiritual and culinary side of Santa Fe—that truly harnessed Chef Art’s love of the southwest, leading to the opening Panxa. Surely, many will say without Chef Art, Panxa wouldn’t be. But there is also another heavy truth: Without Vanessa, there is no question Panxa wouldn’t exist nor would it continue running.
Vanessa has maintained the relationship with Hector Mendoza, one of many Hatch chile farmers that have provided the space with its staple chile. (And yes, hundreds of pound are frozen to assure the restaurant, much like all the spaces throughout New Mexico, maintain their year-round offering of the seasonal chile.) She has been the leader, along with Chef Ryan, in figuring how to tweak the menu here and there to keep it up to date. She has let Nikki lead the way in events.
Without Vanessa, there is no Panxa, be it present or future or past.
The food of Panxa distinctly belongs to two things: Long Beach and Santa Fe.
There are a few things I distinctly remember about Chef Art’s food—and the first part was the fact that, well, I didn’t get it. Like most, I was befuddled by a cuisine defined by the state of New Mexico, let alone grasping Chef Art’s willingness to throw in mini-homages to his German and Oaxacan heritage into the mix.
This wasn’t because the food wasn’t good; far from it. I was placing one too many weights on the “Mexican” part, not realizing the depth with which the state was enveloped in Native American, American and Mexican traditions, and that makes it not just complex but immensely complex. And in this sense of wanting to desperately pin it to something, I missed the point.
The steak frites from Panxa. Photo by Brain Addison.
Here is how I described the food when I listed Panxa as one of the city’s best restaurants back in 2019:
There are words there you’ll likely have a conception of—enchiladas, ceviche, albondingas—but they come from Gonzalez in a way that is distinctly New Mexican and distinctly not the Mexican so many Southern Californians are used to.… His dishes reflect a chef who is smart, comfortable (not in the bad sense), and confident in his cooking.
This still stands true for Panxa’s menu, a wondrous celebration of Long Beach’s culinary worthiness a decade later.
It is also home to the city’s largest selection of agave spirits and best bar programs.
Unbeknownst to most, Panxa is home to not just one of but the largest selection of agave spirits in the city, with over 100 bottles of tequilas, mezcals, and sotols, but one of the city’s most diverse, consistently-evolving cocktail programs. And that is because of Bryce Kaesman.
I think many patrons believe that, like their own collections, restaurants can simply pick and gather what they want. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Restaurants can’t simply serve up a bottle one of its workers discovered and bought while on vacay at Isla Mujeres. Each bottle has to be purchased through a designated distributor (and yes, not every tequila chooses to go through a useful or even accessible distributor, which requires every restaurant to hold an account with said distributor).
The sheer variety of Bryce Kaesman’s cocktail menus across his tenure make Panxa home to one of the city’s finest cocktail programs. Photos by Brian Addison.
So the fact that Panxa has what is now a collection of some 130-plus bottles of various iterations and expressions of agave spirits is not just a testament to their love of Mexico. It is a showcase of relationship-building and taste thanks to bar manager Bryce Kaesman. On top of this, his ability to keep the cocktail program both embracing and deviating from the restaurant’s southwestern roots
“There is no question the food has to remain true to Panxa’s roots in New Mexico,” Bryce said. “But when it comes to the cocktails, the sheer expanse of the food’s flavors allow me to break beyond that boundary. I can use pandan. Or a cookie from Olives Grocer. Or matcha. For me, the cocktail program is where Panxa can showcase it isn’t just about New Mexico but great food and drinks in general.”
