Taco 4 Strength is a collaborative effort to help support the community and the art of hospitality in Chicago. Mercadito partners with a local chef to create a menu item that represents that chef's current restaurant or style of cooking. Mercadito adds the item to the menu for the month, with proceeds from the selling of the item to be donated to our partner at the International Latin Cultural Center here in Chicago.
The first chef will be
Chef Cesar Murillo from the Michelin Starred Restaurant North Pond in Lincoln Park.
Chef Bio:
My name is Cesar Murillo. I was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, raised in Texas, and have been in Chicago for the past eight years. I am the Chef at North Pond, a hyper-seasonal restaurant in the heart of Lincoln Park. I knew from a young age that I wanted to create and connect with my culture and was drawn to the sensory experience of the kitchen. I love the sensory engagement of cooking, creating, finishing a dish, and finding ways to blend elegance with simplicity on the plate. My style is driven by the season, grounded in vegetables, and thoughtfully curious. From Texas, I set my sights on Chicago and got an internship at Frontera Grill. While I had worked at other kitchens, working there felt like the true beginning of my professional career. There I developed a strong work ethic and learned the importance of remaining humble and staying involved in the kitchen, no matter your position.
After leaving Frontera, I went west to the Bay Area of San Francisco to better connect with and understand the growing and raising of the products we were using daily. I immersed myself in the farm to fork culture of the region. I returned to Texas, working at the fine dining restaurant FT33 in Dallas, where I sharpened and refined my skills. While there, I set up a stage at the recently opened Grace in Chicago and was offered a position. While there, I was able to explore my creativity and push myself in ways I had never before and become a sous chef. I next became a senior sous chef at Sepia, where my culinary and creative voice grew clearer. I joined the North Pond team in 2020.
