Aquiles Chavez, host of the wildly popular Aquilisimo and El Toque de Aquiles television shows in Latin America, moved to Houston several months ago to launch his newest culinary adventure, La Fisheria. Chavez, who also co-owns LO cuisine and El Tovar in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico, is one of the most famous chefs in Latin America, is rapidly expanding his following in the States.

La Fisheria from Geoffrey Roth on Vimeo.

I recently visited La Fisheria, and fell in love with Chavez’s food. There are dozens (hundreds?) of Mexican food restaurants in Houston, most of which are Tex-Mex and a few of which offer authentic interior Mexican food. As a native of Villahermosa, just a short distance from Mexico’s Gulf Coast, La Fisheria offers something a little different in the form of authentic Coastal Mexican cuisine. Here’s a sample of what I had:

Tostada de Ceviche: a hard corn tortilla with white fish ceviche, avocado and amashito dressing. So clean and fresh I think I could eat 50 of them.

Pato Mariscal: An incredibly tasty broth with shrimp and mussels. Chavez added some duck chicharron (fried duck skin) to introduce a crunchy element, which really brings it all together.

Taco de Pulpo a la Parrilla: grilled octopus taco. Enough said there. It’s served in a corn tortilla with tamarind and chipotle dressing. On another trip to La Fisheria I had the yellowfin tuna tostada, which I also highly recommend.

The seafood at La Fisheria is clean, fresh and very fragrant. Many of the restaurant’s dishes are based on fresh fish, octopus and mussels, with just the perfect touch of spices. I was pleasantly surprised to find so many options that burst with flavor, yet are very light.

Along with my incredible feast, La Fisheria�s crew brewed up some coffee, Mexican style: boil the coffee in a pot of water for a few minutes and serve. It was soothing and delicious. I returned the favor by making and delivering some homemade Colombian empanadas to Chavez and his crew. I hope the Chef shared them with the crew–otherwise I�ll have to return for more food and pay with empanadas. Can’t wait to go back!

Watch Fox 26 at 9:00 tonight, April 5, for the interview with Aquiles Chavez and, in the meantime, check out some of the pics of my visit below. To learn more about Aquiles Chavez, visit his website.