La Mesa is an intimate chef's table and counter dining restaurant, found underneath Mexican restaurant Barrio Comida in Durham. Like Barrio Comida, La Mesa is run by highly regarded chef Shaun Hurrell, and marries exciting Mexican cooking with seasonal British produce. You'll find the restaurant just down the road from Durham University, right next to the River Wear.
La Mesa, meaning ‘the table’ in Spanish, ties Hurrell's colourful Mexican cooking to a more intimate, theatrical concept, where guests can get a front row seat to the kitchen. The restaurant is run by married couple Shaun Hurrell and Victoria Soulsby; chef Hurrell developed his skills at a multitude of Michelin-starred restaurants such as Kitchen Table and Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, whilst Soulsby oversees front of house operations and has previously worked for high-end establishments, most notably the Soho House Group for five years.
La Mesa welcomes you with a neon sign pointing down to the basement restaurant where drinks are served from a blue tiled bar and dishes are prepared in full view of diners. The restaurant seats 20; guests dine together at one sizable chef’s table with an additional four seats along the counter giving anyone lucky enough to secure the chair first a front row seat to the kitchen.
The tasting menu uses high-quality, seasonal British and European produce to create artistic dishes based on Mexico’s diverse culinary landscape, starting with snacks inspired by antojitos, which is a type of Mexican street food that translates to ‘little cravings’, and moving on to plated dishes. La Mesa focuses on barbacoa cooking, where ingredients are slow-cooked over open fire, or more traditionally, in earth ovens wrapped in agave leaves.
La Mesa serves wines and spirits sourced from producers who favour minimal intervention and are mindful about the land and the environmental impacts of production. There is a wine pairing and a non-alcoholic aguas frescas pairing available for those of you who want to take full advantage of the La Mesa experience.