The much anticipated opening of Flores Restaurant in the Corte Madera Town Center was an early holiday gift to Marin, opening in November in the prominent anchor space formerly leased to P.F. Chang’s.
The airy and vibrant restaurant is the new outpost for its Cow Hollow namesake, bringing Flores home to Marin, where general manager Luis Flores happens to reside. Teaming up with partners restaurateur Adriano Paganini (San Francisco’s Back of the House Restaurant Group) and Executive Chef Alejandro “Alex” Morgan (Barvale, Flores SF, Lolinda, and El Techo), the trio’s aim is to keep Flores true to its Mexican roots, finding inspiration in Mexico’s food, landscape, and culture.
The casual restaurant checks the boxes, serving traditional, family-style food and contemporary cocktails, with an emphasis on California seasonality and locally sourced ingredients. Executive Chef Morgan is most excited about the menu’s star ingredient: Masa, the dough used to make Flores’ fresh corn tortillas by hand on a daily basis. “No other food has the ability to transport me back to my childhood quite like fresh tortillas,” he says. “We get our corn from local farmers, and grind it into masa every morning, so it is a local farm to table process.” Masa features in most of the dishes on the menu, including chicken mole negro poblano with tortillas, citrus onions, and crema; duck confit enchiladas with salsa verde, avocado, crema and queso fresco; and citrus-roasted and fried pork shoulder carnitas.
Not only is the team serious about their food, they are even more serious about having fun. With daily lunch and dinner, a weekday happy hour and weekend brunch, along with a full bar offering craft and Mexican cocktails, plus an extensive list of tequila and mezcal, Flores cements itself as a new destination – and gives new meaning to one-stop shopping at Corte Madera’s Town Center. Welcome home to Marin.
WHO General manager/co-owner Luis Flores; executive chef Alejandro Morgan
WHAT Flores in Corte Madera
WHERE 301 Corte Madera Town Center, Corte Madera, 415.500.5145, $$$ LD BR
Alejandro Morgan
Classica Margarita
Lynda Balslev is an award-winning food writer, editor and recipe developer based in the San Francisco Bay area. She authors the nationally syndicated column and blog TasteFood, and co-authored the cookbook Almonds: Recipes, History, Culture (2015 Silver Medal Winner Independent Publisher Awards). She is the 2011 recipient of the Chronicle Books Award (Recipe Writing) to the Symposium for Professional Food Writers, and a 2018 Fellowship Award recipient to the Symposium for Wine Writers at Meadowood, Napa Valley. Lynda’s writing and photography have been recognized by the New York Times Diners Journal, the Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post and more.
