The mountainous landscape of Monterrey, Mexico, served as inspiration for Cantina Pedregal’s terra-cotta design theme. High-profile pairings do not always work out. Just ask DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings. Or Ben Affleck and both Jennifers.  But the collaboration between Michelin-rated chefs Patricio Wise (Roseville’s Nixtaco) and Brad Cecchi (East Sacramento’s Canon), good on paper, turns out to be even better on koji-marinated, charcoal-grilled spears of romaine that, once tucked into house-made flour tortillas served on the side, transform a Caesar salad into a full sensory experience.  When visiting the chefs’ Cantina Pedregal in Folsom, though, try not to fill up before sampling the hearty “cortadillo” beef and potato stew, one of the menu’s many tributes to meat-centric Monterrey, the northeastern Mexico hometown of Wise and his wife and business partner, Cinthia Martinez. The couple launched Pedregal in July with co-owners Cecchi and Clay Nutting, partners in Canon and West Sacramento’s Franquette. The cortadillo represents “an everyday meal in Mexico,” Martinez says. Although Nixtaco, the wildly popular taqueria she and Wise opened almost a decade ago, already introduced many in the Sacramento region to northeastern Mexican cooking, “I always tell our guests … it’s not like we eat tacos every day.” Pedregal also serves tacos but focuses on what Wise calls “more composed plates” like the cortadillo. Featuring bacon and beef sirloin cooked in bacon fat and braised in a cumin- and oregano-laden liquid, the hearty dish is served in a cazuela, or clay pot, which sits atop a bed of fresh rosemary present entirely for its aromatics. The dish inspires deep nostalgia for Martinez and honestly, with its meat-and-potatoes comfort and craft, a bit of the same in a person tasting it for the first time. Pedregal’s Caesar salad features charcoal-grilled romaine lettuce spears, anchovies and roasted peanuts seasoned with chili and lime. The dish comes with house-made tortillas for making tacos. Complex in preparation, elegant in presentation yet still homey, Pedregal’s family-style dishes complement its interior design by architect Gennifer Muñoz of Sacramento’s Studio Oxeye. The dark woods of the restaurant’s tables and artwork highlighting Monterrey’s mountainous topography punctuate the dining room’s terra-cotta color scheme. The décor is “meant to be very earthen,” Wise says, appropriate for Pedregal, which translates to “rocky terrain.” Although the temptation is to stretch this motif to the cantina’s location just off East Bidwell Street, where the valley begins its lift into the Sierra Nevada foothills, Wise resists the perhaps overly romantic comparison. Monterrey and Folsom mostly have “the heat” in common, he says. Yet a Sacramentan seeking to be transported by Pedregal still can be. It’s probably smart to make a reservation beforehand, though. “We are busy,” understates Cecchi in a phone conversation a few days after I visited Pedregal on a packed Saturday evening in August. “The community response has been enormous.” I arrived just after the cantina opened for dinner at 5. Every bar seat was occupied and the other 150 or so chairs were spoken for by reservations. But the gracious, unflustered host who greeted me, after a few brief consultations with fellow staff, found spots for me and other walk-ins. “We did a lot of training prior to opening—we really want to give a great experience from start to finish,” Martinez says. Such friendliness amid the frenzy impressed me after the brush-offs I have been given under similar circumstances at buzzy new restaurants. But so many aspects of Pedregal are distinctive, from its matchup of the owners of two acclaimed eateries (both Nixtaco and Canon maintained their Michelin Bib Gourmand status this year) to its exaltation of black pepper, cumin, oregano and citrus—authentic Monterrey flavors still mostly specific to Nixtaco among local Mexican establishments. Cantina Pedregal owners, from left: Clay Nutting and Brad Cecchi of Canon with Cinthia Martinez and Patricio Wise of Nixtaco A hit from the start for its irresistible offerings like a chicharron taco made from pork belly cooked in salsa verde and its stunningly fresh corn tortillas crafted from kernels ground in-house, Nixtaco—which started as a pop-up concept in 2015 and graduated to a brick-and-mortar restaurant a year later—draws taco lovers from throughout Northern California and has earned praise from publications like Food & Wine, which declared it “one of the best chef-driven taquerias in the U.S.” Self-taught and endlessly innovative, Wise has offered chef’s choice, omakase-style Mexican food tastings at Nixtaco, and with Martinez, expanded to the space next door, opening a distillery in 2021 that produces Nixtaco-branded spirits like Emilia vodka. Longtime friends, Wise and Cecchi previously worked together on the annual Tower Bridge Dinner. Cecchi, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who grew up in Carmichael, served as executive chef at Calistoga’s Solbar and retained its Michelin star before returning to the Sacramento area in 2017 to co-found Canon, a celebrated fine-dining restaurant focused on shared plates. In early 2023, Cecchi—who says he and Nutting are “always looking for new opportunities”—was invited to tour the Folsom space that would become Pedregal. Next door to a Mikuni, it had housed a string of eateries, including a Broderick Roadhouse. Cecchi was interested but did not want to overextend himself, and thought of Wise, who felt the same. So their two restaurant groups joined forces to realize Wise’s concept of a high-end cantina in the style of those currently popular in Monterrey. The menu consists mostly of Wise’s takes on traditional Monterrey dishes, filtered through Sacramento’s farm-to-fork ethos and Cecchi’s fine-dining sensibilities.  Cecchi saw not just Pedregal’s cuisine, but its pricey new charcoal-fueled Vesuvio grill oven as a defining feature of the venture. “I said, ‘How are we going to make that come into play? Because it is a marquee piece of equipment,’ ” he recalls.  That Mexican-made oven contains an open fire but “does not flare up,” Wise says. So 650-degree heat, not flames, sear everything from the cantina’s 36-ounce rib eye to its most pointed culinary homage to Monterrey—the centuries-old regional favorite of cabrito, or kid goat, en salsa. Braised cabrito (goat), a specialty of Monterrey But whereas “cabrito refers to milk-fed and very, very young,” Wise explains, Pedregal serves “teenaged” goat supplied through a special program with Dixon-based Superior Farms and served in tacos at lunch and family style at dinner. Its multistep cooking process involves curing, smoking in the Vesuvio—with pieces of wood added to the charcoal—and braising in a tomato-based sauce. The resulting tender, juicy meat leads with smokiness but retains hints of tomato brightness, the usual pungency associated with goat only a faint suggestion.  A fan of preparing goat since creating a popular West African-inspired dish at Canon, Cecchi declares cabrito to be not just Monterrey’s signature dish, but “our signature dish here at Pedregal.” READ MORE: Where the Chefs Eat – Recommendations from local chefs, including Cecchi and Wise  The Caesar should be at least a close second. Although the original Caesar salad famously was invented in Tijuana, Wise’s inspiration for Pedregal’s Caesar came from a meal in a different part of northern Mexico—Valle de Guadalupe, the country’s wine region. “We were presented with a grilled romaine lettuce and very Asian flavors,” Wise remembers. “There was soy sauce, mirin and miso, and it was grilled and presented with anchovies. And served with tortillas.” “I wanted to do something like that, but with Caesar flavors,” Wise says. “Brad was like, ‘I got it.’ ” Cecchi blends koji—corn inoculated with a fermentation culture that is the source of most sweet-savory umami goodness—with salt and water to create a marinade in which the romaine sits before hitting the Vesuvio. How does the lettuce maintain its shape all the way to the table? “We got the timing right,” Wise says, as if it were just that simple. Dressed in a classic Caesar dressing with raw egg, garlic, anchovies, lime and lemon plus poblano chilies, Pedregal’s Caesar salad is served with anchovies and roasted, chili-lime-seasoned peanuts superior to any crouton, and accompanied by flour tortillas. Once the still-warm romaine is ensconced in a tortilla, flavors burst sweet, salty, smoky and bright, in turn and together, as you marvel at the interplay of textures.   The eagerly anticipated restaurant was an instant hit when it opened in Folsom in July. A food menu as carefully considered as Pedregal’s demands liquid accompaniments beyond the usual Triple Sec margarita. Bar chief Chris Mansury—a former beverage director at Napa’s ZuZu and general manager at San Francisco’s Rickhouse and Berkeley’s Tupper & Reed—created a stirred, spirit-forward margarita served “up.” Made with El Destilador reposado tequila, Nixtaco orange-infused moonshine, sour lime cordial and agave, the drink hints at the traditional sugary margarita but maintains its (and your) composure with a boozy sting that discourages chugging. Superb, spirit-forward craft cocktails are great. But what if people just want regular margaritas? “We’ll make ’em,” Cecchi says, affirming the hospitality focus likely to ensure Pedregal will outlast its status as one of this year’s hottest new local restaurants to become something rarer—a celebrated pairing headed for longevity.  Cantina Pedregal. 185 Placerville Rd. Folsom. 916-790-8479. cantinapedregal.com Learn About More Great Places to Eat Right on ‘Cue – Slow & Low Paradise Found – V’s Paradise Double the Dumplings – Journey to the Dumpling