Mario Dominguez Hernandez lives in Hinesburg with his family, but he grew up in Mexico City. In the country's massive capital, he could find food representing every one of Mexico's 31 states. "Each state is their own world," the 50-year-old chef said. "In cooking, they have their own techniq ues and their own ingredients." The dishes, he said, range from the Yucatán's pit-roasted meat seasoned with seeds from the region's achiote trees to Michoacán-style pork carnitas cooked in hammered copper pots to fish tacos from Baja California. Dominguez Hernandez was introduced to a different kind of Mexican food when he arrived in the U.S. more than 20 years ago and started working in an Ann Arbor, Mich., burrito shop. In Mexico, he knew burritos as simple, compact flour tortilla wraps filled with cheese and beans. In Michigan, Americanized burritos approaching the size of a newborn came stuffed with rice, beans, meats, melted cheese, salsa and even guacamole. They had their charms but weren't what Dominguez Hernandez recognized as authentically Mexican. The young cook understood, he said. He recalled thinking, We're in America, so we need to try to make something for the American. These days, Dominguez Hernandez works as a line cook at Hinesburgh Public House and partners with his wife on Las Hermosas, a pop-up event and catering company specializing in authentic tacos. He recognizes the cultural balancing act facing a new crop of sit-down Mexican restaurants in northern Vermont. While their regional influences vary, they offer a mix of classic dishes along with well-established Mexican American hybrids. For example, the Casa restaurant group's trio of owners hail from the state of Jalisco, but the popularity of their Tex-Mex and Cal-Mex menu has powered them to open three Vermont spots within 13 months. The family that owns Los Jefes has shared dishes from their native Guerrero in a new location in St. Albans since last spring. A pair of longtime friends with Indigenous Oaxacan roots started serving scratch-made traditional dishes at El Comal in Williston at the beginning of January. A couple of weeks later, a Southern California native brought what he calls "California-style Mexican" to Middlesex with Chico's Tacos & Bar. Customer tastes vary as widely as the food these restaurants offer. Read on to find what you like, and buen provecho — enjoy. — M.P. Masa Masters El Comal, 28 Taft Corners Shopping Center, Williston, 764-0279, on… ...read more read less