Carnitas Ramirez Opens in the East Village

Carnitas Ramirez is the new restaurant from Taqueria Ramirez.

When Giovanni Cervantes and Tania Apolinar opened Taqueria Ramirez in 2021, their jobs almost instantly became about more than making tacos. In addition to blowtorching tripe and shaving al pastor from the spit, they spent a good deal of their time answering questions from English-speaking customers, who were trying meats like suadero and longaniza for the first time. “We didn’t expect that,” Apolinar says. “The educational aspect.”

Left to right: Carnitas Ramirez owners Yvon de Tassigny, Tania Apolinar, and Giovanni Cervantes.

Then, she smiles: “We’re about to do it all over again.”

On Friday, Cervantes and Apolinar opened their second restaurant Carnitas Ramirez with new partners Yvon de Tassigny and Kari Boden (210 E. Third Street, near Avenue B).

The taqueria is another language lesson. The names of different cuts of meat are listed above the register, but unless you’re fluent in Spanish, the cartoon pig on the far wall will probably be more useful. The diagram has the names of different parts of the pig — oreja (ear), buche (stomach), and matriz (uterus) — along with their English translations.

“You can try and ask for pork butt,” Cervantes says. “We’re going to make you say maciza.”

From top to bottom: the cazo with bubbling lard; a steam table with different cuts of meat; the front counter; and the restaurant’s salsa bar.

On opening weekend, there were close to a dozen types of carnitas on the menu ($5 each). When you have several of them on the same plate, you start to appreciate their differences: The cabeza is rich with collagen, and the chamorro has crunchy, fried skin. The brain meat known as seso is ground into a ricotta cheese-like paste, and the surtida has it all: cartilage, fat, and skin.

Seeing so many carnitas in one place is unusual in Manhattan. Across Mexico, carnitas come in a range of styles — cooked with Coca-Cola, beer, tomato, or orange juice — but in general, they utilize more parts of the pig. With a few exceptions, carnitas here are made with just pork shoulder, the cut of meat used for pulled pork.

After seeing the menu at Carnitas Ramirez, it might surprise you to know that as recently as a year ago, none of the owners had made carnitas. (Or maybe it won’t: After all, Cervantes and Apolinar say they learned to cook the menu for Taqueria Ramirez on YouTube.) Last year, Cervantes traveled to Michoácan, Mexico, where carnitas are said to originate. While there, he developed a recipe — salt, garlic, and lard — and more importantly, he learned the ropes.

The process starts each morning around 7 a.m., when Cervantes and de Tassigny drop ears, ribs, and more into a stainless steel cauldron known as a cazo. After frying in lard for a few minutes, they’re moved to a second pot, where they simmer at lower temperatures for hours. Cooking carnitas like that takes a close eye: Each piece of meat has a different cooking time, and the temperatures in the crowded pot can change.

“It relies on mastery,” Cervantes says. “These are perfectionist carnitas.”

Carnitas Ramirez is open Friday and Saturday, from noon to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.