By james art Two-time James Beard semifinalist Oscar Diaz and his partners at Mezcalito Inc. recently opened Aaktun at 704 Ramseur Street in Durham, North Carolina. In 2023, Diaz opened Little Bull (810 North Mangum Street) for high praise, and now the buzz in the Triangle is all about Aaktun.
Diaz’s latest project is a cafe by day and a Tulum tiki party by night. Until recently, Diaz was never much of a coffee drinker, but says he would visit stores in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago for breakfast sandwiches or breakfast burritos. “I like a morning place that feels fun,” Diaz says, “And I don’t want to pick on the bigger coffee companies, but their little window of sandwiches and stuff always makes me sad. It’s a microwave egg sandwich and all these people are eating. We can do better than that.”
Diaz also always wanted a tiki bar, so why not combine the two? “I love tropical things,” he says, “I love having plants everywhere. So the design guided what we wanted to do with the food and beverage.” The space was like a cave with no windows, so the team decided to put in skylights and turn it into a room similar to the cenotes found in Mexico. A pink Brazilian marble bar anchors the room, filled with greenery, low lighting and banquettes tucked into cave-like spaces.
In the morning, Aaktun offers a variety of egg sandwiches, from the classic BEC to a chorizo version with queso dip. The lunch offerings look like a tropical beach cafe menu with papaya salad, fried calamari, coconut shrimp and huli huli chicken skewers. Dinner follows the same flow with ceviche, whole fried fish, mahi mahi tacos, chicken and pork belly.
Aaktun will continue to evolve. Diaz plans to put in a tamaki (hand-rolled sushi) bar and add late-night offerings. “As a chef, I like to push myself to do things that stress me out, and I don’t know why I do it,” he says. “The lesson I’ve learned through all of this is that once you’re on the other side, it’s so worth it. because now you’re adding another tool to your utility belt that no one can take away. I don’t know what this will mean in the grand scheme of things in life, but it just feels good to conquer this fear.