It’s 5.50pm on a Friday night, and the queue at Melbourne’s Mamasita restaurant is already down the stairs and out the door on to Collins Street. The wait is over an hour to get a seat at the bar, and forget about getting in tonight if you’re a group of four and you arrive at 6.30pm. This scene is repeated at Mexican restaurants around this food-savvy city, with diners wanting more and more of the hot, smoky, sour, punchy and quirky flavours that this style of fresh, uncomplicated food delivers.

So when the time rolled around to start thinking about Christmas, our new fave food definitely deserved a place on the table. It was time for the turkey to go, and for the bright colours and flavours to earn a place on our forks.

Our Christmas will be about salmon ceviche, whole grilled fish with chillies and lime, mango salad and lemongrass pannacotta – perfect food for sharing and celebrating. See the December issue (out now!) for recipes and inspiration. We are so excited and hope you are too.

Source your Mexi-themed interior pieces from shops such as Holy Kitsch! (www.holykitsch.com.au), Table Tonic (www.tabletonic.com.au) and Dinosaur Designs (www.dinosaurdesigns.com.au).

Feliz Dias everyone! Instagram us your Christmas pics at @marie_claire_au.