Tortilla Napoleon (crispy fried tortilla, portabello mushroom, goat cheese & red pepper w/ huitlacoche sauce)
by Cristy-Lucie Alvarado
July 28th, 2008
ITZOCAN CAFÉ
438 E 9th St
(1st Ave & Ave A)
212-677-5856
Lately I’ve been obsessed with the idea of finding the perfect date spot. What I’m looking for is a hole-in-the-wall, clean with tasty food and a charming atmosphere. And on a recent visit to Itzocan Café, I found myself on my ideal date, without even trying!
I visited the Itzocan in the East Village; there’s also a bistro on the Upper East Side. The chefs, brothers from Puebla, Mexico, keep their dishes native with ingredients such as huitlacoche and guajillo while always adding an elegant twist — creating a surprising marriage of French-Mexican cuisine. They serve brunch, lunch, and dinner, and offer a concise selection of beer, sangria, and wine. The cozy room houses eight tables attended to by one server. It was nice to sit and feel like I was having dinner with my date rather than the whole restaurant. The server was helpful with the menu and gladly explained the differences in dishes and the foreign ingredients used.
I started off with the queso fundido. A basket of homemade chips accompanied a skillet with two slices of Brie melted over a sauté of mushrooms, poblano pepper, and chorizo. The cheese was easy to scoop up with the chips, and the rest of the ingredients added different textures for a mouthful of flavor and spice.
My entrée was a special. The tortilla napoleon is a “lasagna” of crispy fried tortilla, portabello mushroom, goat cheese and red pepper surrounded by a thick pool of huitlacoche sauce. Huitlacoche, a woody-flavored mushroom found in Mexico, was renamed the Mexican Truffle in 1989 by the James Beard Foundation to encourage American consumption of it. The stack of ingredients properly complimented each other, all coming together with the savory mushroom sauce, which I didn’t let go to waste thanks to my leftover chips!
I was hoping to finish my meal with the blue corn dessert crepes, but they were out, so I went for the regular crepes and was pleased nonetheless. The two dainty crepes were drizzled with dulce de leche and disappeared in less than two minutes.
After dessert, we sat and sipped our red sangria and enjoyed the warm ambiance. I was thrilled to have found a precious little hole with delicious food and a welcoming environment. A Friday night with no wait-list, no reservation and no complaints!
Posted in Cheese , East Village , Mexican , Tortilla
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Chile En Nogada (stuffed Poblano peppers)
by Cristy-Lucie Alvarado
November 23rd, 2007
BARRIO CHINO
253 Broome St
(Ludlow & Orchard St)
212-228-6710
Living on the border of Mexico for eighteen years biased me somewhat towards Mexican food in New York City. Bonita’s tortillas are too thick, Rosa Mexicano is too pricey, La Esquina is too pretentious, and El Sombrero (The Hat) doesn’t serve tacos al pastor — irresistible two-bite tacos typically garnished with onion, cilantro and lime.
Somehow though, I managed to stumble upon Barrio Chino a couple of summers ago while searching for fresh fruit cocktails. Spanish for “Chinese neighborhood” in reference to its location in the Chinatown vicinty, Barrio Chino is now the only Mexican restaurant I set foot in. Their tacos are legit, their margaritas are truly worth the $9, and my favorite dish, usually served exclusively during pomegranate season, is served year-round*: chile en nogada.
Barrio Chino delivers its version of the stuffed chile with incredible grace. The mild poblano chile is grilled and stuffed with a festive mix of ground pork, pears, apples, almonds, and raisins. I could probably stop here, but there’s more. This wonderful little package is covered in a white blanket of creamy walnut sauce, and when in season, sprinkled with plump pomegranate seeds. And as if that weren’t enough, it’s accompanied by a scoop of green rice.
Now I would eat this in the scummiest, emptiest, most desolate hole in the wall, but I don’t have to. The cozy, dimly lit room is raw, unpolished, and adorned with a dash of Chinese flair, paying homage to the mix of Chinese and Latin cultures in the area, and thanks to their extensive selection of tequilas (hence the killer margaritas), Barrio Chino has a great bar scene, at a key location on Broome Street on the Lower East Side.
I’m due for my fix this week!
Note: The chile en nogada is served year-round at dinner and sometimes for lunch.
Posted in LES , Mexican , Pork
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Soufflé de Aguacate (Avocado Soufflé)
by Celia Cheng
April 19th, 2006
ZÓCALO
174 E 82nd St
(Lexington & 3rd Ave)
212-717-7772
At a festive Cinco de Mayo preview dinner celebrating Hass Avocados from Mexico, executive chef Julian Medina at Zócalo prepared four courses to showcase his talents and the various ways in which avocados can be used. As a noted avocado fanatic, this event was right up my alley.
Of the four courses — including a guacamole sampler for starter, avocado and foie gras as appetizer, steamed black sea bass in avocado leaf aromas with avocado tomatillo sauce for main and an avocado frozen soufflé to round out the meal — the dessert was an absolute knock-out.
This frozen soufflé mixed Hass avocado from Mexico and Meyer lemon. Julian chose to serve it at room temperature rather than frozen to keep the texture closer to that of a mousse — an excellent decision on his part, since the Meyer lemon stands out better in a fluffy mousse than in a hard frozen soufflé. The other winning touch was to use a hibiscus chile de arbol coulis instead of the ubiquitous raspberry or strawberry sauce. Hibiscus has a unique tartness that can be brought out when paired with certain fruits and teas. For me, avocado and hibiscus are a natural union of the tropics (yes, it’s the Hawaiian in me speaking). The soufflé is topped off with a dash of Marcona almonds.
This dessert was definitely unique and a real tribute to the Avocado. Kudos to Julian for his originality and success in creating such a delightful dessert and experience!
Posted in Mexican , Sweets , UES
Super Taco
by Celia Cheng
March 30th, 2006
PIO MAYA
40 W 8th St
(5th & 6th Ave)
212-254-2277
Who would have guessed that a decent taqueria could have opened in my neighborhood on W 8th Street, the shoe street?
Pio Maya is a tiny little storefront that is turning out good Mexican fare like double-tortilla tacos, at low prices, using inexpensive but fresh ingredients. Finally an alternative to the ubiquitous Mexican-Chinese dives. While New Yorkers are still a bit conservative when it comes to Mexican food — we don’t see innards as taco fillings as you would on the West Coast — there’s a migration towards eating better and more authentic Mexican food rather than just the L.A.-style burritos, or Chinesefied tacos. For a little neighborhood dive, Pio Maya is not bad, but we still have a lot to catch up on in the genre of Mexican food.
I had a cheese tamale, a chorizo super taco and a shrimp super taco. Adding guacamole, cheese and sour cream deems the taco a “super taco.” But even a super taco is only $3.25. I was happy and satisfied by the end of my meal, not because it was amazing, but because it was fresh and cheap. The quality-price ratio is balanced. It’s never about how much you pay, as long as it’s worth it. When you have the option to choose a better meal at the same price, why would you suffer the lesser quality? I think much of the neighborhood has caught on, as Pio Maya is very busy. I wonder how they can handle all the business in such a small space.
I’m looking forward to trying other things on the menu, like the rotisserie chicken and the tostones, but everything the cooks were preparing looked intriguing to me. This is a good option when you are craving a little Mexican fast food.
Posted in Greenwich Village , Mexican
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Chopped Salad
by Celia Cheng
March 24th, 2006
BONITA
338 Bedford Ave
(S 2nd & S 3rd St)
Williamsburg, Brooklyn
718-384-9500
Okay, it’s not that I want to harp on Bonita, but I just can’t get over how good the food is, not to mention the great service too. Even though it’s a “famous” place, you never get any attitude here.
The chopped salad is unique in that it has pulled pork in it. While the vegetables in the salad keep it light and refreshing, the pork really brings in the flavor and makes this a delicious dish. It’s good to share with friends as an appetizer or it could be a substantial meal for one.
Let me just gush a little more. Come on, when there’s good food to be had, we must share. The fish tacos are super yummy too. The fish is pan-fried, so it has a bit of a crispy texture that makes all the difference. One order comes with two, and though we were sharing, I seriously wanted both of them for myself.
The vegetarian tamales were also delicious, with cheese and peppers inside the corn dough. I often find tamales to be too dry, particularly when the filling is meat, but these were perfect.
Bonita is just almost too good to be true, but I’m not complaining. I’ll just count my blessings.
Posted in Mexican , Salad , Williamsburg
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