March 2nd– Three Mexican restaurants you might try

We start with three restaurants I have visited in the last year.

I’ve chosen these because one is local, one is over the top hidden  and the last one is a jewel in new york city which is neither small or unknown (Zarela has written several cookbooks and left a coded message for me when she signed my book) but I write about it because people often forget that great cuisine isn’t limited to $200 pre fixe dinners with chefs who have been on the food channel (although if you get a chance, particularly if your friend insists on paying for dinner, go to Jean George’s or Babbo in New York or Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago.) Great cuisine is serving food with lots of flavor, no matter what the price.

De Leon’s (spokane) is at 102 East Francis. You have a choice of several different fillings and salsas (let’s get to the heart of Mexican cooking right away). First, to me the food is about infusing flavor into the meats by slow cooking and then serving them before they become dried out (great carne asada isn’t so good on Friday if it is the same meat that came out of the steam table slot on Monday). Second, having a choice of fresh salsas (ones where you can tell there is an onion in it or that is green from tomatillos and not lack of use  and a sauce that is hot because they have several different types of peppers in it, not just more dabs of hot sauce, dabs are for hair cream, not food.) The last and first thing is the tortilla. DeLeon’s makes their own tortillas.Go there for a fresh hot tortilla and melted butter like they serve in Old Town san diego if you don’t want all of the spicier food. It is great to eat authentic cuisine but it is even better to try it at home. DeLeon’s is a gem. After eating you can shop for fresh tortillas and take them home. (My friend Sam hides them in the cupboard and when you aren’t looking throws them on his tortilla griddle and claims them as his own. He even has a tortilla press on the counter, globs of flour spread out on the counter and a few dabs of flour on his apron.  It doesn’t matter though, they are fresh and a great addition to any Mexican meal. DeLeon’s also has carries ingredients for cooking Mexican food like tomatillos, bags of hominy, a good selection of peppers, a rack of spices including epazote (I just threw that one in there so you would look it up) and you could always stop by the bakery display with your large round pizza pan and fill it up with goodies. They’ll put in a box for you when you get to the checkout counter.

El Metate(san francisco)—on a recent visit to san francisco I went with the Apple Gang and we sought out tacos. Probably the most hidden gem was at 2405 Bryant Street. Not exactly close to the BART station at 24th & Mission but I walked to it so it couldn’t have been too far. (24th street has numbers that are in the 2800’s and Bryant is about six blocks from Mission so if you round up, which you should always do when talking about walking distance it is close to ten or twelve blocks, perhaps fourteen blocks when you walk back with a stomach full of san francisco’s best fish tacos, a bowl of posole and part of someone else’s burrito. There are a lot of bakeries between the BART stop and El Metate as well as Philz handmade coffee shop. Three different sites on the internet (which is some new way to communicate with people according to wickedpeedia) said El Metate had the best fish tacos in San Francisco. Others said that you would be wrong to not try the veggie tacos or veggie burrito because they are in fact the best in the city (except for someone who thought El Castillito was better which means I need another trip to find out where to get the best veggie burrito or taco, the apple gang has agreed to go with me.)  Again, san francisco has a lot of great restaurants but take one day to explore a cuisine (I know you go to Chinatown, and you should, but try a different cuisine — Japantown has a boat sushi restaurant and tampopo shops (that’s a great movie if you haven’t seen it) or North Beach for Italian or look for Indian restaurants or local favorites for fish).

Zarela’s (new york)—Here is a recent pre fixe dinner from Zarela’s (about $60/person with tax and tip included). This is gourmet and why I believe gourmet isn’t defined as french or italian or california newbow – although it is true that some of those cuisines could be gourmet but I do have my doubts when you see poached eel squeal with a delicate nettle sauce being touted as one of the specials of the night, to me that means they forgot to order the halibut from their local fish monger.

Rolled Chicken Tacos, crisply fried and served with guacamole snapper hash cooked with tomatoes, scallions, jalapenos and aromatic spices.

Crisp corn tortilla strips, shredded cheese, sour cream and cheddar cheese baked with tangy tomatillo sauce.

Shrimp sautéed in a lime, garlic, parsley and white wine sauce. Half a chicken, cut in pieces and braised in tequila, white vinegar sauce with green olives, golden raisins and almonds. Grilled marinated skirt steak served with salsa, guacamole and flour tortillas.

Rice baked with sour cream, white cheddar cheese, poblano chile strips and corn.

Black beans flavored with avocado leaves and arbol chiles.

Spinach sauteed with tomato, jalapeno and pinto beans.

All of the above is served family style.

When I went there we had manchamanteles de pato – roasted half duck served with a tomato red chile sauce with dried apricots, prunes, raisins and pineapple

And

Barbacoa de canero – shredded lamb barbacoa slow roasted in an ancho chile adobo over avocado leaves.

But here is the thing that makes the internet (which is used to communicate with people instead of papyrus paper and quill – it is always so ghastly to watch shows of the revolutionary period and you see all of those birds running around with bald heads because their feathers have been plucked out, it was only right that we made one the national bird) Zarela has an incredible website and only recently did I discover that she was recommending her favorite “hidden” jewels in new york, now I have to go there again to do another trip (the apple gang has agreed to go) because she recommends places that specialize in the food from the Esan region of Thailand, how cool is that? or an Indian restaurant Amma-New that has pre-fixe vegetarian dinner. By chance I ended up at Devi on my last trip to new york. It is Zarela’s favorite. Zarela recommends the tandoori lamb chops, mung bean chaat and ground turkey samosas. Check out the site www.zarela.com – it is why I think birds will one day again have a full head of hair and we may have to change our national bird to the turkey, something they have been wanting to do in the new england states for a long time.

As always, from the eight burners in the kitchen to the grill outside, enjoy your meals with family & friends and don’t forget to look for some of those jewels when you are on the road. And yes, I know this is a wine site and as soon as I have some news from the vineyards I will let you know how the 2009 season is progressing.  Dave