UPDATE: Monica is on her way to Houston. I got lucky when she answered her cell phone. “This [move] has been a real struggle for me,””Greene said. I’ve always been committed to urban development. I believe in Dallas but unfortunately the area [Deep Ellum] has taken a long time to develop. It’s time for me to expand and open my doors to a larger audience.”

I say, you go girl. It’s a great move. She has been in, what I would call, an abusive relationship with Deep Ellum for a long time. It’s time she made a fresh start. That girl has some balls. Oh, wait. Nevermind.

May 18, 2012

Dear Dallas,

Years ago, I read in “Popular Science” that it takes seven years for a person’s cells to replenish. Maybe this is true for humans, but it has taken twenty years at Monica’s Aca y Alla for that cycle to occur.  Monica’s Aca y Alla, with some other creative and wonderful entrepreneurs, helped put Deep Ellum on the map.  But today Deep Ellum is paying the price of Dallas growth within the Downtown area, Bishop Arts District, Uptown and other business districts.  Deep Ellum is going through its own revitalization; old buildings are being redone, DART stations are now open and someday there will be a new world in Deep Ellum. I hope that new world is a good. I expect to continue to be a part of Deep Ellum through my support of whatever venture my ex-partners decide to re-open in the Aca y Alla space.

Indeed, Monica’s Aca y Alla is evolving and changing to Monica’s and the ME Lounge and we will be moving to new digs.  We look forward to becoming a new fixture for the Cedar Springs and Oak Lawn area. We are excited to begin a new partnership with the Crosland Group and the Axiom Group at the beautiful ilume ®  building.  Hector Hernandez will be leading the charge as the Chef for this new concept. Together, we have a vision that will continue to create reasons for guests to eat our unique – yet traditional – style of food, enjoy new menu recipes that will include some of the real Mexican-style of food that was destined for Tajin.

Reality has shown me that with the intense competition in the Mexican food segment, the challenge of finding new ways to attract (and to keep) customers grows. Yes, the new Monica’s together with ME lounge will be fast paced, inventive, exciting, and it will epitomize a new style of Mexican food that I prefer to not call Tex-Mex, but “Nueva Cocina.”

I work, I play, I live and I will always love Deep Ellum. Monica’s had a very successful twenty years of restaurant operation in this historic district.  I am grateful, and would like to thank all Dallasites for their kind and generous support over the years.  We hope you will join us over the next few weeks at Monica’s Aca y Alla to say your good-bye’s and share with us your favorite stories from the past 20 years.  Then, I look forward to sharing with you my vision of the future at Monica’s in the ilume ®.  Until then…

Respectfully,
Monica Greene

Nachos Conocidos. (Photography by Kevin Marple)

Veteran Tex-Mex restaurateur Mico Rodriguez is back doing what he does best: turning out high-quality food and providing stellar service. The co-founder of Mi Cocina, Taco Diner, and The Mercury bottomed out in 2008 when he lost control of his company, M Crowd. He is no longer involved in the popular Tex-Mex chain, but he is happy to start over slowly. “I started out with 12 tables and hit it big,” Rodriguez says. “I’m in here waiting tables and watching everything going on.” If Rodriguez keeps doing what he has been doing at Mr. Mesero over the last five months, he will have another shot at stardom.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE REVIEW AND THE BIT ABOUT THE QUESO!

Folk dancer (left); Food carving by Edubijes Mojica (right); photos by Carol Shih

Alejandra Arreguin, a 23-year-old student of the Politécnico de Guanajuato, is one of five students who traveled all the way from León, Mexico to Dallas last week for the 3rd Annual Savor Mexico (a collaboration between Desperados, the Consulate General of Mexica, and Politécnico de Guanajuato). Arreguin and the other 1st place winners from their respective categories prepared award winning dishes for a large crowd that gathered at The Milestone Culinary Arts on Friday. Desperados provided margaritas and mojitos as traditional Mexican music played throughout the evening, creating a festive ambience for the Yucatan-inspired dishes.

Jump for the photos.

The winners hold their trophies

Alejandra Arreguin, 1st Place, Appetizer
Sergio Hernandez, 1st Place, Entrée
Anne Nova de la Tejera, 1st Place, Mixology
Edubijes Mojica, 1st Place, Food Carving
Erik Trujillo, 1st Place, Desserts

Alejandra's appetizer: Panucho De Cazon - topped with black beans, sahrk, epzote, manzano y habanero peppers

Erik Trujillo's dessert: Helado de Lima - Fresh lime ice cream topped with pumpkin seeds, mint leaves, raspberries and served with a pasta cigarillo

]]> http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2012/04/25/savor-mexico/feed/ 0 http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2012/03/06/lazaranda-in-addison-makes-mexican-seafood-into-art/ http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/2012/03/06/lazaranda-in-addison-makes-mexican-seafood-into-art/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:00:27 +0000 Andrew Chalk http://sidedish.dmagazine.com/?p=37325

Rib Eye Chicharrón (photos by Micah Nunley)

Mid to upscale Mexican cuisine is on a roll. Since last year (and despite the recession), this area has seen additions like Alma (RIP), Komali, Mesa, and Mesomaya added to main stays like Javier’s and Maximo. Four months ago, Lazaranda came to Addison Walk’s restaurant row on Belt Line in Addison. Each of these restaurants is different in terms of its influences, so a media event last week afforded me the chance to put this new entry in context.

Lazaranda is the brain child of LMA Concepts, a restaurant development group based in Monterrey, Mexico. After founding a handful of apparently successful establishments in Monterrey, this is their first outpost north of the border. It is a test case for a small chain in major markets in Texas, at which point an assessment about future expansion will be done.

The premises are large with modern fittings throughout. Along the east wall, a long bar is backlit by concealed azure fluorescent lighting. An open kitchen reflects the gleam of stainless steel in the back. To your right, a raised seating area embraces a pit in the center of the room where most of the tables are located, providing visual interest and a window view of the Belt Line Road traffic count. Mexican Art by Martin Molinaro is almost unobtrusive but adds an aura of understated class to the room.

Smartly dressed servers are attired one notch more formally than most casual dining places require, which lend to a sense of standards being maintained. But the proof will be in the eating.

Tropical seafood cheviche

The focus at Lazaranda is seafood. To start, we are served two ceviches. Good. I can compare these with two standard bearers of the art cooking in acid: Stephan Pyles and Mesa. Lazaranda’s Aztec Fish Ceviche $7.99 (grilled cactus leaves, marinated tilapia, avocado, onions, tomato, cilantro, spices and fried pasilla pepper) is an all around success. The pasilla is true dried chilaca chile. The buttery avocado cuts the lime juice and the cactus leaves add interst. While cactus is easy to find on the menus of the Mexican restaurants that line Jefferson or Maple Avenue, it is still unusual elsewhere. Here leaves are sliced like bell peppers and have a soft texture in the mouth without being slimy. The most remarkable thing achieved by this ceviche is making the normally dull and monotonous tilapia an interesting fish to eat. As usual, it provides texture and mass, but the lime and onion flavors insinuate themselves around it making it take on the character of something more subtle (like the snook at Mesa). The Tropical Seafood Ceviche $9.99 (marinated shrimp and tilapia, tomato spices, red onion, pineapple and mango, ginger, cilantro and sliced avocado) was popular with our group although I found it too sweet. Overall, these are good example of ceviche, cleverly making the most of a unflavorful fish. And to me, exalting the unexaltable represents one example of what a chef is all about.

Fresh seared tuna salad

Michoacán Fresh Tuna Tostada, $5.99, (guacamole on top of a tostada, fine sliced fresh ahi tuna, spinach chiffonade, citrus soy sauce and creamy chipotle dressing) would be the ideal charity walk-around finger food, although I think our serving size may have been smaller than the regular menu serving. The earthy crunch of the tostada combined with the cold fleshy tuna and emulsifying dressings made for a tasty snack.

The House Guacamole ($5.99/$9.99) is respectable, especially if you blend in the Serrano peppers that accompany it.

The main courses bring the Zaranda into play. This device, which gives the restaurant its name, looks like a kind of wire mesh with a hinge in the middle. Food (anything from meat to fish to tortillas) is placed on one mesh and the other one closed over the top. The whole thing is then placed on the heat to grill. We found Rib Eye Chicharrón $15.99 (cubes of seasoned steak) well done and well seasoned and reminiscent of some of the food in a Brazilian churrascaria. Mahai Mahi Zarandeado, $11.99, grilled fish marinated with 4 sauces (garlic, mustard, chipotle and soy sauce) was sauced to the point that the fish was reduced to a frame upon which to mount the other flavors. It was nice, with a flaky texture, but not a flavor constituent.

Mario Letayf (left); Antonio Márquez (right)

Rib Eye Taco ($4.99) sliced rib eye to an almost Arby’s-like thinness then marinated it and griddled it. Slices were lopped across flour tortillas covered with refried beans and grilled Chihuahua cheese. When folded, the tortilla went down really easy (thin slicing made the meat easier to chew) and the cheese/beans/meat flavor combination is one of the classic flavor synergies in Mexican food. This has the potential to become a signature dish, but with one problem: the meat is too greasy, making it not just gelatinous in the mouth, but liable to drip over hands, cuffs, etc. With this caveat, check this out.

Desserts are the familiar Dallas calorie bombs. The Fried Caramelized Bananas ($4.99) stand out to me as they are like a Mexican Bananas Foster – the dish that even Hurricane Katrina could not stop.

Fried caramelized bananas

What to make of Lazaranda in the scrum of new Mexican restaurants now available here? The prices are at friendly everyday levels (lunch can easily come in at under $10). The menu selection is broad enough to please a landlubber as well as the target seafood lovers. There are some unique things on the menu (and well as such familiar staples as tacos, salads and enchiladas). Some are authentic, others innovative. Service is helpful and attentive. Lazeranda is less authentic than Mesa, less idiosyncratic than Komali, more open than Alma. Chef Antonio Márquez and co-owner Mario Letayf obviously know their trade. With a tidy up of some of the menu, they can look forward to a long future and more locations.

UPITTY DATE: Mark this day down. Tim was WRONG!

Had lunch there today and was told by our waitress that they are closing on Sunday.

Is the Dallas revolution in Mexican cuisine flatlining?

The Reyeses; their creamy flan de naranja. (photography by Kevin Marple)

Raul Reyes opened his first restaurant in 2008, a tiny place in Oak Cliff serving the colorful cuisine of his birthplace, the Veracruz region of Mexico. La Palapa Veracruzana was run by his family, wife Olga working as his co-chef, daughter Jaretzy taking managerial duties, and son Raul Jr. waiting tables. The seafood-centric menu snagged the palates of serious food lovers and critics in Dallas, but the kudos posted on food blogs and the glowing reviews couldn’t keep it alive. It closed after only a year.

“We never pulled an alcohol license,” Reyes says by way of explanation. “I couldn’t. My daughter was manager and she was only 17.”

Dejected, Reyes figured he would have to shed his chef whites forever and return to the construction business to support his family. Before La Palapa Veracruzana closed, Reyes had augmented his income by taking on handyman jobs. Chris Zielke, co-owner of Bolsa and Smoke, had hired Reyes to rebuild the bar at Bolsa, the popular farm-to-table restaurant in the Bishop Arts District. So Reyes showed up at Bolsa one day and told Zielke he’d closed his restaurant. Zielke encouraged Reyes to try again.

Stay with me.

Winston’s Supper Club is opening in the old Star Canyon space at the Centrum. According to a posting on Craig’s List, Winston’s is “a new concept, Euro-style lounge with the best dj’s, sound, and food.” They are hiring “Performers/Talent/Dancers (think pussy cat dolls, also live models).” Oh, and bartenders, porters, and bookkeepers.

Dick Washburne, Ray Washburne, and Bob McNutt invested in Mico Rodriguez in the early '90s. Today they announced theyare helping him get a new start. (photo courtesy of Ray Washburne)

It’s taken a while for Mico Rodriguez to get the financing for his new project completed. However, today it looks like all of the initial checks are in and El Mesero (“the waiter” in Spanish) is under construction. Mico says he has been surrounded by “a lot of love” from former friends and foes alike. Ray Washburne, Bob McNutt, and Dick Washburne, Mico’s former partners at MCrowd, have each invested as individuals. “This is not an MCrowd investment,” Ray Washburne said. “We wanted to show our support for Mico. It’s important for Mico to be out on his own. We aren’t doing any of the books, we are minority investors.” The money invested by the trio accounts for almost a quarter of the total capital raised for the project.

Just a little over three years ago, Mico’s M Crowd partners filed suit against him and he was eventually let go of any responsibility in the company. (The whole story is here.) However, it sounds like forgiveness has won the day.

Mico changed the name from Mico 12 to El Mesero because, according the terms of his dismissal from MCrowd, he is not allowed to use trademarks used by any of the MCrowd businesses. He is currently overseeing the construction of the former Burger Girl space at 4444 McKinney Ave. He is in the process of “auditioning” chefs. “The menu is an evolvement of the Tex-Mex I know,” Mico said. “I call it American Mexican. We will have honest American classics, interior Mexican dishes, and Tex-Mex.” Honest American classics will include hamburgers and Caesar salads. Interior Mexican will involve some moles. And Tex-Mex? “People here are always going to want nachos, fajitos, and quesadillas,” Mico said. There will also be plenty of tacos and tequilas. El Mesero will be open until 1:00AM.

Here’s how it’s going to go down:

All participants will be required to make 1 specialty margarita at least 50 times. All contestants will be judged by the public. A total of $1000 will be awarded. $500 for 1st place, $300 for 2nd, and $200 for 3rd place to the bartender with the most votes. Join us for $20 per person to taste and vote for your favorite margarita meltdown. You get a wrist band to taste each entry and a chip to vote for your favorite one.

Just be sure to save some money for cab fare. This one sounds like a humdinger.

To learn more, visit the Dallas Margarita Fest website.

Torta Mixteca

Taco Ocho is a new fast casual Mexican inspired restaurant that opened just over a month ago in Richardson. I attended a press event and tried some of the items on the menu. The food is listed in  three categories: Tacos, Tostadas (essentially open-faced corn tacos), and Tortas (thick sandwiches). Among the tacos ($3.50 for one, $6.25 for a plate with Ocho rice and refried beans, $7.95 for that plate with 2 tacos), the Cabo fish and the smoked chicken elote stood out.

The Cubana Torta (pork, ham, chorizo, jalapeños, spicy mustard, and Oaxaca cheese) and the Pobrizo Torta (grilled chorizo, poblano peppers & onions, black bean spread, Oaxaca cheese and salsa verde) were winners. But my favorite (on account of my avocado dependency) was the Mixteca. A torta with chips is $7.95.

Jump for the full report.

Tostada

Tostadas are one of my favorite Mexican culinary creations but someone has to invent a container so that they can be taken home without all the ingredients falling off. At Taco Ocho, make sure they remain on top. Highlights: Sonoran (cactus, grilled jicama, red onion, pickled jalapeños, tomatoes, queso fresco, lime & cilantro vinaigrette) and the Puebla (roasted garbanzo hummus, shredded cabbage, corn pico, queso fresco and chipotle ranch). The latter is kind of “animal style” to anyone who has reached the front of the line at In-N-Out Burger. Three tostadas go for a very reasonable $6.95.

Clearly the menu at Taco Ocho is a collection of crowd pleasers but it is also an imaginative one. The service is friendly and helpful. You order at a counter and, if you eat in, the décor and fittings will remind you of McDonald’s. Brightly lit, all easy-clean surfaces and seats designed to be comfortable to slump into but discourage lingering. In the center of the room is a large communal table and on one wall a mural depicting the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City. The location is well chosen. It is a virtually empty block of Campbell just a couple of blocks from the thriving restaurant row at the southeast corner of Campbell and Central. Other places have moved in since Taco Ocho anchored the block.

Tacos

This Taco Ocho is the first unit built by  Mani Bhushan who held senior management positions at PepsiCo, Yum! Brands,  and Blockbuster. Little wonder the concept looks so well thought through and “franchisable in 45 minutes”. The exechef is Rodolfo Cardoso whose experience at The Four Seasons Mexico City and NYLO (a hotel brand so edgy they have a unit in Plano) clearly shows in the consistency.

Based on my visit I would see Taco Ocho as a survivor in the high-end taco market. The product is tasty, the price is right, and, so far, the location for the first “unit” was carefully chosen. Now, I’ve got to go clean the tostata toppings out of my car.

The Truck by The Tesar.

My husband and I have been watching Wild Salsa be built for the past few months, so we decided that even if there was a wait, we were going to try it out. Turns out, there was no wait.

The exterior of the place confused me. Someone said the sign looks like it belongs to a tattoo parlor. I agree. And then they put up a big Day of the Dead mural next to the gorgeous doors. So I was a bit more confused. To the right of all that, you can see into the kitchen. And you can also see that the windows are to be opened. That’s because they’re going to serve tacos from those windows and have seating available outside (and dog treats for those with furry friends).

Okay. So they’re starting to win me over.

I liked the interior. Again, the whole theme is Day of the Dead, and there’s a lot of dark wood on the walls, a few TVs, and some beads. I really enjoyed the whole ambiance. The staff was great. One hostess took all the guests around on a tour of the restaurant. There were no huge slip-ups, which is impressive considering we were there within the first two hours of it opening.

The drinks were delicious. And I really wish I could reference a particular drink, but I didn’t write it down. And they don’t have an online menu yet. So just know that the drinks are delicious.

We ordered a salsa trio with a mango salsa, a poblano pecan pesto salsa, and a third one, which was the recommendation of the waiter. The mango salsa was light and fresh. The pesto was a bit heavy but unlike most of the salsas I’ve tried. And the one the waiter recommended (again, really wish I would have taken notes) was smoky and delicious. Though all the salsas were a treat, I loved the salsa that comes with the chips. It’s a house sauce with an uncooked blend of tomatillo and Serrano peppers bound together by avocado. It’s smooth, but has a bit of a kick. I also ordered the mango, arugula salad that comes with cotija cheese and guajillo chile vinaigrette. Though I didn’t see it mentioned on the menu, it also came with chicken or beef. That combined with the bowls of chip and salsa was enough to require a to-go box.

The prices on the menu were a bit confusing. Overall, it’s a very reasonably priced place.  Unique salsas run about a dollar a piece. My salad was only $8. But then one of the guacamoles costs $12. And there are a few dishes (filets, fish) that cost more than $22.

At first, when I heard another Mexican restaurant was moving downtown, I thought, Do we really need this? We already have Iron Cactus and Sol Irlandes. I didn’t think we needed another. But Wild Salsa isn’t Tex-Mex, it’s Mexican cuisine with some infusion from chef Kelly Hightower.

I love this place. And I’m so excited it’s downtown. I just feel bad for my friends. They now live right above a restaurant.