Cinco de Mayo at Mattito's. photography by Jerry McClure

It’s that time of year again. Time to load up your amigos and head to the local Mexican watering holes for mariachi music, discount drinks, and too much tequila. Check out our list of 10 best bets for getting in the spirit of the annual fiesta.

CHUY’S
11 am to 11 pm
Drink This: All day happy hour with $3.95 house margaritas, $7.25 house Texas martinis, and $2.75 domestics along with Corona specials and onsite alcohol promotions
Festivities: Tune in to the sounds of a mariachi band at 7 pm.

HACIENDA ON HENDERSON
11 am to 11 pm
Drink This: $5 margaritas
Festivities: It’s a whole block party full of live music, mariachis, and DJs. If you get bored, head to the dunk tank, onsite photo booth, or giant Jenga. Bring a receipt and prove you caught a cab there, and the $5 cover is waived.

URBAN TACO
11 am to close
Drink This: Five different drinks for $5 (Limonda Corrupta, Bloody Maria, Sangria, Tequila Slammer, and Gran Centenario Azul Silver Tequila shots), $3 Dos XX
Festivities: Live music, mariachi band, and $2 chicken and steak tacos

Cinco de Mayo at Primo's (photography by Jerry McClure)

BLUE GOOSE
10 am to 10 pm
Drink This: Bring a sombrero to participate in drink specials: $2 Dos XX, $4 house margaritas, $3 Bloody Mary bar, and $5 El Jimador top shelf margaritas.
Festivities: The best sombrero wins a trip to Cancun for two and children’s area for hat decorating and face painting.

MATTITO’S
2 pm
Drink This: Free tequila tastings and all-day drink specials.
Festivities: This party is one of the most beloved Cinco celebrations in town. Find live music, DJs, mechanical bull rides, games with prizes, Tex-Mex noshes, and, of course, the Bob Armstrong Queso Eating Contest at 8:15 pm.

MARGARITA RANCH
11 am
Drink This: $5 fruit-flavored tequilas and Margarita al Dia
Festivities: Grab a discount on favorite plates like $5 tamale and nachos combos, $7 fajita skewers

IRON CACTUS
2 pm to close
Drink This: $3.50 Dos XX, Tecate, and Tecate Light
Festivities: Live music until 10 pm

Cinco de Mayo at Mattito's (photography by Jerry McClure)

PRIMO’S
11 am to close
Drink This: $5 margaritas and beer
Festivities: A tent will house live music all day, a mariachi band, and Corona promotions

MONICA’S ACA Y ALLA
11 am to midnight
Drink This: The usual suspects. Although there are no particular drink specials, Monica’s makes the list because it is always a fun spot to shoot tequila and let loose.
Festivities: Live music during the evening includes the weekly salsa, Latin jazz, and blues lineup.

WILD SALSA
11 am to midnight
Drink This: Happy hour specials all day, $4 El Jimador margaritas, $4 Brugal mojitos, $10 buckets of Coronitas, $4 Herradura tequila shots, $10 bottomless mojitos (bottomless mojitos until 3 pm)
Festivities: Live music.

Juuuuump.

Las Ventanas al Paraiso's Jalepeno Margarita

Jalapeño Margarita

Las Ventanas al Paraiso, Los Cabos Mexico

Las Ventanas is famous for their signature Jalapeno Margarita – best described as “Where the Sweet meets the Heat”. The balance of sweet and spicy is perfect complement to Cinco de Mayo celebrations.

1 Jalapeño Pepper

1.5oz of Tequila Don Julio Blanco

1oz Lime juice

3/4 oz of Simple Syrup

3/4 oz Contreau

Carefully slice your jalapeño and remove the seeds, use just the half of the Chile and pour the mixture into the blender until the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into Margarita glasses rimmed with coarse salt & chili powder filled with ice.

CostaBaja Resort & Spa's Damiana Margarita

Damiana Margarita – Signature Cocktail

CostaBaja Resort & Spa, La Paz Mexico

Damiana Liqueur is a light herbal-based liqueur from Mexico.  It’s made with the damiana herb that grows native in Baja California, Mexico.  The Damiana Margarita is very popular in Baja and Mexican margarita folklore says that the very first margarita ever made was made with Damiana Liqueur.

1.5 oz. Tequila

0.5 oz. Damiana Liqueur

0.5 oz. Controy liqueur

0.5 oz. Lemon juice

0.25 oz. Orange Juice

Lemon

Serve in salt-rimmed glass and garnish with lemon slices

Rosewood San Miguel de Allende's Fresa y Lavanda Margarita

Fresa y Lavanda Margarita

Rosewood San Miguel de Allende

Fragrant lavender grows wild in the colonial city of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The resort has fused the local ingredient unto a unique take on the margarita that is both sweet and herbal. Local lavender is supplied through the Lavender Project, an initiative to help support the pueblo of nearby Rancho La Colorado funded by U.S non-profit St Anthony’s Alliance. The Lavender Project is a cooperative in the small rural town, about 35 miles north of San Miguel de Allende, raising organic lavender for soaps, oil, honey and other products. Proceeds from the Lavender Project fund a breakfast program for 60 children of La Colorada.

2 ounce  Tequila Reposado

1 ounce de Cointreau (Orange liquor)

1/2 ounce  freshly  squeezed lime juice

1/2  ounce  strawberry puree

3 Lavender blossoms

Ice

Fill blender with all ingredients, Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and serve.

David Trubenbach's takes his Farm-To-Fire cuisine seriously. The shape of the hotel whips winds into a vortex.

It’s been  a year since I wrote about the opening of Asador, the restaurant in the Dallas Renaissance Hotel. The report announced the arrival of chef/proprietor Dean  Max and, a young, talented and energetic chef with a focus on farm-to-table (or “farm-to-fire” as Asador would rather term it) principles. Ditto for onsite chef David Trubenbach. I also noted Marriott corporation’s commitment to a destination restaurant in the Dallas Renaissance Hotel, a promise they backed up with an extensive Tequila collection. As downtown Dallas restaurants convert, seemingly like flies, to steak houses, I decided to check-in, so to speak, at Asador to see if they are staying true to their original mission. Here is what I found.

Seafood Texas Cigar: (lump crab, gulf rock shrimp, cilantro, poblano, and lemon aioli in a wrapper or feuilles de brick.

I attended a media event this week which included the presence of Chef Max. After tasting the creations, I can confirm Asador is doing very nicely. Robust hotel bookings are the backbone of solid numbers at lunch and in the evening. The concept of corporate chef Dean James Max has actually expanded and deepened the restaurant’s commitment to preparing dishes in-house and using artisanal suppliers. The tequila collection has evolved into a full mixology program and includes an expanded beer list which currently boasts 35 selections, including eight from Texas.

The one puzzle, to me, is that Asador is still relatively unknown and not patronized by Dallasites seeking a destination restaurant. Here’s what those folks are missing:

The philosophy described above translates to a menu that is printed on pretty flimsy card stock. That’s good, because the reason is that Asador Chef David Trubenbach changes one or two items every day. The result is a constantly evolving expression of seasonal freshness backed up by a commitment to let the ingredients speak for themselves. Since my report last year, he has spent a lot of time exploring local producers and has been quite brutal dealing with any producers whose quality or ethics do not fit his ideals. He grew up close to the coast (in Florida) and has had an overall positive experience sourcing in the very different climate of Texas.

Grilled Calamari Salad (corn, mâche, avocado, bacon, lardoons)

He thinks cheese is a strong suit here. He’s uses Gouda from Dave Eagle at Eagle Mountain Farmhouse Cheese and several cheeses from Paula Lambert at The Mozzarella Company. He is currently looking for a really good Texas cheddar-style cheese. Fresh produce comes from a number of farms including Rocco Tassione’s Tassione Farm in Stephenville and Chef’s Produce, an unusual produce merchant in that it requires that all of its sales representatives to be qualified chefs. The biggest challenge has been seafood, due partly to the move inland from Florida and partly to the problems in the Gulf during 2011. He has, however, made up the supply difficulties with some interesting preparations. For example, he smokes salmon (which he sources from the Bay of Fundy) and other ‘oily’ fish. He uses grass-fed beef ground up in burgers or braised but recognizes that most customers prefer corn-fed steak. So if a steak is really what you want, there is no need to leave the hotel.

Mahi Mahi with Mole Sauce

The new items I mentioned above take various forms. The ‘Taco Tuesdays’ program  I cited last time is flourishing. Each Tuesday at 4:30pm  you can order two tacos and a taste of tequila for $6. You can add a $15 Tequila Family Flight (three tequilas) or a $6 margarita as well. Mondays are ‘Reverse Happy Hour’ from 9pm until 11pm, and every day is Happy Hour from 4pm until 7pm. On Thursdays, select wines from the list are half-off.  Friday’s menu offers alternating Chef’s Table dinners. Wine, beer, and tequila rotate on consecutive weeks as the beverage that is paired with a three-or four-course menu (plus amuse) for $45 + t & t. The meal is served at a 12-place chef’s table and Trubenbach introduces the dishes and interacts with the guests.

Asador now has a selection of specialty cocktails prepared by Tyler Lott the, ahem, hottest Mixologist I have seen. She is self-taught, but hasn’t missed a thing. The cocktails  I tasted were carefully conceived and impeccably executed. The Bloody Maria is especially recommended.

Grilled Chicken with Mole Sauce

One thing I would like them to revisit is their wine list. They need to carry over the local element of the food to to the list.  There is not a single Texas wine on the list. This is at the very time in Texas wine history at which there is least justification for such an omission. I suspect that it happened because the list is sourced from ‘central listing’ and, rather like the case at the similarly focused Central 214, the local people need to bring the issue to the attention of the powers that be. If Hunter Hammett at The Pyramid Restaurant can sell Texas wine, then so can others. Also, the markup on the list is three times that of retail price (e.g. 2009 The Prisoner Zinfandel $89, 2010 Pascual Toso Malbec $35). That kind of mark-up is common in Dallas restaurants, but it is a big disincentive to order wine. That being said, this list shows good geographical coverage for its size, and there are over 20 wines by the glass and several available in half bottles. Perhaps the solution here is a dedicated sommelier?

Another welcome change is the ‘welcome.’ The large area that the restaurant occupies used to feel like an airport lounge. In particular, it wasn’t clear how you indicated you wanted a table after you arrived in the hotel lobby. Now the restaurant area is roped off and a maître’d stand learly marks the entrance.

Fried Gouda with Guava Purée and Spicy Arugula

The Chef’s Table menu I sampled recently illustrated what the food at Asador is all about. We started with an amuse of Seafood Texas Cigar : lump crab, gulf rock shrimp, cilantro, poblano pepper, and lemon aioli in a wrapper of feuilles de brick).

The salad course was Grilled Calamari Salad (corn, mâche, avocado, bacon, lardoons). What a creative change from the standard house salad. This dish did not just have the buttery-ness of avocado and crunchy saltiness of bacon, but the squid was presented in a way that did not make it seem like it had been swimming around the core of Fukushima reactor #3 at the wrong time.

Next, we had a choice of either surf or scratch, so to speak. The scratch was grilled chicken and the surf a grilled mahi mahi. Both were served with succotash of onions, plantains, haricot vert, and black bean purée. Both were covered with a mole sauce. Interestingly, the recipe for the mole sauce came from the mother of a former supervisor on the kitchen line. To accompany this, we had a smoked margarita which was uncannily smoky.

Warm Chocolate Chipotle Cake with Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

Next Fried Gouda with Guava Purée and Spicy Arugula was like a warm cheese course.

Finally, the dessert was Warm Chocolate Chipotle Cake with Dulce de Leche Ice Cream. All made in-house and accompanied by Jalisco Espresso, a cocktail with more coffee intensity than many real coffees.

The Chef’s Table is an excellent way to sample the kind of food served by Asador and an excellent value. In addition, the hotel has ample free parking and valet if preferred. Over the last year, Asador continues to expand the scope of its food and beverage programs. Get out of your comfort zone and give it a try.

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.

Blue Mesa Grill Teams up with Ambhar Tequila for a series of workshops called Tequila Lab. Marcelo Nascimento, Ambhar’s lead mixologist, is teaching each lab participant how to make, mix, and enhance tequila drinks. Three drinks and a Blue Mesa menu are included with the class, so hurry and sign up if you would like to be one of the 35 participants.

7 PM Wednesday, February 29th.
Dallas/Northwest Hwy. location only – Lincoln Park, 7700 W. Northwest Hwy.
Limited to 35 participants. Please call (214) 378-8686 to sign up.
$35 per person includes drinks and appetizers.
For more information see www.bluemesagrill.com.

Not in the mood for tequila? Beer could be your answer.

For the first time in DFW history, there is going to be a Local Brewery Beer Pairing Dinner over at the Common Table. Deep Ellum Brewing Company (DEBC) is joining up with four other breweries (Franconia Brewing Co, Lakewood Brewing Co, Rahr & Sons Brewing Co and Peticolas Brewing Co) to host this sweet dinner. Chef Mike Smith will be cooking 5 courses paired with 5 beers. There are still 16 spots open for the March 5th dinner, and $15 per person is being donated to Open the Taps, a grassroots movement fighting for beer equality.

In the course of a 1 hour + show, Kinky referenced: Zorro, Batman, Johnny Cash, Willie, Lone Star Cafe in NYC, albinos, Rick Perry (of course), Molly Ivins, Barbara Jordan, Jim Nabors, Muhammed Ali, Townes Van Zandt, Ira Hayes and so many more I can’t remember. He brought Ruth Buzzi onstage from the audience to tell the story of how she once cut Kinky’s hair back in the 70s.

Kinky is in town promoting his Man In Black tequila. SideDish reporter Haley Hamilton is meeting with him at 2PM for a tasting. Good times.

One of the sponsors of the San Antonio Cocktail Conference was CINCO Vodka. The vodka, made in San Antonio, is  distilled, blended and filtered in small batches. This Saturday,  owner and founder, Richard N. Azar III, will be in town to offer free samples at Sigel’s Elite (3209 N. Fitzhugh – in uptown). The tasting will take place from 1pm to 4pm. Bottles (750ml) retail for $21.99 and an autograph from the founder is free. Sounds like a chance to stock up for the Super Bowl to me.

In case you need something to do with a bottle of vodka, I’ve got a recipe for something that can be created during one of the advertising breaks. Jump for it!

Sigel’s + Tesar + free Tequila + multiple locations = an outcome that’s anybody’s guess

On August 18, chefs John Tesar and Phillip Vorkoper of The Commissary, along with Camarena tequila, will host a free tequila and taco tasting from the Camarena Tequila Taco Truck parked first in the lot at Sigel’s Greenville store then moving on to the Addison location. Here’s the skinny:

Camarena Tequila is a premium tequila, double distilled in small Alembic pot stills from 100% Jalisco highlands grown Blue Agave by a sixth generation Camarena family member master distiller. To highlight the affinity of this fine Tequila with great food, Chefs John Tesar & Philip Vorkoper of The Commissary will craft handmade, artisan tacos to accompany the free tasting.

jump for the menu and times…

Sample Camarena Tequila Taco Menu
Beef Tongue Tacos with Roasted Onion and Avocado
Short Rib Tacos with Charred Tomato Salsa and Jalapeno Crema
Pulled Pork Tacos with Roasted Pineapple and Poblano
Smoked Chicken Quesadilla with Avocado Relish and Pico de Gallo
(Tesar says the menu will change though out the month but this is what you might expect)

Camarena Tequila Tasting
Sigel’s-Greenville 3-6pm
Sigel’s-Addison 5-8pm

Camarena Tequilas to be tasted:
Camarena Tequila Silver
Camarena Tequila Reposado
Sale $17.99, reg $19.99

Camarena Taco Tasting
Sigel’s-Greenville 3-5pm
Sigel’s-Addison 5:30-7:30pm