Modern Southwestern cooking was literally invented by a trio of chefs in the mid-’70s. There was first and foremost, John Sedlar, born and raised in Santa Fe with time spent in Spain and France due to his father being in the Air Force. He was a gifted chef working in the kitchen of Jean Bertranou at L’Ermitage in Los Angeles, one of the most famous restaurants in America at that time, when he decided to open Saint Est & #269;phe in Manhattan Beach.
That was in 1980. The first two years, John cooked French nouvelle cuisine. But, in 1980, he came back to Southern California with 15 cases of chile peppers, after visiting and cooking with his family. He immediately created dozens of dishes for a new menu that combined the ingredients of Mexican and American Indian food with the sensibilities and finesse of French cooking.
At the same time, Dean Fearing also was refining the same ingredients into new and wonderful dishes at The Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, where he is still executive chef today.
In Houston, Robert del Grande opened Caf & #233; Annie and reshaped not only the ingredients, but our perception of what a tamale, relleno, burrito and taco could look like when presented like a master painting on a plate. He too is still going full force at Caf & #233; Annie. (Of course, it wasn’t long after that our own David Wilhelm began regaling us here in Orange County with his own refined version of Southwestern food.)
There are perhaps a dozen meals in my own memory bank that I can recall today without looking up notes, ones that have amazed me so much over the years that I can still describe the look and taste of every course I ate. A few have been at the tables of chefs in France, but three are my first meals at each of the aforementioned restaurants. To this day, I have a need to dine at The Mansion every time I hit Dallas, and Caf & #233; Annie on my occasional forays to Houston.
I, of course, loved having Saint Est & #269;phe here where we could drive mere minutes and be regaled by this interesting new cuisine all over again, as often as we wished. At that time, the most powerful restaurant writer in OC was the late Herb Baus of the Orange County Register. We often used to “critique” restaurants together.
I still have wonderful memories of our first meal at Saint Est & #269;phe with Herb and his wife, Helene. Herb had been there on his own, as had I on a few occasions, and when his review hit the paper, I read it and was amazed. He did not like what was on the plates he ordered because he could not relate to it in any way. In short, it was not a favorable review at all. I read it again, and then a third time and called him up and said, “Herb, will you go back to the restaurant with me? I feel that you have completely missed the point of this restaurant. We need to try many dishes and discuss the why and wherefore of John Sedlar’s food.”
Sitting at a table with him thereafter, I explained the combination of French techniques and the refinement that John was creating with chiles and tortillas and new infusions such as duck and rabbit in the mix. He loved the restaurant from then on. Of course, it helped that I had already had a reference point from my experiences at The Mansion and Caf & #233; Annie, as well.
We’ve come a long way. David Wilhelm now operates Chimayo and Chimayo at the Beach here in OC, both of which have cuisines evolved from modern Southwestern cooking and offer upscale dishes in this realm. But several chain operations have balanced the old and the new and have taken the haute out of Mexican and/or Southwestern cuisine and replaced it with a fast-food approach that is fun and easy but intent on using only the freshest ingredients.
And so we come to Chipotle Mexican Grill, named after the dried, mesquite-smoked jalape & #324;o chile pepper.
Steve Ells, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and also the holder of a bachelor’s degree in art history, founded the chain in 1993 with the idea that gourmet food could be served quickly and at reasonable prices. It actually serves only two items, made-to-order gourmet burritos and tacos, both of which are assembled as you watch, after you have chosen the ingredients you want. Servers are adept at stuffing ingredients into 13-inch, fresh tortillas. A fat, 20-ounce burrito costs about $5.
Menu options are numerous within the burrito and taco categories. You choose a marinated and grilled meat (steak or chicken), and/or grilled veggies, braised barbacoa beef, or carnitas-style pork. Choose some freshly cooked whole pinto or black beans, possibly guacamole (made fresh twice a day). Then a scoop of wonderful cilantro-lime rice is added with sour cream, cheese and salsa if you desire and, in the case of the burrito, the “pillow” of food takes shape.
Tacos come in your choice of four crispy corn ones or three soft flour ones per order at $4.85 downward.
Steve’s salsas are unique. There’s a flashy tomatillo and red chile one, another that combines whole kernel corn with roasted chiles and the mildest, fresh tomato with onion and cilantro adding zest. One would not expect margaritas at a fast food operation. Chipotle does, however, serve very good ones along with Mexican and domestic beers, nectar-based drinks and even Evian.
The restaurants are sleek-lined with lots of blond wood, corrugated tin dividers between booths, Mayan style sculptures on the walls, and even smooth tin used as “wallpaper.” They are friendly and engaging places where we immediately rethink the concept of fast food. It’s a good addition to our dining scene.
There are three Chipotle restaurants in OC: at Culver Drive and Irvine Blvd., Irvine, phone (714) 508-2463; Lake Forest at Trabuco Rd. and Lake Forest Drive, phone (949) 830-9091; Anaheim at Weir Canyon Road and the Riverside (91) Freeway, phone (714) 283-3092. Another will open in Costa Mesa in February, phone (949) 646-1850.
