We live with chain restaurants all around us. Some have been around for a long time and are taken for granted by Orange County diners.
It’s easy to chase the newest restaurants in town. But there are very nice things happening at the friendly “old” places that should be considered.
Such is the case at the El Torito restaurants, specifically with its Mexico City menu, which will be served for a limited time.
Mexican food, of course, is El Torito’s forte. Added to a menu of familiar items, however, are regional menus from time to time. Step into any El Torito through Jan. 18 and you will be presented with a Mexico city menu.
This menu was created by Pepe Lopez, the executive chef and vice president of research and development for Long Beach-based Real Mex Restaurants, El Torito’s parent company.
I don’t know how long I’ve known Pepe, but it’s been at least 25 years. I’ve eaten my way through a litany of his classic Mexican fare along the way and occasionally gotten to experience something a lot more regional from Mexico than the regular menu offered.
Those times were definite culinary highlights. Now, he’s culled the best of Mexico City after a quest that took him to the large and small kitchens of that area, including small pueblo kitchens.
Mexico City enjoys ethnic diversity, which accounts for a certain finesse in their style of Mexican cooking. Native Aztec, French and Spanish in Mexico City’s heritage are factored in. Pepe’s menu items from the region are a distinctive blend of traditional flavors from those mingled cultures. These dishes really are bringing some new excitement to our dining.
We were vacationing in central Mexico in the early 1980s when I first tried huitlacoche. The “corn truffles” at that time were barely making the pages of culinary magazines and food writers had no concept of the taste or texture.
There they were, on one restaurant menu, tucked into crepes and served with a cream sauce with walnuts. I ordered them, and then had them again two days later and yet a third time before coming home from our Mexican trip.
Huitlacoche are different from traditional truffles in that the latter are firm in texture and mostly shaved into thin shards in Italian and French dishes. The fungus that grows inside the corn husks is of a light, fluffy texture and the taste is quite refined.
Pepe has them on this regional menu as crepas de huitlacoche, my chance to have them often in the next few weeks. They come as two French-like crepes that are filled with huitlacoche, chicken and squash blossoms atop saut & #233;ed nopalitos (braised cactus pads), Swiss chard and tomatoes.
On top is salsa de nogada (that wonderful cream sauce dappled with walnuts). It’s a dish brimming with new taste experiences and far from typical chain operation Mexican fare.
Many of the sauces that were created for the Mexico City menu were “inspired by the Empire of the Aztecs, the largest and strongest empire in the history of pre-historic Mexico,” according to Pepe’s culinary explanation.
The menu’s Pre-Historic Sauce, which highlights the huarache dish, includes indigenous ingredients as well. Nixtamal (dried corn) and epazote (an herb widely used in Mexican and Caribbean cooking) add their layers of flavor.
Huarache is traditional street food in Mexico City. Here, they are comprised of a masa tortilla filled with steak al pastor style, queso reques & #243;n (similar to ricotta cheese), grilled pineapple and frijoles (fragrantly simmered beans).
Before going further, I would highly recommend that you begin your meal with a bowl of the savory sopa de lima. It’s a lovely broth scented with lime, embellished with chicken and vegetables that comes with corn tortilla strips and cheese. Pretty yummy.
In the enchiladas mancha manteles, three soft corn tortillas are layered with saut & #233;ed chicken, mango, pineapple, plantain, apples and queso reques & #243;n, the whole thing bathed in a sleek mole sauce (tomato based sauce enriched with chocolate,one of the great achievements of Mexican cooking in general).
Fresh fish of the day can also be found on this menu. Pescado en tamal finds the fish served on tamal masa in a moat of delicate broth.
If tacos are your favorite thing, you won’t want to miss the shredded steak version called Tacos con Pi & #324;a. And for those of us who are sincerely addicted to the art of food, the combination plate called Del Centro is a good choice. It offers a crepa de huitlacoche, an enchilada mancha manteles and a duet of tacos con pi & #324;a.
To top off these new menu discoveries, how about crepas de cajeta? These are warm, sweet and rather delicate crepes tucked with saut & #233;ed plantains and the traditional creamy caramel sauce called cajeta.
Of course, as a companion to all the Mexico City-influenced dishes, there are three signature drinks that complement the spices and unique flavors in this food. They are: Agua de Granada, a non-alcoholic drink made with pomegranate juice, lime juice and a bit of sugar; Granada margarita, which also is made with pomegranate flavor and Jose Cuervo Gold tequila, Bols triple sec and fresh lime juice; and a Key lime colada with Ke Ke Beach Key lime liqueur, Bacardi Superior Silver rum, lime juice, pineapple and coconut.
El Torito was founded in 1954. There now are 67 restaurants in the chain in California, Arizona and Oregon. (Note that El Torito Grill’s aren’t participating in the special menu.)
Pepe’s commitment is to freshness and use of quality ingredients in presenting traditional and unique Mexican cuisine. His greatest love lies in uncovering for us new dishes that reach into the soul of Mexican cooking and these regional menus are the best way for him to do that.
El Torito was at the forefront of introducing several now famous items: the Cadillac margarita, guacamole prepared fresh at the table, Mexican Caesar salad with cilantro-pepita (pumpkin seed) dressing, chile rellenos, handmade tamales and carne asada.
Today, the classic and regional menus offer many tastes for savvy diners. I heartily urge you to savor the Mexico City dishes while they are available for the next seven weeks.
High-End Sushi Coming
Ozumo, the highly touted Japanese restaurant hailing from San Francisco, will open a sibling Newport Beach restaurant in Fashion Island on Dec. 10.
Acclaimed culinary critic Michael Bauer awarded the Northern California Ozumo three stars in the San Fryancisco Chronicle, citing its unique contemporary Japanese menu and stylishness of both the food and decor.
The menu here will feature traditional robata grilled foods (think yellowtail collar with ponzu sauce, sake-marinated scallops and rib-eye steak with sweet miso glaze), the highest grade sushi and sashimi and a large selection of premium sakes.
Judging from the raves from connoisseurs at the table in San Francisco, the presentation of the dishes and the ultra-refined saucing and nuancing of the ingredients will likely be without peer here in Orange County, so this is high on my anticipation list.
Ozumo: 849 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, (949) 721-0077.
