Executive Chef Julian Medina of Zócalo, grew up in Mexico in Mexico City, where he began his culinary experience at one of my favorite restaurants in Mexico City, the very upscale Hacienda de Los Morales restaurant, before coming to New York to attend the French Culinary Institute (FCI). After working in other restaurants in New York, he joined Zócalo 1½ years ago, where he is creating Nuevo Mexico cuisine on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

On June 28, 2005, Edward F. Nesta and I had dinner at Zócalo, and were delighted with the stylish restaurant with its rich colors of terra cotta and ochre on the textured walls, and the colored tiles where the colors are echoed in the stained glass candles on the tables, the large canvas murals on the walls, Mexican mirrors, and Latin music, where a young trendy clientele filled the tables on a Tuesday evening, and the friendly ambience.

As for the food, this young chef is putting his individual mark on Mexican cuisine. Since he joined Zócalo, he has been changing the menu, and adds interesting ingredients to some standard dishes to enhance and add a bit of complexity to the dishes. Mention Mexican food, and people often think “too hot” or “too spicy”, but Chef Julian has a nice interpretation of spice, which he layers to create interest, but it is not overwhelming on the palate. The only item that was really hot, was a dish of hot sauce that we asked for to add to the salsa, which was brought to the table with our pre-dinner drinks, that was hot, but Miguel did warn us!

For tequila lovers, Zócalo has a large Tequila List with a selection of 60 tequilas, including Cabo Wabo, rocker Sammy Hager’s own brand of tequila, and 4 mezcals to choose from, as well as many interesting tequila cocktails. We decided to forego wine for dinner, and went with a tequila pairing dinner instead. Edward had “The Corazon”, a cocktail made with Corazon Blanco tequila, Citronage and fresh lime juice, and I had a refreshing frozen mango margarita, perfect for a hot summer’s evening, which paired well with our chosen appetizers, the special Grilled Octopus served over diced avocado, queso blanco, cherry tomatoes and watercress for Edward, and my Tamaki Veracruzana, which was crispy lobster, jicama and avocado rolled in a flour tortilla with black sesame seeds and Chile de Arbol salsa. Both of the dishes were beautifully presented; the Grilled Octopus, served in a large deep bowl, was a rich medley of color and taste, and the Tamaki Veracruzana, served on a rectangular plate, consisted of a tortilla which was filled and then cut into 5 rolls, and garnished with a crispy breaded lobster claw that was full of succulent lobster meat. The jicama provided crunch and texture to the avocado and shredded lobster meat, the spice was nicely balanced, and the dish was artistically painted with the Chile de Arbol salsa.

For our Entrees, Edward selected the evening’s special of Pork Tenderloin, and I had the Robalo al Vapor, a steamed sea bass in Mexican Aromas with Black Bean Paste, Peruvian Corn, Dates and a Chile Cascabel Sauce. Although traditionally pork tenderloin is first marinated and cooked in a sauce, Chef Julian prepared his pork tenderloin differently, by first marinating the pork, cooking it without a sauce, and then drizzled it with a slightly sweet tamarind sauce to allow the tender taste of the pork to come through, and served it with Peruvian corn. To complement the pork, Edward selected a frozen pomegranate margarita, which our waiter, David Soria, recommended. I continued with my frozen mango margarita, to accompany my fork-tender steamed sea bass. The accompanying Chile Cascabel sauce provided an aromatic slightly spicy base for the fish; and the dates added a layer of sweetness and contrast, while the Peruvian corn provided an interesting texture to the dish. For those not familiar with Peruvian corn, it has very large white kernels, with a texture that I think resembles hominy, and Edward felt has the texture of lima beans, that when you bite into them, there is a soft creaminess.

Striking up a conversation with our neighboring table, Anita Sands, Stephanie Carroll, Lori Huler and Sharon Brill, we each shared our input into our selections.

The dessert list is not long, but it has some great choices. We opted for the Arroz con Leche, a rice pudding with caramelized bananas, tequila, soaked currants and accompanied by banana walnut ice cream, and a Mexican coffee to pair with our shared dessert. The rice pudding arrived in a little red enamel pot with crispy caramelized bananas on top. The Mexican coffee made with Patron XO tequila was served in a margarita glass, which was a fitting finale to our Mexican tequila pairing dinner.

Afterward dinner, we met with Chef Julian Medina and reminisced about some of the things that we miss about Mexican City, and laughed when we discovered that we all share a fondness for cuitlacoche, a corn fungus, Mexican wines that are steadily improving, and xtabentun, a honey anise liqueur, which Chef Julian only recently discovered. Read about xtabentun in our Liquor Cabinet section.

Read Chefs' Recipes, where Chef Julian Medina generously shares his recipes for Rollo de Langosta (crispy lobster roll) and Ceviche de Atun (tuna with bosch pear).

Read more about New York in the Destinations, Restaurants, Chefs' Recipes, Gastronomy, Arts & Antiques, Music Scene and Wine Cellar sections.

© August 2005. Luxury Experience www.luxuryexperience.com. All rights reserved.