Mixing It Up at Mextiza

"I am not an academic, historian, anthropologist, or botanist, but just an adventurous cook and a lover of the natural world who delights in the experience of traveling to discover and taste foods, some of which I had only heard about, but many that I was yet to discover in this infinite world…"

- Diana Southwood Kennedy, in the introduction to Oaxaca al Gusto

It's really sad that we know more about the cuisines of Italy, France and even Japan than we know about the food of one of our nearest neighbors. Mention going out for Mexican to most people and they think of burritos and enchiladas swimming in a sea of melted American cheese. But with the opening of Mextiza, Oswaldo Bibiano's paen to the pleasures of the Mexican table, there is finally an opportunity to experience a taste (pun intended) of the incredible breadth and depth this cuisine has to offer.

A view of the room.

Since 2004 and the closing of Claire Archibald's late, lamented Café Azul, it's been rare to see Portland restaurants venture much beyond a molé here or a nopales salad there. Bibiano's first restaurant, Autentica, on the once-spooky-but-now-chichi corner of NE 30th and Killingsworth, celebrated the foods of the chef's home state of Oaxaca and earned him a Beard nomination in 2010.

On recent visits for lunch and dinner, Mextiza exceeded even my optimistic expectations by miles. If you want to get a first taste, I'd go for a mid-week lunch, but if you want to really get a sense of what Bibiano's kitchen is capable of, get yourself a party of six and make a reservation for dinner. Otherwise be prepared for a wait at the bar, well-stocked with tequila and offering many tequila-based cocktails, if you come on a weekend night.

The cabrito.

I'd been looking forward to a well-made margarita all day, and our table ordered a round as soon as we sat down. Mine was an outstanding version of the classic, while the special margarita made with blood oranges that another of our group ordered was wonderfully fruity with a slightly flowery nose. Dave noted that their beer list was nicely put together, as well, featuring three Northwest microbrews and Modelo Especial on tap.

The menu is grouped into six categories from salads and chips to appetizers, entrée-sized sandwiches filled with the likes of shredded pork, chicken and tongue, small plates, entrées and sides. With our margaritas we ordered the chips and guacamole (see previous review) and the special app of the evening, calamari simmered in a chile sauce (top photo), a dish so heavenly it nearly stole the evening. The squid was tender but meaty, and the mildly spicy sauce begged to be sopped with the tortillas provided alongside…I could tell people were tempted to pick up the plate and lick it despite themselves.

Lechon Yucateco.

Two of our party ordered the cabrito, a Northern Mexican dish of slow-roasted goat with potatoes, pinto beans and a chile-vinegar sauce. The goat was mild and fall-apart tender, and the sauce added a piquant (but not overwhelmingly tart) note. I ordered the lechon Yucateco, chunks of tender meat sliced from a whole rotisseried pig with black beans, onions and salpicon that brought back memories of the wonderful flavors we'd experienced on our last visit to Mexico.

The most interesting dish was the huarachitos estilo DF, a fried oval of corn masa topped with black beans that comes with a choice of huevo frito con tuetano (fried egg and marrow), mushrooms, carne asada, chicken breast, nopalitos, fried cheese or chicken tinga. The corn masa and beans were classics, and the carne asada was good, though I'm dying to try the egg and marrow combo on my next visit.

We were all far too stuffed to have dessert and drinks, but maybe next time I'll be able to save room. And from the two references I made above about a next visit, you can be sure there'll be one!

Details: Mextiza, 2103 N Killingsworth. 503-289-3709.

Quick Hits: Mextiza, Smallwares, Luce

Recent noontime visits to this trio of newcomers revealed much promise, with a side of newbie-itis.

With big bro Autentica holding court on the hot corner of NE 30th and Killingsworth with the likes of Yakuza, DOC, Beast and Cocotte, a little sister down the street might feel a teeny bit overshadowed. Indeed, Mextiza, Oswaldo Bibiano's new outlet a few blocks west of Interstate, is understated, but has a certain sophisticated style all its own.

Autentica specializes in the cuisine of Bibiano's home state of Guerrero in Mexico. But with a menu spanning the whole country and a wall o' tequila and mescal that rivals any the big boys boast, this little girl might just be poised to have her moment in the spotlight very soon.

On a recent lunch visit the housemade guacamole was laced with lime and the queso-and-salt sprinkled chips (left) were crisp and light. But what captured my eye were the enchiladas with roasted poblanos in a sauce of—be still my heart—huitlacoche cream sauce and sprigs of epazote (top photo). One whiff took me back to the Plazuela Machado in Mazatlan, the last time I'd had that particular combination, and this version stood up to my memories of it. The dinner menu covers much broader territory, and I've heard reports that it and the cocktails are worth seeking out. I definitely will!

Details: Mextiza, 2103 N Killingsworth. 503-289-3709.

* * *

Northeast 46th and Fremont has seen a couple food businesses come and go. The latest entrant to attempt to anchor this key corner in the Beaumont neighborhood, Smallwares, has a bit of a pedigree in owner and former Nostrana sous-chef Johanna Ware. An alumna of David Chang's much vaunted Momofuku restaurants in New York City, she's revisiting those roots with what's billed as an "inauthentic Asian" spot.

My lunch there, shortly after it opened, revealed a menu with tastes collected from many Asian cultures with, as you might expect, a twist thrown in. For instance, the kimchi featured the expected cabbage and daikon, but then also included apple, which worked quite nicely. The mapo dofu (above) was a small cup of pork richly combined with a fermented black bean sauce, but it was served sitting on a cushion of savory egg custard. Mussels (left)—see, I told you I can't resist 'em—were the most traditional, in a nice broth of sake and chile flake, and had little slivers of doughy rice cake mixed in.

The only complaint was that the same chile sauce seemed to make an appearance in several plates, though this sameness of saucing may change as the kitchen adjusts the menu.

Details: Smallwares, 4605 NE Fremont. 971-229-0995.

* * *

No sign, shelves full of Italian food products and a few tables scattered across the floor. On a side wall, a listing of delicious-sounding plates. Such is the caché of John Taboada, originator of the Spanish-inspired Navarre on NE 28th, that he can open a minimalist spot like Luce and pack in eager foodies looking to be the first among their peers to tweet about it.

On a mid-week stop for lunch, a friend and I had our choice of tables (the hipsters must still have been in bed) and we sat down to sample a few plates. The price is the only giveaway of the size of the plates…for instance, for $2 each we ordered stuffed clams, a beet dumplings and a slice of squash tart (above). Six bucks, right? What came out was a salad plate that featured three teensy little clams containing maybe a half teaspoon each of "stuffing," two 1-inch beet fritters and a maybe-1-inch-wide sliver of tart. The chicken in wine sauce was a little more generous, with a decent-sized leg divided into thigh and drumstick in a capered wine sauce. I'd like to go back in the evening and have a glass of wine and a couple of plates, but it's definitely not the kind of place to go and expect heaping plates of food or cheap prices.

Details: Luce, 2140 E Burnside St. 503-236-7195.

Memorable Meals: Nostrana, Autentica, Tabla

The blurby nature of this grouping in no way reflects the quality of the meals at these three establishments; each was deserving of a full post on its own. Chalk it up to laziness on the writer's part.

I hadn't been to Nostrana for lunch for way too long, so when a friend that I hadn't seen for way too long wanted to meet on her lunch hour to catch up, it seemed like the perfect fit. It was a sunny, warm day and Nostrana had added a bevy of brightly colored umbrellas to the patio in front of the restaurant, as well as a bright canvas panel to block the breeze that seems to constantly flow up some invisible chute from the river. Most of the windows on the river side also slide open, so even if you're sitting inside it feels like you're dining al fresco, and diners are encouraged to adjust them to suit their tastes. And speaking of taste, there are few lunch menus in town as dependably awesome yet accessible as that found here. From salads to pizzas to the piatti lunch specials, there is almost no way you can go wrong. And splitting a salad, particularly their version of a Caesar made with radicchio or the albacore (left), and a pizza is not looked down upon. The wines by the glass, while terrific choices all, can almost double the cost of your lunch and I haven't had the courage to ask to split a glass, so I tend to stick to iced tea ($2.50).

Details: Nostrana, 1401 SE Morrison St. 503-234-2427.

* * *

A warm summer evening and meeting friends for dinner meant finding a restaurant that offered outdoor dining, wasn't too expensive and served killer drinks. Additional points were awarded for proximity to home. Fortunately, before we got to the spreadsheet stage (yes, it has happened…we're very nerdy around here), someone mentioned that Autentica has a charming patio (top photo), fabulous margaritas and wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. And, since again I hadn't been there in WTL (way too long), we made a date. We were ushered through the restaurant to a tiny back door that opened onto a spacious patio with plantings of tall cannas separating the long space into two "rooms." With the walls painted in bright, Mexican-inspired colors, we felt like we were back  in Mazatlan on the Plazuela Machado. The margaritas came almost instantly, and we dove into our guacamole, ceviche and queso fundido with handmade tortillas and chef Oswaldo Bibiano's signature trio of stunning chile salsas. Our entrées, including an enchilada platter, a filet of whole trout with a garlic epazote purée and a fall-apart tender carne asada with black-eyed peas (above right), were all crazy good, especially with a second round of those delicious margaritas. With that dinner in mind, I can't wait to try his new venture, Mextiza, scheduled to open on N Killingsworth later this summer.

Details: Autentica, 5507 NE 30th Ave. 503-287-7555.

* * *

When it's time to celebrate a major anniversary with a dinner out, we tend to go back to a favorite that never disappoints, is not outrageously priced and where we'll be treated like family. That's a pretty tall order and a very short list, and you'll not be surprised that, for us, Tabla on NE 28th is at the top of it. Not only is chef Anthony Cafiero a warm and funny guy who has a gas playing with his food, he gets that food from frequent trips to local farmers' markets. I know because I'm constantly running into him on whatever day of the week he needs to restock, loaded down with armloads of heavy bags and waving fronds. The night we went with my brother and his lovely bride, Anthony was offering his $28 three-course dinner with the likes of an appetizer of sous vide farm egg with ham, green beans garlic scapes and ricotta cream, a pasta course of Cavatelli with calamari, garlic and piquillo peppers with the Mar y Montaña (above left) entrée featuring Spanish octopus, pork chop, ajo blanco, cilantro and carrot foam. As I've mentioned before, Cafiero is still having huge fun making foams, infusions and smears without taking away from the real flavors of his market ingredients. And that's always worth coming back for.

Details: Tabla, 200 NE 28th Ave. 503-238-3777.

Authentic Mexican, Revisited

We have friends who love hot weather. Nothing suits them better than temps in the 90s with a haze of sweat cooling their brows. They strip down, grab a cool drink and embrace the heat.

This is a margarita to beat the heat.

But for a lot of Oregonians, every degree over 85 ratchets up the whining, the pouting and the scowling, as if the gods were punishing us personally for some transgression or other. So you can imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth that accompanied last week's 100-plus degree heat wave. Like pouty little babies, we sat in our sweltering houses, most devoid of air conditioning ("You only need it a few days a year, so why spend the money?"), and cursed Satan's handmaiden, aka the TV weatherman.

Try as I might to maintain my new mantra to "be here now," one day I just couldn't face another salad for dinner and called my brother and his lovely bride to see if they'd like to join us at Autentica for a margarita and dinner. Facing spending the evening in a house that may have been even hotter than ours, they quickly agreed after being assured the place had AC.

Octopus salad.

When we got there the air conditioner was having trouble keeping up with the heat generated by the crowd packing the place, like us looking for a respite from their overheated lives. It wasn't unmanageable, though, and once we had a round of excellent margaritas in hand, not to mention flowing down our throats, the evening was looking much more promising.

The thick blue corn tortillas and three house salsas were a good beginning, but an appetizer of their wonderful guacamole and a cold pulpo (octopus) salad spiked with lime soothed any prickly tendencies that remained. And like the lunch I enjoyed earlier, all of the flavors in our entrées had memories washing over us from our trips to Mexico's west coast.

Pescado con hueso.

My barbacoa de res (top), a traditional slow cooked marinated beef served with pinto beans fried with chorizo and cotija cheese, was not only gorgeous sitting on its corn husk wrapper, but was fall-apart tender and rich. And the chuleta de puerco, a pan-fried Carlton farm pork chop with garlic and onions, was served over a mouthwatering mole pobre sauce with a side of green beans braised with tomatoes. The mole itself, while noticeably chocolately, also had enough bite and depth from the chiles to balance out any sweetness, a difficult act to pull off.

The pescado con hueso, a roasted fish steak with garlic, was served over a spicy avocado and tomatillo sauce with white rice. Moist and perfectly cooked till just tender and served under a shower of cilantro and red onion, it was a lovely light touch among our other hefty choices. Somewhat cooled off and very full, we opted out of dessert and hit the street just as a nice breeze was picking up, another nice echo of our Mexican trip. We'll definitely have to go back.

Details: Autentica, 5507 NE 30th, just north of Killingsworth. Phone 503-287-7555.

Authentic Mexican in Portland

It's probably no secret to anyone who reads this blog, but I love Mexican food. And I'm not talking about burritos or chimichangas or anything piled with yellow cheese or sour cream.

I've waxed poetic (apologies to any poets out there) about Cafe Azul before, Claire Archibald's much-missed Mexican restaurant where nary a "burrito-sized" flour tortilla could be found and the only yellow on the plate came from stuffed squash blossoms, where there were richly flavored chile sauces that had simmered for hours if not days and authentic preparations were de rigeur.

And though there are other spots in town presenting Mexican food "inspired by" the cuisine of that country, much to my dismay no one has stepped into Ms. Archibald's admittedly hard-to-fill dancing shoes. So when I heard that Autentica, chef Oswaldo Bibiano's paean to his beloved Guerrero, was once again open for lunch and that it featured Mexican street food, I had to run over to give it a try.

Guerrero stretches along the Pacific Coast of Mexico from Michoacán on the west to Oaxaca on the east, and includes Acapulco, Zihuatanejo and the silver capital of Mexico, Taxco, within its borders. With its coastal location, I was hoping for seafood to predominate but, sadly, fish only appears once on the printed lunch menu in a fish taco, albeit a mighty tasty one. There are several fish items on the dinner menu, so you can be sure we'll go back and check them out.

The good news for lovers of this cuisine is that all of the ingredients are authentic, including the corn tortillas hand-rolled and pressed by the beautifully mature hands of a woman I was too shy to photograph. The smell of those warm, fresh tortillas rising from the cloth-covered basket that arrives on the table is swoon-inducing, especially when accompanied by Bibiano's trio of salsas: red chile, tomatillo and avocado.

My friend Jennifer and I started with the creamy horchata (above left), one of the best I've had in Portland, a silky cold drink made from rice, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla that you would swear was made with milk. The guacamole (right) was a simple, fresh bowlful that needed no dressing up except for maybe a dunk in one of those salsas.

The quesadilla con nopalitos (top photo), a house-made corn masa quesadilla stuffed with strips of roasted cactus, oaxacan cheese and onions was infused with epazote, the smoky-tasting green herb often found in regional preparations, especially black beans. The tortilla was stuffed with the aforementioned ingredients and then topped with roasted chunks of tomatoes with the traditional cabbage salad alongside. Nothing like the flat, lifeless and cheesy versions found at most places in town.

The fish tacos came piled with chile-rubbed grilled fish and covered with cabbage salad, and a squeeze of the lime wedge that came with it was like a flashback to the beaches of Mexico, the soft breeze blowing off the ocean and the fronds of a palapa waving overhead.

Completely stuffed, we had to stop there, but it's certainly not going to keep me from making Autentica a regular on my lunch circuit. And I definitely want to get in for dinner soon to see what seafood Oswaldo has cooking on his grill.

Details: Autentica, 5507 NE 30th, just north of Killingsworth. Phone 503-287-7555.

Sunshine on a Rainy Day

People here in the Northwest start feeling a tad sun-deprived about this time of year. We've had a few warm, sunny days, but now we're in that darkness-before-dawn phase of spring. Folks are itching to plant vegetables in the garden and to go out on long hikes in the woods, but the ratio of mud to boots is still daunting.

Autentica's house margarita.

I'm finding myself dreaming about tropical beaches at sunset, or remembering long summer evenings sipping cocktails in the back yard. So when the neighbors wanted to meet us for dinner, I immediately suggested a trip to Mexico via NE Killingsworth.

The nopal cactus salad.

We hadn't been to Autentica for a couple of years and a large margarita was sounding mighty appealing, so as soon as we were seated (or was it even before all of us were in the door?) we ordered a round of their delicious lime-packed house concoctions, which might rate as among the best margaritas in Portland.

More cactus, this time relleno style.

They came almost immediately (what, had someone called ahead and warned them?) and as we slurped our first round we chose a couple of appetizers and a salad to share. The salad of strips of nopal cactus tossed with avocado, tomatoes and crunchy radishes, lightly dressed and topped with cilantro was terrific, as was the shrimp and avocado salad. Both were perfectly fresh and hit just the right notes for flavor and visual appeal. The octopus salad was equally fresh with the two curled arms a gorgeous shimmering black, but suffered from a chewy, overcooked texture. Sad, because when this salad is fresh there is nothing like it.

Carne ranchera, grilled beef in an ocean of beans.

Entrees ran the gamut from grilled pork loin served with black beans and a verde sauce (top photo) to a paddle of nopal split and stuffed relleno style, the cheese oozing out from the edges and served with a mild, creamy red chile sauce. The order of beans, lapping up against an island of steak topped with ranchero sauce and more of those cactus strips, was outstanding and possibly the best dish of the evening.

Carnitas.

It had stiff competition from the carnitas, falling apart in its chile-inflected marinade with a side of red chile sauce. And I'd like to take a moment to sing the praises of all the sauces we had, each uniquely complementing the dish it was served with for taste, texture and heat. In a cuisine known for its complex salsas, it's rare to find a place with such a wide-ranging selection, and speaks volumes about the care taken with each dish.

And since we'd come this far together, we decided to dive in and do dessert, too, sharing two slices of heaven in the form of a trés leches cake and the lime torte on the right. Both were incredible, the cake rich and moist, the torte, a pie, really, light yet rich and infused with enough lime to make that certain tang at the back of my tongue.

If we hadn't had to leave and head out into the chill, I'd be willing to suspend my disbelief and think I was in a little restaurant in Oaxaca. Not a bad feeling to have on a chilly Portland evening.

Details: Autentica, 5507 NE 30th St. 503-287-7555.