Tasting Collective Dinner at Quiote

I really enjoyed the first Tasting Collective Dinner that I went to at Split Rail, but I was very familiar with the restaurant and the chef.  The next dinner that came up was at a location to which I had been (when it was Letitzia's Fiore), but I had not been to since it had become Mexican Restaurant, Quiote.  I had tried the food of Chef Dan Salls at Pop Ups, benefits, and other events, and had been pretty underwhelmed, but I had never been to his restaurant.  I had noticed that the restaurant was very popular, so I had to wonder if I had just picked the wrong dishes, so I decided to actually try it out.  I also invited my friend, Rich, to accompany me.  The restaurant is small and narrow and is divided into two dining rooms.  A small bar/counter area is in the back of the front dining room it looks over the preparation area and into the brick oven.  We sat here and were able to watch courses being prepared and were able to talk to the staff.  Like the first dinner, we were given a menu which was also a critique sheet and a separate menu for drinks which were offered on a cash only basis.  There were some interesting cocktails on the list, but I decided to take it easy and just stuck with beer, namely a Warpigs Lazurite IPA.  It was bitter, citrusy, and I imagined that it should go well with the flavors of the Mexican food.

We started out with Crab Tostadas with Uni, Mustard Seeds, Hot Sauce, and Microgreens presented in a pan of Dried Corn.  The Tostadas were small, but were full of flavor and texture.  THe tortilla chips were crisp.  The crab was tender and full of flavor and the mustard and hot sauce provided a nice burn.  It was a nice start and it began bringing my opinion around.

After the Tostadas came a Hamachi Crudo with Burnt Chile, Grapefruit, and Sunchoke.  While not precisely Mexican, it was very good.  The hamachi was very tender and flavorful in in a sour and spicy broth that was similar to ceviche.  The grapefruit was very juicy and had a texture similar to the hamachi and the sunchokes, a root vegetable that comes from the root of a sunflower, was served as crispy chips.  It was very fresh tasting, spicy, tart, and very tender with a crisp crunch from the sunchokes.  

After the appetizers came the salad/vegetable dishes.  We started with an Avocado Salad with Brussels Sprouts, Apples, Quinoa, Tomatillo, and Cotija Cheese.  The salad was fresh and crisp from the brussels sprouts and the apples,the quinoa provided some nutty crispiness, and the avocado gave the salad some creaminess.  The tomatillo provided some tartness and the salad was finished with a lot of Cotija cheese. 

The next course was widely thought of as the best dish served for dinner.  It was a Roast Cabbage served with Pepitas, Serrano Peppers, and Burned Sourdough.  The cabbage was roasted in the brick oven until the outside was burned and the inside was tender.  The burnt sourdough was combined with the Serrano peppers to make a sauce that was char sweet and spicy and the pepitas adding a nutty flavor.  It was apparently a very dish to make, but it was very good and well liked.

Our first meat dish started with pork, specifically Pork Belly.  Bacon comes from pork belly, although it is salt cured, smoked, and sliced more thinly than pork belly generally is.  The pork belly was served with Apples, Escarole, Jalapeno, and Queso Fresco.  The greens were crisp with some apple tartness, and a little queso fresco.  The jalapeno was thinly sliced and mixed with the greens adding a little spice.  The pork belly itself was crisp and tender with a good pork flavor.  The greens provided a nice counterpoint to the meaty flavor of the pork belly.

The next dish was another relatively simple dish that was prepared simply and very well and was a favorite.  We were served a bowl of Clams and Mussels with Crispy Rice, Pasilla Peppers, Grilled Orange. and Mint. The dish might have been fairly simple, but it was also kind of messy and it was good to have an extra bowl in which to discard the shells.

Our final savory dish was a Mexican classic, Pollo en Mole.  There are numerous moles, many that have numerous ingredients and take many hours to prepare.  This mole had something on the order of 27 ingredients and took a day to make and had a nice complex, bitter and spicy flavor, but did not use Cacao as many Moles do.  It was also served with Roasted Carrots and Granola which added a nutty and earthy flavor.  The chicken was well roasted, tender, and went well with the mole, carrots, and granola.

Being served nine courses, we will have numerous of each type of dish.  We were served two desserts, the first generally being a favorite of mine, Tres Leches Cake.  This version, served with Dulce de Leche, Burnt Cinnamon and topped with Whipped Cream, continued the streak.  It was desnse, soft, sweet, and very creamy, and very good.

The last dessert, served with coffee to finish the meal, while not bad, almost felt like an afterthought.  We were served Churros, Bananas, Banana Ice Cream, and Piloncillo (Mexican Raw Sugar).  It was sweet and had a nice banana flavor.  The coffee went well with the dish and made for a good finish.  I think that my biggest problem was the fact the churros were just one bite.  If the churros were emphasized a little more and were a little bigger, I think I might have liked it a little more.  Despite this complaint, this was a very good dinner, both as the food presented and the presentation itself.  I will continue to participate in Tasting Collective events and I will definitely return to Quiote for more very good Mexican food.