Awesomeness Alert: Mexican Hot Dog

They're all the rage in Los Angeles, although the health department keeps shutting-down the carts that sell them - something about the bacon, I think. Every time I read about the Mexican Hot Dog I develop a powerful craving for one: a hot dog, wrapped in bacon, grilled, doused with mayo, sprinkled with cotija cheese, maybe a couple of slices of jalapeño, plopped in a roll.

And finally, I found one! It was on the specials board at Cantina Dos Segundos.  I'm not sure how regularly they're available, or if they're at the South Philly Cantina Los Caballitos, but I sure hope they're at both places all the time. They're delicious.

Full disclosure: I happen to know the owners of the Cantinas (and am a little shocked that they didn't tell me about these!) but that fact has not affected my assessment of how awesome this snack is!  


Mexican Hot Dog:  $3
Cantina Dos Segundos
http://cantinadossegundos.com/
931 N 2nd St, Philadelphia

Distrito - Nuevo Mexican from Jose Garces

My eyes hurt. I just got over my ringing ears from a cacophonous dinner at Parc, and now my eyes are ringing. I don't think I've been this overwhelmed by vivid pink since I accidentally wandered down the Barbie isle at Toys R Us.

It's got an open, fun, casual feel, with scorpions embedded in the bar, movie-marquee-style signs, a wall of luchador masks along the stairway, rattan booths, swinging seats, other chairs seem a bit like patio furniture. Overall it looks and feels a bit like a beach party.

To be blunt, I don't like the look. But that might just be me, I'll bet most people will be fine with it, and the lighthearted vibe will almost certainly appeal to the 8 bazillion college students nearby. But it just strikes me as a little too silly, and a bit cold and empty-feeling.

More importantly, the vibe of the restaurant seems completely out-of-synch with the food coming out of the kitchen, which is extremely elegant and refined, tiny jewel-like constructions of delicate flavors and complex textures. Everything we tried was absolutely delicious, often surprising, and very meticulously composed.

On one hand, this should be no surprise, given the level of polish seen on the dishes at Amada and Tinto. Those places are a good analogy for Distrito: there was some grumbling about how the casual, informal tradition of tapas may have been buffed to too high a gloss at those places, resulting in expensive, overly polite versions of the originals. But beyond that conceptual argument about what tapas should be, there was (general) agreement that Garces's food was very well-executed and quite delicious.

The same philosophy in in effect at Distrito. The concept is "small plates" and indeed the portions are surprisingly diminutive. But within those compact proportions are some amazing flavors, and extremely artful constructions. I think that the portions might be exactly right, that these particular versions of dishes should be experienced in measured doses, rather than in massive bowl-fulls. Just don't be surprised when your order of Pork Belly with Mole Verde arrives in a 4-inch Staub mini cocotte, four bite-sized pieces of meltingly tender pork over rice, a dollop of green sauce. It's delicious, but not what one would expect at a Oaxacan restaurant, or quite what I was expecting in this party-like atmosphere.

I had the good fortune of dining with Katie Loeb, on her night off from Chick's. She knew some of the staff from her days working at Amada, so we benefitted from a little special attention, and a couple of complimentary dishes. The first of those was a revelation. It didn't sound all that interesting from the menu description, but after a few bites, we were telling our waiter that they should make this a mandatory item: just put it on the table without asking, nobody will ever complain.

Jicama Salad

It's somehow sweet and savory at once, crunchy and juicy, refreshing and intriguing. I strongly advise you to just get one of these no matter what, it's a nice starter, a perfect palate-cleanser, it would even be a good dessert.

The chef was also kind enough to send us a Tuna Ceviche
Pristine raw tuna, very gently touched by citrus, if at all, but nicely salted, accompanied by spicy creamy coconut, cool lime sorbet and a nice crunch from crispy micro tortillas. Very nice.

From the "Huraches" section, we ordered the Los Hongos, which featured mushrooms, huitlacoche sauce, cheese and corn shoots.
The huarache itself, a very thin, crispy flatbread, was much thinner than any I've had before, but it worked very nicely, transmitting an earthy corn flavor and nice crunch. The topping was very tasty, the creamy wild mushroom flavors lightened by the corn shoots.

Carne Kobe Tacos

This is one of those dishes that may induce portion size sticker shock: it's two tiny tacos, maybe 4 inches in diameter, with a few slices of beef on each, for $12. Yes it's luxuriously tender beef, yes it's extremely tasty, and yes, I'd order it again. But it's a bit of a surprise when they arrive, looking so... dainty! The flavors are anything but: the meat is assertively beefy, there's a tingle of horseradish, a crunch of potato straws, and a comforting smear of truffled potato.

Mole Verde with Pork Belly

As mentioned earlier, I laughed a little when this arrived, I'm used to Moles being large, deep plates of sauce, with a chicken breast island in the middle. This is obviously a whole different thing. And for what it is, it is quite satisfying. Four bites of pork belly might not seem like much, but what there is is very nicely executed. The rice is light and tender, the sauce vibrant and complex. I could use a little more sauce... I could use a little more of everything in this dish, but it's only $8, and I did enjoy it quite a lot.

Queso Fundido with Duck Barbacoa

I was a little skeptical about this one: I love queso fundido, I love duck, I never thought of them together. I must say, I thought it worked very well. Smear some of that on delicate, made-to-order tortillas, and it's a great flavor combo.

We also got some black beans and rice, also served in a tiny Staub cocotte, which were basic, but good, but didn't photograph well.

We ended with Tres Leches

This was ethereally light, no small trick for tres leches, and had a nice bright flavor from the mango on top, and nice layers of sweetness that evoked the traditional tastes of this cake, while giving it a modern spin.

I've forgotten most of the details about the drinks, but we had a few, all of which were good, and often quite interesting, with surprising elements like tomatillo, or cumin, or chile incorporated. Oh darn, I'll have to head back and get more drinks to try to refresh my memory. I'll let you know how that goes.

As I mentioned, my dinign partner Katie was recognized, so I'm not sure how typical of a service experience we had, but our waiter was very nice, very well-informed, and gave us good suggestions. There's a hive of worker-bees waiting to refill your water, clear your plates, or bring you another something, so overall, the service seems quite polished, especially for so early on.

So overall, I loved the food, I'm still a little mixed about the whole experience. It'll be interesting to see how it feels with a full room, maybe the decor won't bother me so much, but or right now I just wasn't digging the visual aspect of the space, while quite impressed by the visuals on the table. Plates and glasses and other serviceware are very elegant, as is the food itself.

It's not cheap. The 4 plates we ordered, and a side of beans, and dessert, with three drinks, came in at about $90. That probably would have been enough food for two, although we might have wanted another plate or two. With the two things the kitchen sent us, we were stuffed.

It's an interesting time for Mexican food in Philly. We've slowly accumulated several good basic taquerias, and the last few years have seen a few more upscale offerings as well with Xochitl, Cantina Los Caballitos, and whatever Molcajete Mixto has turned into as good examples.

The also-new Cantina Dos Segundos offers an interesting contrast to Distrito - they too are doing serious cooking, based on traditional recipes, tweaked with high-quality ingredients, but the presentations are very different. Their portions are huge, prices lower, and the overall feel is a bit more relaxed. The food there is surprisingly refined as well, I've been really impressed by a couple of recent meals, but it's presented in a more low-key way. I'm pretty thrilled to have both options.

I like the food at both places, and their approaches are different enough that I don't think I could say one is "better" than the other. I suspect I'll find myself at Dos Segundos more often, as a regular stop in the dining rotation, and reserve Distrito more for special occasions. I'm not sure that's what Garces intended, but by the middle of the meal, it was feeling a bit more like a destination restaurant, not an everyday spot to drop-in on frequently. It'll be interesting to see how others use it. I'm very curious to see what the university community of Penn and Drexel students and staff makes of it. It's got the look of a perfect party spot, but the prices and elegant presentations may dissuade some of them, this is not really a spot for nachos and beer. They do have those things on the menu, along with a few other not-so-challenging dishes, and who knows, maybe that crowd will embrace expensive tiny Kobe beef tacos.

In any case, it's a good time to be in Philly if one is interested in Mexican food...

www.distritorestaurant.com
3945 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA (entrance on 40th street)
(215) 222-1657

Cantina Dos Segundos

I've been very excited about the opening of this new restaurant in Northern Liberties. I'm a big fan of the food at Cantina Los Caballitos in South Philly, and this place, while not an exact duplicate, is owned by the same folks, and the same chef runs both kitchens. The food is not identical at the two places, but if you like one, you'll surely like the other. There's some food in common, but the new place's menu is much bigger, and sometimes delves into the specialties of some of Mexico's regions that are seriously underrepresented here in Philly. Pork Carnitas are slow-cooked in lard, as they are in Michoacan; I've already seen two unusual Moles from Oaxaca; there's a vertical spit for making Al Pastor like they do in Mexico City.

I know some of this just from reading the menu, but I also was lucky enough to get a couple of sneak peeks behind the scenes as they were getting ready to open. I know the owners, and have taken a few photos for them, and even managed to sample a few dishes early on.

As a result, I probably can't be completely objective, and some of the staff surely recognizes me, so I'm not the ideal disinterested anonymous critic, but I think I'm still capable of saying some honest things about the place. I'm pretty sure my tastebuds are still functioning, and I can sincerely say that there's great food coming out of this kitchen. I'm not facing any dilemmas about that: I can wholeheartedly recommend everything that I've tasted so far.

I'm not sure what Chef Mark McKinney's approach is to these traditional dishes, how far he deviates from the conventional preparations, but I do know that the results are delicious. I've had some amazing Oaxacan food at restaurants in southern California, such as Guelaguetza, and McKinney's Coloradito and Amarillo moles stand up very well to those complex concoctions. I've been on a continuous quest for the ideal Tacos al Pastor (pictured above) and this kitchen is currently in the lead. Even the lowly chimichanga is elevated here to something refined, with a light flakiness to the tortilla, rather than the heavy, dense, oily shell one often encounters.

I was out of town for the first few days that "Dos" was open, but as soon as I got back, I made sure to run down there and check it out. I was not disappointed. The place looks great, our server was very nice, and most importantly, the food and drink totally hit the spot. We started with a Bluefin Tuna Ceviche, rich with coconut milk, sweet with onion, and refreshing with a little tomato. This was very good scooped up with plantain chips, or with corn chips, or on its own. McKinney was chef de cuisine at the restaurant Passion during its heyday, and that place had some of the best ceviches I've ever tasted, and it's great to see some of those flavors living on.


We also sampled the baby octopus, which was just outstanding. Philly's a great town for octopus, there are lots of excellent versions of this in the city, but I don't think I've seen any quite like this. These tiny, whole octopuses are tender, yet a little crispy and smoky from some time on the grill, dripping with an herby, garlicky, citrusy dressing. The texture's both tender and crispy, the flavor's earthy, marine and bright all at once. It's a really nice preparation, and a welcome change from the same-old big grilled tentacles. Don't get me wrong, I'm still in love with the old classic at Dmitri's, but this is a great alternative. I've had these whole baby octopuses poached and served cold in Chinatown, but I like this hot, marinated version even better.

The Carnitas, one of several filling available for tacos, burritos, tortas and more, are made in a way I had not encountered before. The pork is slow-cooked in lard, similar to the classic preparation of duck confit, then shredded, and cripsed-up in a pan. This results in an intense pork flavor, and a nice interplay of moist tenderness and crunch. I really like these a lot, the only downside being that the mix of moist and crunchy isn't always consistent, and sometimes a few bites can be a little dry. But the flavor's great, and a little does of salsa or guacamole tends to fix it right up.

Of course the fabled goat tacos are available here too, and every bit as good as those at the Cantina Los Caballitos in south philly. While it's very hard to distract me from the goat tacos, the Al Pastor, as mentioned above might just do it. They have a vertical spit, as used often in Mexico City, but not seen very much in the states. That particular mechanism, spinning a stack of sliced marinated pork in front of vertical heating elements, results in crusty edges, but a juicy interior. An artful slice off the perimeter gives a mix of both textures, some pineapple adding yet another texture, flavor and element of moisture. Taquitos de Puebla on 9th street in the Italian Market had been the local champion in my assessment, and I still like them there, but "Dos" uses a more aggressive marinade, which adds a welcome extra dimension.

I'm a big fan of mole, and I've been a little frustrated to find little variety in the selections available here in Philly. Mole Negro can be quite good, but there are seven classic moles in Oaxaca, and we rarely see any of the others. So far at Dos, we've sampled a Mole Coloradito, a Mole Amarillo and a Mole Rojo, each served over tender Eberly Turkey, and they've been both delicious and a welcome alternative to that ubiquitous deep, dark mole negro. Here's hoping we'll see the rest of the moles, and other specialties from Oaxaca.

Cantina Dos Segundos has just started serving brunch, and so the menu of brunch-specific items was fairly small this first time, but I'm sure it will expand in future weeks. But I don't care if it ever expands, if they keep this one special on the menu: Huevos Dos Segundos.

Of course, it's a take-off on Eggs Benedict, but in place of the muffins, corn masa cakes. Instead of Canadian Bacon, there's Benton's Bacon, which in my book is the ultimate smoky pork delivery system. It works great here. The hollandaise is perked up with a touch of chorizo, and there's a layer of intensely porky refried beans under the perfectly-poached eggs. This is a really nice twist to the brunch classic, and I'll order it again and again, as long as the Benton's Bacon holds out. I didn't love the potatoes, and the masa cakes might be better with a little more crunch, but even so, I'm craving this again already, and am plotting a return visit for brunch.

We also had another order of the tuna ceviche, some goat tacos, more carnitas tacos, and a couple of sides. Both of those were pretty spectacular. The Elotes was very tasty, the grilling bringing out the sweetness in the corn, the mayo, cheese and lime adding some decadence...


Perhaps more decadent still were the Plantanos Machos. Sweet plantains were caramelized to amplify that candy-like character, then drizzled with crema and sprinkled with cheese.


I could eat those all day!

I'm not sure why I failed to photograph our drinks. We had a few really tasty margaritas, and I really liked my "Los Ovnis" which featured Ginger, Rum, Boing! softdrink, and grape, if I remember correctly. I'd also tried a "Cola de Caballo" which includes, bourbon, cola and liquid smoke! It's odd, but I can feel myself being drawn back to get another...

So again, much like the Cantina Los Caballitos in south philly, "Dos" has drinks perfect for this summer weather, great snacks for bar munching or starting a dinner (I saw lots of orders of ribs go by, and they looked great, but I haven't sampled any at the new place. They look the same, which is fine by me.) I did manage to grab an empanada, and it was just perfect: light and flaky, with an earthy ground-beef filling. And it also has full-on dinner offerings too. I was amused by eavesdropping on a nearby table after brunch, as they rhapsodized about their rib-eye steak.

I might just have to get that steak soon, but in the interim, I'll be dropping in for tacos and empanadas and plantanos... and I'm keeping an eye on the specials, I suspect that's where we're going to see the really interesting stuff.

Cantina Dos Segundos
931 N 2nd St
Northern Liberties
Philadelphia, PA
215-629-0500
www.cantinadossegundos.com

If Pigs Could Fly...

OK, I'm starting to feel a little fickle, making multiple bold pronouncements about "the best bar snack." But I just keep running across really great ones! So, I do still love the Khyber's Pretzel Dog. I'm definitely still heading up to the Memphis Taproom for pasties. I do periodically need those bacon-wrapped, cheese-stuffed figs at Chick's.

But... I think we may have a new champion, and it's hard to imagine a credible challenge to this brilliant concept: Pork Wings.

Yes, that's right, like Buffalo Chicken Wings, but made with a vastly superior raw material. As far as I know, they haven't been doing any weird genetic modifications to cause pigs to sprout wings, these are actually pork shanks, with the bones frenched to make convenient handles. We had these as a special at Cantina Los Caballitos, although rumor has it that something similar is on the blackboard at Royal Tavern.

The sauce is more substantial than the traditional hot sauce and butter coating for buffalo wings, there's a nice barbecue-ish tang to it, and a bit of heat. The blue cheese dip might be a little predictable, but it's delicious, and a revered combo for a reason. The "wings" themselves are much meatier, with deeper flavor and less grease than a traditional chicken wing. It appears that they're grilled, or maybe broiled, definitely not deep-fried, giving them a perfect caramelized crust, but not an oily coating.

This one's going to be hard to beat... so I feel confident getting behind this one as the true champion, the best bar snack in the city.

We couldn't just get the wings though. So we needed some empanadas, which were better than ever. I really loved these when the Cantina first opened, then there was a mid-period when they were still good, but not transcendent, but I'm happy to say that they're back to being as good as ever, maybe better than ever. Tender pastry, wrapping a moist, flavorful shredded meat, that's all I ever ask for from an empanada.

We also got the Pork Anticuchos, rum-glazed grilled skewers of pork, served over a quinoa salad. Somehow I didn't manage to get a good photo of them, but they were quite attractive, but more importantly, delicious, with a nice char on the outside, but remaining juicy.

But the real reason we came was for the Goat Tacos. I've had a few goat tacos at taquerias around South Philly, but I never loved those. I'm not sure what prompted me to try these, they may have been recommended by Shola from StudioKitchen, and when he says something is worth checking out, I believe him!

And indeed, over the last six months or so, these have become one of my favorite things to eat anywhere. There's a depth of flavor to these that leaves most other tacos tasting bland in comparison, yet this version doesn't have that funky, gamey taste that so often shows up in this meat. There's something about the spicing and cooking technique that chef Mark McKinney uses that renders the meat tender, juicy, and vibrant.

I've been especially liking these with a little dab of guacamole and some pineapple salsa, but I'll also happily eat them plain. If you've never thought of eating goat, this might be the place to try it, you won't be sorry.

So, between the pork "wings" the empanadas and the goat tacos, this meal contained some of my favorite things. And the rest was pretty darn tasty too...

Cantina Los Caballitos
1651 East Passyunk Ave
South Philly
(215) 755-3550