Toloache: Midtown West Nuevo-Mexican

[Fat Guy]

I have three words for you:

Foie gras tacos.

And the address:

Toloache

251 W. 50th St. (Broadway & Eighth Ave.)

212.581.1818

http://www.toloachenyc.com

Okay I guess I should say a bit more. Toloache ("toh‐lo‐AH‐tchay," a flowering plant used as a love potion in Mexico, according to the PR materials) opened a couple of weeks ago (23 August I believe) on West 50th Street, across the street from Worldwide Plaza. The restaurant has been inviting media in for press dinners, and I accepted an invitation for tonight. This was not a press party but, rather, just my wife and I having dinner like regular people and ordering off the menu, with the added benefit of the meal being free. I almost overlooked the invitation -- I ignore far more such invitations than I have time to accept -- but tonight was to be rescheduled babysitting night and a few days ago Ellen was like, "What can we do Tuesday night?" and I remembered the invitation. Having not read the press kit in advance, I had little notion of what to expect.

The sad reality is that the Mexican food scene in New York City is weak. At the low end, other than a couple of good midtown taquerias, there's just not much going on that can compare to dime-a-dozen places in the West and Southwest. At the upmarket level, however, there have for some time been a few chefs who have done a very good job. One of the best -- perhaps the best -- is Richard Sandoval of Maya.

Richard Sandoval has nothing to do with Toloache. However, the chef of Toloache, Julian Medina, was basically Richard Sandoval's protege. Medina is, like Sandoval, from Mexico City. He worked at various upscale hotel restaurants (both Mexican and French) and was discovered by Sandoval in 1996. Medina became the opening chef de cuisine of Maya. While there, he took the unusual (for a working chef de cuisine) step of enrolling at the French Culinary Institute by day and cooking by night (he graduated in 1999). He then became executive chef of SushiSamba in New York and opened SushiSamba in Miami. He went back to work for Sandoval in 2003 as corporate chef for all the restaurants (Maya New York, Maya San Francisco, and Tamayo in Denver), and then opened Pampano. Most recently, he was executive chef at Zocalo.

Toloache is small. It's an 80‐seat, two‐story restaurant. There's combination of table and bar seating (at a guacamole and ceviche bar), a wood‐burning oven dominates the open kitchen, and there are more than 100 tequilas on the list (I don't even want to think about what percentage of them I sampled). The overall feel is very upbeat. They were doing good business.

I've crossed paths with Medina by dining at most of the restaurants where he has worked, when he worked there, but I was never aware of him until today. Based on this meal, however, I'm now a fan of Julian Medina. The guy is good. His diverse training has given him an interesting perspective on Mexican food, and the menu combines classical Mexican technique with Nuevo Latino and global stylistic influences.

We started with the guacamole trio. There are three species of guacamole available on the menu, or you can get smaller portions of all three as a sampler: the "tradicional" has avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro and serrano and is mild; the "frutas" has avocado, sweet onion, mango, apple, peach, habanero and Thai basil and is medium spicy; and the "rojo" has avocado, tomato, red onion, chipotle and is sprinkled with queso fresco (cheese) -- it's the spiciest of the three. They're all great, but the real fun of the sampler is getting to shift among the three. It's also a good demonstration of the fact that there are great guacamole possibilities beyond the standard recipe.

Then we sampled some ceviches. Again, you can get individual ceviches or a platter of three (or a bigger platter of five). We tried Acapulco-style vuelve a la vida, which had shrimp, octopus, hamachi, oysters, spicy tomato salsa and avocado and was not particularly enjoyable (it was the one dish of the night that I thought was sub-par); a really excellent ceviche with chunks of tuna, key lime, sweet onion, radish and watermelon; and a meat-based ceviche riff, with seared rare ribeye slices (from grass-fed beef), chipotle mustard and cactus salad -- this was my favorite.

There are five quesadillas, baked in the brick oven, available on the menu, but we went with today's special: a hamachi quesadilla. I ordered it because I didn't think the hamachi could possibly stand up to cheese and peppers, but I was wrong. The rare slices of hamachi were robust enough to show through the rest of the ingredients.

There's also a section of tacos on the menu. These are very small tacos and they come two to an order. The soft corn tortillas are handmade. We tried four types: veal cheek, beef brisket, foie gras (with roasted red onion-chipotle salsa) and crispy grasshopper. The grasshoppers were not bad but the legs kept sticking us in the roofs of our mouths. The other three were terrific, especially the foie.

There's a section of small plates as well. One of the nice things about the restaurant is that there's a ton of flexibility in terms of how you order. You can come in and get a couple of small plates for $8-$10 each, or you can do ceviche and cocktails, or you can have a full-blown multi-course meal. The whole menu is available everywhere. Can you believe the menu fits on one page and doesn't seem crowded? There's a lot of stuff, but the language is used sparingly. From the small plates section we had what was probably the dish of the evening: "sopes de requeson." These are little corn cakes topped with ricotta, chorizo and a fried quail egg. They're as good as they sound.

We had entrees too. We tried the "atun con chile," a nice piece of tuna rubbed with seven types of chile (though I could only taste six . . . just kidding) and served with sauteed big fat kernels of choclo corn, chorizo and tequila-chipotle glaze. And, the camarones Toloache: roasted garlic shrimp (big ones) served on a crispy tortilla with black beans, shredded chayote squash and cascabel salsa. We were pretty stuffed at this point, but were inspired to finish the tuna (if not the shrimp).

The two desserts we tried -- flan and tres leches -- were good but not revolutionary.

The cocktail program is ambitious. There are more than 100 kinds of tequila available, as well as a number of interesting specialty cocktails that utilize spice to balance sweetness. For example the margarita de la calle is made with Siembra Azul Blanco tequila, muddled cucumber, jicama, basil, chile piquin and lime. The Toloache margarita has muddled blueberry and hibiscus, and today's special margarita had watermelon and chilies. The normal margaritas are very well made. I had one made with Don Julio tequila, straight up with salt, and it was one of the better margaritas I've had. Our server was quite knowledgeable about the tequilas, and the maitre d', a guy named Giovanni (he's from Costa Rica) seems to be the beverage director and steered us towards some good wines by the glass to have with our entrees.

[elicious]

Have now been there twice in the last week and thoroughly enjoyed both meals. Even my California-bred fiance and his Texas-bred sister-in-law thought it rose to the challenge.

The first night, it was just the fiance and me. We split the regular guacamole which had a bit of bite to my sensitive palate but fiance couldn't taste the spice at all. We also split the chicken quesadilla which was delicious. He had the pollo tacos which he liked and I had the beef tongue which were excellent. I can't really handle spicy food and none of what I ate was spicy. I had a side of sweet plantains. For dessert, I had flan with a fruit pico de gallo and fiance had the churros which he couldn't stop raving about.

Went back two nights later with two others. We opted for the guacamole trio which was varied and delicious. We tried the ceviche hamachi (good for me because not spicy but don't know if everyone else loved it), the special mushroom quesadilla, the sopas that FatGuy mentioned which I think were also a table favorite. We had the special short rib tacos and also pescado tacos. Desserts were flan and churros again and also the pastel de chocolate with an extra scoop of dulce de leche ice cream.

Service was great. It seems a great and friendlier alternative than our usual Mexican favorite, Los Dos Molinos. We'll definitely be going back!

[fendi_pilot]

Just had lunch there with a group of 4 people around 2pm. They have a more limited lunch menu ( definitely have to go back for the fois tacos! ) but I tried two ceviches - a Hamachi with yellowtail , red onion and a salsa like sauce and a Tuna with watermelon, sweet onion and radish. Both were good although the tuna had a little too much ceviche liquid, mostly watermelon and lime that was drowning the dish a bit.

The cactus fries were bits of catcus covered in blue corn and fried and were salty and delicious. The sauce was a half/half of chile bbq-ish ketchup and a roasted salsa that is the same with the chips.

Only got to try the Frutas guac ( at $11 dollars each I think the trio at $20 is definitely the way to go) but it was really good - very smooth and I think had a touch of olive oil. There was supposedly some thai basil in there but I couldn't detect any at all. The pomengrate seeds were nice touch and although it listed habanero I thought it was very mild, not spicy at all. ( I could have used a bit more kick actually).

My companions got salads which looked basic but good, and I'm looking forward to coming back for dinner sometime.

[weinoo]

I've been meaning to try this place since I first read about it on eGullet, and then Gael Greene wrote it up in NY Mag saying some pretty nice things here.

Chef partner Julian Medina’s menu skips around Mexico and beyond with a trio of guacamoles mashed to order at the bar, fabulous organic huevo ranchero, suckling pig from the brick oven, and fine Vera Cruz-style paella.

It sure sounds like this might be a nice option for those pre-theatre dinners everyone is always looking for.

[Fat Guy]

An unusual factual tidbit: Julian Medina, the chef at Toloache, is Jewish. I note this because Hanukah is coming up and he's running several Mexican Hanukah dishes on the menu during those eight days. For example:

- A trio of latkes including potato-jalapeno latke with horseradish crema, zucchini latke with tomatillo-apple salsa, and Mexican ricotta latke fritter with chipotle and agave nectar glaze

- "Tacos de brisket" -- Negra Modelo-braised brisket tacos, tomatillo salsa, avocado, horseradish crema

[Melissa Hom]

Haven't tried anything here, but just on the merit that they offer dried grasshoppers on tacos (the real stuff straight from Central Mexico - not whatever they sell at the Evolution store dusted in BBQ-Cheddar), I like them. Medina offered me some to take home and back to the office. People are rather squeamish...

[Fat Guy]

I was enthusiastic about Toloache after my first, early meal there. Tonight I returned with a group of five and ordered extensively, and I'm upgrading my position from enthusiastic to "best restaurant of the past year that you never heard of."

Toloache has managed to fly below the foodie radar. It got the "Dining Briefs" brushoff from the New York Times and one paragraph in New York Magazine. It doesn't seem to have many online champions. Yet, Toloache is serving some of the best Mexican food I've eaten in New York City.

Toloache may in part be a victim of its casual, festive, flexible approach. It would be easy enough to pass through, have a couple of margaritas and do some snacking, and not experience a Mexican-food epiphany. At the same time, there's a serious kitchen back there. It's a sign of the times: there are now quite a few restaurants around New York City where you can have a range of experiences, from innocuous snacks to multi-course tasting extravaganzas. Those who take Toloache seriously will be rewarded with serious food.

We started off with a variety of margaritas, with the most special being "Chef Medina's Favorite." This is an expensive margarita -- it's $22, whereas all the others are $10-$13 -- but it's made with the phenomenal Don Julio 1942 limited-edition tequila mixed with Agavero tequila liqueur and, of course, fresh lime juice. If you're into tequila this is a cocktail worth trying at least once. If not, the Oro Blanco margarita is terrific and costs $10 less. With our (first round of) margaritas we had the guacamole trio, described above. Even with the element of surprise removed -- I'd had it before -- the guacamole trio delivered. As fendi_pilot noted above, it's hard to justify ordering one guacamole for $11 when you can have three for $20. It's not simply a question of better value, but also of the synergy of eating the three together and arguing with your friends about which you think is best. It really elevates the guacamole experience above the now-tired tableside-guac ritual at fancy Mexican restaurants around town.

We then had several ceviches, including repeats of the ones I had the first time around, and I made some new friends. I think the best ceviche on the table was the hamachi, which I'd not tried before. It's tossed with Meyer lemon, cucumber, red onion and Huichol salsa.

Next, we had three items from the "small plates" and "brick oven" sections of the menu, all of which were remarkably good. I commented above on the sopes de requeson -- corn cakes with ricotta, chorizo and a fried quail egg -- and strongly recommend those as the can't miss dish of the restaurant. But the two other dishes in this flight held their own. We had a quesadilla, cooked in the brick oven, with huitlacoche and manchego cheese, pumped up by black-truffle flavor (presumably from some sort of preserved/infused truffle product -- there weren't evident slices of black truffle or anything like that). This sounds like it could be a heavy dish but it's made with restraint, like good pizza, with just enough of each ingredient to give great flavor without weighing things down. Also a very well executed tamale with mole verde, queso fresco and crispy shredded pork.

We followed that with an assortment of tacos. The foie gras tacos held up on reexamination -- another must-try item -- and the grasshoppers remained interesting the second time around as well. My two favorites of the new crop we tried were one (two, actually -- they come in pairs) made with chunks of venison and an excellent rendition of al pastor made with organic pork and grilled pineapple. I've mentioned these items to some people and heard reactions indicating that these tacos seem pretentious, effete or, heaven forbid, inauthentic, but they taste totally legitimate and delicious to me. The thing about Julian Medina's cooking is that, while he takes a lot of dishes in an haute direction, he still maintains desirable bold Mexican flavors across the whole menu.

It felt gratuitous to have entrees at this point (and absurd to have desserts later) but we pressed on and, to the kitchen's credit, ate almost every bite. Two of us had the brick-oven-roasted suckling pig, which was elevated by nice crispy bits of chicharron throughout. The tuna was as good as the first time, not least because it was a very nice piece of fish. I ordered the special, tilapia steamed in a banana leaf, which isn't the type of thing I normally order but nobody else ordered it so I felt obliged to. It was the kind of spa cuisine I can get behind: infused with fruity essences from the steaming/baking process and just the thing to have after the large quantity of appetizers we'd been through. The best entree, though -- even better than the pork, which is saying something -- was something I wouldn't have predicted as the winner: pomegranate-braised beef short ribs. There was universal agreement that it was the best entree, though. The pomegranate doesn't make the dish cloying -- that was my fear.

There are six desserts -- three made with Mexican chocolate and three non-chocolate choices -- and the pastry kitchen has improved since my first visit. The four desserts I tasted tonight were all strong performers. I hadn't thought much of the tres leches the first time around, but tonight it was well balanced and the Meyer lemon flavor showed much better than before. The churros were well executed. My top pick, though, has to be the crepas con cajeta. Many layers of crepes with caramelized goat's milk and almonds, served with banana ice cream. It actually reminded me of something one might have found on the pastry cart of a great old French restaurant. Also, though a bit dated, the molten-center Mexican-chocolate cake would have been hard to improve upon.

In addition to the margaritas we had a bottle of Flor de Guadalupe zinfandel, from Baja California. Not a blockbuster zinfandel, but a demonstration of Mexico's ability to make good, reasonably priced wines that go well with food.

[weinoo]

Agreed - though I forgot to post about it, our foursome had a quite wonderful meal at Toloache one night before seeing a play...

Gael Greene liked it and wrote about it both online and in NY Mag:

Toloache is an earnest Mexican bistro yearning for the big time. Hand-painted tile, unmatching tin lanterns, white tablecloths, kitchen runners reciting the details of the dish they deliver, all signal upscale intentions.  Chef partner Julian Medina’s menu skips around Mexico and beyond with a trio of guacamoles mashed to order at the bar, fabulous organic huevo ranchero, suckling pig from the brick oven, and fine Vera Cruz-style paella.

But that's as far as it goes.

[kathryn]

I was in Cancun last month, ate lots of "vuelva a la vida" ceviche for a week, and now am missing it badly...

Google tells me that it got opening write-ups from Grub Street and Thrillist, and reviews from Andrea Strong as well at the NY Sun.

Toloache was also recently in the New Yorker's Tables for Two.

[Fat Guy]

Google tells me that it got opening write-ups from Grub Street and Thrillist, and reviews from Andrea Strong as well at the NY Sun.

Toloache was also recently in the New Yorker's Tables for Two.

←

As much as I respect (some of) those sources, I think when it comes to exposure they're all firmly second tier (Crain's also reviewed Toloache -- same category). It's just amazing to me that, given all the griping about how there were so few interesting openings last year, neither the New York Times or New York Magazine bothered to do a full review of Toloache. It's nutty.

[dabestspooner]

I stopped by for brunch yesterday

We had the guacamole trio and it was excellent. I didnt think quince and pomegranate would work in a guacamole but it did.

I had the tilapia baja tacos and they were better than most places in the city, but the salsa was a bit on the sweet side. It would have been nice if they offered the more adventurous options during brunch like the lengua or grasshoppers.

My wife had the chicken enchiladas with fig salsa, and she was very satisfied though she felt it needed some kind of kick to it. She thought the portion was a bit large and couldnt finish it.

Everything was well prepared and we're going go back for dinner as we both felt dinner would be a lot better based on browsing the menu.