Centrico and Zarela

[Bond Girl]

Ran into Aaron Sanchez at WD-50 last night. It seemed that he's splitting his time between Centrico, the new place he opened with Myriad's Group in the old Layla location and Paladar. He rattled off a whole lots of great tasting dishes that is on the menu of Centrico, including Ceviche and Tamale and lots of others that sounded promising. Although I always thought Sanchez is a great chef when he does cook, many of my more serious dining pals thought Centrico is more trendy drink place than a eat place. What's your take?

[tan319]

Don't want to seem weird but, that's kind of always been the vibe with his places, ever since El Rey, which I loved.

Best of luck to him on these new ventures, he's a really nice guy & chef

[Sneakeater]

I was surprised at how good Centrico was.

Centrico is Aaron Sanchez's new restaurant in the old Layla space at Franklin and West Broadway in Tribeca. It's owned by Drew Nieporent. The concept is Mexican nuevo cucina.

I'd heard this restaurant dismissed as a margerita mill, but it didn't seem that way to me at all. This is a real food place (although to me the margeritas were about the best in the City).

So as for the food. I recently visited Mexico City, and based on eating around there, I'm somewhat suspicious of Nueva Cucina as a concept. There, it struck me as a bit too deracinated. Maybe it's because here in New York my expectations for Mexican food are lower, but while I'm not claiming that Centrico is as good a restaurant as Aguila y Sol, I was unreservedly impressed with the food here.

If there's a signature dish here, it's proably the appetiser of fried frog's legs with cilantro on top of succotash with gunky cheese. The idea is supposed to be that frog's legs aren't an ingredient typically used in Mexican cooking -- but the cilantro and the succotash with gunky cheese are. Whatever. It's just very good.

I'm sure the same thing goes for the fried sweetbreads with bacon, also very good.

Now let me talk about my main dish. It was a pibil that was better than any I've had in the Yucatan. And the reason it was better is that the quality of the pork was far better than that used at any restaurant at which I've had this dish in Mexico. (To be fair, I didn't order it any of the fancy "nuevo" restaurants in Mexico City.) So let's forget authenticity (whatever that is) for a minute and remember that raw materials really count.

As for New York comparisons, I'd say that Centrico has its own niche among the "fancy" Mexican restaurants in New York. The food is more determinately "creative" than at Maya, Rosa Mexicana, Alma, or Sanchez's mom's place. (And, unlike Maya and Rosa Mexicana, Centrico isn't tired.) "Creative" doesn't necessarily mean better, but the food here is sufficiently well thought out and well executed to make it work. Also, the margeritas are really good.

Not one of the best restaurants around, or one of my top favorites. But definitely worth a return visit.

Edited December 6, 2005 by Sneakeater (log)

[oakapple]

The earlier (brief) Centrico thread is here.

I stopped into Centrico a few months ago just for an appetizer. Based on that admittedly very small sample, Centrico is most definitely not a Margarita Mill. It's extremely well prepared and thoughtful Mexican cuisine that goes well beyond the standard burritos and chimichangas.

[Sneakeater]

Oops. Sorry about that. At least now I know where I'd heard Centrico dismissed (or more like potentially dismissed) as a margarita mill.

[SobaAddict70]

Centrico is a restaurant on its toes, eager to make a good first impression, taking care not to overcook seafood and meat, taking pains to make sure diners don't wait too long before drinks are refilled or dishes delivered. Zarela is complacent, often taking its customers for granted.

Its kitchen sent out tough shrimp and dry pork. Its servers routinely ignored tables. A man who answered the phone was borderline mean.

...there is also sautéed shrimp with mint, garlic, jalapeño and shredded coconut....Perhaps best of all, there is shredded lamb barbacoa, flavored with chilies, cumin, cloves, allspice berries, onion, oregano and more.

He marinates pork shoulder in sour orange juice and a slightly bitter achiote paste, made with annatto seeds, then roasts it slowly, shreds it and serves it with tortillas and pickled red onions, so diners can make tacos. I tried it that way and on its own and was equally contented.

Centrico/Zarela (Frank Bruni)

For discussion relating to the best Mexican restaurants in New York City, click here and here.

For discussion relating to Mr. Bruni's style of reviewing and the New York Times' star system, click here.

Soba

[tommy]

1 thread for 2 essentially unrelated restaurants?

[Sneakeater]

"Essentially unrelated" seems to be a funny phrase to use in this case.

[SobaAddict70]

1 thread for 2 essentially unrelated restaurants? 

←

Both restaurants focus on Mexican food. Chef Sanchez is the son of Zarela Martínez.

Mr. Bruni reviews both in his article. "Essentially unrelated" isn't the term that comes to mind.

[tommy]

1 thread for 2 essentially unrelated restaurants? 

←

Both restaurants focus on Mexican food. Chef Sanchez is the son of Zarela Martínez.

Mr. Bruni reviews both in his article. "Essentially unrelated" isn't the term that comes to mind.

←

well yeah since bruni wrote about both in a review sure.

[Bux]

1 thread for 2 essentially unrelated restaurants? 

←

Both restaurants focus on Mexican food. Chef Sanchez is the son of Zarela Martínez.

Mr. Bruni reviews both in his article. "Essentially unrelated" isn't the term that comes to mind.

←

At times, my sister has expressed the opinion that we are unrelated. "One of us must have been switched at birth," is something she says from time to time.