by Phyllis Ann Marshall
The timing is perfect for Nic Villarreal's new restaurant, Taléo Mexican Grill. Orange County
is ready for a traditional Mexican restaurant that brings us a modern spin in a sophisticated setting.
A fan of Taléo e-mailed Chowhound.com, the Web site for "those who want to know where the
good stuff is," writing "there could be a Mexican-chow' revolution going on." But
I think the word ³evolution² is a better fit.
In Southern California, we have been spoiled by the abundance of fresh guacamole, salsa, and tortillas. We dined on great combination plates long before most parts of the country knew how to pronounce "tacos." The quick-service industry introduced fresh Tex Mex flavors from the grill, and our fascination with the varieties of chili and salsas increased. We appreciated the complexities of great molés, aged blue agave tequilas, and the foods of cookbook authors Rick Bayless and Diana Kennedy, as well as Patricia Quintana's intriguing new Mexico City cuisine movement.
Now Villarreal has the vision to honor Mexican cuisine and culture, coupled with the knowledge and experience to make it happen. He grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and had no idea that there was anything special about the food served at his big family's table. He started working as a busboy and then a server at a local restaurant. Soon he opened Via Real Gourmet Mexican Restaurant, in Dallas, which is still open today under different ownership.
He went back to school at the University of Texas but missed the restaurant business so much that he went to Los Angeles, where he honed his operational skills at the Houston's chain's great management training program. He came to Orange County as the manager of the struggling Cowboy restaurant, and he had the challenging task of converting it to the currently successful Gulfstream.
Villarreal has brought his abilities and people skills with him to Taléo, which he has planned as the prototype for expansion. He saw the opportunity to open a restaurant that would uphold the best of the Mexican culture, traditions, and integrity while celebrating a modern approach. The name "Taléo" pays homage to the popular song by Latino singer Carlos Santana called De La Yaleo, which crosses many borders of the old and new in regards to Mexican music and culture.
After just six months, it is clear that Villarreal is a pied piper with a success formula. The staff he has built imparts much knowledge about each dish, and how it was prepared. They are also proud of the Irvine restaurant located where Left at Albuquerque used to be. It is open and airy with lots of glass, and indoor and outdoor dining. The lounge is comfortable with soft leather sofas for kicking back, and the spacious areas are filled with a collection of Latino art, including sculptures, abstract oils, and photographs.
If success is in the details, Villarreal has a winner. After enjoying a perfect margarita made with fresh juices, you can pair each course with a glass of wine. The tables are set with white linen napkins, but if your clothing is black or dark, they quickly substitute a black one.
And then the menu arrives. In it, Chef Jose Acevedo shares his grandmother's secrets for making great red molé, carnitas, epazote-spiced black beans, napolitos (sautéed baby cactus), and the best rice I've had in ages, maybe because he makes a fresh batch of the light, long-grain Mexican rice with lime and cilantro every hour. This is a place where it is safe to venture out and order something new, not what you always eat when dining Mexican. So forget that the chili rellenos are fresh, plump, and cooked to order, and that the enchiladas are filled with slow-roasted beef that melts in your mouth.
Chef Acevedo apprenticed in many kitchens in Southern California. At an Italian family restaurant, he learned to make sauces and grill meats. From Wolfgang Puck, he learned to use the finest and freshest of ingredients prepared with French techniques for slow-roasting, simmering, and balancing flavors. With this training and a phenomenal Mexican palate, he is able to use classic European techniques to produce great dishes that keep the Mexican culture's integrity.
I was fortunate to visit Taléo's kitchen, which is astonishingly organized and beautiful with an array of 20 types of chilis and carefully chosen ingredients. Chef Acevedo's eyes lighted up as he showed me his process for making perfect carnitas, which requires careful timing: There is a precise moment when the simmering beef has absorbed enough liquid, and it shifts from simmering for softness to being caramelized for crispness. I was reminded of the movie Like Water for Chocolate and how Tita looked when she was cooking with the same love, intensity, and passion. She was making red molé the same way Chef Acevedo learned it from his grandmother when he was 6 years old.
And so we launched into discussing the various molés on the menu, and I got an education?there are three of them. The green, or verde, that we are familiar with is made of herbs, parsley, cilantro, green onions, romaine lettuce, epazote, pumpkin seeds, serrano chilis, and more. I love it on the Salmon a la Pipian, which is a fresh fillet of Atlantic salmon encrusted with pepitas and laced with sauce.
The yellow molé is one of Villarreal's grandmother's recipes. It is made with yellow peppers, squash, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and yellow chilis, and served on the spinach and mushroom enchiladas.
Acevedo uses 27 ingredients for the famous red molé, which is made with six different chilis, sesame seeds, pecans, raisins, and Callebaut bittersweet chocolate. It simmers slowly for hours to achieve just the right balance of sweetness and piquancy at the finish, when Acevedo tastes it and adjusts the flavors.
His chipotle sauce starts with a mirepoix of onions, carrots, and celery to balance the heat of the smoky chipotle pepper. It is one of the secrets to the popularity of the 10-ounce Filet Mignon Estilo D.F. (Mexico City Style, the District Federal), served with a creamy chipotle peppercorn sauce. The peppercorns are roasted to bring out the flavor.
At lunchtime, there are wonderful salads. The sandwiches, or tortas, are made with bolillo and telera rolls, and the soups are legendary. The tomato-based tortilla soup is always on the menu, along with a special soup each day. I have eaten my way through several, loving the roasted corn with poblano sauce and the cream of squash with fresh squash blossoms.
But, there are three dishes in my "gotta go back" rolodex: The first is the Camarones al Mojo de Ajo. Its sweet, succulent shrimp are served with huge garlic cloves that have been perfectly slow-roasted like those in 40 cloves of garlic soup, and then accented with tomatoes and cilantro in a white wine sauce. It is served with rice, a fresh vegetable, and toasted bread.
The ahi, or Tuna Tostar, appetizer is made of diced sushi-grade tuna served on ciabatta toast smeared with an avocado and wasabi spread. It is served with a beautiful salad made of crisp julienne strips of jicama, carrots, and mango. Topping it off are horseradish sprouts, chunks of fresh ginger, sesame seeds, and cilantro.
Taléo's flan is the best I have ever tasted. It is made with the classic ingredients but prepared lovingly in a water bath in a slow oven. The resulting texture from whole and evaporated milk is like pure white silk—so dense you would swear it was from the richest of heavy creams.
