*The following food review was written by my good friend Sandor Mark, a writer and fellow gourmet foodie. Photos taken by yours truly. Enjoy!
You may have never
heard of Zocalo restaurant, but if you’ve ever walked far enough down Clarendon
Street, you may have turned your head down a certain alley that overlooks
I-90. Wander far enough down those
alleys, toward the one or two Mercedes parked in front of a valet stand and
you’ll find yourself outside of a traditional looking Mexican restaurant. With the bright tiling on the walls, first
impressions of Zocalo may suggest it is the just another typical Mexican
restaurant. Thankfully first impressions
aren’t everything. Last Wednesday night,
Zocalo Cocina Mexicana hosted a Tequila tasting dinner alongside Tanteo tequila. The dinner featured the
culinary skill of Chef Ramos as he created a three courses to compliment the
three different infused Tanteo tequilas: Jalapeño, Cocoa, and Tropical.
When our group
arrived at the restaurant, we were taken down into Zocalo’s basement dining
room. Far from the tiled décor upstairs,
Zocalo’s basement dining room looked more like a nightclub than a Mexican
restaurant. The color changing mood
lights, Pandora radio playing in the background, and the fully stocked bar was
everything one could ask for when trying out new tequila.
What makes Tanteo
special is that it's infused tequila. Jacob Gordon, a rep from Tanteo explained
that it is different from flavored because “flavored liquors are made with
syrups and chemicals, whereas Tanteo is infused with all natural
ingredients.” Surely enough, if you go
on their website, you’ll see pictures of the Tequila being made with fresh
jalapenos and cocoa beans. What’s
amazing to me is the pepper infusion makes the tequila spicy; nothing
unbearable, but just enough heat to add an extra layer to the complexity to
Tanteo’s flavor.
On our tables were
three small wine glasses of Tanteo tequila.
For college students, dusting the bottom of glass with a drop of Tequila
is hardly enough. We all had our eyes on
the many bottles of Tequila on the bar—to look at, but not to touch. It wasn’t
long until we began joking, “Excuse me, I’m going to need to be topped
off.” We sniffed and examined the
Tequila’s in front of us, waiting for someone to give us instructions. My friend turned to me holding the pink tinged
tropical tequila, “That’s got way more alcohol than the others,” he said. When we actually tried them, we were
surprised by the lack of harsh aftertaste. It turns out the jalapeno’s heat
balances out the tequila’s sweetness” Then when we tried the tropical infusion,
four layers of flavor emerged. “You’ll find that the flavors come in waves
starting with the mango and ending with bread fruit,” said Gordon.
The flavors only
became more complex as the night progressed. Along with the uniquely crafted food, Jenn
Harvey, a mixologist at Zocalo, created special cocktails to compliment each
course. “Each of these dishes and
cocktails are designed to celebrate the flavors and traditions of Mexico,”
explained Jacob Gordon. Both Chef Ramos and Harvey dazzled and delighted us
with each course. Too often we go to
fine dining establishments and find food that has become a grotesque display. Because
of elaborate plating and difficult styles of cooking, fine dining has become
more visual art than sensory pleasure.
Chef Ramos’ culinary skill was both sumptuous and artfully arranged,
serving as a reminder that a decadent and luxurious meal can also be
satisfying. But what made the meal all
the better were the three delicious cocktail pairings.
Jenn’s
mixologist skills brought an equal amount of innovation, imagination and flavor
to the meal. Using Tanteo tequila, Jenn
created three different cocktails to compliment the food. Starting with Tanteo’s original, Jalapeno
infused tequila, Jenn created a new twist on the classic margarita. Mixed with fresh limejuice and orange liquor,
the first cocktail was paired with blue marlin tostadas and a cold beef salad called
salpicon. The first course of food and
drink was refreshing and exciting, giving us the kick we needed to wake up our
taste buds. Now that both chef and
mixologist had our attention, they brought the timbre down.
For our second course, Jenn created an amber
colored concoction using the Cocoa infused tequila, chipotle infused sweet
vermouth and amontillado sherry. Matched with a pork chop stuffed with apples
and chorizo sausage, the drink was as velvety decadent as the mashed potatoes
served alongside our chops. The cocktail and food all felt so luxurious. The flavors and alcohol created an
intoxicating calm that can only be found in dimly lit parlors and smoke filled
drawing rooms.
For dessert, Ramos
created a tres leches de Mango cake, served with a refreshing summer drink, made
from the tropical infused tequila, biter hiver and Jarrito’s mango. For a moment we could have forgotten it was
rainy and dark outside. Down in the
basement it was like the sun was setting on Cancun and we were putting our feet
up after a hot day.
Tanteo
may be a newcomer to the Tequila industry, but when mixed adequately, its
sophistication and potential wit makes it a complex brand of Tequila. It certainly blows other brands like Patron
and Jose Cuervo out of the water, not necessarily because it’s better tequila,
but because it’s tequila with imagination and class; something that most
tequila’s aren’t known for. At the
moment, the only place in Boston selling Tanteo is Bauer Spirits & Wine on
Newbury Street, but hopefully it will gain the notoriety it most definitely
deserves.
