Padrecito

photo - Yelp, Tristan L.

Padrecito, Dinner, Cole Valley
May 18, 2016

P&J:
chips y salsas con guacamole
queso fundido - pt. reyes toma-oaxaca cheese, refried black beans y corn tortillas
sweet corn esquites
budino de chocolate (for dessert) - ancho-pepita brittle, 3 twins salted caramel ice cream y cajeta caramel

P:
chipotle chilaquiles - duck carnitas, fava beans, poblano pepper rajas, chipotle mole y crema latina
requero (cocktail) - blanco tequila, gran classico bitter aperitif, maraschino, lemon oil

J:
grilled arctic char tacos - achiote rub, avocado aioli y mango jicama slaw
pinata (cocktail) - reposado tequila, pineapple, serrano chile, rosemary, lime
boliviano (another cocktail) - bolivian pisco, lime, alpine herbal liqueur, pineapple cordial


Notes:
Patrick found out about this place one afternoon, and made reservations immediately thereafter.  We're both huge fans of Mexican cuisine.  I hadn't heard anything about it before, but only knew it was the sister (or should I say brother?) restaurant to Mamacita in the Marina.

In an attempt to be good girls and boys, and not order everything in sight like I usually try to make us do, we settled on an appetizer to share and an entree for each of us, with a vegetable side.  "Should we get chips and salsa?" he asked.  "No, it's fine, we can be good," I said.  We were seated near the kitchen, and one server after another walked through that doorway with chips and salsa, going to what seemed like every table but ours.  "I can't watch this anymore.  I think we need chips and salsa," he said.  I giggled.  We got the guacamole, too.

The chips were fresh, though not plentiful, I suppose a good thing given the amount of food we had coming.  They were served with three little pots of salsa - a mild tomatillo, a roasted tomato, and a smooth, smoky hot chipotle, Patrick's favorite.  The velvety guacamole was served with a little pot of fruity habanero salsa, which was my pick for best of the bunch.  It had an unbelievable amount of flavor, it went beyond just hot; eventually, I was putting it on everything (a little goes a long way).  The queso fundido was a nice surprise.  Well seasoned and smooth refried black beans rested below a generous layer of blistered, melty cheese, waiting to be mounded into fresh corn tortillas.  The beauty of this was that the cheese did not overwhelm in a tangled, stringy mess when you spooned it from the dish, and the piping hot beans underneath kept the cheese warm and gooey, long after it sat.

Next came our entrees and the veggie side.  Patrick's dish looked amazing, my tacos were simple but beautiful, and the corn looked like the thing I needed to try first so I did.  Aaannd, I lost my mind.  This corn was so flipping good that I couldn't think about anything else.  I took small bites and savored each one (I don't normally do this) because I wanted this dish of corn to last forever.  FOREVER!  It was a flavor bomb.  Corn, cut fresh off the cob, is mixed with a concoction of smoky ancho chile sauce and crema (think thin sour cream) and topped with salty cotija cheese and finely chopped pumpkin seeds.  Sounds simple, but it was so amazingly complex and mother loving delicious.

Patrick was pleased with his chilaquiles, but he didn't get too far into them, hoping to save himself for dessert.  His was a dish of corn tortilla chips tossed in a smoky chipotle mole with shreds of duck meat, tender fava beans and roasted poblano peppers scattered throughout.  For the tacos, fat pieces of arctic char, which took on the color and earthy, savory flavor of the achiote marinade, were finished on the grill and placed on warm, fresh tortillas (so good) with a finely cut slaw.  That habanero salsa was right at home with these babies.  These were both very good dishes, but I couldn't get over the corn; it was the winner.

We did end up having dessert, and we went for the chocolate budino, which was essentially a warm pudding cake, so I'm not sure I need to go into any more detail other than warm pudding cake.  It was delicious and chocolatey and rich and delicious.  Yeah, I said it twice.  Patrick was pleasantly surprised by this - he felt the menu description didn't do it justice, we only ordered the dessert on the recommendation of the server.  But had he known, HAD HE KNOWN!  He would have ordered it, himself, recommendations be damned!


Oh man, we'll be back.