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Loco Lizard Slithers Around Mexican Traditions in a Delightful Way | |
| BY
NANCY HOBBS SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE |
1/24/2003 | |
| The Old Mill area of Salt Lake County is fast becoming a dining destination, with signs for new eateries appearing almost weekly in the neighborhood. First there was Rivers, across the highway from the Old Mill Golf Course that was under construction about the same time. Then, just a couple of years ago, Gastronomy restaurants bumped up the area's seafood selection significantly with the addition of a Market Street Grill and Oyster Bar, all in one cedar-shingled structure built to take visual advantage of the adjacent Cottonwood Creek. Now, on the creek's other bank, a malange of new restaurants and businesses has sprung up, including the Loco Lizard Cantina, a south-valley version of the Kimball Junction original. The cantina is cheery and festive inside, with bright blue walls, lemon-yellow tables, lots of windows and large potted plants to break up the expanse. With two dining areas, and plenty of efficient servers, the restaurant can easily live by the "more the merrier" adage. Families and parties -- none "too small or too large," reads the menu -- are welcome. Chef Chuck Isdle, who created the Kimball Junction restaurant with co-owner Steve Shluker, has brought all of his favorite recipes, including two killer moles, to the new Old Mill location. If you don't know moles (and apparently a fair number of diners do not), they are complex sauces, usually quite spicy to super hot, and often made with bitter Mexican chocolate. Isdle's recipes fit those definitions, with a tasty poblano mole ($13.99) made with 27 ingredients, including six chiles, nuts, fruits, spices and, yes, Ibarra chocolate. The sauce, almost black in color, is simmered with boneless chicken and served over Spanish rice, which helps absorb some of the lingering heat. Isdle's amarillo mole ($13.99) has only 21 ingredients and five chiles, but one of those is the mighty habanero. If you don't like fiery, don't order it. In fact, servers now ask diners if they know what they are getting when they order mole, not to be arrogant, but in an effort to keep everyone happy. The moles are only a small part of Loco Lizard's menu. To start, enjoy the homemade tortilla chips and two salsas that are delivered to every table as diners are seated. Both are excellent, full of tomatoes, onion, garlic and spices, but one is more traditional than the other, which is heavily flavored by smoky chipotle chiles. A wide variety of "bocaditos," or appetizers, is offered at dinner, with a slightly smaller selection at lunch. (The same is true of the entrees.) We enjoyed the fresh guacamole ($7.99) and an order of ancho chiles stuffed with a savory mix of shredded beef, pork, nuts and raisins ($8.99). Several kinds of nachos, quesadillas and homemade tamales, including wild mushroom, also are offered as bocaditos at dinner and lunch. Paired with a cup or bowl of soup, any of these would make a filling meal. Tortilla soup ($5.99 a bowl) is especially good, full of chicken, corn and avocado with thin strips of tortilla, dusted with a chile powder spice, served on the side. The more strips used to garnish the soup, the spicier it becomes, as the chile powder blends with the broth. Entrees range from several types of enchiladas, tacos and burritos, to a wide variety of house specialties. The carnitas, a generous portion of pork marinated for two days and then broiled, is tender enough to shred with a fork, with a bite of sweetness on the grilled edges. It comes with homemade flour tortillas so diners can wrap their own burrito with the meat, and seasoned rice and beans (black or refried). From more than a half-dozen seafood offerings, we chose the seafood rellenos, made with fire-roasted poblano chiles and stuffed with shrimp, crab, fresh fish and mushrooms ($12.99). Rather than fried as is traditional, these rellenos are baked, but the result is delectable. As with all of the dishes we sampled and saw, the brimming plates presented more than enough to eat. Don't figure your meal is complete until you see what the chef has done to dessert. There are the "traditional" choices, like flan and sopaipillas. But then there are house specialties: an ice cream chimichanga, with ice cream rolled in toasted coconut, then wrapped in a tortilla that is deep-fried and finally covered with a layer of melted Mexican chocolate. Yum. Or how about white-mousse enchiladas? Two cannoli-like "enchilada shells" are filled with luscious cream filling and topped with a sweet raspberry sauce. OK, hardly Mexican, but surely decadent and delicious, and plenty to share ($5.99 each). Those departures from tradition may make purists cringe, but others obviously like the more "yuppified" cuisine. Loco Lizard has taken creative license in offering something other than traditional Mexican, but it is superior to the usual Tex-Mex. Nancy Hobbs is The Tribune's restaurant reviewer. The newspaper covers the cost of meals at restaurants reviewed and there is no connection between reviews and restaurant advertising. Hobbs welcomes food and wine news, comments and suggestions at nhobbs@xmission.com Loco Lizard Cantina:
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