A few years ago Mexican cooking found its way to Portland in a fairly big way. Taquerias like Taco Escobarr and Taco Trio (in South Portland) were immediately popular, the latter for its authenticity, offering zesty sauces and fillings in traditional taco preparations. Otherwise mediocre Mexican cooking prevails everywhere else, with some exceptions – Taco Trio, Bueno Local, Zapoteca and Comida Latin Kitchen among them. Yet the norm is middling Mexican fare everywhere else. At a recent visit, for instance, to the long-running El Rayo and its new outpost in Scarborough, the food was a graveyard of kitsch. At lunch recently I plowed through a chicken quesadilla overwhelmed with cheese as thick as Velveeta paste. Of course, some people are happy enough to go to places like this or at such other simulacrums of Tex-Mex drudgery as Casa Fiesta on Forest Ave., serving the usual glop stuffed into tacos, burritos and enchiladas.
Zapoteca on the corner of Fore and Cotton streets in Portland
Still, within the zip codes of new restaurants in our city, it’s surprising that Portland remains a one-horse town for inspired Mexican food – namely, the general fineness of fare that’s served at Zapoteca. On many occasions I’ve enjoyed great preparations there, while at other times, some dishes have been overwhelmed with salt. But you have to give the enterprisingly energetic chef and co-owner Shannon Bard gold stars for keeping standards up and giving us creative enough fare. Good adaptations of Mexico’s regional cuisines are evident, and her judicious use of the trio of chilies such as pasilla, guajillo and ancho make for some vibrant sauces.
Classic margarita
Also it remains one of the few restaurants where you can get a decent version of mole, the great sauce of Mexican cooking. Mole is also made at South Portland’s Taco Trio, Falmouth’s Bueno Loco and the excellent Latin Comida Kitchen, where in the spring they’ll be in new digs in Rockland, where chef and owner Tom Sigler will continue his journey into the subtleties of fusion Latin fare.
On yet another frigid evening (aren’t they all?) I walked into Zapoteca this past Tuesday to have dinner at the bar. I had been to one of those workshop sessions at City Hall regarding the Portland Company build out, and the drone of presenters and commenters certainly built up my appetite, especially for a good stiff drink.
On past visits I’ve sat in the main dining room where the booths are tight, smoke drifts in from the kitchen and the noise level can be high.
The bar is truly a cozy room with 10 seats at the counter, a few high tops along the side and rear and comfortable banquette seating by the windows overlooking the street.
A warm glow sets off the bar room
Zapoteca is known for its impressive list of tequilas used in margaritas and other drinks. Their margaritas are made with fresh lime juice, orange liqueur and various grades of tequila or Mezcal. I started with the La Suprema, straight up with salt. It’s a traditional margarita made with Reposado tequila instead of the agave silver. With lots of fresh lemon juice and orange liqueur I found it too sweet and too light on tequila.
The quality of a Mexican restaurant’s guacamole is often precursor to what follows. Zapoteca’s version is a chunky style rather than mashed avocados, which, I think, blend the elements of diced tomatoes onion and cilantro into a much tastier spread. It also could have used more cilantro and lime and was one dish that needed a heavier dose of salt. The chips, served warm, were not house made but held up well to the thick guacamole.
The chunky guacamole at Zapoteca
A single server tends to the bar, in this case a young woman who remarkably prepares all the drink orders for the restaurant as well as serving diners at the bar. I watched as she prepared various margaritas in assembly line fashion, measuring and calculating each ingredient in a whirlwind of precision. I wondered if she had help on busy weekends, though perhaps not, and on this Tuesday night the place was pretty full and she miraculously kept pace.
An assembly line of margaritas being prepared
I absolutely loved my next dish, Taquitos de Pollo. Here crisp tacos were rolled around shredded chicken bathed in a poblano pepper infusion and set in a tomato-black-bean puree and roasted tomatillo salsa, which was more of a puree than a chunky salsa. Everything blended together beautifully in a heady hue of flavors. With it I ordered my second margarita, Mezcal Rita. This time I had it on the rocks and it wasn’t nearly as sweet and was certainly more potent.
Chicken taquitos
For a main course I was anxious to have the Pescado con Mole Amarillo, local haddock in an Oaxacan style mole based on guajillo chilies. The sauce is not actually yellow but rather a deep auburn. With it was a squash puree lightly seasoned with chili powder and cornmeal (masa) cakes. The fish was tender, juicy and flaky but the sauce had gone rogue with so much salt I had to down many glasses of water to offset the sting. Still within the hail of salt, the flavors of this evocative mole remained intact.
Haddock in mole amarillo
The restaurant offers valet parking, which is a nice perk at the corner of Fore and Cotton streets, the side street being nearly impassable adrift in snowbanks and hills of frozen slush. Though not perfect, Zapoteca gives us some fine examples of Mexican regional cooking. The chef’s various ceviche dishes are citrusy and well prepared, and the sauces, if not too salty, are enlightened. But what also impressed me this time was the comforts of the bar room, a comfy place to have good food and drink in a totally affable setting.