Cuisine has been redesigned for modern urban living
Mark Laba
Province
Me & Julio chef de cuisine Shelome Bouvette with a cowboy Limonada and Costillas de Cochinto. Photograph by : Les Bazso, The Province
In this scientific age where most questions are answered with just a flutter of our high-speed fingertips tapping into all the nooks and crannies of the Internet, there are so few mysteries that remain. Who built the heads on Easter Island, why did the dinosaurs die out, what exactly is one-hour Martinizing, and what did that kid in that Paul Simon song “Me and Julio” do to make Mama Pajama roll out of bed and run to the police station?
Well, some things are meant to forever remain enigmatic brain teasers for old geezers like me to set my synapses wheezing and I realized that, although this new restaurant shares the same name as the song, there would be no answers waiting for me there. But there would be snazzy cocktails and Mexican cuisine redesigned for modern urban living. Which makes any mystery more palatable?
Peaches and I stepped into this veritable palapa of the Pacific Northwest with cantina-style wooden chairs, tiled tables, a bit of decorative thatch-work and a high, black painted ceiling that glimmers with star-shaped lights like a night sky over a slumbering Yucatan village. Brought to you by the same folks who created Lolita’s on Davie, the menu continues executive chef Shelome Bouvette’s inventive riffs on traditional Mexican cuisine.
Started with a plate of chili-dusted homemade tortilla chips and excellent guacamole beneath which lurked refried beans. Went well with Peaches’ Coco Cabana cocktail complete with mini paper umbrella and multi-coloured layers, like someone stuffed a parrot into a glass.
The bocaditos (appetizers) here are large enough to be meals unto themselves or make great sharing plates for a small but ravenous group. There’s a fantastic turkey tostada gussied up with an apricot-and-pine-nut mole, an equally trailblazing ceviche with Qualicum Bay scallops, wild sockeye and Pacific halibut lazing in a pomelo-citrus marinade (both $11.75), and a smoked-chicken empanada spiked with poblano pepper plus cheddar and roasted yam to soothe the savage poultry.
For Platas Especiales, check out the Costillas de Cochinito ($19.75), the most expensive item on the menu and worth every freshly minted loonie. Sasparilla-glazed baby back ribs is the translation and this meat falls from the bone just by looking at it. Stacked like a Fred Flintstone fantasy atop a hefty slab of smoked gouda and cascabel mac ‘n’ cheese with a jicama and pineapple slaw for cooling, this is a rib-a-rama of flavourful interplays.
The tacos are also a good bet ($15.75) with your choice of two fillings from a six-shooter of a list. I particularly enjoyed the crispy pan-seared halibut with mango salsa and the pulled achiote chicken with salsa verde. Four tortillas for wrapping and the only problem was everything piled atop the corn discs so the bottom taco gets a little soggy.
Altogether it’s an eclectic mix of ingredients, the new wave and the ancient hanging out like Aztecs, let loose in a gourmet warehouse so expect dishes with descriptions that read like a codex. Guajilla and star-anise rubbed duck confit with bitter greens, pine nuts, currants, manchego cheese, quinoa risotto and blood-orange glaze, or plantain and ancho-crusted wild sockeye with baby shrimp and young coconut ceviche, mint chimichurri and smoked-paprika nopale fries are just a couple of the tongue and tastebud twisters. As for that kid, I heard he and Julio opened a cut-rate tequila factory on the dusty outskirts of Guadalajara.
REVIEW
Me & Julio
Where: 2095 Commercial Dr.
Payment/reservations: Major credit cards, no reservations. 604-696-9997
Drinks: Fully licensed
Hours: 4 p.m.–midnight every day; weekend brunch 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
© The Vancouver Province 2008
