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it when I can imbibe along with my meal,
and each of these drinks hits its mark
while allowing the food to shine. The
Riviera Maya white sangria and El Mujer
Dormida red sangria are going to be the
brunch hits when Las Catrinas opens its
outdoor seating in late July, and the dark
La Calavera with muddled basil, blackberry
and mescal will pleasantly drown
out the end of many a long night.
If you like your drinks super sweet, the
Watermelon Aqua Fresca (like a Jolly
Rancher in a glass) is for you, and if you
like smokiness, try the Corazon Negro,
a whiskey-based ginger drink with activated
charcoal that instantly brought
to mind a tropical thunderstorm. And of
course, if you’re here for margaritas, the
Dios Mio has you covered.
But that sleeper herb hit from earlier, the
papalo leaf, comes roaring back to the forefront
in Jennifer’s original Papalo Pineapple
Cooler. This wonderfully summery rum concoction
sparkles with pineapple, lime and
muddled papalo, and surprised both myself
and Polo, when he first had it. As the Las
Catrinas team was still early in the opening
process, Szudlowski was looking for something
to build a wholly original drink from,
and Polo jokingly suggested his homeland’s
papalo leaf — a hardy, savory herb not really
known for its cocktail game. The result, the
Papalo Pineapple Cooler, was so good he
threw it on the menu. I can second that, and
our photographer, Bridget Kenny, can third
it. This was easily our favorite drink of the
night. Get it on a hot, summery day.
While I had already been sold on the
food and the ambience, the last dish
is where I finally saw that Polo isn’t just
blowing smoke when he says he wants to
bring the spirit of his home to this place.
The Cochinta Pibil, a pulled pork stew
with pickled red onions, chile manzano,
cilantro and rice is wonderful. So to are
the tortillas — delicious, soft and warm
little food blankets that they are.
But what finally made me see the respect
for culture Polo, Jennifer, Lukasz,
and their partners are bringing to Las
Catrinas was the towels the tortillas came
out in. Every single one the restaurant
uses for serving has been hand-knit by
Polo’s madre in Mexico and shipped here
especially for this.
And that, dear readers, is why you must
try Las Catrinas. It’s one thing to bring
a culture’s cuisine to life, but it is much
harder to open a window into another
culture. Think back, if you can, to the
artisans that have truly yanked you out
of your day to day and into their world
via their craft. Leaving Las Catrinas that
Thursday night in early June, I couldn’t
help but think Polo and his staff of passionate
makers had opened a window
into another culture I didn’t know I had
never truly experienced.
Many restaurants, Mexican and otherwise,
put together a delicious, wonderful
menu of what they think you think you want.
In today’s hyper-competitive, high-stakes
restaurant landscape, it’s almost foolish not
to. Las Catrinas has gone a different route,
and have put themselves out on a huge
limb to do so. Instead of serving “Mexican
food,” they are trying to connect you back
to Mexico through food.
Rather than serving you what you think
you want, they want to show you something
you never knew you wanted in the
first place. It’s going to be tough to go
back to nachos after this.
Photos: Bridget Kenny/BORO