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At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch
A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Video:
FEAST!: At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch
Because I asked for a taste, the kitchen sends out a blue and white bowl filled with a thick, chocolate-colored mole, and a side of warm corn tortillas. The Poblano mole is the nuanced benchmark of Mexican cuisine, so the bowl is most likely styled after Talavera pottery, also from Pueblo. But the pattern so closely resembles a set of sometsuke bowls I have at home, I have to wonder whether it's actually an example of Japan's hallmark blue and white ceramic style.
Most places it wouldn't make sense to wonder. But I'm sitting in Comedor Nishi, a new La Jolla breakfast and lunch eatery with a bilingual name that roughly translates to western dining room. It's the product of a local restaurant group that somehow operates both the Taco Stand chain of street taco counters, and my personal favorite La Jolla sushi bar, Himitsu. And, in this case, the chocolate typically added to the mole recipe has been swapped out in favor of miso paste.
So, yeah. Mexican or Japanese? In this place it could go either way.
Heading up this marriage of the two greatest culinary traditions on the planet (France and Italy can fight over third place) is chef Pancho Ibáñez, who previously cooked at Mexico City's most acclaimed restaurant, Pujol.
A former coffee shop turned Mexican breakfast and lunch spot
And what I've learned since sitting down is that Comedor Nishi is foremost a Mexican restaurant, leading its breakfast charge with the likes of chilaquiles ($17), huevos rancheros ($17), and black bean tamales ($15); winning hearts and minds with a rich barbacoa lamb sope ($17) and chocolate or vanilla concha pastries ($4). To be sure, the Japanese influences are always subtle. Beyond the miso mole you might find wakame seaweed topping a tostada, or yuzu replacing lime in the guacamole.
More obvious may be the (sometimes Japanese-inflected) European influence. Comedor bakes its own breads, so my order of Pan Francés (a.k.. French Toast, $17) arrives as a thick, caramelized slice of brioche, topped with a dollop each of sour cream, and a berry compote (the latter featuring a hint of shiso leaf). A croque madam plays it straight, with ham, an Alpine cheese, and bechamel ($17).
A popular lunch entree is the bone-in short rib, braised in a mixture of red wine and (soy sauce-like) tamari ($32, with roasted vegetables). If you're not that hungry, keep it simple with a tomato-saucy rigatoni ($15).
My lunch order finds a delicious meeting point between Mexican and French cooking. The duck carnitas ($28, with tortillas) turns out to be a half duck, cooked tender inside, crispy inside in its own fat, finding common ground between traditional pork carnitas and duck confit.
Duck confit meets carnitas
Something else I notice—amid the coffee, fresh juices, pastries, and daily specials—is that Comedor Nishi's unpredictable menu almost goes out of its way to provide vegetarian options. That miso mole is served over roasted cauliflower ($18). The aforementioned tostadas pair seaweed with pureed sweet potato (two for $9).
Priced for the Village of La Jolla, Comedor Nishi makes it challenging for this writer, as I'm made to watch fellow diners feast on everything I can't fit into my limited order. Then they tell me dinner service will begin in February, and my imagination runs wild with the possibilities. What must this chef's imagination be doing?
Here's something you might be interested in.
At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch
A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch
A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Video:
FEAST!: At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch
Because I asked for a taste, the kitchen sends out a blue and white bowl filled with a thick, chocolate-colored mole, and a side of warm corn tortillas. The Poblano mole is the nuanced benchmark of Mexican cuisine, so the bowl is most likely styled after Talavera pottery, also from Pueblo. But the pattern so closely resembles a set of sometsuke bowls I have at home, I have to wonder whether it's actually an example of Japan's hallmark blue and white ceramic style.
Most places it wouldn't make sense to wonder. But I'm sitting in Comedor Nishi, a new La Jolla breakfast and lunch eatery with a bilingual name that roughly translates to western dining room. It's the product of a local restaurant group that somehow operates both the Taco Stand chain of street taco counters, and my personal favorite La Jolla sushi bar, Himitsu. And, in this case, the chocolate typically added to the mole recipe has been swapped out in favor of miso paste.
So, yeah. Mexican or Japanese? In this place it could go either way.
Heading up this marriage of the two greatest culinary traditions on the planet (France and Italy can fight over third place) is chef Pancho Ibáñez, who previously cooked at Mexico City's most acclaimed restaurant, Pujol.
A former coffee shop turned Mexican breakfast and lunch spot
And what I've learned since sitting down is that Comedor Nishi is foremost a Mexican restaurant, leading its breakfast charge with the likes of chilaquiles ($17), huevos rancheros ($17), and black bean tamales ($15); winning hearts and minds with a rich barbacoa lamb sope ($17) and chocolate or vanilla concha pastries ($4). To be sure, the Japanese influences are always subtle. Beyond the miso mole you might find wakame seaweed topping a tostada, or yuzu replacing lime in the guacamole.
More obvious may be the (sometimes Japanese-inflected) European influence. Comedor bakes its own breads, so my order of Pan Francés (a.k.. French Toast, $17) arrives as a thick, caramelized slice of brioche, topped with a dollop each of sour cream, and a berry compote (the latter featuring a hint of shiso leaf). A croque madam plays it straight, with ham, an Alpine cheese, and bechamel ($17).
A popular lunch entree is the bone-in short rib, braised in a mixture of red wine and (soy sauce-like) tamari ($32, with roasted vegetables). If you're not that hungry, keep it simple with a tomato-saucy rigatoni ($15).
My lunch order finds a delicious meeting point between Mexican and French cooking. The duck carnitas ($28, with tortillas) turns out to be a half duck, cooked tender inside, crispy inside in its own fat, finding common ground between traditional pork carnitas and duck confit.
Duck confit meets carnitas
Something else I notice—amid the coffee, fresh juices, pastries, and daily specials—is that Comedor Nishi's unpredictable menu almost goes out of its way to provide vegetarian options. That miso mole is served over roasted cauliflower ($18). The aforementioned tostadas pair seaweed with pureed sweet potato (two for $9).
Priced for the Village of La Jolla, Comedor Nishi makes it challenging for this writer, as I'm made to watch fellow diners feast on everything I can't fit into my limited order. Then they tell me dinner service will begin in February, and my imagination runs wild with the possibilities. What must this chef's imagination be doing?