Mateo's and The Healdsburg Dining Scene

Let’s get something straight, this is not a complete food review of Mateo’s. It’s a narrative about the Healdsburg dining scene, visitors from San Francisco, and why Mexican food tastes better with lard, not extra virgin olive oil.

My experience with the food at Mateo’s was limited; I only had one dish, the halibut ceviche and two salsas. In a high-end place like Mateo’s, the easiest comparison for me as to what I expect of refined Mexican food is Frontera Grill in Chicago. I’ve eaten at Frontera more times than I can count and have eaten the ceviche nearly every visit. The food Chef Bayless prepares in Chicago is authentic, regional Mexican cuisine. It’s refined, but not fussy or pretentious. It has a Mid-Western sensibility about it.

Mateo’s is what I would expect from a restaurant rated highly by Michael Bauer but without Mid-West or in this case, Healdsburg sensibility. With the level of refinement in Mateo’s cooking, one would expect a Michelin Bib or perhaps one star scoring, “a must stop” along the foodie trail in Healdsburg. But refined Mexican cuisine requires balance and with the heat coming off the salsas I sampled, I have difficulty believing this place will get a nod. When spicy food sticks with me to the point I can’t taste anything else but heat and I’m beginning to mark time as to how long I’m in pain, it’s not fun anymore. The ceviche is lovely to look at and well executed, but has no hearty soul. Mateo can probably make beans, rice, and corn chips look pretty. But I want beans, rice, and corn chips to make me feel satisfied.

Barndiva, Dry Creek Kitchen, and Cyrus make sense in Healdsburg with glitz, glamour, and the cuisine to match the wine country they reside in. I expect a certain degree of premium pricing and a certain degree of calculated arrogance about the food.

Mateo’s Mexican food is inspired by his former position as chef at Dry Creek Kitchen.

Translation: It’s overwrought and pretentious.

One classic Mexican staple stands out at Mateo’s as simply out of touch; guacamole made with high-end extra virgin olive oil. Really? No one expects olive oil in guacamole even if it’s made in wine country and even if Dry Creek Valley has its own olive press. What people want with guacamole is a heaping bowl of it along with chips and a beer! Not extra virgin olive oil.

There are other troubling factors at work, namely price and expectations.

It’s $10 for a single taco at Mateo’s. Hefty price tag for a single taco. A popular spot for residents and visitors of Healdsburg is El Farolito, just down the block from Mateo’s. A Super Burrito costs $7.25. Most taco shops in town have a la carte  tacos on their menu for $1.25 to $3.50 per taco.  Execution, ambiance, and ingredients are totally different at Mateo’s versus Mexican restaurants in Healdsburg, but what about the perception of value?

A single hand-crafted margarita at Mateo’s is $12.Once again, a pitcher of Rita’s will set you back $24 at El Farolito. I know, the quality of the tequila is different, but that isn’t the point. The point is perception of why one usually enters a Mexican restaurant in Healdsburg. Value.

Another factor beyond price is the wine country experience and pairing wine with your food.

When in wine country, most people drink wine. When food is hot and spicy, what wine would possibly pair with it? None or a few select varietals. This makes it even harder for the weekend visitor to reconcile spending hard-earned money for a weekend away in wine country to drink tequila and beer. By the way, for tequila and mezcal drinks, there is no better place to go in town than Mateo’s. Knowledgeable bartenders and a great selection of tequila, if you want to try new tequilas, Mateo’s is the place.

As for the weekend Bay Area visitor, deciding with your spouse between Michelin rated Italian, American, or French inspired food and pairing it with your treasured $150 Cabernet or browsing the wine encyclopedia at Cyrus or Barndiva is what Bay Area visitors think about when they come to Healdsburg. Not a $10 taco or guacamole made with olive oil, no matter how good they are.

Look at the closed Shimo Restaurant across the street. Severely overpriced food in an atmosphere that didn’t exude or warrant it will never gain the favor of locals and only a few critics. And critics won’t keep your doors open for very long.

Mateo’s should take a lesson from Scopa, Diavola, Zin, and Willi’s…make your atmosphere more inviting and your food less fussy (but don't skimp on quality) and you’ll be in business for a long time AND get the critics to come in. The perception of being overwrought and overpriced will keep locals away.

So if Mateo’s is only a place for critics like Michael Bauer to visit and not a place to dwell for people who live in Healdsburg or the casual weekend traveler from the Bay Area, who’s coming here? I want Mateo's to succeed and it has a place in the Healdsburg dining scene. But Chef, don’t charge $10 for a single taco or put extra virgin olive oil in your guacamole…I don’t care how good they are. 

El Jardin, Manteca

I think there are 3 kinds of Mexican food places in California, taco trucks or stands, Mexican-American restaurants, and specialty regional Mexican restaurants more similar to the food that would be served in Mexico. El Jardin is the Mexican American variety.

 

Chips and salsa are automatically given when I sit down. The chips are a mix of fried corn and flour tortillas. I’m partial to corn 99 out of 100 times, and when I occasionally get tricked by a fried flour tortilla chip, I’m a little bugged because fried flour tortillas always taste a little too greasy for me or just not crunchy enough. The salsa that came with the chips is weak, too much tomato sauce.

I ordered two tacos carnitas they came with almost every fixin I could get, piled high (think American Super Size). Beans and rice came with the meal and as usual, if they’re there, I’ll try them. Beans = fine. Rice = didn’t care because I’d rather eat corn chips. Good overall flavor to the tacos and served on regular corn tortillas. But these things are huge and certainly a mess to eat. Stuff is all over the plate and not in the taco, where I’d like it to be. The side of salsa that came with the tacos is different and much better than the salsa that came with my tortilla chips. While each bite is a good one, there wasn’t a lot of fat detected on my carnitas but solidly salty, which translates into a tad dry for me. Luckily, there is a half an avocado on each taco to lubricate the meat. The final verdict? I probably would have saved 20 minutes, $7 dollars, and been more satisfied finding two carnitas tacos at a truck somewhere else in Manteca, probably near a gas station.

 

El Jardin is a good Mexican American restaurant to bring the family, have a blended margarita, eat a lot of chips, and probably have leftovers if you’re into that sort of thing, but I’d rather have a couple well-balanced tacos out of a truck.

Las Casuela’s, Manteca

Las Casuela’s is a local Mexican American chain serving up massive plates of food for a good price with lots of kitchy, gimmicky food and drinks. And yes, there are vats of blended margaritas ready to pour at a moments notice. They’re a big player in town and the crowd is evidence they’re doing something very well.

It’s a big menu, but I narrowed my choice to the “taco truck” area of the menu; four, yes four tacos of carne asada combined with chorizo, bacon and grilled onions, topped with cilantro and lime and fresh salsa, aka Tacos Don Jorge. No beans, no rice, just a lot of tacos. I’m liking this, simply because I’m not going to eat beans and rice anyway.

But wait, as my plate of tortilla chips arrives, I’m brought not only salsa but refried beans to dip my chips in. I’m pretty sure no one walks away hungry from Las Casuela’s. The salsa for the chips has heat, but lacks flavor or depth, sort of like Pace picante with Tabasco in it. Boring.

When my tacos arrive after a fairly significant wait, it’s a massive plate of beef and pork. Literally, the entire platter is spilling over with four tortillas and a carpet of beef, pork and condiments. As I mentioned, no way anyone walks away hungry from this place. As I dig to find the edges of each corn tortilla and take my first bites, I have to say I’m reasonably impressed with this concoction. I find carne asada a bit dry usually, however, with fat from the bacon and chorizo lending a hand to moisten the asada, the tacos find a nice balance. I will say the asada beef is a little chewy, a little sinewy. I actually took two of the tacos home with me to eat for lunch as leftovers.

Getting past all the lights, drink specials, and book of menu items, the Tacos Don Jorge are pretty good. I’d love to see a version done by a taco truck or with a better quality of beef, say cabeza tacos with bacon and chorizo.

Morales Taco Truck, Sanger

Random stop in Sanger on Highway 180 because a sign said tacos ahead. The Morales taco truck is parked out in front of a gas station, a scene all too typical and often rewarding.

I was actually on my way out to lunch at the School House a couple miles up the road, but it was only 11:15 and I had been up since 6am, so I had a single carnitas taco. Piled high with extra pico de gallo, the carnitas underneath were laden with silky fat. Not chunks of fat. The meat itself was silky, my guess is, it’s sitting in a lot of pork fat. The heat of the pico was good. The corn tortilla was the larger variety, rather than taqueria style. But everything seemed to work together, the silkiness of the carnitas really carried the taco.

Choco's Tacos and BBQ, Bakersfield

Merle Haggard Drive and 7th Standard Road in Bakersfield, California. Probably not the first place on your mind when it comes to good food. But wait...I see smoke coming out of a BBQ painted to resemble a cow.

I’m a fan of roadside stands, especially taco shops. But a taco shop that also happens to serve BBQ? Say it isn't so. I also subscribe to being as random as possible when I pick shacks like this.

(Gratuitous "before" shot of breakfast burrito)

"Look at the size of that thing...Cut the chatter Red 2"

Breakfast burrito with carne asada, just after my first bite.

I’m not normally a burrito eater, probably because I don’t like flour tortillas as much as I like corn tortillas. Secondly, I generally find carne asada dry when compared to al pastor or carnitas. So I don’t know what I was thinking when I ordered a breakfast of items I don’t normally like. 

Well, I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. Obviously a well balanced burrito and an expert roller to keep everything together until the last bite. The salsa was spicy, the meat was moist, and the beans and rice inside didn't take away from the flavor of the meat. But the best part? Not a single drop of grease or liquid came out of the back of my burrito. Really, how rare is that!?

So then next time you think of Merle Haggard (he had 38 Number 1 Hits), Bakersfield and what to do about breakfast if you're passing through on Highway 99, stop by Choco's for a breakfast burrito, you won't be disappointed.