"A great taco rocks with distinct tastes that roll on and on, like a little party on your tongue, with layers of flavor and textures . . . At the end of our two or three-bite taco you just want to repeat the experience until you are sated." - Deborah Schneider

Friday night, B and I had dinner at Iron Chef Jose Garces' Distrito.  Distrito, one of seven Garces restaurants in Philadelphia, features traditional Mexican cuisine with an upscale spin served tapas style.  When we arrived for our 7:30 reservation the table "wasn't quite ready" so we had a couple of cocktails at the bar - a fresh pineapple margarita for me and a tequila gimlet for B (that's right tequila gimlet... a unique twist on the classic).

I'd had the pineapple margarita at Distrito before, and loved it, but this time around the fresh pineapple juice was completely overpowered by the tequila and salt.

When we finally sat down (over half an hour later), we were served some spicy peanuts with lime zest.

The nuts provided the perfect nosh while we looked over the menu.  We ultimately opted for the "Diego Rivera" tasting.  The first course included guacamole, a tuna ceviche, and a salad:

The guacamole was creamy and the salsa verde was zippy without being overwhelming.

The tuna ceviche was served with avocado, granny smith apples, diced serano chiles, a serano chile sauce, and a pickled radish salad.  Not featured on the regular menu, this delicious little ditty managed to pack some serious punch without overpowering the fish.

When they brought out the salad I admit I thought "what a throw away," but the cool crispness of the fresh ingredients - romaine, baby arugula, watercress, granny smith apples, cranberries, walnuts, cilantro, cotija cheese cubes, honey-lime vinaigrette, and topped with tortilla strips - proved a great complement to the heat of the ceviche.

While waiting for the second course, we ordered another round of drinks.  B tried the cazadores tequila flight with a negro modelo, and I the Hemingway (chile infused jimador tequila with maraschino cherry and grapefruit juices).

The Hemingway was delicious, and I'm always a sucker for a champagne coupe.

For the second course, we were served fish tacos and mushroom flatbread.

Now, a bit of history here.  I have a long standing aversion to fish tacos.  B loves them and he is always trying to turn me, but inevitably I just don't care for them.  That was, I never cared for them until Friday night.  Served with chipotle remoulade, avocado, and red cabbage, these plantain encrusted himachi tacos were ration-your-bites good. 

The mushroom flatbread was equally delicious.  The flavors were wonderfully layered so although I was immediately struck by the subtle taste of mushrooms and black truffle, I was left appreciating the sweet corn flavor of the huitlacoche sauce.  Huitlacoche is made from corn smut.  Corn smut is a disease of corn caused by a plant fungus called ustilago maydis.  It usually replaces the normal kernels of the cobs with large distorted "tumors" analogous to mushrooms.  Farmers prepare corn silage, a fermented, high-moisture fodder, out of smutted corn by placing the corn in a large heap covered with a plastic sheet.  This silage is known in Mexico as huitlacoche.


Our third course included scallops and carne asada with a side of refried beans.

 The refried beans were good, though wholly ordinary.

The scallops were buttery and set off nicely by the heat and acid of the sauce - habanero, sweet corn, grapefruit, and pineapple.

Served on a bed of wonderfully creamy poblano corn rice, the steak was unfortunately dry and extremely gristly (it is likely, however, that our disappointment in the steak was heightened by all of the other perfectly executed dishes before it).

Despite the failings with the carne asada, we were completely stuffed by the time dessert came out.  That being said, we managed a few nibbles of the flan, served with cider caramel and toasted hazelnut.

Days later B and I are still raving over this dinner.  Although Tinto remains my favorite of the Garces endeavors, I would highly recommend checking out the "Diego Rivera" tasting menu at Distrito (or at the least the fish tacos and mushroom flatbread).