After Italian food, Mexican is probably America’s most familiar foreign cuisine. Pasta and pizza really don’t seem foreign any more, and tacos and nachos aren’t far behind. It’s always fun to explore Mexican beyond the guilty pleasures of drive-thru burritos and the insider feeling of mom-n-pop shops’ street-style tacos.
For that, there’s Nixta. Please don’t go expecting platters with refried beans and “Spanish” rice. Or the prices associated with them. This is thoughtful cooking with a mix of traditional and non-traditional ingredients from a kitchen led by Telleo Carreon under the auspices of owner Ben Poremba, no slouch himself in the kitchen. (Yes, that’s the Ben Poremba of Olio, Elaia and Parigi.) It’s still very casual, and very popular – reservations during the usual dinner hour and close to the weekend are strongly encouraged.
If you went to the now-departed Old Standard, you know the space. It’s still long and narrow and loud, but it does feel different, zippier, with bright colors. Servers know the menu, and bartenders pay attention to their fiefdom. The basic margarita is excellent, strong and barely sweet, serious work and a serious amount of alcohol. Do not expect the green stuff that comes out of a commercial container for this senora. A paloma, not on the menu, but basically a daquiri, shaken, not frozen, made with grapefruit juice, also charmed. Another treat is made with pineapple rum, all these things definitely adult beverages, not Kool-Aid with some booze slipped in.
The menu is a little deceiving; except for the pepita guacamole and black bean hummus, the first courses aren’t separated from the mains. Pepitas, roasted pumpkin seeds, crown the guac, which is a nice combination of smooth and chunky, but it’s not the standard version when it comes to seasoning. It’s spicier and more tart, perhaps from using something like Cholula or another vinegar-based hot sauce. Despite the heat and acidity, it still benefited from a little extra salt. A generous serving of chips came hot and fresh.
The tomato and burrata – the Mediterranean influence pops up here and there – is an almost lunch-entree-sized portion, for instance. Mixed greens, a nasturtium blossom, heirloom tomato wedges, the burrata, all sat on a base of a (deliberately) charred carrot salsa whose flavor is almost Asian, perhaps a little ginger in there. It’s rich and intriguing, and there’s also a tomatillo-avocado sauce on one side, the better to mix and match with.
It was when the entrees arrived that the earth began to move. Wow is the first word that comes to mind when reminiscing about the crab tostadas. Large. Fresh. A small mountain of sweet crab meat. Mango dice perform a paseo through the crab meat, as does avocado, the whole punched up a little with some poblano chile. Two of them to the main-course serving, and the amount of crab justifies the $18 price. It’s a remarkable version of the dish.
And then there was the chicken mole, also available with beef cheeks, made to the recipe of Telleon’s abuelita, or grandmother, Concepcion. The mounded serving, the mole sauce so dark it almost resembles patent leather, the yellow rice underneath, doesn’t look large. But there’s plenty of the boned chicken, and the flavor is so fulfilling that each mouthful causes a moment’s pause to ponder the delight. A slight bitterness from the chocolate, a modicum of heat, the distinct flavor of peppers – not heat, flavor – and somehow, a mysterious something that almost lends a tropical note to it, somewhere between citrus and flower-like. This is one of those dishes that it’s nearly impossible not to order every time one goes to the restaurant that serves it.
Nixta’s house flan is made with cheese, probably cream cheese. The result is like a light, tender cheesecake, so ethereal that the slice quakes slightly. It’s a revelation to people who’ve only ever had flan that had bubbles in it and was somewhat rubbery. A little fruit on top, and of course, the caramel that began in the bottom of the baking dish, finish things off in fine style.
Whoever thought there would be an outstanding rice pudding? The creamy mixture, loose and comforting, is seasoned with a little bergamot, the flavor used in Earl Grey tea. It’s an oil from a particular type of orange, but sufficiently uncommon that it’s tricky to identify. The kitchen tops the pudding, at least currently, with toasted pecans, freeze-dried strawberries and blueberries, a sprinkle of puffed rice and some coconut flakes. The contrast in textures between the creamy rice and the crunchiness was great fun, although I’m not sure the coconut added much, rather a surprise.
I’ll be back for the lamb tacos and the duck carnitas – if I can shake off the urge to go back to the mole.
Nixta
1621 Tower Grove Ave.
314-899-9000
Dinner Tues.-Sat
Credit cards: Yes
Wheelchair access: Good
Smoking: No
Entrees: $12-$29