Tezka.
If you are looking for "a festival for the palate," as one diner described it, then Tezka is the right place. It doesn't come cheap, but it is certainly a taste sensation you won't forget in a hurry.This restaurant in the heart of the Zona Rosa describes its menu as Spanish Basque cuisine, and although I'm sure it incorporates elements of that diet, I can't imagine that this is how your average person in the Basque country eats. Or if it is, I'm moving there soon.
Faced with such an unusual and partly, to some of us, incomprehensible menu of dishes we had never heard of before, we begged help from head chef Bruno, who presides over the inventive selection. He suggested a menu de degustacion, consisting of three half-dishes per person--a good option if you are spoilt for choice and want to make the most of what's on offer. He also recommended a fruity Spanish Rioja to go along with our meal.
Prices on the wine list range from your basic 160-peso bottle to 4,320 pesos for a bottle of Cristal Louis Roederer champagne.
Tiny portions of ceviche, crackers of sugar and lemon heaped with pork, and lettuce hearts in cream were brought to whet our appetites while we waited for the main culinary event. And from start to finish, the presentation of the food was delicately beautiful--a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. The service was attentive without being smothering.
However, although the food is exquisitely presented, the restaurant itself does not fare so well. Possibly it suffers from being inside a hotel, but the standard-issue cane tables and chairs, dull pastel shades and uninspired Muzak do not do justice to the original and exciting cuisine.
Our journey of discovery began with a sweet potato empananda, filled with lobster and accompanied by a tamarind sauce, peas, vegetable mash and fried corn, which impressively demonstrated the mix of sweet and savory flavors for which this establishment is known. The sea bream, one of a wide fish selection, was marinated in salt water and doused in a sauce of pepper and vinegar before serving.
Staying with the fish-lovers, you can also try the pescado bruja with pistachio and guindillas, swimming in a chicken broth with a side of gelatin made from garlic soup. The thick chicken broth gives body and flavor to the feather-light texture of the fish.
The lamb with a cafe cortado sauce was tender and pinkish inside, sweetly flavored with gelatin and a slightly bitter aftertaste from the coffee. It was served with a potato carved into a flower and sprinkled with saffron.
Vegetable dishes included a lightly sauteed selection of peas, mushrooms and artichokes on a bed of fried onion with an orange and almond garnish, as well as creamy rice with mushrooms and parsley topped with lightly cooked asparagus spears.
And for those with (even more) expensive tastes, veal and foie gras also feature on the menu.
The desserts are equally inventive, ranging from the intriguingly named chocolate hamburgers to cinnamon ice cream with parsley sauce or cones of quince filled with cream cheese mousse and passion fruit. And it's worth having coffee just to taste the delightful chocolates that come with it. If you are in mood for a digestif, try the pacharan--a liqueur made from wild sloe berries and aniseed that comes from Navarra in Spain.
Tezka's atmosphere is described as formal, but there did not appear to be a jacket policy for men.
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| Title Annotation: | Inside eating out |
|---|---|
| Author: | FitzGerald, Tara |
| Publication: | Business Mexico |
| Geographic Code: | 1MEX |
| Date: | Nov 1, 2004 |
| Words: | 586 |
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