A Centeno Milestone Come True
While I love living in the South Bay, I also enjoy experiencing the diversity of food outside of our area. Yes, we have a number of different countries represented in our local vicinity, but to really experience the culinary variances, you have to venture outside.
I’ve heard quite a bit about Chef Josef Centeno. Despite my interest in trying his food, I’m embarrassed to admit that he’s already opened four successful ventures before I actually had my first encounter.
I was thrilled to receive a generous gift card to one of his restaurants, Bar Amá. Not wanting to let this gift card go into ‘missing’ status, I suggested Bar Amá to my foodie cousin and her husband as our next outing and fortunately, they agreed.
Centeno opened Bar Amá in homage to his mother and grandmother. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, they raised Centeno with their cooking; his menu is his interpretation of their Tex-Mex cuisine.
I don’t always follow the convention: “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, but did so and agreed to the Tex Mex queso. After all, it ain’t real Tex-Mex food without having Tex-Mex cheese sauce with chips.
One of their more popular items is the seared lengua. It arrived with crispy potatoes, avocado, corn tortillas, and tomatillo sauce. The lengua was served in small bite sized cubes. It was crispy and very tender.
While I’m close to being illiterate on Tex-Mex cuisine, I was surprised to see brussel sprouts on their menu. The sprouts were blistered and seared in chipotle aioli, pickled onion and herbs. Because the brussel sprouts were sliced thin, they really absorbed the combined flavors. Searing the brussel sprouts caramelized the outsides while retaining the tender insides.
I love grilled octopus and so when it was suggested, I quickly agreed. The octopus was grilled with paprika oil, cilantro and habanero. It was a bit chewy for my liking.
The chile relleno was a bit unusual. It was made using a traditional poblano chile and stuffed with cheddar and cotija cheeses and zucchini. It was carefully placed on a bed of picadillo and was nicely plated.
The short rib chalupa was served open face and topped with cole slaw. The short ribs were tender and were marinated with a chipotle spice.
My cousin and her husband shared the Mexican Fried Ice Cream. While I didn’t try it, it sure looked delicious.
Desserts don’t usually travel well, but I ordered some sopapillas to take home to our daughter. After arriving home, we were surprised that they were crispy and fluffy. Topped with honey, cinnamon and powdered sugar, they were full of flavor.
When we saw the name of this, we had to order the churro funnel cake with vanilla ice cream, powdered sugar and chocolate sauce.
An impressive 14 items were flagged on their menu as either vegan or could be prepared that way.
My wife and I look forward to our next Centeno milestone.
- 118 W 4th St, Los Angeles, CA 90013; (213) 687-8002
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bar_ama
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarAmaDTLA
Mar 3rd, 2016 at 1:30 pm
Great read Bryan on a slightly different kind of fare than I would see or taste.
It all looked very tasty & delicious! Glad you finally crossed that one off the bucket list!
Thanks again for another well described article.
Mar 5th, 2016 at 8:00 am
Doug,
Thanks for the kind words. It’s people like you that keep me motivated.
Bryan