Corn Soup w/ Poblano and Fish Taquito

by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
September 18, 2005

ITZOCAN CAFÉ
438 E 9th St
(1st Ave & Ave A)
New York, NY 10009
212-677-5856
map

LA ESQUINA
106 Kenmare St
@ Cleveland Pl
New York, NY 10012
646-613-7100
map

I was wavering about doing a write up on La Esquina but after my meal at Itzocan Café I have an opportunity to talk about both places and do a little compare and contrast.

Luckily, Itzocan Café is my neighborhood Mexican. It’s very much a neighborhood spot: small, inconspicuous, and authentic. At the same time, it’s popular and known for its good food and reasonable fares, so naturally the dinner waiting line is unfortunately always long. (They also have another restaurant by the same name on the UES now.)

The menu is short and sweet and the food is just downright good. Unlike other Mexican joints that just slap the same ol’ ingredients together in the form of a burrito or quesadilla, Itzocan takes real care and genuine pride in putting together their menu and dishes. It’s this passion that makes a difference and the diners not only sense it but taste it too.

The soup special today was corn with poblano peppers. I wasn’t going to order it but when I passed by the kitchen on the way to the restroom and saw the fresh ears of corn I knew I had to try it out. The soup arrived as a light creamy green with speckles of poblano throughout. With every sip the poblano kicks in toward the end of the taste so it comes as a pleasant surprise in every spoonful. The overall effect was very refreshing and kept me wanting more. This dish really reflects the food at Itzocan – always an unexpected sensation that keeps you wanting more.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, La Esquina is a faux neighborhood joint that is relying on the hype of publicity to keep it as the “in” place to eat.

I only visited the café on the ground flour, as the gimmicky “hidden” restaurant is part of the New York restaurant scene that I hate. It tries to be exclusive and self-important by sending out publicity around town about its secrecy, how you enter the door labeled “Employees Only” to make it to the underground restaurant where you must have reservations to be seated, in spite of the fact that their number is not listed.

Well, judging from the food of the café I can spare myself the agony of trying so hard to go to a restaurant like this just to say I’ve been. The fish taquito might be the best thing on the café menu but it’s not really as fab as it should be. I tried three different taquitos, none of which hit the mark. Of course, I just came back from San Francisco where I tried tacos from taquerias in the Mission so you understand what I’m missing out on here in Nueva York. Okay, so La Esquina’s café is a taqueria, but its attitude is too full of “I’m novelty,” and perhaps it is in New York City.

Yet, I still believe that food like this should be simple and true to itself. It should taste fresh, and make you nostalgic for Mexico, even if you have not been. I think the problem here is the attitude: not enough care is given to the food because they know they can get away with it. I feel like this food is dumbed down for an East Coast crowd that doesn’t know better. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s when someone talks down to me.

Also in Corn, East Village, Mexican, NoLIta, Seafood, Soup, Tacos