New Mexican Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin

by Cristy-Lucie Alvarado
January 24, 2008

MESA GRILL
102 5th Ave
(15th & 16th Sts)
New York, NY 10011
212-807-7400

I typically avoid feeding the celebrity chef craze our country is perpetuating at the moment, but for Bobby Flay’s sophisticated take on Southwestern fare, I willingly surrender. My last visit to Mesa Grill was the most memorable yet.

My friends were visiting from L.A. and we decided on Mesa Grill for their last meal in New York. As we cautiously sipped our rather intoxicating pear cactus margaritas, we couldn’t help but notice the cheesy décor, which included cowboy print banquettes and bold colored columns. The crowd screamed wealthy tourists, which was perfectly suited to an atmosphere that’s reminiscent of a hotel restaurant. Nevertheless, I assured my girls that they were in for a comforting and innovative meal.

With that said, a little package of warm cornbreads and miniature crusty rolls were promptly delivered to our table with a side of soft creamy butter. We instantly attacked the breadbasket and devoured every last morsel. The blue cornbread might have been a bit too crumbly for a good coat of butter, but the rolls allowed us to slather it on generously. Both were warm, delicious, and savory. To our delight, we were brought a second basket, but we set it aside and agreed to get down to business. After some serious evaluating, deliberating, and compromising, my friends and I finally came to a mouth-watering conclusion.

We began our meal with raw tuna nachos and yellow cornmeal-crusted oysters. The nachos were presented as more of a dip. Blue and yellow corn chips encircled a small bowl containing raw chunks of tuna drizzled with a mango hot sauce and an avocado crema, or Mexican sour cream. The dish is more of a novelty than a well-prepared appetizer. The idea of scooping up raw chunks of tuna instead of beans, cheese, and meat is amusing, but not exactly fulfilling. What saved it though were the corn chips. They were brittle, tasty, and definitely a treat. The sauce and crema made for necessary color and seasoning, but they were not anything to rave about in terms of flavor.

The cornmeal-crusted oysters were slightly more satisfying. I loved the refined yellow cornmeal, which gave the oyster a delicate crunchy texture, but the slimy salty oyster itself, for which I worked hard to acquire a taste as a child, was completely overpowered by the yellow crust. The oysters sat in their shells surrounded by a light green curry sauce that you could slurp up at the end, but overall, like the nachos, they were mediocre; nothing compared to the entrée that was to come.

Bobby Flay’s New Mexican spice-rubbed pork tenderloin is the epitome of perfection. The tenderloin is divided into three thick slices and accompanied by a bourbon-ancho chile sauce and sweet potato tamale.* The pork was not cooked a second over medium, leaving the meat tender, juicy, and perfectly rosy. The deep chocolate-colored sauce simply adorned the plate; never compromising the clean flavor and texture of the pork, it was a nice compliment to the robust flavor of the dry spicy rub. The sweet potato tamale’s natural sweetness was enhanced by crushed pecan butter, adding the final touch to a dish that pleased every taste bud.

My friends were astounded by our delectable meal. The alienation we had felt at the start of our evening was long forgotten as we left this haven for the celebrity chef-obsessed both serene and satisfied.

*Ancho chile, meaning “wide pepper” in Spanish, is a dried poblano chile, which takes a wide shape once it’s dry. The dried version of the mild pepper makes it easy to grind and use for sauces.

Tamales are a Native American food consisting of steamed cornmeal dough that sometimes contains meat or cheese and is then wrapped in cornhusk. In this case, the cornmeal dough was combined with sweet potato.

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