El Teatro Culinario

For my fellow foodies, I give you the incredible menu Jose Luis created based entirely around local products he bought in the market the day we dined at El Teatro Culinario. The walled-in pousada has only a bell and small sign outside and as the nightly dinner is not advertised, I felt victorious that I'd found it.

We sat in the romantic open-air courtyard with a softly-gurgling fountain and bougainvillea tree blooming in full fuchsia glory. Mexican wines from Baja California accompanied our feast. The menu changes daily and each course arrives as a surprise, which Jose comes out personally to describe in fluent English or Spanish to each table - on this particular evening, three tables of two.  Please note the descriptions and names of the following dishes are based on my notes from dinner.

1. Cactus Art: nopales (cactus leaves) with powdered tortilla and salsa, balsamic, queso, hibiscus marmalade and chicharron (powdered fried pork skin).

2. Red snapper ceviche with pico de gallo and 2 passionfruit reductions: one with a hint of vanilla, the other with chile arbol. Topped by a slice of jalepeño.

3. Pale green-colored flor de calabaza cream Soup (squash blossoms) contrasted with the bright pink of beet and goat cheese foam. Sprinkle of nutmeg.

4. One single egg: poached egg white on bed of chorizo and fig with a hollandaise (yolk) accented by cilantro.

5. The Cornfield: paint brushed across the plate: a stripe of red corn tortilla sauce, a stripe of black from the huitaloche ("corn fungus"), another stripe of red from pureed chapulines (grasshoppers) with chilies. Sitting serenely on this bizarre and oh-so-Oaxaqueña plate, a jicama, quesillo and huitaloche "sandwhich."

6. Warm avocado and shrimp terrine with green cilantro sauce and red bell pepper sauce and chili powder.

7. Grouper filet with sauce of fish skin, butter and garlic atop risotto with avocado.

*Palate cleanser of thyme and cinnamon foam

8. Finale for dessert: a pool of basil-tinted cream, caramel dust and house-made strawberry POP ROCKS. A delightfully explosive finish.