Review of La Cocina in Espanola, New Mexico

Jesse Martinez, the matriarch of the family that now owns La Cocina Restaurant, started out in a storefront next to the Ford tractor dealership on Main Street in Espanola. The restaurant, equipped with fluorescent lights and turquoise-and-yellow '50s-style chrome-and-vinyl kitchen tables and chairs, was comfortable clean, friendly, and served wonderful food. Customers could watch the parade of lowriders on the main drag through the large plate-glass windows. The staff loved kids - as young parents, we relaxed, enjoying dinner while servers cooed over our 3-year-old and twin babies as the kids smeared their faces with beans. There were not too many places we were welcome with that tribe, but here, the menu was priced right, the beans on the floor didn't matter, and the meal was delicious.

When Jesse was in the kitchen, everything tasted as if she were cooking for you at home. She took the potato-and-meat filling for tacos off the menu many years ago but would make it up for me whenever I asked for it. The first time I saw those tacos on a plate, I was awed by the care and the food aesthetic; a hand-folded tinfoil holder for the crisp tacos held them upright, keeping- the filling in and the tender shells out of the bean and posole juices that might cause them to fall apart. A special salsa came with the tacos that was simplicity itself but way more than the sum of its parts - canned tomatoes, fresh onion and chile pequin, blended with a little salt and garlic.

Jesse retired several years ago, and now she spends her time taking care of herself and going to aerobics classes. The business is 35 years old and is run by Jesse's daughter, Emily Maestas, and Maestas' sons, Steve and Phil. They also own and manage Los Arcos on Main Street another large venue, and La Cocina Taqueria Now in a beautiful, large, Northern New Mexico hacienda-style building with lots of Parking. La Cocina still delivers polite, friendly service and excellent tacos at reasonable prices. A friendly host chats while you wait, and it doesn't matter that you aren't from this little town, because they treat you like a neighbor anyway. Freshly fried chips and a tasty house salsa are complimentary; the salsa is tomato-based, with fresh jalapenos, onions, and cilantro adding flavor and crunch. I'm an iced-tea connoisseur. Why bother with dark stale, old, musky-tasting iced tea served with a soft three-days-ago lemon wedge? At La Cocina the excellent iced tea is always fresh and not too sweet served with freshly sliced lemon.

Jesse's combination plate - one of two combination plates on the menu - holds a house-made red-chile pork tamale, a beef enchilada, and a cheese enchilada with beans and posole on the side. The tamale and the enchiladas, like most of the dishes here, come smothered in cheese and a choice of red or green chile. The tamale meat has a nice flavor, but the masa shell is heavy and dense, without great flavor of its own. The green chile is pure chopped chile, not a diluted chile sauce - that delivers dash to enchiladas. The red is flavorful, with good heat, and the bright color salsas live mess on the tongue. Neither of the chiles seem to be thickened with anything-good news for those who prefer their chile neat, not as gravy. A sign on the cover of the menu says, "Not responsible for chile that is too hot!" and recommends ordering it on the side if you're in doubt. Too-hot chile will not be a challenge at La Cocina for diners already inured to one of our official state vegetables, aficionados of the other state vegetable-frijoles, will be happy to know that they can have beans two ways - whole or re-fried. Posole, that staple of the pueblo and Mexican American diet, is terrific here. It has "big-corn taste." Each chewy kernel is perfectly cooked, popped open like the most tempting popcorn. The posole and broth, infused with the flavor of tender pork, is the best around. Get some for takeout the next time you have a hankering, for posole - it will be instructive. In fact, if you are a posole fan, just get a bowl, with a side of red or green and enjoy. Chicken Hamas, crisp and filled with moist, flavorful chicken, come topped with melted cheese, guacamole, sour cream, shredded lettuce, and chopped tomato. The side of refritos had a dry-mouth feel because they were made without the lard or bacon grease it takes to make hem luscious - that is the good news or the bad news depending on how you feel about pig fat in your diet.

The Spanish rice adds a distinct and different flavor to the plate. Wet, red, and flavored with chunks of green pepper with distinctly separate grains of rice - and may contain no tomato sauce at all. A basket of freshly made, chewy, thick sopapillas sided with a squeeze bottle of honey comes with lunch and dinner plates. Although I prefer my sopapillas thin, we ate the whole basket. Although some of the traditional dishes that Jesse specialized in are no longer offered, La Cocina has some interesting new food on the menu, including an enchilada filled with fresh avocado and one filled with guacamole. It also offers stuffed sopapillas as well as the more common varieties of enchiladas and tacos.

The servings are large and filling. One of the menu changes made to accommodate the new neighbors from Sombrillo is the inclusion of plenty of vegetarian dishes. A potato-and-guacamole burrito is stuffed with floury fried potato slices and guacamole rich with chopped jalapeno, tomato, and onion. A tostada plate - crispy tortillas topped with a layer of refried beans, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes- is delicious with the house salsa. La Cocina offers a number of desserts or breakfast pastries, all baked in-house: flan, apple pie, cherry pie, brownies, cookies, muffins, and cheesecake. The flan comes decorated with piped, soft whipped cream and is awash in caramel syrup. The flavor of the flan and the syrup is excellent, and the real cream was a nice touch, but the flan had been overcooked, making the edges tough. It had telltale bubbles in the texture that show that the custard was either baked too long or at too high a temperature.

La Cocina is well worth the drive north. The winning combination of freshly prepared food, comfortable and attractive ambiance and friendly service make it an excellent example of what a good New Mexican restaurant can be. La Cocina is located at 415 Santa Clara Drive in Espanola. 505-753-3016