Photo via Facebook / La Dama
La Dama (839 S. 2nd St.) (meaning the Lady) watches over diners at the casual, cozy Mexican restaurant by that name. Peggy Magister and her executive chef Emanuel Corona’s food does not disappoint with its bold flavors and authentic Mexican cooking. Everything was so fresh and as bright as the lady herself and the flavors take you to the streets and markets in Mexico City and the generations of woman who inspired and bring these dishes to life.
This culinary journey transports us to a place where the margaritas are as cool as the salt water and the chiles are as hot as the sun on our face. All the staff are perfect tour guides, friendly and knowledgeable in helping you navigate the menu and translations. The perfectly balanced margaritas are excellent, not too sweet or tart, and you get a little bonus mini carafe of margarita in an iced glass on the side. All of the house crafted cocktails ($10-$14) are so creative. The Mexican lollipop with tequila, tamarind and passion fruit with a little kick of chipotle salt and reminded me of a cross between candy and a Mexican fruit cup with tajin. The La Dama, a vodka based drink combines tomatillo, cilantro and lime. La Dama offers a tequila flight that includes three tequilas and one mezcal for $25.
The menu starts with Antojitos (appetizers), Mexican street food snacks like the empanadas, tostada or aguachile de scallops. The empanadas ($10) are two flaky dough pillows stuffed with either beef and mascarpone, chicken tinga or a Southwest flavored vegetarian one with goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. The tostada de pulpo al ajillo ($12), a grilled marinated octopus, was tender and the flavors juxtapose the sweetness of the caramelized pineapple and the pickled red onion. All the flavors worked so well, but the octopus kind of got lost under it all. The guacamole ($10) was creamy, and I liked the addition of the crunch from the pomegranate seeds (used in several dishes).
Mole (served with house made tortillas) had such complex flavors developed from the long cooking process. Fans of Crazy Water, which occupied La Dama’s location, will be happy to find the datiles co longanzia y tocino ($11)—the beloved chorizo stuffed dates in red pepper sauce.
Moving on to the Plattillos and Acompanantes, noteworthy dishes include pan-roasted chicken breast with squash flowers and a chimichurri sauce ($ 24); a beautifully grilled New York strip steak served with roasted cauliflower and a poblano hollandaise ($38); and the lamb shank birria, tender meat surrounded by chickpeas in a pasilla chile consomme ($28)—perfect comfort food a cold winter night. Chile en Nogada ($18), Mexico’s most patriotic dish representing the colors of the flag, has as much flavor from the dried fruits and sweet walnut cream sauce as it does history.
Several items that can accompany any dish, but can stand on their own are the repollitos (caramelized brussels sprouts), rice with vegetables or the ayocotes charros (a bean stew with pork belly and chorizo) ($4-$9). Now let’s talk about those tacos: mix and match an order of three for $20. There is such a wide variety to choose from—all served on a house made tortilla. I loved them all and boast flavors that are revealed and developed with each bite. Great pairings include pork belly with black garlic, shrimp and cactus, tilapia blackened and crusted with dried shrimp, chicken braised in apple cider, tender beef , duck with mole and quince and one of my favorites, the nopalito (a spicy seared cactus with sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese and a slather of pumpkin seed pesto).
Don’t leave without trying their desserts, the tres leche cake is so different and delicate—a lovely round disk of three milk-cake covered in whipped cream and strawberries. There are churros and a layered chocolate dessert, but the real masterpiece is the Monjitas Silbadoras, fried dough filled with a sweet mascarpone, caramelized apples with pecans and drizzled with a piloncillo sauce (a raw form of cane sugar that typically comes in a cone shape).
La Dama is the perfect place to turn up the heat and spice with so many different chiles and levels of heat in each dish. For this I say “Muchas Gracias” to the team at La Dama.
