How the Southwest Was Won: Tucson's Cafe Terra Cotta has been reveling in national attention for years. But diners at the Valley branch of the restaurant could have been forgiven for wondering about the hype. Yes, the Southwestern-themed food has been first-rate since the local Cafe Terra Cotta opened a few years ago, but you could have done just as well at a half-dozen other Valley restaurants.
These days, though, I'm not too sure the competition can keep up. If a recent visit is any indication, Cafe Terra Cotta has not only hit its stride, it may also be pulling away from the pack.
My latest meal there showed me a kitchen at the top of its form: beautiful presentations, inventive creations and sophisticated, even startling flavors that do our region proud.
We started off with buffalo carpaccio ($7.50), translucently thin slices of raw buffalo meat, drizzled with chile-infused oil and sprinkled with shaved Parmesan. If the American Southwest had been colonized by Italians, this might have become our region's signature dish.
The duck quesadilla starter ($7.25) is even more scrumptious: chile-glazed hunks of duck gilded with smoked Gouda cheese and caramelized onions. It's a tantalizing blend of flavors.
The main dishes keep up the attack. Look what the chef did to lamb chops ($19.25): Four small, tender chops are moistened in a sauce of sun-dried cherries and ancho mole. The combination of meat, fruit and a touch of chile is high-combustion pleasure. And check out the care the kitchen takes with the side dish. Instead of a baked potato or a mound of rice, diners get a wedge of tortilla lasagna, stuffed with cheese and chiles.
The chef also knows how to work with fish. Salmon ($17.95) comes crusted with sunflower seeds and bathed in a rich yellow chile mole. But what gets this entree soaring is the luscious side, a tamale made of shrimp and wild mushroom. It's good enough to get a starring role and top billing on its own platter. A mahimahi special ($18.95), embellished with citrus-flavored couscous, also demonstrates the kitchen's skills.
Even the de rigueur vegetarian plate--no restaurant these days can ignore the twig-and-berry crowd--is good enough to get a carnivore's attention. And why not? For $14.95, we got a risotto cake, grilled portabella mushroom, chayote squash, a sweet-corn chile relleno and smoky couscous. A platter like this could make me reconsider the charms of meatless dining.
Desserts are as formidable as the appetizers and entrees. The tulipe cookie stuffed with caramel ice cream, flecked with toasted pine nuts ($5.50), isn't very elaborate, but it's very effective. But it can't compare with the orange-curd tart ($5), flavored with tequila and garnished with shaved chocolate. Even my wife, who has taught herself to be immune to desserts, couldn't resist arm-wrestling me over this one.
The only misstep: hovering busers who wait to snatch your plate the moment you raise your last bite to your lips.
Cafe Terra Cotta is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. It's at 6166 North Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale, at the Borgata. Call 948-8100.
--Howard Seftel
