A great reason for going out to MacArthur Park is Chichen Itza Restaurant. The Kick Off Party for the MacArthur Park Levitt Pavilion (concerts start 3 July 2008) featured a tasting menu and I’d be willing to go to the restaurant with friends to try more of “The Flavor of Yucatan.”
We had little cups of sopa de calabaza (butternut squash soup), crema de chaya (chaya is a leafy green vegetable like spinach and native to the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico), ensalada de jicama (citrus jicama salad), ceviche de camaron (shrimp ceviche), cochinita pibil (slices of toasted bolillo topped with pork baked wrapped in banana leaves) brazo de reina (hardboiled eggs, chaya, pumpkin seed tamal(e) steamed wrapped in banana leaves) and chile xkatic relleno (blonde chiles stuffed with albacore cooked in tomato sauce).
It’s been a long time since I’ve had Latin American food that had a real bite. Oh when my throat was suddenly on fire and the heat slipped down to my stomach…I wanted more! The sopa de calabaza was creamy and not sweet. At first I thought the server said cha as in tea and it looked like Japanese matcha, but it had a creamy texture and not the bitterness of matcha (thick Japanese tea ceremony tea). The pibil pork was so tender, contrasted by the crunch of the toast and the squeak of the pickled red onions.
I’m a real fan of tamales and with a little extra spice had a delicate taste that vegetarians will love. They do have a veggie menu and two locations. I was warned that the chile x’katic relleno was spicy, but this was a wonderful mouthful–it looked like a jalapeño popper but milder and no cheese! And the cheese fan that I am, I didn’t miss it.
Chichen Itza is the name of an ancient Mayan ruin that was apparently an important part of the Northern Mayan network.
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