Review: The Monterey

The Monterey’s chef Albert Vasquez with pork belly skewers coated in ground, smoked almonds (left) and fried chicken. He calls his fare “glorified bar food. PHOTO BY ROBIN JERSTAD/SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS less The Monterey’s chef Albert Vasquez with pork belly skewers coated in ground, smoked almonds (left) and fried chicken. He calls his fare “glorified bar food. PHOTO BY ROBIN JERSTAD/SPECIAL TO THE ... more Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Review: The Monterey 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

After only a couple of months, the team at The Monterey has created what already may be the most important restaurant in the city.

The chef here, Albert Vasquez, referred to the dishes “glorified bar food” during a recent interview, but he's far too modest. The inventive, playful, thoughtful, and most of all, amazing cuisine defies labels.

What makes this place important is how it strips away the trappings of what's usually considered fine dining. No white tablecloths, no expensive wine lists and no expansive list of ingredients and cookingtechniques. Instead, most of the tables are outside and the retro architecture sets a tone of creative funkiness. Instead of fine-dining pampering, service here is friendly, relaxed and efficient.

Where else could foie gras and bone marrow arrive at a table with the Ramones playing in the background? Admittedly, this is a place that not-so-adventurous palates wouldn't enjoy but food and wine nerds would adore. Judging by the often-filled tables, there are plenty of fans from the Southtown area and beyond.

In a time when diners want value for their money and demand that restaurants provide a memorable experience, this place captures the zeitgeist of the city and beyond.

All over the country, ambitious chefs and great cooks who want to serve great food but don't have access to capital to open restaurants are finding other ways to do it, whether in food trucks or temporary restaurants or private gatherings. In that spirit, The Monterey succeeds brilliantly. This is a place where it's possible to get a glass of wine and an item or two for less than 20 bucks, or instead order several items and spend considerably more. Either way, get ready for an explosion of flavors and careful food preparation.

The menu changes frequently and even the preparation of various items changes. For instance, the current incarnation of a pork belly dish — three large-ish cubes braised and then glazed with brown sugar and dusted with ground smoked almonds — may be one of the best examples of the excellence and audacity here. Tender meat, unctuous fat and an ever-so-slight crunch from the glaze and almonds are marks of a dish that usually would come only from very high-end restaurants.

A mushroom salad listed on the menu with a fried egg absolutely thrills. Sautéed mushrooms are chilled, drizzled with a touch of truffle oil and topped with a poached egg that has been breaded and deep fried.

A dish featuring Brussels sprouts includes the roasted vegetables, a sprinkling of fried herbs, some peanuts and a light coating of a sweet and hot chile paste. Who says vegetables aren't fun? Same with an order of smoked root vegetables, tossed with watercress and served with a generous dollop of a celery puree cooked down to a jam.

The beef cheeks, served in a small, asymmetrical white bowl, taste like a dream-inspiring Beef Bourguignon.

Even the grilled cheese sandwich of Irish cheddar and fontina on artisan bread offered much to savor. Then the lightly pickled miniature carrots and cucumber slices cut through the fat of the cheese to allow the palate time to prepare for the next dish. It came with an option to add bitter greens or bacon. Since we already had the pork belly, our group figured that the cheese alone would be rich enough. It was.

In a similar pairing, the chicken liver pâté very much needed the julienned and slightly acidic green apple and frisée leaves that accompanied the dish. Otherwise, the pâté tasted too liver-ish. With the greens, everything meshed well.

Perhaps the only disappointments came in the form of the fried chicken and some cookies in a dessert. It's not that there was anything wrong with the chicken. The crisp crust and moist and tender meat added up to a wonderful rendition of the classic. It's just that everything else on the menu raised the expectations for the fried chicken.

Maybe adding some type of sous-vide preparation on the chicken before frying it, or making a confit of the meat or some wild and imaginative infusion of a buttermilk marinade. Something different.

Still, when the worst that can be said about a dish is that it's merely very good and not transcendent, it's a sign of a kitchen and team that's working in rarefied air.

The cookies in a dessert could have used just a minute or so less time in the oven, but a little dip in some milk or more adult beverage quickly solves that issue.

During the first few weeks or so of its opening, this place had to work through issues of consistency and getting out food quickly. Those problems seem to have been resolved.

Now there's only one main question facing this place: Can they keep it up?

Quick bites

Address: 1127 S. St. Mary’s St.

Phone: 210-745-2581



HIT: Smoked root vegetables, pork belly, grilled cheese, the list continues



MISS: Although tasty, fried chicken wasn’t equal in creativity to other dishes. Too-crisp cookies in Cookies and Milk dessert



NOTEWORTHY: Happy hour 4-6 p.m. weekdays.



LIGHTER CHOICE: Pickles, smoked root vegetables, but not much.





REPORT CARD



Food: ****

Service: ***

Ambience: ***



Ratings key: **** Excellent| *** Very good | ** Average | * Poor



Price range: French fries with anchovy mayo, $4; smoked root vegetables, $6; Brussels sprouts with sweet chile and peanuts, $6; pork belly, $8; grilled cheese sandwich, $9; bone marrow, $10; beef cheeks, $14; shrimp and grits, $15.



Hours: 4 p.m.-midnight Wednesday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday.



Express-News dining critics pay for all meals.